Today is Sunday, July 11, the 192nd day of 2010. There are 173 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On July 11, 1960, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about childhood innocence and racial injustice in a small Southern town during the Great Depression, was first published by J.B. Lippincott and Co.

On this date

In 1767, John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, was born in Braintree, Mass.

In 1798, the U.S. Marine Corps was formally re-established by a congressional act that also created the U.S. Marine Band.

In 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel in Weehawken, N.J.

In 1859, Big Ben, the great bell inside the famous London clock tower, chimed for the first time. (The clock itself had been keeping time since May 31.)

In 1864, Confederate forces led by Gen. Jubal Early began an abortive invasion of Washington D.C., turning back the next day.

In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first incumbent chief executive to travel through the Panama Canal.

In 1952, the Republican national convention, meeting in Chicago, nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower for president and Richard M. Nixon for vice president.

In 1979, the abandoned U.S. space station Skylab made a spectacular return to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere and showering debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.

In 1989, actor and director Laurence Olivier died in Steyning, West Sussex, England, at age 82.

Ten years ago

A Middle East summit hosted by President Bill Clinton opened at Camp David between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The American League defeated the National League 6-3 in the All-Star Game.

Five years ago

A top al-Qaida lieutenant and three other terror suspects escaped from a U.S. military jail in Afghanistan. (The identity of Omar al-Farouq wasn’t acknowledged until November 2005.)

One year ago

During a visit to sub-Saharan Africa, President Barack Obama addressed Ghana’s Parliament, where he challenged the continent of his ancestors to shed corruption and conflict in favor of peace. Funeral services were held in Hattiesburg, Miss. for former NFL star Steve McNair, who had been shot to death in Nashville a week earlier by Sahel Kazemi, who then took her own life.

Today’s Birthdays

Actor Tab Hunter is 79. Actress Susan Seaforth Hayes is 67. Singer Jeff Hanna (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 63. Ventriloquist-actor Jay Johnson is 61. Actor Bruce McGill is 60. Singer Bonnie Pointer is 60. Actor Stephen Lang is 58. Actress Mindy Sterling is 57. Actress Sela Ward is 54. Singer Peter Murphy is 53. Actor Mark Lester is 52. Jazz musician Kirk Whalum is 52. Singer Suzanne Vega is 51. Rock guitarist Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) is 51. Actress Lisa Rinna is 47. Rock musician Scott Shriner (Weezer) is 45. Actress Debbe Dunning is 44. Actor Justin Chambers is 40. Actor Michael Rosenbaum is 38. Pop-rock singer Andrew Bird is 37. Country singer Scotty Emerick is 37. Rapper Lil’ Kim is 35. Rock singer Ben Gibbard is 34. Rapper Lil’ Zane is 28. Pop-jazz singer-musician Peter Cincotti is 27. Actor David Henrie is 21.

Thought for Today

“You come into the world alone and you go out of the world alone yet it seems to me you are more alone while living than even going and coming.”

— Emily Carr, Canadian artist and author (1871-1945)