Good morning. It's July 23rd — let's begin where we always do: on this very date in history.
📅 On This Day — July 23
🍨 (It's also National Vanilla Ice Cream Day.)
1962 — Jackie Robinson became the first African American player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
1982 — The International Whaling Commission passed a resolution to ban commercial whale hunting, phasing it out after 1986.
1986 — Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.
1995 — Amateur astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp independently spotted Comet Hale-Bopp, which would blaze across the sky nearly a year later.
1999 — Eileen Collins commanded Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-93 — the first woman to command a U.S. spaceflight — deploying the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Now, let's set the dial back to 1987…
⏪ REWIND: 1987 Ronald Reagan is in the White House, a first-class stamp costs 22 cents, gas runs about 90 cents a gallon — and Washington's attention is locked on a Marine lieutenant colonel testifying under oath.
📰 The Headlines This month, the country is riveted by the Iran-Contra hearings — Lt. Col. Oliver North's dramatic congressional testimony, followed just over a week ago by National Security Adviser John Poindexter taking the stand, in the most-watched televised hearings since Watergate.
🎬 At the Movies In its second week is RoboCop — Paul Verhoeven's ultraviolent, surprisingly sharp sci-fi satire about a slain Detroit cop rebuilt as a cyborg enforcer.
🎵 On the Charts Still at #1, nearly two weeks in, is "Alone" by Heart — the power ballad (originally written for someone else entirely) that became the band's biggest hit.
🏆 In Sports Just yesterday, in one of cycling's most dramatic days ever, Ireland's Stephen Roche collapsed and needed oxygen after clawing back nearly all of a 25-second deficit on the brutal climb to La Plagne — a ride that all but sealed his Tour de France title.
🏰 The Disney Vault This summer's family pick has been Benji the Hunted — the famous movie dog, lost in the Oregon wilderness, fending for himself and adopting a litter of orphaned cougar cubs.
— secondary touches —
👟 Step Challenge: the Summer 2026 Step Challenge is rolling — grab the free Pacer app and walk with us: Join the challenge (already have Pacer? Club code E42727228). Every step counts.
💡 Health Snap: A cold treat in the heat is fine — the trick is pairing it with real water intake, not using it to replace fluids altogether. Want a simple, no-cost health baseline to build on? Grab your free health report.
🎉 Born on a July 23rd — or know someone who was?
Forward this to them right now — there's no better "this is the day you were born" gift than a little time travel.
🎂 In good company: July 23 babies include actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967), actor Daniel Radcliffe (1989), Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (1892), and Depeche Mode's Martin Gore (1961).
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