TODAY IN HISTORY - JULY 5TH

1810 – P. T. Barnum, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1891) is born.

1811 – Venezuela declares independence from Spain.

1833 – Nicéphore Niépce, French inventor, created the first known photograph (b. 1765) dies.

1915 – The Liberty Bell leaves Philadelphia by special train on its way to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. This is the last trip outside Philadelphia that the custodians of the bell intend to permit.

1934 – "Bloody Thursday": Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco.

1935 – The National Labor Relations Act, which governs labor relations in the United States, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1937 – Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.

1946 – The bikini goes on sale after debuting during an outdoor fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris, France.

1954 – The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin.

1954 – Elvis Presley records his first single, "That's All Right," at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.

1969 – Walter Gropius, German architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building and Werkbund Exhibition (b. 1883) dies.

1971 – Right to vote: The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon.

1973 – A boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion (BLEVE) in Kingman, Arizona, following a fire that broke out as propane was being transferred from a railroad car to a storage tank, kills eleven firefighters.

1975 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.

1980 – Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins his fifth Wimbledon final and becomes the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in a row (1976–1980).

1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. His convictions are later overturned.

1996 – Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

1999 – U.S. President Bill Clinton imposes trade and economic sanctions against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

2002 – Ted Williams, American baseball player and manager (b. 1918) dies.

2012 – The Shard in London is inaugurated as the tallest building in Europe, with a height of 310 metres (1,020 ft).