On This Day: Tuesday July 26, 2005 This is the 207th day of the year, with 158 days remaining in 2005. Fact of the Day: cities warmer In the biggest cities, the temperature can be 18 degrees Fahrenheit higher than it would be if that land were undeveloped. Industrial manufacturing and air-conditioning actually create heat, plus the big buildings and roads absorb a lot of sunlight and store it efficiently. This causes the air to rise more over cities, which increases cloud formation, which in turn produces more rain and heavier thunderstorms. So if you live in a big city, your chances of experiencing thunderstorms also are greater than in the surrounding countryside. Holidays Feast day of St. Anne, St. Simeon the Armenian, St. Joachim, and St. Bartholomea Capitanio. Cuba: National Day. Liberia: Independence Day. Maldives: Independence Day. Events 1775 - The Continental Congress established a postal system for the colonies with Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general. 1788 - New York became the eleventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States of America. 1847 - The Republic of Liberia, formerly a colony of the American Colonization Society, declared its independence. It was the first African colony to secure independence. 1908 - U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte established the Office of the Chief Examine, which was the forerunner of the FBI. 1945 - In the 11th hour of World War II, Winston Churchill was forced to resign as British prime minister following his party's electoral defeat by the Labour Party. He became leader of the opposition and in 1951 was again elected prime minister. 1947 - President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act, creating the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Truman unified the Army and Navy under the Department of Defense. 1948 - U.S. President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, officially integrating the Armed Forces many years before the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. 1956 - The Suez Crisis began when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the British- and French-owned Suez Canal. 1974 - The U.S. House Judiciary Committee recommended impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. 1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act. 2000 - A federal judge approved a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than a half million plaintiffs who alleged the banks had hoarded money deposited by Holocaust victims. Births 1856 - George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright. 1875 - Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist. 1892 - Pearl Buck, American Nobel Prize-winning author. 1894 - Aldous Huxley, American philosopher, satirist, author. 1895 - Gracie Allen, American actress, wife and foil of George Burns. 1902 - William Lear, American engineer and industrialist who founded the Lear Jet Corporation. 1912 - Vivian Vance, American Emmy Award-winning actress. 1922 - Blake Edwards (McEdwards), American film director. 1928 - Stanley Kubrick, American film director. 1943 - Mick Jagger, British singer, member of the rock group Rolling Stones. Deaths 1863 - Samuel Houston, American lawyer, politician, and president of the Republic of Texas. 1952 - Eva Perón, Argentinian populist leader and wife of Argentina president Juan Perón.