^{Mary, Queen of Scots, in captivity, after Nicholas Hilliard, 1610 (Courtesy Scottish National Portrait Gallery)}

Today in History

• Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate. Her 1-year old son, James VI, replaces her (1567)
• Chile abolishes slavery (1823)
• Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneer into Salt Lake Valley, creating Salt Lake City (1847)
• Tennessee becomes the first Confederate state readmitted to the Union (1866)
• Writer O. Henry is released from prison after serving three years for embezzlement (1901)
• Machu Picchu, the “lost city of the Incas,” is rediscovered (1911)
• The Kellogg-Briand pact, outlawing war as an instrument of foreign policy, goes into effect (1929)
• The Dust Bowl heat wave hits its peak, reaching 109° F in Chicago (1935)
• Alabama drops rape charges against the Scottsboro Boys (1937)
• Cape Canaveral Air Force Station becomes operations (1950)
• US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev have a “kitchen debate” in Moscow (1959)
• Apollo 11 returns to Earth following the first successful lunar mission (1969)
• Watergate Scandal: The Supreme Court rules that Nixon must surrender the tapes (1974)

Birthdays

• Simón Bolivar, South American revolutionary leader (1783)
• Alexandre Dumas, author (1802)
• Alphonse Mucha, painter (1860)
• Junichiro Tanizaki, author (1886)
• Robert Graves, poet and mythologist (1895)
• Amelia Earhart, pilot (1897)
• Chief Dan George, actor and Native American leader (1899)
• Zelda Fitzgerald, author and socialite (1900)
• John D. MacDonald, author (19116)
• Bella Abzug, US politician (1920)
• Pat Oliphant, political cartoonist (1935)
• Ruth Buzzi, comedian and actress (1936)
• Dan Hedaya, actor (1940)
• Chris Sarandon, actor (1942)
• Gallagher, comedian (1946)
• Michael Richards, actor and comedian (1949)
• Lynda Carter, actress (1951)
• Gus Van Sant, filmmaker (1952)
• Pam Tillis, country musician (1957)
• Barry Bonds, baseball player (1968)
• Kadeem Harrison, actor (1965)
• Kristin Chenoweth, actress (1968)
• Jennifer Lopez, singer and actress (1969)
• Anna Paquin, actress (1982)

Deaths

• Martin Van Buren, 8th US President (1862)
• Constance Bennett, actress (1965)
• Peter Sellers, comedian and actor (1980)
• Isaac Bashevis Singer, author (1991)
• Albert Ellis, psychologist (2007)
• Chad Everett, actor (2012)
• Sherman Hemsley (2012)
• Virginia E. Johnson, sexologist, Masters partner (2013)

Birthdays and Celebrations

• Children’s Day (Vanuatu)
• Cousins Day
• National Drive-Thru Day (US)
• National Tequila Day (US)
• National Thermal Engineers Day (US)
• Navy Day (Venezuela)
• Pioneer Day (Utah)
• Police Day (Poland)
• Simón Bolivar Day (Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia)

July 24 is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years). There are 160 days remaining until the end of the year.