| On this date in: |
| 1951 |
Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, was ordained as a priest. |
| 1958 |
Brazil won their first World Cup title with a 5-2 victory over host country Sweden in Stockholm on the strength of two goals by 17-year-old Pele. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1956 |
Actress Marilyn Monroe married playwright Arthur Miller in a civil ceremony in White Plains, N.Y. |
| 1967 |
Actress Jayne Mansfield, 34, and two male companions died when their car struck a trailer truck east of New Orleans. |
| 1972 |
The Supreme Court ruled the death penalty could constitute “cruel and unusual punishment.” |
| 1992 |
A divided Supreme Court ruled that women have a constitutional right to abortion, but the justices also weakened the right as defined in the Roe v. Wade decision. |
| 2001 |
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was elected to a second term. |
| 2003 |
Actress Katharine Hepburn died at age 96. |
| 2004 |
Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks became the fourth pitcher in major league history to record 4,000 career strikeouts. |
| 2006 |
The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that President George W. Bush’s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law. |
| 2007 |
The Apple iPhone went on sale. |
| 2009 |
Financier Bernard Madoff received a 150-year sentence for his multibillion-dollar fraud. |
| 2010 |
Talk show host Larry King announced he would step down from his CNN show in the autumn after 25 years on the air. |
