Today is Monday, July 6, the 187th day of 2009. There are 178 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

July 6, 1944, an estimated 168 people died in a fire that broke out during a performance in the main tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Conn. (Among the survivors was future actor Charles Nelson Reilly, then age 13.)

On this date:

1535, St. Thomas More was executed in England for high treason.

1777, during the American Revolution, British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga in New York.

1809, French troops arrested Pope Pius VII, who had excommunicated Emperor Napoleon I.

1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur successfully tested an anti-rabies vaccine on a boy who had been bitten by an infected dog.

1917, during World War I, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence and Auda Abu Tayi captured the port of Aqaba from the Turks.

1928, the first all-talking feature, "Lights of New York," had its gala premiere in New York.

1957, Althea Gibson became the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2.

Today's Birthdays: Former first lady Nancy Reagan is 88. Actor Burt Ward is 64. Former President George W. Bush is 63. Actor-director Sylvester Stallone is 63. Actor Geoffrey Rush is 58. Rapper Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) is 39. Rapper 50 Cent is 33. Actresses Tamera and Actress Tia Mowry are 31. Rock singer Kate Nash is 22. Actor Jeremy Suarez ("Bernie Mac") is 19.

The Associated Press