On This Day:
Wednesday July 10, 2013

This is the 191st day of the year, with 174 days remaining in 2013.

Fact of the Day: tennis

Starting in the 1930s, many amateur tennis champions became professionals, leading to discussion of having "open" competition between amateurs and pros. Finally, in 1968, twelve open tournaments were approved and the era of open professionalism in tennis began. We see this now in the U.S. Open, French Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon.

Holidays

Feast day of St. Felicity, The Seven Brothers, St. Amelberga, and Saints Rufina and Secunda.
Bahamas: Independence Day.

Events

1460 - In England's Wars of the Roses, the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians and captured Henry VI at the Battle of Northampton.
1778 - In support of the American Revolution, Louis XVI declared war on England.
1850 - Vice President Millard Fillmore assumed the presidency, following the death of President Zachary Taylor. 
1890 - Wyoming became the 44th state. 
1900 - The Paris underground railway, the Metro, was opened.
1900 - The logo of the Victor Recording Company (later, RCA Victor), with the dog Nipper looking into the horn of a gramophone machine, was registered as a trademark.
1919 - President Woodrow Wilson personally delivered the Treaty of Versailles to the Senate, and urged its ratification. 
1925 - The official news agency of the Soviet Union, TASS, was established. 
1925 - The trial of Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes opened (for teaching evolution), with Clarence Darrow appearing for the defense and William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution.
1940 - During World War II, the 114-day Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces attacked southern England by air. 
1943 - The Allies began their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, in World War II.
1951 - Armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean conflict began at Kaesong.
1962 - The Telstar communications satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, allowing Europe and the United States to view each other's programs.
1973 - The Bahamas became independent after three centuries of British colonial rule. 
1985 - Bowing to consumer pressure, the Coca-Cola Company said it would resume selling old-formula Coke.
2002 - U.S. Navy officials confirmed that marine archaeologist Robert D. Ballard had likely found PT 109, the patrol torpedo boat commanded by John F. Kennedy, in the Solomon Islands; the vessel was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in 1943.
2006 - Pakistan International Flight PK-688 crashes in Multan, Pakistan shortly after takeoff, killing all 45 people on board.

Births

1509 - John Calvin, French religious reformer.
1835 - Henryk Wieniawski, Polish composer.
1839 - Adolphus Busch, American brewer.
1856 - Nikoli Tesla, Serbian-American inventor and researcher.
1871 - Marcel Proust, French author.
1915 - Saul Bellow, American novelist.
1943 - Arthur Ashe, American tennis player.
1947 - Arlo Guthrie, American performer, songwriter.
1980 - Adam Petty, American race car driver.

Deaths

1099 - El Cid, Spanish national hero.
1979 - Arthur Fiedler, long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specialized in popular music.
1989 - Mel Blanc, a prolific American voice actor, performing on radio, in television commercials, and most famously, in hundreds of cartoon shorts for Warner Bros.
2003 - Hartley Shawcross, British prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials.