TODAY IN HISTORYTODAY is Thursday, July 19, the 200th day of 2007. There are 165 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE<$>

In 1553, 15-year-old Lady Jane Grey was deposed as Queen of England after claiming the crown for nine days. King Henry VIII’s daughter Mary was proclaimed Queen.

In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war began.

In 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill launched his “V for Victory” campaign in World War Two. The BBC played the first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which match the dot-dot-dot-dash Morse code for the letter V, before news bulletins.

In 1969, Apollo 11 and its astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin and Michael Collins, went into orbit around the moon.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“An optimist sees opportunity in every calamity. A pessimist sees calamity in every opportunity.” — Anonymous.