Today is Thursday, July 10, the 191st day of 2024. There are 174 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On July 10, 1940, during World War II, the Battle of Britain began as the German Luftwaffe launched attacks on southern England. (The Royal Air Force was ultimately victorious.)

Also on this date:

In 1509, theologian John Calvin, a key figure of the Protestant Reformation, was born in Noyon, Picardy, France.

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In 1890, Wyoming was admitted as the 44th US state.

In 1925, jury selection began in Dayton, Tennessee, in the trial of John T. Scopes, charged with violating the law by teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. (Scopes was convicted and fined, but the verdict was overturned on a technicality.)

In 1929, American paper currency was reduced in size as the government began issuing bills that were approximately 25 percent smaller.

In 1951, armistice talks aimed at ending the Korean War began at Kaesong.

In 1962, the first active communications satellite, Telstar 1, was launched by NASA.

In 1985, the Greenpeace protest ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk with explosives in Auckland, New Zealand, by French intelligence agents; one activist was killed.

In 1991, Boris N. Yeltsin took the oath of office as the first elected president of the Russian republic.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush lifted U.S. economic sanctions against South Africa.

In 2002, the U.S. House approved a measure to allow airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit to defend their planes against terrorists (President George W. Bush later signed the measure into law).

In 2015, South Carolina pulled the Confederate battle flag from its place of honor at the Statehouse after more than 50 years.

Today’s Birthdays:

Singer Mavis Staples is 86.
Actor Robert Pine is 84.
International Tennis Hall of Famer Virginia Wade is 80.
Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is 78.
Baseball Hall of Famer Andre Dawson is 71.
Rock singer Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 71.
Banjo player Bela Fleck is 67.
Actor Fiona Shaw is 67.
Singer/actor Jacky Cheung is 64.
Actor Alec Mapa is 60.
Country singer Gary LeVox (leh-VOH’) (Rascal Flatts) is 55.
Actor Sofia Vergara is 53.
Actor Adrian Grenier (grehn-YAY’) is 49.
Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (CHOO’-ih-tehl EHJ’-ee-oh-for) is 48.
Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas is 45.
Singer/actor Jessica Simpson is 45.
Actor Emily Skeggs is 35.
Pop singer Perrie Edwards (Little Mix) is 32.
Actor Isabela Merced is 24.

The state of Minnesota will now hold its collective breath as the immediate future of star center fielder Byron Buxton is suddenly unclear.

As the man leading off for the Twins on Wednesday night at Target Field, Buxton was hit by a pitch from Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton. Though he initially stayed in the game, stole second base, and scored a run, Buxton was replaced by infielder Brooks Lee his next time at the plate.

It’s officially a left-hand contusion for Buxton, according to the Twins, and it doesn’t sound like this is something that will keep him out for an extended period of time.

It’d be a shame if it does.

Not only has he been otherworldly for the Twins this season both at the plate and in the field, Buxton was set to compete in the Home Run Derby, as well as the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

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After being snubbed over the weekend despite some very impressive numbers, pitcher Joe Ryan was slowly starting to feel at peace with not being selected to compete in the All Star Game.

Never mind that he believed that he had more than earned the right to pitch next week in the Midsummer Classic alongside his peers.

Instead of letting the feelings of frustration consume him, he decided he was going to use them as motivation moving forward.

“You don’t like it, then play better,” Ryan said. “That was kind of the mindset I was trying to shift into.”

The motivation will have to come from elsewhere as Ryan has been named an All Star as an injury replacement for Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown. The honor is very much deserved for Ryan, who has been the best pitcher on the Twins over the past few months with an 8-4 record, a 2.76 ERA, and 116 strikeouts.

“It feels great,” Ryan said. “It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time.”

The official announcement came on Wednesday night at Target Field with the Twins hosting the Chicago Cubs. The home crowd gave Ryan a nice ovation as he smiled and tipped his hat from his spot in the dugout.

Though the public learned the news in real time with the Twins hosting the Cubs, Ryan found out for himself a few hours earlier when manager Rocco Baldelli called him into his office. As soon as Ryan walked in, Baldelli told him the news with president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and general manager Jeremey Zoll also present.

“He seemed so happy when we told him,” Baldelli said. “You could see it in his face. He’s worked really hard for it. Now he gets to be acknowledged the way he should.”

Not long after Ryan got word, he got to celebrate with his teammates in the clubhouse during a brief presentation, which also credited centerfielder Byron Buxton for being selected to the the All Star Game.

“It means a lot,” Buxton said of Ryan joining him next week in Atlanta. “I don’t think it’s something he had on his radar at the beginning of the year. It was just about coming out and pitching well. He’s done everything that we could possibly ask to get to this spot and it’s definitely good to see him get rewarded.”

What is Ryan most excited for now that he’s heading to the All Star Game for the first time in his career?

“I don’t know,” Ryan said. “I read the itinerary. It’s a lot of stuff. It’ll just be cool to go out there and see the best guys in the game right now.”

Fittingly, that distinction now applies to Ryan, as well.

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Buffeted by a continuous drop in visitors, the Science Museum of Minnesota is restructuring, cutting 43 full-time employees — or 13% of its staff — while reducing its $38 million general operating budget by $7 million.

Notices went out to impacted staff members on Wednesday and an all-staff meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

“We have some levels that are more affected than others, but the (lay offs) are throughout the museum,” said Alison Brown, the museum’s president and chief executive officer, in a phone interview Wednesday. A vice president of museum experience is retiring, she noted, and his position will not be filled.

“We’re not alone in facing these challenges,” Brown added. “Museums nationwide are experiencing unprecedented change, and successful institutions are those who adapt thoughtfully and decisively. We’re competing in a different world now. People are looking for immersive experiences. And we have to compete against the couch. People like to stay home.”

The restructuring will consolidate the museum’s operations from four management areas down to three, a realignment that museum officials called necessary given a 6-16% decline in museum attendance nationally since the outset of the pandemic in 2020 and a major increase in at-home entertainment.

The drop in attendance at the Science Museum, which was founded in 1907 and has been located on Kellogg Boulevard in downtown St. Paul since 1999, has been especially acute. “We’re down about 30%,” Brown said. “Our attendance this year is down 13% from June 30, 2024.”

To make ends meet over the course of the past five years, the museum has withdrawn some $15 million from its endowment, reducing its total endowment to $35 million.

Traveling exhibit revenue ‘almost completely gone’

Brown said the museum has also drawn revenue in the past by curating traveling exhibits for other museums around the country, and that revenue source is “almost completely gone. We had $1.5 million to $2 million in revenue from that.”

A Texas museum “pulled out at the last minute” after expressing concern about a traveling exhibit on skin — the largest organ of the human body — as potentially being perceived as diversity and equity-related. The exhibit, which focused on animal skin as well as human skin, “is a very STEM-related learning experience that’s joyful for families,” Brown said.

“We’ve had to make some hard decisions, because we have to balance our budget,” she added. “None of these things are easy to do. It’s a challenging time in the museum field. It’s not just us. Half of museums have not recovered to where they were before the pandemic. Since the pandemic, more people stay home.”

Despite cutting some 18% of its budget and more than 10% of its staff, the museum will continue to maintain paid professional actors on staff as part of its “Science Live” programming, which hosts a “live” dinosaur experience and other shows. Brown said visitors can still expect quality exhibits and programs, despite the belt-tightening.

Following a recent labor drive, about two-thirds of museum employees in 2023 joined the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, which represents their collective bargaining rights. In a written statement, museum officials said the lay offs were in keeping with the inaugural labor agreements, which were ratified this year.

“We notified them yesterday,” Brown said.

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