Today is Thursday, July 16, the 197th day of 2009. There are 168 days left in the year.
463 _ Start of Lunar Cycle of Hilarius
622 _ Origin of the Islamic Era (Muharram 1, 1 A.H.)
1212 _ Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa; end of Moslem power in Spain
1439 _ Kissing is banned in England
1926 _ National Geographic takes first natural-color undersea photos
1936 _ First x-ray photo of arterial circulation, Rochester, N.Y.
1945 _ First atomic bomb detonated, Trinity Site, Alamogordo, New Mexico
1951 _ Novel ``Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger published
1969 _ Apollo 11, carrying first men to land on the Moon, launched
1981 _ Shukuni Sasaki of Japan spins 72 plates simultaneously