On July 24, 1911, American archeologist Hiram Bingham gets his first look
at Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the
world’s top tourist destinations.

Tucked away in the rocky countryside northwest of Cuzco, Machu Picchu
is believed to have been a summer retreat for Inca leaders, whose civilization
was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th century. For hundreds
of years afterwards, its existence was a secret known only to the peasants
living in the region. That all changed in the summer of 1911, when Bingham
arrived with a small team of explorers to search for the famous “lost” cities
of the Incas.

Hiram Bingham III
(November 19, 1875 – June 6, 1956)

Rutger Oelsen Hauer (January 23, 1944 – July 19, 2019)

(FoxNews) – Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, best known for his role as Harrison
Ford’s nemesis in Ridley Scott’s 1982 film ‘Blade Runner,’ has died. He
was 75. According to Hauer’s agent, the actor died at his Dutch home
after ‘a very short illness.’ He leaves behind his wife of 50 years, Ineke
ten Cate, and daughter Aysha Hauer. Hauer’s agent, Steve Kenis, told
Fox News today that the actor died on Friday, July 19th.

On this day in 1969, Apollo 11, the U.S. spacecraft that had taken the
first astronauts to the surface of the moon, safely returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

United States President Richard Nixon was in the central Pacific recovery area
to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, prime recovery
ship for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, on July 24, 1969. The
Apollo 11 astronauts are, from left, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz
Aldrin. They were quarantined after splashdown to ensure they did not bring
back any contamination from the moon.