Posted by Esmerelda Emerald Espino
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Simone Biles Owens (born Simone Arianne Biles; March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast and is the equal ninth-most overall. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most decorated gymnast in the history of the Gymnastics World Championships, and is considered by many sources to be the greatest gymnast of all time. In 2022, Biles was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Biles won individual gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor; bronze on balance beam; and gold as part of the United States team, dubbed the “Final Five“. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where Biles was favored to win at least four of the six available gold medals, she withdrew from most of the competition due to struggles with “the twisties“, a temporary loss of air balance awareness. She ultimately won a silver medal with the US team and a bronze medal on the balance beam. Her partial withdrawal, focus on safety, mental health, and perseverance were praised. She is also a five-time World all-around champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019), five-time World floor exercise champion (2013–2015, 2018–2019), three-time World balance beam champion (2014–2015, 2019), two-time World vault champion (2018–2019), a seven-time United States national all-around champion (2013–2016, 2018–2019, 2021), and a member of the gold medal-winning American teams at the 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She is also a three-time World silver medalist (2013 and 2014 on vault, 2018 on uneven bars) and a three-time World bronze medalist (2015 on vault, 2013 and 2018 on balance beam).
Biles is the gymnast with the most World medals (25) and most World gold medals (19), having surpassed Vitaly Scherbo‘s record 23 World medals by winning her 24th and 25th, both gold, at the 2019 competition in Stuttgart. She is the female gymnast with the most World all-around titles (5). She is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the World Championships and the Olympics, and the first gymnast since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles simultaneously. She is the tenth female gymnast and first American female gymnast to win a World medal on every event, and the first female gymnast since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win a medal on every event at a single Olympic Games or World Championships, having accomplished this feat at the 2018 World Championships in Doha.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
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Died
- King Edward I of England –
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes author) –
- Vivien Leigh (actress) –
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Born
- Gustav Mahler (composer) –
- Leroy “Satchel” Paige (baseball player) –
- Robert A. Heinlein (sci-fi writer) –
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- Ringo Starr (Beatles’ drummer) –
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Events
- Hammerfest, Norway (known as northernmost town in world), granted town status–
- Cornerstone laid for first Catholic cathedral in the United States (Baltimore Basilica), in Baltimore, Maryland–
- Acting on instructions from Washington, D.C., Commodore John Drake Sloat ordered his troops to occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena thus beginning the United States annexation of California–
- Jim Thorpe won his first Olympic gold medal in the pentathlon–
- Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini became the first American saint to be canonized–
- First 6 enlisted women transferred from Naval Reserve to regular U.S. Navy–
- Roosevelt Campobello International Park created, New Brunswick–
- President Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor to become a Supreme Court justice; she became the first female member of the Supreme Court–
- Solar-powered aircraft Solar Challenger flew 163 miles in 5 hours, 23 minutes.–
- A series of bombs exploded in London’s underground railway, as well as on top of a double-decker bus in a terrorist attack against the country–
- Olympic gymnast Simone Biles became the youngest person to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. –
Weather
- The thermometer touched 127 degrees F at Parker, Arizona–
- In a rare July snowstorm, Glacier National Park received ten inches of snow and had 90 mph winds, while Denver had a record high temperature of 101 degrees F–
- A record high temperature for this date of 81 degrees F hit Anchorage, Alaska–
- Two inches of snow fell in Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska–
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