On This Day: Clinton announces ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy

July 19 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1848, “bloomers,” a radical departure in women’s clothing, were introduced to the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y. They were named after Amelia Jenks Bloomer.

In 1911, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. state to pass laws censoring movies.

In 1946, Marilyn Monroe was given her first screen test at Twentieth Century-Fox Studios. Even without sound, the test was enough to earn Monroe her first contract. She divorced her first husband, James Dougherty, he told UPI, because of a no-marriage clause in the contract.

In 1969, John Fairfax of Britain arrived at Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to become the first person to row across the Atlantic alone.

In 1989, a crippled DC-10 jetliner crash-landed in a cornfield in Sioux City, Iowa. One-hundred-eighty-four of the 296 people aboard survived.

In 1991, boxer Mike Tyson raped a contestant in the Miss Black America pageant in Indianapolis. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, but was convicted in 1992.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced its “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” policy toward homosexuals in the U.S. military. The policy was lifted in 2011.

In 1996, the Summer Olympics opened in Atlanta with a record 197 countries taking part.

In 1997, the IRA declared a cease-fire in its long war to force Britain out of Northern Ireland.

In 2005, U.S. Appeals Court Judge John Roberts was nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Supreme Court, replacing Sandra Day O’Connor, who resigned. After the death of William Rehnquist, Roberts’ nomination was changed to make him chief justice.

In 2010, a speeding express train slammed into the rear of a train preparing to leave a West Bengal station in India, killing more than 60 people and injuring about 100 others.

In 2012, the U.S. Defense Department said military personnel would be permitted to march in uniform in a San Diego Gay Pride Parade.

In 2014, actor James Garner, a star in many movies and the TV hits Maverick and The Rockford Files, died at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86.

In 2017, doctors diagnosed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., with a cancerous brain tumor during a scheduled eye procedure.