Today in History.....July 31

On this day in …

1919, Germany's Weimar Constitution was adopted by the republic's National Assembly

1941, Herman Goering, ym"sh, writing under instructions from Hitler, ym"sh, ordered Reinhard Heydrich, ym"sh, SS general and Heinrich Himmler's, ym"sh, number-two man, "to submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."

1945, Pierre Laval, premier of the pro-Nazi, ym"sh, Vichy government, surrendered to U.S. authorities in Austria; he was turned over to France, which later tried and executed him

1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon's surface

1972, Democratic vice presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment

1981, a 7-week-old Major League Baseball strike ended
1991, President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow

1996, after President Clinton's announcement that he would sign it, 98 Democrats joined the House's Republican majority to pass a historic welfare overhaul bill. ALSO: The White House won agreement with key Republican lawmakers on a package of anti-terrorism measures

2001, Israeli helicopters fired missiles into offices of the Hamas movement, killing the terrorist group's leader, among others


2005, police arrested seven people during a raid on an apartment in southern England, bringing to 21 the number in custody in the relentless hunt for accomplices in the failed July 21 transit bombings in London