Today is Friday, July 31, the 212th day of 2009. There are 153 days left in the year.
1498 _ Christopher Columbus discovers island of Trinidad
1777 _ Marquis de Lafayette, 19, made major-general of Continental Army
1790 _ First U.S. patent granted, to Samuel Hopkins for a potash process
1922 _ 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson rides world's first water skis (Minn.)
1925 _ Unemployment Insurance Act passed in England
1942 _ German SS gases 1,000 Jews in Minsk, Belorussia
1949 _ Lightning strikes a baseball field in Florida kills the SS and 3rd baseman
1962 _ Federation of Malaysia formed
1966 _ Alabamans burn Beatle products due to John Lennon's anti-Jesus remark
1990 _ Nolan Ryan becomes the 20th major league pitcher to win 300 games