On this date in history:

In 1861, the first major military engagement of the Civil War occurred at Bull Run Creek, Va.

In 1925, the so-called Monkey Trial, which pitted Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan in Dayton, Tenn., in one of the great confrontations in legal history, ended with John Thomas Scopes convicted and fined $100 for teaching evolution in violation of state law.

In 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin, lifted off from the moon in the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle and docked with the command module Columbia piloted by Michael Collins.

In 1970, after 11 years of construction, the massive Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in Egypt was completed, ending the cycle of flood and drought in the Nile River region but triggering an environmental controversy.

In 2000, a report from special counsel John Danforth cleared U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and the government of wrongdoing in the April 19, 1993, fire that ended the Branch Davidian siege near Waco, Texas.

In 2007, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final installment in the best-selling series, sold more than 8.3 million copies on its first day in bookstores.

In 2011, Greece continued efforts to climb out of a financial chasm with a second bailout pledge from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund worth $157 billion. Earlier, the nation dealt with its debt crisis with the help of a $146 billion loan package.

In 2012, Staff Sgt. Luis A. Walker, a U.S. Air Force boot camp instructor convicted of sexual offenses, including rape, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The victims were female trainees.

In 2013, Phil Mickelson, five shots back starting the final round, birdied four of his last six holes, shot a 5-under-par 66 and won the British Open at Muirfield in Scotland -- his fifth Grand Slam title.

In 2014, former Army Staff Sgt. Ryan M. Pitts of New Hampshire was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House. Pitts was honored for his heroism in a fierce battle in which nine other soldiers were killed in the war in Afghanistan. Valor was everywhere that day and the real heroes are the nine men who made the ultimate sacrifice so the rest of us could come home, Pitts said.

Copyright 2016 by United Press International