@rh24bold:Today in History

Today is Friday, July 24, the 205th day of 2009. There are 160 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young and his followers arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah.

In 1858, Republican senatorial candidate Abraham Lincoln formally challenged Democrat Stephen A. Douglas to a series of political debates; the result was seven face-to-face encounters.

In 1866, Tennessee became the first state to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War.

In 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts — two of whom had been the first men to set foot on the moon — splashed down safely in the Pacific.

In 1975, an Apollo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific, completing a mission which included the first-ever docking with a Soyuz capsule from the Soviet Union.

Thought for Today:

"I never liked the middle ground — the most boring place in the world." — Louise Nevelson, Russian-American artist (1900-1988).