Moments in Time – July 5, 2023

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• On July 17, 1941, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak of 56 consecutive games ended as 67,468 people watched him at bat against the Cleveland Indians. His record still stands, though Pete Rose came the closest to matching it when he hit in 44 consecutive games in 1978.
• On July 18, 1984, 21 people were shot to death and 19 more were injured in a San Ysidro, California, McDonald’s by James Oliver Huberty, who told his wife as he was leaving his house with three guns that he was “hunting humans.” The fatal spree ended only when Huberty was fatally shot by a SWAT team sniper.
• On July 19, 1879, Doc Holliday committed his first murder, killing Mike Gordon, who’d tried to persuade a girl working at Holliday’s New Mexico saloon to run away with him. When she declined, the frustrated Gordon began shooting into the saloon from the street, and Holliday returned fire, dropping him with one bullet.
• On July 20, 1963, Jan and Dean’s “Surf City,” which trumpeted “Two girls for every boy!” in its opening line, reached No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts. Penned by the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, the tune helped create an image of California as an endless summer paradise.
• On July 21, 1925, John T. Scopes, a science and math teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, was convicted of violating the state’s law against teaching evolution in public schools in what became known as the “Trial of the Century.” He was ordered to pay a $100 fine, but the sentence was overturned on a technicality.
• On July 22, 2003, U.S. Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch, a POW rescued from an Iraqi hospital, received a hero’s welcome upon returning to her hometown of Palestine, West Virginia. Lynch and several others were captured by Iraqi forces four months earlier while riding in a supply convoy, when their unit was ambushed after a wrong turn.
• On July 23, 1829, William Austin Burt patented the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter. It wasn’t a commercial success, possibly due to its slow speed or the lack of a widespread market. The working model constructed for the patent was destroyed in the 1836 Patent Office fire.

© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.