function makeArray(len) { for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) this[i] = null; this.length = len; } tinh= new makeArray(20); tinh[0]='July 31'; tinh[1]='

1498<\/h3>Columbus arrived at the island of Trinidad.'; tinh[2]='

1777<\/h3>The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army.'; tinh[3]='

1790<\/h3>The first U.S. patent was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Vermont for a process of making fertilizer.'; tinh[4]='

1875<\/h3>Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, died in Carter Station, Tenn., at age 66.'; tinh[5]='

1914<\/h3>The New York Stock Exchange closed due to the outbreak of World War I. (Trading didn\'t resume until December.)'; tinh[6]='

1919<\/h3>Germany\'s Weimar Constitution was adopted.'; tinh[7]='

1919<\/h3> Primo Levi, the Italian writer and chemist whose work was influenced by his captivity at Auschwitz, was born (d. April 11, 1987).'; tinh[8]='

1954<\/h3>Mount Godwin-Austen (K2), the world\'s second-highest peak, was climbed for the first time, by an Italian team led by Ardito Desio.'; tinh[9]='

1964<\/h3> The American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon\'s surface.'; tinh[10]='

1972<\/h3>Democratic vice-presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton withdrew from the ticket with George McGovern following disclosures that Eagleton had once undergone psychiatric treatment.'; tinh[11]='

1977<\/h3>The "Son of Sam" killer claimed his last victims when he shot and killed Stacy Moskowitz, 20, and seriously wounded her date as they sat in a parked car in Brooklyn, N.Y. (David Berkowitz was arrested less than two weeks later. He is serving six sentences of 25 years to life.)'; tinh[12]='

1981<\/h3>A seven-week strike by major league baseball players ended.'; tinh[13]='

1989<\/h3>A pro-Iranian group in Lebanon released a grisly videotape purportedly showing the hanged body of American hostage William R. Higgins.'; tinh[14]='

1990<\/h3>Nolan Ryan became the 20th major league pitcher to win 300 games as his Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.'; tinh[15]='

1991<\/h3>President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in Moscow.'; tinh[16]='

1995<\/h3>The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire Capital Cities-ABC Inc. in a $19 billion deal.'; tinh[17]='

2007<\/h3>The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Sudan\'s Darfur region.'; tinh[18]='

2008<\/h3>Scientists reported the Phoenix spacecraft had confirmed the presence of frozen water in Martian soil.'; tinh[19]='

2009<\/h3>Three American tourists were arrested by Iran on suspicion of espionage during what their families have said was a simple hiking trip along the Iraq-Iran border; Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal remain in Iranian custody.';