June 21
Today is the first day of summer.
1377 - King Edward III died after ruling England for 50 years; he was succeeded by his grandson, Richard II.
1527 - Italian statesman, diplomat and author of "The Prince," Niccolo Machiavelli died.
1788 - The U.S. Constitution went into effect when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.
1834 - Cyrus McCormick received a patent for a mechanical reaper.
1942 - An Imperial Japanese submarine fired shells at Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, causing little damage.
1954 - The American Cancer Society presented a study to the American Medical Association meeting in San Francisco which found that men who regularly smoked cigarettes died at a considerably higher rate than non-smokers.
1964 - Three civil rights workers -- James E. Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner -- disappeared in Philadelphia, Mississippi. (Their bodies were found in an earthen dam six weeks later; in 2005, 41 years after their disappearance, Edgar Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was convicted of their murders and sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died in January 2018.)
1973 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in Miller v. California, ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.
1977 - Menachem Begin of the Likud bloc became Israel's sixth prime minister.
1982 - John Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted murder of President Ronald Reagan.
1989 - A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that burning the U.S. flag was protected as a form of political protest under the First Amendment.
2004 - Michael Melvill pilots the first privately-developed spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, into space.
2010 - Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to charges of plotting a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square. (Shahzad was later sentenced to life in prison.)
2011 - The Food and Drug Administration announced that cigarette packs in the U.S. would have to carry macabre images that included rotting teeth and gums, diseased lungs and a sewn-up corpse of a smoker as part of a graphic campaign aimed at discouraging Americans from lighting up.
2013 - A one-page criminal complaint unsealed in federal court accused former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of espionage and theft of government property in the NSA surveillance case.
2013 - President Barack Obama nominated James Comey, a top Bush-era Justice official, to head the FBI, succeeding Robert Mueller.
2013 - The Food Network said it was dropping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted the first of two videotaped apologies online begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.
2018 - Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist and pundit Charles Krauthammer died at 68; he had said a year earlier that he was being treated for a tumor in his abdomen.
2022 - Jozef Walaszczyk, a member of the Polish resistance who rescued dozens of Jews during the Nazi German occupation of Poland during World War II, died at age 102.
Birthdays
24 - Kylee Renee (singer)
24 - Natalie Alyn Lind (actress)
26 - Rebecca Black (singer)
28 - Faye Winter (reality star)
34 - Jascha Washington (actor)
38 - Lana Del Rey (singer)
38 - Kris Allen (singer)
39 - Jessica White (model)
40 - Michael Malarkey (actor)
41 - Benjamin Walker (actor)
41 - Prince William (member of British royal family)
42 - Brandon Flowers (singer)
44 - Chris Pratt (actor)
49 - Maggie Siff (actress)
50 - Juliette Lewis (actress)
51 - Allison Moorer (actress)
56 - Carrie Preston (actress)
58 - Michael Dolan (actor)
59 - Doug Savant (actor)
59 - Sammi Davis (actor)
61 - Marc Copage (actor)
64 - Kathy Mattea (singer)
65 - Josh Pais (actor)
68 - Leigh McCloskey (actress)
71 - Robyn Douglass (actress)
76 - Michael Gross (actor)
76 - Meredith Baxter (actress)
82 - Joe Flaherty (comedian)
83 - Mariette Hartley (actress)
88 - Monte Markham (actor)
90 - Bernie Kopell (actor)
=============================================
Today in Sports History - June 21
1932 - Heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling lost a title fight by decision to Jack Sharkey. Schmeling's manager, Joe Jacobs, exclaimed "We was robbed!"
1939 - Lou Gehrig quit baseball due to illness.
1942 - Ben Hogan recorded the lowest score (to that time) in a major golf tournament. Hogan shot a 271 for 72 holes in Chicago.
1964 - Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a perfect game in a 6-0 win over the New York Mets.
1970 - Brazil defeats Italy 4-1 to win its third World Cup championship in front of more than 107,000 fans in Mexico City.
1970 - Tony Jacklin became the second British golfer in 50 years to win the U.S. Open golf tournament.
1986 - Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson signs a three-year contract to play baseball with the Kansas City Royals.
1988 - The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Detroit Pistons in seven games to win the NBA championship.
1991 - Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy are elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
1994 - German tennis superstar Steffi Graf becomes the first defending champion to lose in the first round of a major, falling to American Lorrie McNeal at Wimbledon.
1997 - The WNBA made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 67-57 in the inaugural game. The six other charter franchises included the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs and the Utah Starzz.
2012 - The Miami Heat defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to win the NBA championship.
2015 - Jordan Spieth, at age 21, becomes the youngest U.S. Open winner since 1923.
Today is the first day of summer.
1377 - King Edward III died after ruling England for 50 years; he was succeeded by his grandson, Richard II.
1527 - Italian statesman, diplomat and author of "The Prince," Niccolo Machiavelli died.
1788 - The U.S. Constitution went into effect when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.
1834 - Cyrus McCormick received a patent for a mechanical reaper.
1942 - An Imperial Japanese submarine fired shells at Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, causing little damage.
1954 - The American Cancer Society presented a study to the American Medical Association meeting in San Francisco which found that men who regularly smoked cigarettes died at a considerably higher rate than non-smokers.
1964 - Three civil rights workers -- James E. Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner -- disappeared in Philadelphia, Mississippi. (Their bodies were found in an earthen dam six weeks later; in 2005, 41 years after their disappearance, Edgar Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was convicted of their murders and sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died in January 2018.)
1973 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in Miller v. California, ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.
1977 - Menachem Begin of the Likud bloc became Israel's sixth prime minister.
1982 - John Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted murder of President Ronald Reagan.
1989 - A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that burning the U.S. flag was protected as a form of political protest under the First Amendment.
2004 - Michael Melvill pilots the first privately-developed spacecraft, SpaceShipOne, into space.
2010 - Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to charges of plotting a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square. (Shahzad was later sentenced to life in prison.)
2011 - The Food and Drug Administration announced that cigarette packs in the U.S. would have to carry macabre images that included rotting teeth and gums, diseased lungs and a sewn-up corpse of a smoker as part of a graphic campaign aimed at discouraging Americans from lighting up.
2013 - A one-page criminal complaint unsealed in federal court accused former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden of espionage and theft of government property in the NSA surveillance case.
2013 - President Barack Obama nominated James Comey, a top Bush-era Justice official, to head the FBI, succeeding Robert Mueller.
2013 - The Food Network said it was dropping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted the first of two videotaped apologies online begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.
2018 - Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist and pundit Charles Krauthammer died at 68; he had said a year earlier that he was being treated for a tumor in his abdomen.
2022 - Jozef Walaszczyk, a member of the Polish resistance who rescued dozens of Jews during the Nazi German occupation of Poland during World War II, died at age 102.
Birthdays
24 - Kylee Renee (singer)
24 - Natalie Alyn Lind (actress)
26 - Rebecca Black (singer)
28 - Faye Winter (reality star)
34 - Jascha Washington (actor)
38 - Lana Del Rey (singer)
38 - Kris Allen (singer)
39 - Jessica White (model)
40 - Michael Malarkey (actor)
41 - Benjamin Walker (actor)
41 - Prince William (member of British royal family)
42 - Brandon Flowers (singer)
44 - Chris Pratt (actor)
49 - Maggie Siff (actress)
50 - Juliette Lewis (actress)
51 - Allison Moorer (actress)
56 - Carrie Preston (actress)
58 - Michael Dolan (actor)
59 - Doug Savant (actor)
59 - Sammi Davis (actor)
61 - Marc Copage (actor)
64 - Kathy Mattea (singer)
65 - Josh Pais (actor)
68 - Leigh McCloskey (actress)
71 - Robyn Douglass (actress)
76 - Michael Gross (actor)
76 - Meredith Baxter (actress)
82 - Joe Flaherty (comedian)
83 - Mariette Hartley (actress)
88 - Monte Markham (actor)
90 - Bernie Kopell (actor)
=============================================
Today in Sports History - June 21
1932 - Heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling lost a title fight by decision to Jack Sharkey. Schmeling's manager, Joe Jacobs, exclaimed "We was robbed!"
1939 - Lou Gehrig quit baseball due to illness.
1942 - Ben Hogan recorded the lowest score (to that time) in a major golf tournament. Hogan shot a 271 for 72 holes in Chicago.
1964 - Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a perfect game in a 6-0 win over the New York Mets.
1970 - Brazil defeats Italy 4-1 to win its third World Cup championship in front of more than 107,000 fans in Mexico City.
1970 - Tony Jacklin became the second British golfer in 50 years to win the U.S. Open golf tournament.
1986 - Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson signs a three-year contract to play baseball with the Kansas City Royals.
1988 - The Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Detroit Pistons in seven games to win the NBA championship.
1991 - Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy are elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
1994 - German tennis superstar Steffi Graf becomes the first defending champion to lose in the first round of a major, falling to American Lorrie McNeal at Wimbledon.
1997 - The WNBA made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 67-57 in the inaugural game. The six other charter franchises included the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs and the Utah Starzz.
2012 - The Miami Heat defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games to win the NBA championship.
2015 - Jordan Spieth, at age 21, becomes the youngest U.S. Open winner since 1923.
