On July 26, 1775, Benjamin Franklin became the first postmaster general.
In 1788 New York became the 11th state to ratify the Constitution.
In 1908 U.S. Atty. Gen. Charles Bonaparte issued an order creating an investigative agency that was a forerunner of the FBI.
In 1922 actor Jason Robards was born in Chicago.
In 1943 Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger was born in Dartford, England.
In 1948 President Harry Truman signed two executive orders banning discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and in federal employment.
In 1952 Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson II was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
In 1953 Fidel Castro launched a revolt against Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba.
In 1964 Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.
In 1986 Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco of Joliet was freed by the Islamic Jihad after nearly 19 months as a hostage in Lebanon.
In 1990 President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In 1996 President Bill Clinton rejected a clemency plea from Jonathan Pollard, imprisoned after being caught spying for Israel.
In 2000 a federal judge in New York approved a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than 500,000 plaintiffs who alleged the banks had hoarded money deposited by Nazi Holocaust victims.
In 2001 China granted parole to two U.S.-based scholars convicted of spying for Taiwan.
In 2005 America’s manned space program roared back to life with the launch of Discovery, 21/2 years after the Columbia disaster. Also, Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux recorded his 3,000 career strikeout against San Francisco in the third inning of a 3-2, 11-inning victory for the Giants.
