June 17
1775 - The Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston during the Revolutionary War.
1789 - The Third Estate in France declared itself a national assembly and undertook to frame a constitution.
1856 - The Republican Party opened its first convention, in Philadelphia.
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.
1928 - Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman.
1930 - President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which boosted U.S. tariffs to historically high levels, prompting foreign retaliation.
1940 - France asked Germany for terms of surrender in World War II.
1944 - The Republic of Iceland was established.
1963 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no locality may require recitation of the Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools.
1967 - China successfully tested its first thermonuclear bomb.
1972 - President Richard Nixon’s eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside the Democratic headquarters in Washington, D.C.’s, Watergate complex.
1994 - After leading police on a slow-speed chase on Southern California freeways, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. (Simpson was later acquitted in a criminal trial but held liable in a civil trial.)
2002 - Australian scientists announced they had "teleported" a laser beam -- breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location.
2008 - Hundreds of same-sex couples got married across California on the first full day that gay marriage became legal by order of the state's highest court. (However, California voters banned gay marriage in November.)
2009 - President Barack Obama extended some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
2009 - Nevada Sen. John Ensign resigned from the GOP leadership a day after admitting an affair with a former campaign staffer.
2012 - Rodney King, 47, whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police sparked widespread outrage and who struggled with addiction and repeated arrests, died in Rialto, California, in an apparent accidental drowning.
2013 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that states can’t demand proof of citizenship from people registering to vote in federal elections unless they get federal or court approval to do so.
2015 - Nine people were shot to death in a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina; suspect Dylann Roof was arrested the following morning. (Roof was convicted of federal hate crimes and sentenced to death; he later pleaded guilty to state murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.)
2017 - The jury in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault case declared itself hopelessly deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial for the 79-year-old TV star charged with drugging and groping a woman more than a decade earlier; prosecutors immediately announced they would pursue a second trial. (That trial resulted in Cosby’s conviction, but Pennsylvania’s highest court later overturned it.)
2019 - Iran announced that it was breaking compliance with the international accord that kept it from making nuclear weapons; the announcement meant that Iran could soon start to enrich uranium to just a step away from weapons-grade levels. The Trump administration followed Iran’s announcement by ordering 1,000 more troops to the Middle East.
2020 - Quaker Oats announced that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand, saying the company recognized that the character’s origins were “based on a racial stereotype.”
2021 - The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, left intact the entire Affordable Care Act, rejecting the latest major Republican-led effort to kill the national health care law known as “Obamacare.”
2021 - President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery; Juneteenth, or June 19, would be the 12th federal holiday.
Birthdays
22 - Odessa A'zion (actress)
25 - KJ Apa (actor)
26 - Taveeta Szymanowicz (actress)
28 - Julia Kelly (model/actress)
35 - Kendrick Lamar (rapper)
36 - Marie Avgeropoulos (actress)
40 - Jodie Whitaker (actress)
40 - Arthur Darvill (actor)
42 - Venus Williams (tennis player)
52 - Will Forte (actor/comedian)
56 - Jason Patric (actor)
57 - Dan Jansen (speed skater)
57 - Kami Cotler (actress)
59 - Greg Kinnear (actor)
62 - Thomas Haden Church (actor)
65 - Jon Gries (actor)
68 - Mark Linn-Baker (actor)
71 - Joe Piscopo (actor/comedian)
79 - Newt Gingrich (politician)
79 - Barry Manilow (singer)
90 - Peter Lupus (actor)
==================================
Today in Sports History - June 17
1960 - Ted Williams hits his 500th career home run.
1962 - Jack Nicklaus wins his first career major by winning the U.S. Open.
1962 - Brazil defeats Czechoslovakia 3-1 to win the World Cup.
1971 - Don Kessinger (Chicago Cubs) went 6-6 against St. Louis.
1976 - The NBA and ABA announced their plans to merge; the NBA accepts the Nets, Pacers, Nuggets and Spurs into the league while the other ABA franchises fold.
1992 - The Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns.
1997 - The NHL announces it will add a franchise in Nashville in 1998, Atlanta in 1999 and in 2000 will add teams in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Columbus, Ohio.
2003 - "Moneyball," a book about the 2003 Oakland Athletics baseball team and general manager Billy Beane's sabermetric approach, is published.
2008 - The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games for their first NBA championship since 1986 and their 17th in franchise history.
2010 - The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Boston Celtics in seven games to win the 16th NBA championship in franchise history.
2012 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at the Michigan International Speedway. It was his first win in four years and 143 races.
1775 - The Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston during the Revolutionary War.
1789 - The Third Estate in France declared itself a national assembly and undertook to frame a constitution.
1856 - The Republican Party opened its first convention, in Philadelphia.
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere.
1928 - Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman.
1930 - President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which boosted U.S. tariffs to historically high levels, prompting foreign retaliation.
1940 - France asked Germany for terms of surrender in World War II.
1944 - The Republic of Iceland was established.
1963 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no locality may require recitation of the Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools.
1967 - China successfully tested its first thermonuclear bomb.
1972 - President Richard Nixon’s eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside the Democratic headquarters in Washington, D.C.’s, Watergate complex.
1994 - After leading police on a slow-speed chase on Southern California freeways, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. (Simpson was later acquitted in a criminal trial but held liable in a civil trial.)
2002 - Australian scientists announced they had "teleported" a laser beam -- breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location.
2008 - Hundreds of same-sex couples got married across California on the first full day that gay marriage became legal by order of the state's highest court. (However, California voters banned gay marriage in November.)
2009 - President Barack Obama extended some benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
2009 - Nevada Sen. John Ensign resigned from the GOP leadership a day after admitting an affair with a former campaign staffer.
2012 - Rodney King, 47, whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police sparked widespread outrage and who struggled with addiction and repeated arrests, died in Rialto, California, in an apparent accidental drowning.
2013 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that states can’t demand proof of citizenship from people registering to vote in federal elections unless they get federal or court approval to do so.
2015 - Nine people were shot to death in a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina; suspect Dylann Roof was arrested the following morning. (Roof was convicted of federal hate crimes and sentenced to death; he later pleaded guilty to state murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.)
2017 - The jury in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault case declared itself hopelessly deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial for the 79-year-old TV star charged with drugging and groping a woman more than a decade earlier; prosecutors immediately announced they would pursue a second trial. (That trial resulted in Cosby’s conviction, but Pennsylvania’s highest court later overturned it.)
2019 - Iran announced that it was breaking compliance with the international accord that kept it from making nuclear weapons; the announcement meant that Iran could soon start to enrich uranium to just a step away from weapons-grade levels. The Trump administration followed Iran’s announcement by ordering 1,000 more troops to the Middle East.
2020 - Quaker Oats announced that it would retire the Aunt Jemima brand, saying the company recognized that the character’s origins were “based on a racial stereotype.”
2021 - The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, left intact the entire Affordable Care Act, rejecting the latest major Republican-led effort to kill the national health care law known as “Obamacare.”
2021 - President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery; Juneteenth, or June 19, would be the 12th federal holiday.
Birthdays
22 - Odessa A'zion (actress)
25 - KJ Apa (actor)
26 - Taveeta Szymanowicz (actress)
28 - Julia Kelly (model/actress)
35 - Kendrick Lamar (rapper)
36 - Marie Avgeropoulos (actress)
40 - Jodie Whitaker (actress)
40 - Arthur Darvill (actor)
42 - Venus Williams (tennis player)
52 - Will Forte (actor/comedian)
56 - Jason Patric (actor)
57 - Dan Jansen (speed skater)
57 - Kami Cotler (actress)
59 - Greg Kinnear (actor)
62 - Thomas Haden Church (actor)
65 - Jon Gries (actor)
68 - Mark Linn-Baker (actor)
71 - Joe Piscopo (actor/comedian)
79 - Newt Gingrich (politician)
79 - Barry Manilow (singer)
90 - Peter Lupus (actor)
==================================
Today in Sports History - June 17
1960 - Ted Williams hits his 500th career home run.
1962 - Jack Nicklaus wins his first career major by winning the U.S. Open.
1962 - Brazil defeats Czechoslovakia 3-1 to win the World Cup.
1971 - Don Kessinger (Chicago Cubs) went 6-6 against St. Louis.
1976 - The NBA and ABA announced their plans to merge; the NBA accepts the Nets, Pacers, Nuggets and Spurs into the league while the other ABA franchises fold.
1992 - The Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns.
1997 - The NHL announces it will add a franchise in Nashville in 1998, Atlanta in 1999 and in 2000 will add teams in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Columbus, Ohio.
2003 - "Moneyball," a book about the 2003 Oakland Athletics baseball team and general manager Billy Beane's sabermetric approach, is published.
2008 - The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games for their first NBA championship since 1986 and their 17th in franchise history.
2010 - The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Boston Celtics in seven games to win the 16th NBA championship in franchise history.
2012 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at the Michigan International Speedway. It was his first win in four years and 143 races.
