June 20
1756 - British soldiers were thrown into the cell known as the "Black Hole of Calcutta."
1782 - The Great Seal of the United States was adopted.
1791 - King Louis XVI of France and his family attempted to flee in the so-called "Flight to Varennes," but were caught.
1819 - The 320-ton Savannah became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic.
1837 - Queen Victoria ascended the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.
1863 - West Virginia became the 35th state.
1893 - Lizzie Borden, accused of murdering her parents with an axe, was found innocent by a jury in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
1921 - U.S. Rep. Alice Mary Robertson (R-Oklahoma) became the first woman to preside over a session of the House of Representatives.
1943 - Race-related rioting erupted in Detroit; federal troops were sent in two days later to quell the violence that resulted in more than 30 deaths.
1944 - During World War II, Japanese naval forces retreated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea after suffering heavy losses to the victorious American fleet.
1947 - President Harry S. Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act, which was designed to restrict the power of labor unions, but had his veto overridden by Congress.
1963 - The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to set up a hotline communication link between the two superpowers.
1972 - Three days after the arrest of the Watergate burglars, President Richard Nixon met at the White House with his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman; the secretly made tape recording this meeting ended up with the notorious 18 1/2-minute gap.
1975 - The movie "Jaws" was released in theaters.
1990 - South African Black nationalist Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, arrived in New York City for a ticker-tape parade in their honor as they began an eight-city U.S. tour.
1994 - O.J. Simpson pleaded innocent in Los Angeles to the killings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
1997 - The tobacco industry agreed to a massive settlement in exchange for relief from mounting lawsuits and legal bills.
1999 - As the last of 40,000 Yugoslav troops left Kosovo, NATO declared a formal end to its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.
2001 - Andrea Yates drowned her five children, who ranged in age from 6 months to 7 years, in the bathtub in her family's home in Houston.
2002 - The U.S. Supreme Court declared that executing mentally retarded murderers was unconstitutionally cruel.
2009 - Neda Agha Soltan, age 27, was gunned down during election protests in Tehran, Iran; her dying moments were caught on video and circulated widely on the Internet.
2011 - The erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James was published by Vintage Books.
2014 - The Obama administration granted an array of new benefits to same-sex couples, including those living in states where gay marriage was against the law; the new measures ranged from Social Security and veterans benefits to work leave for caring for sick spouses.
2016 - Donald Trump abruptly fired campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in a dramatic shake-up designed to calm panicked Republican leaders and end an internal power struggle plaguing Trump’s White House bid.
2016 - The U.S. Supreme Court bolstered police powers, ruling 5-3 that evidence of a crime in some cases may be used against a defendant even if the police did something wrong or illegal in obtaining it.
2019 - Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz; it was the first time the Islamic Republic had directly attacked the U.S. military and tensions over the unraveling nuclear deal. A U.S. official said preparations had been made for a military strike against Iran in retaliation for the downing of the drone, but that the operation was called off with just hours to go.
2020 - At a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, President Donald Trump defined the election as a choice between national heritage and left-wing radicalism.
2020 - A federal judge ruled that former national security adviser John Bolton could move forward with his tell-all book, despite efforts by the Trump administration to block the release. A standoff between the Justice Department and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman ended when the prosecutor agreed to leave his job with an assurance that his investigations into allies of President Donald Trump would not be disturbed.
Birthdays
22 - Kayla Maisonet (actress)
22 - Mckenzie Small (actress)
24 - Maria Lark (actress)
26 - Serayah McNeill (actress)
32 - Chris Mintz-Plasse (actor)
35 - Dreama Walker (actress)
36 - Mark Saul (actor)
40 - Alisan Porter (actress/singer)
41 - Tika Sumpter (actress)
42 - Chuck Wicks (country singer)
50 - Josh Lucas (actor)
52 - Peter Paige (actor)
54 - Nicole Kidman (actress)
69 - John Goodman (actor)
72 - Lionel Richie (singer)
74 - Candy Clark (actress)
75 - Bob Vila (TV host)
76 - Anne Murray (singer)
77 - John McCook (actor)
79 - Brian Wilson (singer)
90 - James Tolkan (actor)
92 - Bonnie Bartlett (actress)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - June 20
1912 - The New York Giants and the Boston Braves combined for 17 runs in the ninth inning. The Giants scored 7 to the Braves' 10 runs. The Giants won the game 21-12.
1936 - Jesse Owens set a 100-meter record at 10.2 seconds.
1950 - Willie Mays graduated from high school and immediately signed with the New York Giants.
1967 - Muhammad Ali was convicted of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. (The conviction was later overturned by the Supreme Court.)
1980 - Robert Duran won a fifteen-round decision over Sugar Ray Leonard. It was the first defeat in twenty-eight professional fights for Leonard.
1993 - The Chicago Bulls defeated the Phoenix Suns in six games to win their third consecutive NBA championship.
1998 - Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs) hit two home runs for the second straight game. The feat set a major league baseball record of 16 home runs in June.
1999 - Lawrence Phillips became the first NFL Europe player to rush for more that 1,000 yards in a season.
1999 - The Dallas Stars won their first Stanley Cup by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games.
2001 - Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) hit his 38th home run of the season. The home run broke the major league baseball record for homers before the midseason All-Star break.
2004 - Ken Griffey Jr. of the Cincinnati Reds hit his 500th career home run.
2006 - The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in six games to win their first NBA championship.
2007 - Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers became the fifth player in major league history to hit 600 career home runs, joining Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.
2013 - The Miami Heat defeat the San Antonio Spurs in seven games to win their second straight NBA championship.
2020 - In front of an empty grandstand, Tiz the Law won the Belmont Stakes in New York; the race normally marks the end of the Triple Crown series, but all three races were postponed due to the pandemic and the Belmont happened to be run as the first leg in the series.
1756 - British soldiers were thrown into the cell known as the "Black Hole of Calcutta."
1782 - The Great Seal of the United States was adopted.
1791 - King Louis XVI of France and his family attempted to flee in the so-called "Flight to Varennes," but were caught.
1819 - The 320-ton Savannah became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic.
1837 - Queen Victoria ascended the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.
1863 - West Virginia became the 35th state.
1893 - Lizzie Borden, accused of murdering her parents with an axe, was found innocent by a jury in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
1921 - U.S. Rep. Alice Mary Robertson (R-Oklahoma) became the first woman to preside over a session of the House of Representatives.
1943 - Race-related rioting erupted in Detroit; federal troops were sent in two days later to quell the violence that resulted in more than 30 deaths.
1944 - During World War II, Japanese naval forces retreated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea after suffering heavy losses to the victorious American fleet.
1947 - President Harry S. Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act, which was designed to restrict the power of labor unions, but had his veto overridden by Congress.
1963 - The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to set up a hotline communication link between the two superpowers.
1972 - Three days after the arrest of the Watergate burglars, President Richard Nixon met at the White House with his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman; the secretly made tape recording this meeting ended up with the notorious 18 1/2-minute gap.
1975 - The movie "Jaws" was released in theaters.
1990 - South African Black nationalist Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, arrived in New York City for a ticker-tape parade in their honor as they began an eight-city U.S. tour.
1994 - O.J. Simpson pleaded innocent in Los Angeles to the killings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
1997 - The tobacco industry agreed to a massive settlement in exchange for relief from mounting lawsuits and legal bills.
1999 - As the last of 40,000 Yugoslav troops left Kosovo, NATO declared a formal end to its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.
2001 - Andrea Yates drowned her five children, who ranged in age from 6 months to 7 years, in the bathtub in her family's home in Houston.
2002 - The U.S. Supreme Court declared that executing mentally retarded murderers was unconstitutionally cruel.
2009 - Neda Agha Soltan, age 27, was gunned down during election protests in Tehran, Iran; her dying moments were caught on video and circulated widely on the Internet.
2011 - The erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James was published by Vintage Books.
2014 - The Obama administration granted an array of new benefits to same-sex couples, including those living in states where gay marriage was against the law; the new measures ranged from Social Security and veterans benefits to work leave for caring for sick spouses.
2016 - Donald Trump abruptly fired campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in a dramatic shake-up designed to calm panicked Republican leaders and end an internal power struggle plaguing Trump’s White House bid.
2016 - The U.S. Supreme Court bolstered police powers, ruling 5-3 that evidence of a crime in some cases may be used against a defendant even if the police did something wrong or illegal in obtaining it.
2019 - Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz; it was the first time the Islamic Republic had directly attacked the U.S. military and tensions over the unraveling nuclear deal. A U.S. official said preparations had been made for a military strike against Iran in retaliation for the downing of the drone, but that the operation was called off with just hours to go.
2020 - At a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, President Donald Trump defined the election as a choice between national heritage and left-wing radicalism.
2020 - A federal judge ruled that former national security adviser John Bolton could move forward with his tell-all book, despite efforts by the Trump administration to block the release. A standoff between the Justice Department and Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman ended when the prosecutor agreed to leave his job with an assurance that his investigations into allies of President Donald Trump would not be disturbed.
Birthdays
22 - Kayla Maisonet (actress)
22 - Mckenzie Small (actress)
24 - Maria Lark (actress)
26 - Serayah McNeill (actress)
32 - Chris Mintz-Plasse (actor)
35 - Dreama Walker (actress)
36 - Mark Saul (actor)
40 - Alisan Porter (actress/singer)
41 - Tika Sumpter (actress)
42 - Chuck Wicks (country singer)
50 - Josh Lucas (actor)
52 - Peter Paige (actor)
54 - Nicole Kidman (actress)
69 - John Goodman (actor)
72 - Lionel Richie (singer)
74 - Candy Clark (actress)
75 - Bob Vila (TV host)
76 - Anne Murray (singer)
77 - John McCook (actor)
79 - Brian Wilson (singer)
90 - James Tolkan (actor)
92 - Bonnie Bartlett (actress)
==========================================
Today in Sports History - June 20
1912 - The New York Giants and the Boston Braves combined for 17 runs in the ninth inning. The Giants scored 7 to the Braves' 10 runs. The Giants won the game 21-12.
1936 - Jesse Owens set a 100-meter record at 10.2 seconds.
1950 - Willie Mays graduated from high school and immediately signed with the New York Giants.
1967 - Muhammad Ali was convicted of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. (The conviction was later overturned by the Supreme Court.)
1980 - Robert Duran won a fifteen-round decision over Sugar Ray Leonard. It was the first defeat in twenty-eight professional fights for Leonard.
1993 - The Chicago Bulls defeated the Phoenix Suns in six games to win their third consecutive NBA championship.
1998 - Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs) hit two home runs for the second straight game. The feat set a major league baseball record of 16 home runs in June.
1999 - Lawrence Phillips became the first NFL Europe player to rush for more that 1,000 yards in a season.
1999 - The Dallas Stars won their first Stanley Cup by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games.
2001 - Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) hit his 38th home run of the season. The home run broke the major league baseball record for homers before the midseason All-Star break.
2004 - Ken Griffey Jr. of the Cincinnati Reds hit his 500th career home run.
2006 - The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in six games to win their first NBA championship.
2007 - Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers became the fifth player in major league history to hit 600 career home runs, joining Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.
2013 - The Miami Heat defeat the San Antonio Spurs in seven games to win their second straight NBA championship.
2020 - In front of an empty grandstand, Tiz the Law won the Belmont Stakes in New York; the race normally marks the end of the Triple Crown series, but all three races were postponed due to the pandemic and the Belmont happened to be run as the first leg in the series.
