Local History

50 years ago: St. Willibrord’s Catholic Church in Gibbon officially completed its new facility.

10 years ago: MVAC (Minnesota Valley Action Council) Thrift & More opened its doors for business at 1607 S. Broadway.

5 years ago: Jordan Cholik, 23, of Lakefield, had the fastest overall time with 18:33 in the Bavarian Blast 5K Run Walk.

One year ago: Domeier’s German Store at 1020 S. Minnesota St. celebrated its 84th anniversary.

And elsewhere…

Today is Saturday, July 20, the 201st day of 2019. There are 164 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights:

On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after reaching the surface in their Apollo 11 lunar module.

On this date:

In 1861, the Congress of the Confederate States convened in Richmond, Virginia.

In 1923, Mexican revolutionary leader Pancho Villa was assassinated by gunmen in Parral.

In 1944, an attempt by a group of German officials to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb failed as the explosion only wounded the Nazi leader. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a fourth term of office at the Democratic convention in Chicago.

In 1960, a pair of Polaris missiles were fired from the submerged USS George Washington off Cape Canaveral, Fla., at a target more than 1,100 miles away.

In 1968, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games, organized by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, were held at Soldier Field in Chicago.

In 1976, America’s Viking 1 robot spacecraft made a successful, first-ever landing on Mars.

In 1977, a flash flood hit Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 80 people and causing $350 million worth of damage.

In 1982, Irish Republican Army bombs exploded in two London parks, killing eight British soldiers, along with seven horses belonging to the Queen’s Household Cavalry.

In 1989, Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi (soo chee) was placed under house arrest by the military government of Myanmar.

In 1990, Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, one of the court’s most liberal voices, announced he was stepping down.

In 1993, White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster Jr., 48, was found shot to death in a park near Washington, D.C.; his death was ruled a suicide.

In 2012, gunman James Holmes opened fire inside a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises,” killing 12 people and wounding 70 others. (Holmes was later convicted of murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

Ten years ago: A roadside bomb killed four American troops in eastern Afghanistan.

One year ago: President Donald Trump escalated his threats to punish China for its trade policies, warning in an interview airing on CNBC that he was prepared to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports.

Today’s Birthdays: Rockabilly singer Sleepy LaBeef is 84. Actress Diana Rigg is 81. Rock musician Carlos Santana is 72. Actress Donna Dixon is 62. Actor Josh Holloway is 50. Actress Sandra Oh is 48. Actor Omar Epps is 46. Actress Judy Greer is 44. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen is 39. Actor John Francis Daley is 34. Country singer Hannah Blaylock (Edens Edge) is 33. Dancer-singer-actress Julianne Hough is 31. Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is 31. Actress Billi Bruno is 23.

Thought for Today: “We may well go to the moon, but that’s not very far. The greatest distance we have to cover still lies within us.” — Charles de Gaulle, French statesman (1890-1970).