Today in history: July 26
In 1956, the Italian liner Andrea Doria sank off New England, some 11 hours after colliding with the Swedish liner Stockholm, and more events that happened on this day in history.
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1775: Benjamin Franklin
In 1775, the Continental Congress established a Post Office and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster-General.
1945: Winston Churchill
In 1945, Winston Churchill resigned as Britain’s prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party; Clement Attlee succeeded him.
1953: Fidel Castro
In 1953, Fidel Castro began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista (fool-HEN’-see-oh bah-TEES’-tah) with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. (Castro ousted Batista in 1959.)
1956: Andrea Doria
In 1956, the Italian liner Andrea Doria sank off New England, some 11 hours after colliding with the Swedish liner Stockholm; at least 51 people died, from both vessels.
1990: The Americans with Disabilities Act
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.
2006: Andrea Yates
In 2006, in a dramatic turnaround from her first murder trial, Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity by a Houston jury in the bathtub drownings of her five children; she was committed to a state mental hospital.
2011: David Wu
Ten years ago: Democratic Rep. David Wu of Oregon announced he would resign amid the political fallout from an 18-year-old woman’s allegations of an unwanted sexual encounter with him, charges that Wu denied.
2011: The White House
Ten years ago: The White House threatened to veto emergency House legislation that aimed to avert a threatened national default.
2013: Ariel Castro
In 2013, Ariel Castro, the man who’d imprisoned three women in his Cleveland home, subjecting them to a decade of rapes and beatings, pleaded guilty to 937 counts in a deal to avoid the death penalty. (Castro later committed suicide in prison.)
2016: Hillary Clinton
Five years ago: Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
2016: Japan
Five years ago: A former employee stabbed 19 disabled people to death and injured two dozen others at a residential care facility in Japan. (Satoshi Uematsu, who said he was trying to help the world by killing people he thought were burdens, was sentenced to death.)
2017: Donald Trump
In 2017, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he would not “accept or allow” transgender people to serve in the U.S. military. (After a legal battle, the Defense Department approved a new policy requiring most individuals to serve in their birth gender.)
2020: Hurricane Hanna
One year ago: A day after roaring ashore as a hurricane, Hanna lashed the Texas Gulf Coast with high winds and drenching rains.
2020: John Lewis
One year ago: A processional with the casket of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, where Lewis and other civil rights marchers were beaten 55 years earlier.
2020: Olivia de Havilland
One year ago: Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland, best known as the kindly Melanie in “Gone With the Wind,” died at her home in Paris at the age of 104.
2020: Portland
One year ago: Authorities declared a riot in Portland, Oregon, after protesters breached a fence surrounding the city’s federal courthouse; thousands had gathered for another night of protests over the killing of George Floyd and the presence of federal agents.
President Biden set to announce end of U.S. mission in Iraq; typhoon headed for Olympics; and Jan. 6 committee begins work. Get caught up.