Today in History

On July 3, 1863, the pivotal three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ended in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops failed to breach Union positions during an assault known as Pickett’s Charge.

On this date

1775: Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1950: The first carrier strikes of the Korean War took place as the USS Valley Forge and the HMS Triumph sent fighter planes against North Korean targets.

1979: Dan White, convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison.

1986: President Ronald Reagan presided over a gala ceremony in New York Harbor that saw the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.

1988: The USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

2011: Novak Djokovic won his first Wimbledon, beating defending champion Rafael Nadal.

2012: Andy Griffith who made homespun American Southern wisdom his trademark as the wise sheriff in “The Andy Griffith Show,” died at his North Carolina home at age 86.

Today’s birthdays

Playwright Tom Stoppard is 88. Attorney Gloria Allred is 84. Humorist Dave Barry is 78. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 67. Rock musician Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yaz, Erasure) is 65. Actor Yeardley Smith is 61. Hockey Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne is 55. Actor Olivia Munn is 45. Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel is 38.