Today In History

Associated Press

Today in History: Friday, June 05, 2015

On June 5, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles after claiming victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary. Gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was immediately arrested.

On this date in:

1723 Economist Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.

1933 The United States went off the gold standard.

1947 Secretary of State George C. Marshall, speaking at Harvard University, outlined an aid program for Europe that came to be known as the Marshall Plan.

1967 War erupted in the Middle East as Israel raided Egyptian military targets. Syria, Jordan and Iraq entered the conflict.

1981 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that five homosexuals in Los Angeles had come down with a rare kind of pneumonia; they were the first recognized cases of what became known as AIDS.

2002 Elizabeth Smart, 14, was kidnapped from her bedroom in her family’s Salt Lake City home. (She was rescued in March 2003.)

2004 Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died in Los Angeles at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

2007 Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation. (President George W. Bush later commuted the prison sentence.)

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Mark Wahlberg turns 44 years old today.

Bill Moyers, Broadcast journalist, 81

Laurie Anderson, Rock singer, 68

Ken Follett, Author, 66

Suze Orman, TV personality, 64

Richard Butler, Rock singer (Psychedelic Furs), 59

Kenny G, Jazz saxophonist, 59

Ron Livingston, Actor (“Band of Brothers,” “Office Space”), 48

Brian McKnight, R&B singer, 46

Chad Allen, Actor, 41

Liza Weil, Actress, 38

Rock musician Pete Wentz, (Fall Out Boy) turns 36 years old today.

Sound Off!

Top