Today is Monday, Aug. 2, the 214th day of 2010. There are 151 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1610, during his fourth voyage to the Western Hemisphere, English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into what is now known as Hudson Bay.

In 1776, members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

In 1876, frontiersman "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory by Jack McCall, who was later hanged.

In 1909, the original Lincoln "wheat" penny first went into circulation, replacing the "Indian Head" cent.

In 1923, the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, died in San Francisco; Vice President Calvin Coolidge became president.

In 1934, German President Paul von Hindenburg died, paving the way for Adolf Hitler's complete takeover.

In 1943, during World War II, Navy boat PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the Solomon Islands.

In 1974, former White House counsel John W. Dean III was sentenced to one to four years in prison for obstruction of justice in the Watergate coverup. (Dean ended up serving four months.)

In 1980, 85 people were killed when a bomb exploded at the train station in Bologna, Italy.

In 1985, 135 people were killed when a Delta Air Lines jetliner crashed while attempting to land at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. (The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert Storm.)

In 2000, Republicans awarded Texas Gov. George W. Bush their 2000 presidential nomination at the party's convention in Philadelphia and ratified Dick Cheney as his running mate. Former President Gerald R. Ford was hospitalized after suffering one, possibly two, small strokes. President Bill Clinton postponed the scheduled execution of Juan Raul Garza, a Texas drug kingpin and murderer (Garza was executed in June 2001).

In 2005, An Air France jetliner from Paris skidded off a runway at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and burst into flames; all 309 people aboard survived. President George W. Bush signed a free trade pact with five Central American nations and the Dominican Republic. American freelance journalist Steven Vincent was found shot to death in Basra, Iraq, after being abducted by armed men.

In 2009, A mystery from the 1991 Gulf War was finally solved as the Pentagon announced that the remains of missing Navy pilot Michael "Scott" Speicher had been found. Catriona Matthew won the Women's British Open for her first major title, beating Karrie Webb by three strokes.

Thought for Today:

"A beautiful soul has no other merit than its own existence." — Friedrich von Schiller, German author (1759-1805).