Today in History – Saturday, July 22, 2017

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Today is Saturday, July 22, the 203rd day of 2017. There are 162 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

On July 22, 1942, the Nazis began transporting Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka concentration camp. Gasoline rationing involving the use of coupons began along the Atlantic seaboard.

On this date:

In 1587, an English colony fated to vanish under mysterious circumstances was established on Roanoke Island off North Carolina.

In 1796, Cleveland, Ohio, was founded by General Moses Cleaveland (correct).

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln presented to his Cabinet a preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.

In 1916, 10 people were killed when a suitcase bomb went off during San Francisco’s Preparedness Day parade; two anti-war labor radicals, Thomas Mooney and Warren K. Billings, were jailed but eventually released amid doubts about their guilt.

In 1934, bank robber John Dillinger was shot to death by federal agents outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater, where he had just seen the Clark Gable movie “Manhattan Melodrama.”

In 1937, the U.S. Senate rejected President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court.

In 1946, the militant Zionist group Irgun blew up a wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 91 people.

In 1967, American author, historian and poet Carl Sandburg died at his North Carolina home at age 89.

In 1977, Elvis Costello’s debut album, “My Aim Is True,” was released by Stiff Records.

In 1983, Samantha Smith and her parents returned home to Manchester, Maine, after completing a whirlwind tour of the Soviet Union.

In 1992, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped from his luxury prison near Medellin (meh-deh-YEEN’). (He was slain by security forces in December 1993.)

In 2011, Anders Breivik (AHN’-durs BRAY’-vihk), a self-described “militant nationalist,” massacred 69 people at a Norwegian island youth retreat after detonating a bomb in nearby Oslo that killed eight others in the nation’s worst violence since World War II.

Ten years ago: A bus carrying Polish Catholic pilgrims from a holy site in the French Alps plunged off a steep mountain road, killing 26 people. Padraig Harrington survived a calamitous finish in regulation and a tense putt for bogey on the final hole of a playoff to win the British Open. Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs (“Easy Rider”) died in Beverly Hills, California, at age 74.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama made a quick trip to Colorado to meet with families of those gunned down in an Aurora movie theater and to hear from state and local officials about the shooting that left 12 people dead and dozens more injured. The International AIDS Conference opened in Washington, D.C. with the goal of “turning the tide” on HIV. Fifteen people were killed in South Texas when a pickup truck ran off the road and hit trees about 90 miles southeast of San Antonio. Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. Ernie Els won his fourth major championship in an astonishing finish, rallying to beat Adam Scott in the British Open when the Australian bogeyed the last four holes. Oscar-winning screenwriter Frank Pierson (“Dog Day Afternoon”; “Cool Hand Luke”) died in Los Angeles at age 87.

One year ago: Democrat Hillary Clinton told supporters in a text message that she had chosen Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her vice-presidential running mate. A gunman opened fire at a mall in Munich, Germany, killing nine people before taking his own life. Thomas Sutherland, a teacher who was held captive in Lebanon for more than six years until he was freed in 1991, died in Fort Collins, Colorado, at age 85.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., is 94. Actor-comedian Orson Bean is 89. Author Tom Robbins is 85. Actress Louise Fletcher is 83. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chuck Jackson is 80. Actor Terence Stamp is 79. Game show host Alex Trebek is 77. Singer George Clinton is 76. Actor-singer Bobby Sherman is 74. Former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, is 74. Movie writer-director Paul Schrader is 71. Actor Danny Glover is 71. Singer Mireille Mathieu is 71. Actor-comedian-director Albert Brooks is 70. Rock singer Don Henley is 70. Movie composer Alan Menken is 68. Singer-actress Lonette McKee is 64. Jazz musician Al Di Meola is 63. Actor Willem Dafoe is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Keith Sweat is 56. Actress Joanna Going is 54. Actor Rob Estes is 54. Folk singer Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) is 54. Actor John Leguizamo is 53. Actor-comedian David Spade is 53. Actor Patrick Labyorteaux is 52. Rock musician Pat Badger is 50. Actress Irene Bedard is 50. Actor Rhys Ifans (rees EYE’-fanz) is 50. Actress Diana Maria Riva is 48. Actor Colin Ferguson is 45. Actor/singer Jaime Camil is 44. Retired NFL player Keyshawn Johnson is 45. Rock musician Daniel Jones is 44. Singer Rufus Wainwright is 44. Actress Franka Potente (poh-TEN’-tay) is 43. Actress A.J. Cook is 39. Actor Keegan Allen is 30. Actress Camila Banus is 27. Actress Selena Gomez is 25. Britain’s Prince George of Cambridge is four.

Thought for Today: “If America forgets where she came from, if the people lose sight of what brought them along, if she listens to the deniers and mockers, then will begin the rot and dissolution.”— Carl Sandburg (1878-1967).