Today is Tuesday, June 29, the 180th day of 2010. There are 185 days left in the year.

On this date

In 1520, Montezuma II, ninth and last emperor of the Aztecs, dies in Tenochtitlan of wounds he received, according to Spanish accounts, from his alienated subjects when he tried to speak to them three days earlier.

In 1888, professor Frederick Treves performs the first appendectomy in England.

In 1946, authorities in British-ruled Palestine arrested more than 2,700 Jews in an attempt to stamp out extremists.

In 1949, South Africa begins implementing apartheid, its racial segregation rules.

In 1963, dispute between Soviet Union and China worsens as Soviets demand recall of three officials at Chinese Embassy in Moscow.

In 1966, oil facilities near Hanoi, North Vietnam's capital, and Haiphong, its principal port, are bombed by United States for first time in Vietnam War.

In 1967, Israel defies international protests and unites divided city of Jerusalem for first time in two decades, following victory in the Six-Day War earlier in the month.

In 1970, the United States ended a two-month military offensive into Cambodia.

In 1972, the US Supreme Court ruled the death penalty as it was being meted out could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment." The ruling prompted states to revise their capital punishment laws.

In 1974, Soviet ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov, touring with the Bolshoi Ballet, defects in Toronto, Canada.

In 1988, the Supreme Court upheld the independent counsel law.

In 1990, the Lithuanian parliament agrees to a 100-day moratorium on declaration of independence in exchange for an end to the economic blockade ordered by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

In 1991, the Yugoslav federal army threatens to take "decisive military action" against Slovenia unless the republic stops fighting government troops.

Thought for Today

"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers" – Lord Alfred Tennyson, English poet (1809-1892).