Today in History: July 14, the storming of the Bastille

Today is Sunday, July 14, the 196th day of 2024. There are 170 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 14, 1789, in an event symbolizing the start of the French Revolution, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and released the seven prisoners inside.

Also on this date:

In 1798, Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to publish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the United States government.

In 1881, outlaw William H. Bonney Jr., alias “Billy the Kid,” was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner in present-day New Mexico.

In 1912, American folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma.

In 1933, all German political parties, except the Nazi Party, were outlawed by the government of Nazi Germany.

In 1945, Italy formally declared war on Japan, its former Axis partner during World War II.

In 1960, 26-year-old Jane Goodall first arrived at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her study of the wild chimpanzees living there.

In 2004, the Senate scuttled a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. (Forty-eight senators voted to advance the measure — 12 short of the 60 needed — and 50 voted to block it.)

In 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff arrived at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina to begin serving a 150-year sentence for his massive Ponzi scheme. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)

In 2013, thousands of demonstrators across the country protested a Florida jury’s decision the day before to clear George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

In 2015, world powers and Iran struck a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

In 2016, terror struck Bastille Day celebrations in the French Riviera city of Nice as a large truck plowed into a festive crowd, killing 86 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State extremists; the driver was shot dead by police.

In 2020, researchers reported that the first COVID-19 vaccine tested in the U.S. boosted people’s immune systems as scientists had hoped; the vaccine was developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc.

In 2022, the National Galleries of Scotland said a previously unknown self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh was discovered behind another of the artist’s paintings when experts took an X-ray of the canvas ahead of an upcoming exhibition.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Former football player and actor Rosey Grier is 92.
• Actor Vincent Pastore (TV” “The Sopranos”) is 78.
• Music company executive Tommy Mottola (muh-TOH’-luh) is 76.
• Movie producer Scott Rudin is 66.
• Singer-songwriter Anjelique Kidjo is 64.
• Singer-guitarist Kyle Gass (Tenacious D) is 64.
• Actor Jane Lynch is 64.
• Actor Jackie Earle Haley is 63.
• Actor Matthew Fox is 58.
• Rock singer-musician Tanya Donelly is 58.
• Olympic gold medal snowboarder Ross Rebagliati is 53.
• Country singer Jamey Johnson is 49.
• Hip-hop musician Taboo (Black Eyed Peas) is 49.
• Actor/writer/producer Phoebe Waller-Bridge is 39.
• Rock singer Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons) is 37.
• MMA fighter Conor McGregor is 36.