JULY 26TH

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Today is Saturday, July 26, the 208th day of 2008. There are 158 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On July 26, 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte issued an order creating a force of special agents that was a forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On this date:

• In 1775, Benjamin Franklin became Postmaster-General.
• In 1788, New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• In 1856, playwright Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland.
• In 1945, Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party. (Clement Attlee became the new prime minister.)
• In 1947, President Truman signed the National Security Act.
• In 1952, Argentina's first lady, Eva Peron, died in Buenos Aires at age 33.
• In 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.
• In 1958, Britain's Prince Charles, age 9, was made the Prince of Wales by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, although his investiture did not take place until the following year.
• In 1971, Apollo 15 was launched from Cape Kennedy, Fla.
• In 1986, kidnappers in Lebanon released the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months.

Ten years ago:

• The White House said President Clinton's lawyers were working with prosecutor Kenneth Starr to avert Clinton's direct testimony to a grand jury about the Monica Lewinsky case. (The president ended up testifying via closed-circuit television.)
• AT&T and British Telecommunications PLC announced they were forming a joint venture that would combine their international operations and develop a new Internet system. (The joint venture, known as Concert, proved a money-loser and was shut down.)

Five years ago:

• Backers of a drive to oust California Gov. Gray Davis held a boisterous celebration at the state Capitol in Sacramento, more than two months before the Oct. 7 recall election.
• Cuba celebrated the 50th anniversary of the start of Fidel Castro's revolution against Fulgencio Batista.
• New York Times music critic Harold C. Schonberg died in New York at age 87.

One year ago:

• The Senate passed, 85-8, a measure intensifying anti-terror efforts in the U.S.
• Wall Street suffered one of its worst losses of 2007, closing down more than 310 points.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Marjorie Lord is 90.
• Movie director Blake Edwards is 86.
• Actor James Best is 82.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer-songwriter Bobby Hebb is 70.
• Singer Dobie Gray is 68.
• Actress-singer Darlene Love is 67.
• Singer Brenton Wood is 67.
• Rock star Mick Jagger is 65.
• Movie director Peter Hyams is 65.
• Actress Helen Mirren is 63.
• Rock musician Roger Taylor (Queen) is 59.
• Actress Susan George is 58.
• Actor Kevin Spacey is 49.
• Rock singer Gary Cherone is 47.
• Actress Sandra Bullock is 44.
• Rock singer Jim Lindberg (Pennywise) is 43.
• Actor Jeremy Piven is 43.
• Rapper-reggae singer Wayne Wonder is 42.
• Actor Cress Williams is 38.
• Actress Kate Beckinsale is 35.
• Rock musician Dan Konopka (OK Go) is 34.
• Gospel/Contemporary Christian singer Rebecca St. James is 31.
• Christian rock musician Jamie Sharpe (Rush of Fools) is 19.

Thought for Today:

"One brave deed makes no hero."
John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet and essayist (1807-1892).

"Let's all be careful out there!"