Updated July 9, 2012, 2:28 pm
On July 10, 1940, during World War II, the 114-day Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces began attacking southern England by air. By late October, Britain managed to repel the Luftwaffe, which suffered heavy losses.
On July 10, 1943, Arthur Robert Ashe, the tennis star who was the first black man to win a major championship, was born. Following his death on Feb. 6, 1993, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1832 President Andrew Jackson vetoed legislation to re-charter the Second Bank of the United States. 1850 Vice President Millard Fillmore became president following the death of Zachary Taylor. 1890 Wyoming became the 44th state. 1943 U.S. and British forces invaded Sicily during World War II. 1951 Armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean War began at Kaesong. 1962 The Telstar communications satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. 1964 The album “A Hard Day’s Night” by the Beatles was released. 1973 The Bahamas became independent after three centuries of British colonial rule. 1985 Coca-Cola Co., bowing to pressure from irate customers after the introduction of New Coke, said it would resume selling its old formula. 1991 Boris Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic. 1992 A federal judge in Miami sentenced former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega to 40 years in prison on drug and racketeering charges. 1999 The U.S. women’s soccer team won the World Cup at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. 2006 Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev was killed when a dynamite-laden truck in his convoy exploded. 2011 Britain’s best-selling Sunday tabloid the News of the World, brought down by a phone-hacking scandal, published it last issue. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actress Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) turns 40 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
Actor Adrian Grenier (“Entourage”) turns 36 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1921 Jake LaMotta, Boxing Hall of Famer, turns 91 1927 William Smithers, Actor, turns 85 1931 Jerry Herman, Broadway composer (“Hello Dolly”), turns 81 1939 Mavis Staples, R&B, gospel singer, turns 73 1945 Ron Glass, Actor (“Barney Miller”), turns 67 1945 Virginia Wade, Tennis Hall of Famer, turns 67 1947 Arlo Guthrie, Folk singer, turns 65 1954 Andre Dawson, Baseball Hall of Famer, turns 58 1954 Neil Tennant, Rock singer (Pet Shop Boys), turns 58 1958 Bela Fleck, Banjo player (Bela Fleck & the Flecktones), turns 54 1970 Gary LeVox, Country singer (Rascal Flatts), turns 42 1980 Thomas Ian Nicholas, Actor, turns 32 1980 Jessica Simpson, Singer, turns 32
Historic Birthdays
Arthur Robert Ashe 7/10/1943 – 2/6/1993 Tennis champion.Go to obituary »
54 John Calvin 7/10/1509 – 5/27/1564
French theologian56 Sir William Blackstone 7/10/1723 – 2/14/1780
English jurist and author68 Robert Chambers 7/10/1802 – 3/17/1871
Scottish author and publisher73 Camille Pissarro 7/10/1830 – 11/13/1903
French Impressionist painter74 Adolphus Busch 7/10/1839 – 10/10/1913
German-born American business leader and brewer86 Nikoli Tesla 7/10/1856 – 1/7/1943
Serbian-American inventor and researcher68 Finley Peter Dunne 7/10/1867 – 4/24/1936
American journalist and humorist51 Marcel Proust 7/10/1871 – 11/18/1922
French novelist79 Mary McLeod Bethune 7/10/1875 – 5/18/1955
American educator and civil rights advisor to Franklin Roosevelt86 Carl Orff 7/10/1895 – 3/29/1982
German composer and musical innovator55 Kurt Alder 7/10/1902 – 6/20/1958
German Nobel Prize-winning chemist (1950)71 Jorge Icaza 7/10/1906 – 5/26/1978
Ecuadorian novelist and playwright
