Today in history - July 24

By The Associated PressMon Jul 24, 6:36 AM ET

Today is Monday, July 24, the 205th day of 2006. There are 160 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 24, 1866, Tennessee became the first state to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War.

On this date:

In 1783, Latin American revolutionary Simon Bolivar was born in Caracas, Venezuela.

In 1862, the eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, died in Kinderhook, N.Y.

In 1929, President Hoover proclaimed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which renounced war as an instrument of foreign policy.

In 1937, the state of Alabama dropped charges against five black men accused of raping two white women in the "Scottsboro Case."

In 1959, during a visit to the Soviet Union, Vice President Richard M. Nixon engaged in a "Kitchen Debate" with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at a U.S. exhibition.

In 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts — two of whom had been the first men to set foot on the moon — splashed down safely in the Pacific.

In 1974, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Nixon had to turn over subpoenaed White House tape recordings to the Watergate special prosecutor.

In 1975, an Apollo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific, completing a mission which included the first-ever docking with a Soyuz capsule from the Soviet Union.

In 1991, Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer died in Miami at age 87.

In 2002, nine coal miners were trapped in a flooded mine in western Pennsylvania; the story ended happily three days later with the rescue of all nine.

Ten years ago: Two bombs blamed on Tamil separatists ripped through a commuter train near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 64 civilians and wounding more than 400.

Five years ago: A Chinese court sentenced two U.S. residents to 10 years in prison on charges of spying for Taiwan. (China released Gao Zhan and Qin Guangguang two days later.)

One year ago: Lance Armstrong closed out his cycling career with a seventh consecutive Tour de France victory. Sir Richard Doll, the British scientist who first established a link between smoking and lung cancer, died in Oxford, England, at age 92.

Today's Birthdays: Movie director Peter Yates is 77. Actress Jacqueline Brookes is 76. Political cartoonist Pat Oliphant is 71. Comedian Ruth Buzzi is 70. Actor Mark Goddard is 70. Actor Dan Hedaya is 66. Actor Chris Sarandon is 64. Comedian Gallagher is 60. Actor Robert Hays is 59. Former Republican national chairman Marc Racicot is 58. Actor Michael Richards is 57. Actress Lynda Carter is 55. Movie director Gus Van Sant is 54. Country singer Pam Tillis is 49. Actor Kadeem Hardison is 41. Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez is 38. Actress Laura Leighton is 38. Actor John P. Navin Jr. is 38. Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth is 36. Actor Eric Szmanda is 31. Actress Elisabeth Moss is 24. Actress Anna Paquin is 24. Actress Mara Wilson is 19.

Thought for Today: "My feeling is that there is nothing in life but refraining from hurting others, and comforting those that are sad." — Olive Schreiner, South African author and feminist (1855-1920).