June 27
1844 - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints founder Joseph Smith, and his brother, Hyrum, were murdered by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
1880 - Author-lecturer Helen Keller, who lived most of her life without sight or hearing, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama.
1898 - Joshua Slocum became the first person to successfully circumnavigate the earth alone when he landed his sloop Spray in Newport, Rhode Island, a 46,000-mile trip.
1922 - The Newbery Medal for children's literature was first awarded.
1942 - The FBI announced the arrests of eight Nazi saboteurs who came ashore in Florida and Long Island, New York. (All were tried and sentenced to death; six were executed while two were spared for turning themselves in and cooperating with U.S. authorities.)
1944 - During World War II, American forces liberated the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans.
1950 - President Harry S. Truman ordered the U.S. Air Force and Navy into the Korean War.
1954 - The world's first atomic power station opened at Obninsk, near Moscow.
1957 - Hurricane Audrey slammed into coastal Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm; the official death toll from the storm was placed at 390, although a variety of state, federal and local sources have estimated the number of fatalities at between 400 and 600.
1969 - Police and gays clashed at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, fostering the gay rights movement.
1974 - President Richard Nixon opened an official visit to the Soviet Union.
1985 - The legendary Route 66, running from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, was decertified -- a victim of the Interstate Highway System.
1991 - Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black jurist to sit on the nation's highest court, announced his retirement. (His departure led to the contentious nomination of Clarence Thomas to succeed him.)
2003 - The National Do-Not-Call Registry, formed to combat unwanted telemarketing calls and administered by the Federal Trade Commission, enrolled almost 750,000 phone numbers on its first day.
2005 - BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders that had spread fear across Wichita, Kansas, beginning in the 1970s.
2006 - A constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the American flag died in a Senate cliffhanger, falling one vote short of the 67 needed to send it to states for ratification.
2011 - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago on a wide range of corruption charges, including the allegation that he'd tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. (Blagojevich was later sentenced to 14 years in prison; his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump in February 2020.)
2013 - The Senate passed, 68-32, comprehensive legislation offering the hope of citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in America's shadows; however, the measure became stalled in the GOP-led House.
2013 - President Barack Obama visited Senegal, where he urged African leaders to extend equal rights to gays and lesbians but was bluntly rebuked by Senegal's president, Macky Sall, who said his country "still isn't ready" to decriminalize homosexuality.
2016 - The U.S. Supreme Court issued its strongest defense of abortion rights in a quarter-century, striking down Texas' widely replicated rules that sharply reduced abortion clinics.
2018 - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote often decided cases on abortion, gay rights and other contentious issues, announced his retirement.
2018 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government workers cannot be forced to contribute to labor unions that represent them in collective bargaining.
2022 - The U.S. Supreme Court said that a high school football coach who sought to kneel and pray on the football field after games was protected by the Constitution.
Birthdays
24 - Chandler Riggs (actor)
25 - Sistine Stallone (model)
26 - H.E.R. (singer)
27 - Lauren Jauregui (singer)
32 - Madylin Sweeten (actress)
34 - Matthew Lewis (actor)
35 - Alanna Masterson (actress)
36 - Ed Westwick (actor)
36 - India de Beaufort (actress)
37 - Sam Claflin (actor)
37 - Drake Bell (actor)
39 - Khloe Kardashian (reality star)
45 - Zach Williams (singer)
47 - Leigh Nash (singer)
48 - Tobey Maguire (actor)
51 - Christian Kane (actor)
52 - Yancey Arias (actor)
54 - Viktor Petrenko (figure skater)
57 - J.J. Abrams (director)
63 - Brian Drillinger (actor)
64 - Lorrie Morgan (singer)
68 - Isabelle Adjani (actress)
72 - Julia Duffy (actress)
74 - Vera Wang (fashion designer)
81 - Bruce Johnston (singer)
================================
Today in Sports History - June 27
1876 - Dave Force (Philadelphia Athletics) became the first National League player to get six hits in a nine inning game.
1969 - The countries of Honduras and El Salvador break off diplomatic relations over the result of a soccer match between the two nations.
1972 - Bobby Hull signed a 10-year hockey contract for $2,500,000. He became a player and coach of the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association.
1984 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules to end the NCAA's monopoly on college football television broadcasts.
1988 - In Atlantic City, Mike Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds.
1990 - Jose Canseco set a record when he signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics for $4.7 million.
1990 - The New Jersey Nets select Syracuse power forward Derrick Coleman with the first pick in the NBA Draft.
2001 - The Washington Wizards select Glynn Academy center Kwame Brown with the first pick in the NBA Draft.
2004 - The Boston Red Sox scored 10 runs before making an out against the Florida Marlins. The final score was 25-8.
2013 - The Cleveland Cavaliers select UNLV power forward Anthony Bennett with the first pick in the NBA Draft.
2014 - After a change in ownership, the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes change their name to the Arizona Coyotes.
1844 - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints founder Joseph Smith, and his brother, Hyrum, were murdered by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
1880 - Author-lecturer Helen Keller, who lived most of her life without sight or hearing, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama.
1898 - Joshua Slocum became the first person to successfully circumnavigate the earth alone when he landed his sloop Spray in Newport, Rhode Island, a 46,000-mile trip.
1922 - The Newbery Medal for children's literature was first awarded.
1942 - The FBI announced the arrests of eight Nazi saboteurs who came ashore in Florida and Long Island, New York. (All were tried and sentenced to death; six were executed while two were spared for turning themselves in and cooperating with U.S. authorities.)
1944 - During World War II, American forces liberated the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans.
1950 - President Harry S. Truman ordered the U.S. Air Force and Navy into the Korean War.
1954 - The world's first atomic power station opened at Obninsk, near Moscow.
1957 - Hurricane Audrey slammed into coastal Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm; the official death toll from the storm was placed at 390, although a variety of state, federal and local sources have estimated the number of fatalities at between 400 and 600.
1969 - Police and gays clashed at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, fostering the gay rights movement.
1974 - President Richard Nixon opened an official visit to the Soviet Union.
1985 - The legendary Route 66, running from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, was decertified -- a victim of the Interstate Highway System.
1991 - Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black jurist to sit on the nation's highest court, announced his retirement. (His departure led to the contentious nomination of Clarence Thomas to succeed him.)
2003 - The National Do-Not-Call Registry, formed to combat unwanted telemarketing calls and administered by the Federal Trade Commission, enrolled almost 750,000 phone numbers on its first day.
2005 - BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders that had spread fear across Wichita, Kansas, beginning in the 1970s.
2006 - A constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the American flag died in a Senate cliffhanger, falling one vote short of the 67 needed to send it to states for ratification.
2011 - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago on a wide range of corruption charges, including the allegation that he'd tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. (Blagojevich was later sentenced to 14 years in prison; his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump in February 2020.)
2013 - The Senate passed, 68-32, comprehensive legislation offering the hope of citizenship to millions of immigrants living illegally in America's shadows; however, the measure became stalled in the GOP-led House.
2013 - President Barack Obama visited Senegal, where he urged African leaders to extend equal rights to gays and lesbians but was bluntly rebuked by Senegal's president, Macky Sall, who said his country "still isn't ready" to decriminalize homosexuality.
2016 - The U.S. Supreme Court issued its strongest defense of abortion rights in a quarter-century, striking down Texas' widely replicated rules that sharply reduced abortion clinics.
2018 - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote often decided cases on abortion, gay rights and other contentious issues, announced his retirement.
2018 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government workers cannot be forced to contribute to labor unions that represent them in collective bargaining.
2022 - The U.S. Supreme Court said that a high school football coach who sought to kneel and pray on the football field after games was protected by the Constitution.
Birthdays
24 - Chandler Riggs (actor)
25 - Sistine Stallone (model)
26 - H.E.R. (singer)
27 - Lauren Jauregui (singer)
32 - Madylin Sweeten (actress)
34 - Matthew Lewis (actor)
35 - Alanna Masterson (actress)
36 - Ed Westwick (actor)
36 - India de Beaufort (actress)
37 - Sam Claflin (actor)
37 - Drake Bell (actor)
39 - Khloe Kardashian (reality star)
45 - Zach Williams (singer)
47 - Leigh Nash (singer)
48 - Tobey Maguire (actor)
51 - Christian Kane (actor)
52 - Yancey Arias (actor)
54 - Viktor Petrenko (figure skater)
57 - J.J. Abrams (director)
63 - Brian Drillinger (actor)
64 - Lorrie Morgan (singer)
68 - Isabelle Adjani (actress)
72 - Julia Duffy (actress)
74 - Vera Wang (fashion designer)
81 - Bruce Johnston (singer)
================================
Today in Sports History - June 27
1876 - Dave Force (Philadelphia Athletics) became the first National League player to get six hits in a nine inning game.
1969 - The countries of Honduras and El Salvador break off diplomatic relations over the result of a soccer match between the two nations.
1972 - Bobby Hull signed a 10-year hockey contract for $2,500,000. He became a player and coach of the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association.
1984 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules to end the NCAA's monopoly on college football television broadcasts.
1988 - In Atlantic City, Mike Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds.
1990 - Jose Canseco set a record when he signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics for $4.7 million.
1990 - The New Jersey Nets select Syracuse power forward Derrick Coleman with the first pick in the NBA Draft.
2001 - The Washington Wizards select Glynn Academy center Kwame Brown with the first pick in the NBA Draft.
2004 - The Boston Red Sox scored 10 runs before making an out against the Florida Marlins. The final score was 25-8.
2013 - The Cleveland Cavaliers select UNLV power forward Anthony Bennett with the first pick in the NBA Draft.
2014 - After a change in ownership, the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes change their name to the Arizona Coyotes.