HISTORY AT A GLANCE
TODAY is Wednesday, July 19, the 200th day of 2017. There are 165 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1947 – The Prime Minister of the shadow Burmese government, Bogyoke Aung San and 6 of his cabinet and 2 non-cabinet members are assassinated by Galon U Saw. 1947 – Korean politician Lyuh Woon-hyung is assassinated. 1952 – The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were opened in Helsinki, Finland. 1961 – Tunisia imposes a blockade on the French naval base at Bizerte; the French would capture the entire town four days later. 1963 – Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention. 1964 – Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khánh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam. 1972 – Dhofar Rebellion: British SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat. 1979 – The Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua. 1980 – The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were opened in Moscow, Soviet Union. 1981 – In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French Prime Minister François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing that the Soviets had been stealing American technological research and development. 1983 – The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published. 1985 – The Val di Stava dam collapses killing 268 people in Val di Stava, Italy. 1997 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army resumes a ceasefire to end their 25-year campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland. 2014 – Gunmen in Egypt’s western desert province of New Valley Governorate attack a military checkpoint, killing at least 21 soldiers. Egypt reportedly declares a state of emergency on its border with Sudan.