TODAY IN HISTORYToday is Tuesday, July 17, the 198th day of 2007. There are 167 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE<$>

In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

IIn 1945, the final Second World War conference began at Potsdam, Germany, bringing together Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet premier Joseph Stalin and US president Harry Truman.

In 1968, the Revolutionary Command Council headed by General Hassan al-Bakr took power in Iraq.

In 1969, Generalisimo Francisco Franco named Prince Juan Carlos as his eventual successor as head of state of Spain.

In 1981, 114 people were killed when a pair of walkways above the lobby of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel collapsed during a “tea dance”.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“Modo et modo non habebant modum.” (By and by never comes.) — St. Augustine (A.D. 354-A.D. 430).