Today in History: Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walk on the moon
Today in History:
On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after reaching its surface in their Apollo 11 lunar module.
Also on this date:
In 1917, America's World War I draft lottery began as Secretary of War Newton Baker, wearing a blindfold, reached into a glass bowl and pulled out a capsule containing the number 258 during a ceremony inside the Senate office building.
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.
In 1951, Jordan's King Abdullah I was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian gunman who was shot dead on the spot by security.
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 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.; it was ruled a suicide.
In 2006, the Senate voted 98-0 to renew the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act for another quarter-century.
In 2007, President George W. Bush signed an executive order prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment, including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.
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.)
In 2015, the United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations after more than five decades of frosty relations rooted in the Cold War.
Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., is 89. Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Oliva is 87. Artist Judy Chicago is 86. Country singer T.G. Sheppard is 81. Singer Kim Carnes is 80. Rock musician Carlos Santana is 78. Author and commentator Thomas Friedman is 72. Rock musician Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) is 69. Actor Frank Whaley is 62. Conservationist and TV personality Terri Irwin is 61. Rock musician Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) is 59. Actor Josh Holloway (TV: 'Lost') is 56. Singer Vitamin C is 56. Actor Sandra Oh is 54. Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg is 52. Actor Omar Epps is 52. Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen is 50. Hockey Hall of Famer Pavel Datsyuk is 47. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen is 45. Actor Percy Daggs III is 43. Actor John Francis Daley is 40. Dancer-singer-actor Julianne Hough is 37. Former MLB pitcher Stephen Strasburg is 37.
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The Hill
5 minutes ago
- The Hill
Johnson on Gaza hunger crisis: ‘Hamas has stolen the food‘
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the images of people, including children, starving in Gaza 'disturbing and heartbreaking,' but insisted that Hamas 'has stolen the food,' despite reports from the Israeli military that there is no proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid. Johnson, during an interview on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' was shown images emerging out of Gaza of children starving and was asked about Israel's decision to enact a 'tactical pause' on the fighting amid mass starvation concerns. He noted that Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., and other Israeli officials told him that Hamas has stolen 'a huge amount' of food since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023. 'The images are disturbing and heartbreaking,' he said. 'We all want peace there in that region.' 'I will tell you that I have spoken to my Ambassador Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and to other Israeli officials,' Johnson added. 'This is important to note: Israel, since this war began, has supplied over 94,000 truckloads full of food. It's enough food to feed 2 million people for two years trying to get that into Gaza. But Hamas has stolen the food, a huge amount.' He also criticized 'the system,' calling it 'broken,' adding that beginning tomorrow, the IDF will open 'new channels of distribution to get it [food] to those people who are desperately in need.' 'The UN needs to work with Israel to make sure that the food is getting to the people that need it most,' he said. 'Meet the Press' Host Kristen Welker pushed back on Johnson's claim, citing a New York Times article that reported that the Israeli military never found proof that Hamas systematically stole aid from the United Nations, which is the largest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza. Over the weekend, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) criticized President Trump over his handling of Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire, more aid to the territory and the freedom of all hostages held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. 'The starvation and death of Palestinian children and civilians in an ongoing war zone is unacceptable,' he said.
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Republicans trapped between Trump's Epstein secrecy and angry constituents
What are you doing during your summer vacation? U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson apparently plans to spend his six-week break trying to get his story straight about the Epstein files fiasco. That's a daunting challenge for the Republican from Louisiana, who has flip-flopped from calling for "transparency" on the issue to sending the House home early on July 22 to shut down Republican attempts to release those files. But that's life when you unconditionally surrender the Article I powers that the U.S. Constitution grants Congress as a coequal branch of government to a scandal-prone presidency held by Donald Trump. If Johnson's vacation were a scary summer movie, we'd have to call it 'I Know What You Did With the Epstein Files.' Things don't look much better for the Republicans who are in control of the U.S. Senate. Trump wants that chamber to work through the summer break so it can rubber-stamp his nominees for various positions. If this also were a horror film, it would be a sequel – "No Way Out, Again" – because Trump did the same thing with a compliant Senate during his first term in 2018. So here are the options for congressional Republicans from now until early September: Go home and endure town halls with constituents angry about Trump's broken promise to release the Epstein files and the looming negative impacts of his signature budget bill. Or stay in Washington and answer a growing rush of questions as the Epstein news keeps beating like a "Tell-Tale Heart." Scary stuff, indeed. Johnson has served less as a speaker of the House and more like a servant to Trump's expectations. And that was working for him. He helped pass Trump's budget bill, which slashes health care for the working poor while offering short-term tax relief for some in return for permanent tax cuts for America's wealthiest people. He did that as well with Trump's "rescission" package, which canceled federal funding that Johnson's own House had previously approved. He and Trump were looking forward to a victory lap on all that, despite consistent polling that shows a majority of American voters don't care for it at all. Opinion: Indiana's economy has grown fangs — and it's feeding on taxpayers But the scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, who has been dead for six years, will not pass away. Trump exploited conspiracy theories on the reelection campaign trail about his old cruising buddy, a convicted pedophile who died in prison in 2019 during Trump's first term while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. But then Trump, who promised while campaigning in 2024 to release the Department of Justice's files on Epstein, decided recently to keep them secret, enraging his own supporters and putting his Republican allies in Congress in a tight spot. Maybe it's just a coincidence that Attorney General Pam Bondi is reported to have briefed Trump in May that he is mentioned in those very files that his supporters want to see released. So Trump's in a tight spot, too. Johnson's slipshod response to the Epstein secrecy has been to advocate for transparency, which Trump doesn't want, and then revert to presidential servitude by trying to stamp out any attempts at transparency. This has provoked something we rarely see anymore – bipartisanship – as Republican and Democratic members of the House voted together to subpoena the Epstein files. This doesn't look like it will simmer down in six weeks. Republicans are hitting the road with a story that isn't selling well. A July 23 Fox News poll found that 67% of American voters think Trump's administration has not been transparent about Epstein, including 60% of the Republicans surveyed and 56% of Trump's so-called MAGA supporters. And then there's this: Fox News found that 4 out of 5 people in the survey said they were following the Epstein case. We're closing in on the end of July – vacation season – and these people are tuned all the way in on this. Opinion: Tariffs will cost families $2,500 this year — but wages won't rise to help Trump's budget bill was also underwater in the poll, with 58% disapproving and 39% in support. That makes for testy town halls, if the Republicans dare to hold them in the next six weeks. And that feels like a lose-lose scenario with the 2026 midterm elections looming ever larger. Face your angry constituents and be ready to go viral on social media, exactly the kind of things that would-be opponents mine for campaign commercials. Or duck and cover and get branded a coward, exactly the kind of thing that would-be opponents exploit for campaign commercials. 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Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Elon Musk has a simple solution for Tesla's problems in Europe
Elon Musk's time in Washington, D.C., leading the Department of Government Efficiency may have been short, but he seems to have learned a lot from the experience. As an unofficial member of President Donald Trump's cabinet, Musk was only allowed to serve in government for 130 days. Once his time was up, his relationship with Trump disintegrated, leading to a war of words and online threats that have continued to this week. Related: Tesla is set to deliver dismal sales, but here's why investors don't care While Musk promised investors he would spend more time at Tesla HQ in Austin once his time in D.C. ended, he has flirted with starting his own political party and spends much of his social media bandwidth commenting on government concerns. But his political interests aren't just confined to the U.S.; Musk has also commented on the nonexistent white genocide he believes is happening in South Africa. Musk has also publicly endorsed the AfD, a German right-wing party that some view as extremist, and he was accused of doing a Nazi salute on stage. Coincidentally, Germany is also one of the many European countries where Tesla sales have fallen sharply since Musk embarked on his far-right political journey. Just a couple of years after it spent billions to build a European hub in Germany, Tesla's future on the mainland appears to be worse than ever. Tesla sales in Europe were down nearly 40% from January to April compared to the previous year. In June, sales dropped another 39%. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, Tesla's first-half sales were down 44% in Europe. Image source: Leong/Washington Post via Getty Images Months ago, Musk seemingly acknowledged that his political activities have played a part in his company's decline. After sales in Germany reportedly fell 62%, and numbers in Norway, the UK, and France weren't much better, Musk said that any politically left-leaning buyers who abandoned the company have been replaced by people who align better with his politics. Perhaps his time in Washington has made him more diplomatic, because he wasn't so flippant when talking to investors this week. During his second-quarter earnings call, he detailed how Tesla would win back customers. "It's worth noting that we do not actually yet have approval for supervised FSD in Europe. So our sales in Europe, we think, will improve significantly once we are able to give customers the same experience that they have in the U.S.," Musk said. Related: Tesla driver gives damning testimony in fatal Autopilot crash trial "[FSD] really is the single biggest demand driver." But that doesn't explain why the company reported six months of falling market share. January YouGov polls showing 71% unfavorability ratings in Germany and the UK may explain the decline a bit more. One reason investors may have trouble swallowing Musk's assertion that a lack of FSD is the reason for falling European sales is the company's recent C-suite shakeup. Tesla reportedly fired Omead Afshar, its head of North American and European operations, in June following a massive drop in European EV deliveries. Afshar, who joined Tesla in 2017, was just promoted to the position in November. The Wall Street Journal described Afshar as one of Musk's closest confidants at the company. Tesla shares closed the week down about 4%, rallying sharply after the steep decline immediately following its earnings release. Related: Tesla fires longtime insider as Europe slump deepens The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
