Today's Highlight in History: On July 31, 1991, President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.
On this date: In 1777, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army.
In 1875, the 17th president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, died in Carter County, Tenn., at age 66.
In 1919, Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted by the republic's National Assembly.
In 1941, Japan apologized to the United States a day after its bombers damaged the gunboat USS Tutuila at Chongqing, China.
In 1961, for the first time in baseball history, an All-Star Game ended in a draw, 1-1, as rain stopped the contest at Fenway Park. (It was the second of two All-Star Games played that season.) IBM introduced its first Selectric typewriter with its distinctive "typeball." In 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 reached the moon, transmitting pictures back to Earth before crashing onto the lunar surface.
In 1971, Apollo 15 crew members David Scott and James Irwin became the first astronauts to use a lunar rover on the surface of the moon.
In 1972, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.
In 1981, a seven-week-old Major League Baseball strike ended.
In 1989, a pro-Iranian group in Lebanon released a grisly videotape showing the body of American hostage William R. Higgins, a Marine lieutenant-colonel, dangling from a rope.
Ten years ago: The U.S. House of Representatives voted, 265-162, to ban all cloning of human embryos, casting Congress' first votes on the divisive ethical issue. Israeli helicopters fired missiles into offices of the militant Hamas movement, killing eight Palestinians, including a senior Hamas leader and two young boys walking on the street outside.
Five years ago: Cuban President Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother, Raul, after gastrointestinal surgery.
One year ago: Chelsea Clinton married investment banker Marc Mezvinsky in the upstate New York village of Rhinebeck. Orchestra leader Mitch Miller died in New York at age 99. Tom Mankiewicz, 68, a screenwriter of James Bond Films such as "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Live and Let Die," and the first two "Superman" movies, died in Los Angeles.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Don Murray is 82. Jazz composer-musician Kenny Burrell is 80. Actor Geoffrey Lewis is 76.
Actress France Nuyen is 72. Actress Susan Flannery is 72. Singer Lobo is 68. Actress Geraldine Chaplin is 67. Former movie studio executive Sherry Lansing is 67. Singer Gary Lewis is 66. Rock singer Bob Welch is 65. Actor Richard Griffiths is 64. Actor Lane Davies is 61. International Tennis Hall of Famer Evonne Goolagong Cawley is 60. Actor Barry Van Dyke is 60. Actor Alan Autry is 59.
Jazz composer-musician Michael Wolff is 59. Actor James Read is 58.
Actor Michael Biehn is 55. Masssachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is 55.
Rock singer-musician Daniel Ash (Love and Rockets) is 54.
Entrepreneur Mark Cuban is 53. Rock musician Bill Berry is 53.
Actor Wesley Snipes is 49. Country singer Chad Brock is 48.
Musician Fatboy Slim is 48. Rock musician Jim Corr is 47. Author J.K. Rowling is 46. Actor Dean Cain is 45. Actor Ben Chaplin is 42. Actor Loren Dean is 42. Retired NFL quarterback Gus Frerotte is 40. Actress Annie Parisse is 36. Actor Robert Telfer is 34. Country singer-musician Zac Brown is 33.
Actor-producer-writer B.J. Novak is 32. Actor Eric Lively is 30.
Country singer Blaire Stroud (3 of Hearts) is 28. Singer Shannon Curfman is 26. Actor Rico Rodriguez (TV: "Modern Family") is 13.
Thought for Today: "The trouble with the public is that there is too much of it." Don Marquis, American journalist, poet and dramatist (1878-1937).
This feature is only a sample of the full "Today in History," Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. You are invited to see the entire story at KXNet.com
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