 652, let's take a look at highlights in history for today. 18th day of July, 1536, the English Parliament passed an act declaring the authority of the Pope void in England. 1918, South African anti-apartheid leader and President Nelson Mandela was born. Also on this date, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed a Presidential Succession Act, which placed the Speaker of the House and the Senate President pro tempore next in the line of succession after the Vice President.