FACTS FOR TODAY

Today is Wednesday, July 17, 2013. This is
the 198th day of the year, with 167 days
remaining in 2013.
Fact of the Day: condiments
Condiments are food substances used to
heighten the natural flavors of foods,
stimulate the appetite, aid digestion, or
preserve certain foods; the word comes
from Latin condire "to preserve." The
custom of using condiments is as ancient
as cookery itself, the first ones being
mainly of vegetable origin and used as a
means of preserving. In the U.S., large
quantities of bottled sauces and
condiments are used to accompany
salads, meats, vegetables, etc.
Holidays
Feast day of The Seven Apostles of
Bulgaria, St. Clement of Okhrida and his
Companions, St. Leo IV, pope, St.
Ennodius, St. Kenelm, St. Speratus and his
Companions, St. Marcellina, and St.
Nerses Lampronazi.
Iraq: 17 July Revolution / Baath
Revolution Day.
Korea : Constitution Day.
Puerto Rico: Munoz-Rivera Day.
Events
1754 - King's College opened in New York
City; the Anglican academy would later
become Columbia University .
1821 - Spain ceded Florida to the United
States .
1867 - Harvard School of Dental Medicine
was established in Boston, Massachusetts
-- the first dental school in the U.S.
1898 - During the Spanish-American War ,
Spanish troops in Santiago, Cuba,
surrendered to U.S. forces.
1945 - President Harry Truman , Soviet
leader Josef Stalin , and British Prime
Minister Winston S. Churchill began
meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied
summit of World War II .
1955 - Disneyland opened in Anaheim,
California.
1975 - The U.S. spacecraft Apollo 18 and
the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 19 docked in
space.
1996 - Shortly after takeoff from New
York 's Kennedy International Airport, a
TWA Boeing 747 jetliner bound for Paris
exploded over the Atlantic Ocean , killing
all 230 people aboard. Investigators
concluded that the explosion resulted
from mechanical failure.
1997 - After 117 years, the Woolworth
Corp . closed its last 400 five-and-dime
stores.
1998 - An earthquake registering 7.0 on
the Richter scale, hits Papua New Guinea
resulting in a tsunami which swept the
coast.
Births
1889 - Erle Stanley Gardner , American
detective writer, creator of the character
Perry Mason.
1899 - James Cagney , American actor.
1912 - Art Linkletter , American television
host.
1917 - Phyllis Diller (born Phyllis Ada
Driver), American comedian.
1934 - Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor.
1952 - David Hasselhoff, American actor
and musician.
1954 - Angela Merkel , German
stateswoman and chancellor.
1960 - Mark Burnett , English-born
television producer.
Deaths
1790 - Adam Smith , Scottish political
economist.
1903 - James McNeill Whistler , American
painter.
1959 - Billie Holiday (born Eleanora
Fagan), American jazz singer.
1961 - Ty Cobb , American baseball player
and Hall of Famer.
1967 - John Coltrane, American jazz
musician.
2005 - Edward Heath, British politician.
2006 - Mickey Spillane , American autho