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TODAY IN HISTORY |
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Today’s Highlight in History: On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the original design of the Stars and Stripes, specifying a flag containing thirteen red and white stripes and thirteen stars. On this date: In 1775, the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created. In 1801, former American Revolutionary War general and notorious turncoat Benedict Arnold died in London. In 1922, Warren G. Harding became the first president heard on radio, as Baltimore station WEAR broadcast his speech dedicating the Francis Scott Key memorial at Fort McHenry. In 1934, Max Baer defeated Primo Carnera with an 11th round TKO to win the world heavyweight boxing championship in Long Island City, New York. In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis began transporting prisoners to the Auschwitz (OWSH’-vitz) concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, ruled 6-3 that children in public schools could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1967, the space probe Mariner 5 was launched from Cape Kennedy on a flight that took it past Venus. In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a ban on domestic use of the pesticide DDT, to take effect at year’s end. In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands. In 1985, the 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece. In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, 6-3, police checkpoints that examined drivers for signs of intoxication. Ten years ago: President George W. Bush, just back from a surprise visit to Iraq, dismissed calls for a U.S. withdrawal as election-year politics and refused to give a timetable or benchmark for success that would allow troops to come home. Five years ago: President Barack Obama made a four-hour visit to Puerto Rico, becoming the first president since John F. Kennedy to make an official visit to the U.S. territory. The long-delayed, problem-plagued musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” officially opened on Broadway. One year ago: Thousands of Syrians cut through a border fence and crossed over into Turkey, fleeing intense fighting in northern Syria between Kurdish fighters and jihadis. Inbee Park shot a final round 68 and finished at 19-under par to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for the third consecutive year and retake the No. 1 ranking in women’s golf. Today’s Birthdays: Actress Marla Gibbs is 85. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is 77. Writer Peter Mayle is 77. Actor Jack Bannon is 76. Country-rock musician Spooner Oldham is 73. Rock singer Rod Argent (The Zombies; Argent) is 71. Real estate mogul, TV personality and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is 70. Singer Janet Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 70. Rock musician Barry Melton is 69. Rock musician Alan White (Yes) is 67. Actor Eddie Mekka is 64. Actor Will Patton is 62. Olympic gold-medal speed skater Eric Heiden (HY’-dun) is 58. Jazz musician Marcus Miller is 57. Singer Boy George is 55. Rock musician Chris DeGarmo is 53. Actress Traylor Howard is 50. Actress Yasmine Bleeth is 48. Actor Faizon Love is 48. Actor Stephen Wallem is 48. International Tennis Hall of Famer Steffi Graf is 47. Screenwriter Diablo Cody is 38. Actor Lawrence Saint-Victor is 34. Actor Torrance Coombs is 33. Actor J.R. Martinez is 33. Actor-singer Kevin McHale is 28. Actress Lucy Hale is 27. Pop singer Jesy Nelson (Little Mix) is 25. Country singer Joel Crouse is 24. Actor Daryl Sabara is 24. Thought for Today: “It is the flag just as much of the man who was naturalized yesterday as of the men whose people have been here many generations.” – Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. senator and historian (1850-1924). |
