Today is Thursday, July 28, the 210th day of 2016. There are 156 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE

In 1540, King Henry VIII’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed, the same day Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

In 1655, French dramatist and novelist Cyrano de Bergerac, the inspiration for a play by Edmond Rostand, died in Paris at age 36.

In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine.

In 1821, Peru declared its independence from Spain.

In 1866, British children’s author Beatrix Potter was born in London.

In 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

In 1945, the U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2.

In 1959, in preparation for statehood, Hawaiians voted to send the first Chinese-American, Republican Hiram L. Fong, to the U.S. Senate and the first Japanese- American, Democrat Daniel K. Inouye, to the U.S. House of Representatives.