July 9th
Today in 1792, James Swan personally paid off the entire U.S. National Debt.Of course, back then, the National Debt was only a little over two-million bucks (about $28-million today).
Today in 1850,the 12th President of the United States, Zachary Taylor,died of cholera after serving only 16 months in office.
Today in 1877,the first Wimbledon tennis championships were held.
Today in 1893,Daniels Hale Williams performed the first successful open-heart surgery.
Today in 1922,Johnny Weissmuller, who later became famous for his screen portrayal of “Tarzan”,became the first man to swim 100-meters in under a minute. How fast was he? Weissmuller swam the distance in 58.6-seconds.
Today in 1932,King Camp Gillette, the U.S. inventor and manufacturer of the safety razor, died.
Today in 1962,the U.S.detonated a 1.25-megaton atomic bomb 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Code-named “Starfish Prime,”it was the first major nuclear explosion in spaceand caused three orbiting satellites to malfunction. The flash could be seen for 1000 miles.
Today in 1996,the National League won the All-Star game, defeating the American League 6-to-0 in Philadelphia.
Today in 1997,boxer Mike Tyson was banned from the ring and fined $3 million for biting the ear of his opponent Evander Holyfield.
Today in 1999,a jury in Los Angeles ordered General Motors Corporation to pay $4.9 billion to six people severely burned when their Chevrolet Malibu exploded in flames in a rear-end collision.
Today in 2000,Venus Williams beat Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her first Grand Slam title,becoming the first black women's champion at Wimbledonsince Althea Gibson in 1957-58.
Today in 2000,top-seeded Pete Sampras won his seventh Wimbledon title as he defeated Patrick Rafter, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2.
Today in 2017,CEO Elon Musk became the first owner of Telsa's first mass market electric car - the Model 3.
Today in 2018,President Donald Trump names Brett Kavanaugh as his Supreme Court nominee