June 27
1844 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints founder Joseph Smith was 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, completing a 46,000-mile trip.
1922 - The Newberry Medal for children's literature was first awarded.
1942 - The FBI announced the arrests of eight Nazi saboteurs put 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 authorities.)
1944 - During World War II, American forces liberated the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans.
1950 - President Harry S. Truman ordered the 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.
1969 - Police and gays clashed at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, an event many consider the birth of 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, the 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 nearly 750,000 phone numbers on its first day.
2005 - In a pair of 5-4 decisions, the Supreme Court ruled that displaying the Ten Commandments on government property was constitutionally permissible in some cases but not in others.
2005 - BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders that had spread fear across Wichita, Kansas, beginning in the 1970s. (Rader later received multiple life sentences.)
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 the 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.)
2012 - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and former Irish Republican Army commander Martin McGuinness offered each other the hand of peace during a private meeting inside Belfast’s riverside Lyric Theatre.
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.
2017 - A new and highly virulent outbreak of malicious data-scrambling software began causing mass disruption across the world, hitting Europe — and Ukraine — especially hard.
2018 - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote often decided cases on abortion, gay rights and other contentious issues, announced his retirement.
Birthdays
23 - Chandler Riggs (actor)
23 - Aitana (singer)
24 - Sistine Stallone (model)
25 - Shannon Purser (actress)
25 - Tiana Musarra (model)
26 - Lauren Jauregui (singer)
26 - Hayley Hughes (reality star)
27 - Laura Louise (reality star)
31 - Madylin Sweeten (actress)
33 - Matthew Lewis (actor)
35 - Ed Westwick (actor)
35 - India de Beaufort (actress)
36 - Sam Claflin (actor)
36 - Drake Bell (actor)
38 - Khloe Kardashian (reality star)
44 - Zach Williams (singer)
46 - Leigh Nash (singer)
47 - Tobey Maguire (actor)
50 - Christian Kane (actor)
51 - Yancey Arias (actor)
52 - Jo Frost (TV personality)
53 - Viktor Petrenko (figure skater)
56 - JJ Abrams (producer/director)
62 - Brian Drillinger (actor)
63 - Lorrie Morgan (singer)
67 - Isabelle Adjani (actress)
71 - Julia Duffy (actress)
73 - Vera Wang (fashion designer)
80 - Bruce Johnston (singer)
===============================
Today in Sports History - June 27
1969 - Honduras and El Salvador break off diplomatic relations between the two countries as a result of the results of a soccer match that took place 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 ends the NCAA's monopoly on college football telecasts.
1986 - Robby Thompson (San Francisco) was caught stealing bases four times in one game.
1988 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey, heavyweight Mike Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds.
1990 - Jose Canseco signs a record contract with the Oakland Athletics worth $4.7 million per year.
1990 - Syracuse forward Derrick Coleman is selected with the first pick in the NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets.
2001 - The Washington Wizards select center Kwame Brown from Glynn Academy 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 forward Anthony Bennett with the first pick in the NBA Draft.
2014 - The NHL's Phoenix Coyotes rename themselves to become the Arizona Coyotes.
1844 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints founder Joseph Smith was 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, completing a 46,000-mile trip.
1922 - The Newberry Medal for children's literature was first awarded.
1942 - The FBI announced the arrests of eight Nazi saboteurs put 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 authorities.)
1944 - During World War II, American forces liberated the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans.
1950 - President Harry S. Truman ordered the 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.
1969 - Police and gays clashed at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, an event many consider the birth of 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, the 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 nearly 750,000 phone numbers on its first day.
2005 - In a pair of 5-4 decisions, the Supreme Court ruled that displaying the Ten Commandments on government property was constitutionally permissible in some cases but not in others.
2005 - BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders that had spread fear across Wichita, Kansas, beginning in the 1970s. (Rader later received multiple life sentences.)
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 the 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.)
2012 - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and former Irish Republican Army commander Martin McGuinness offered each other the hand of peace during a private meeting inside Belfast’s riverside Lyric Theatre.
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.
2017 - A new and highly virulent outbreak of malicious data-scrambling software began causing mass disruption across the world, hitting Europe — and Ukraine — especially hard.
2018 - Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote often decided cases on abortion, gay rights and other contentious issues, announced his retirement.
Birthdays
23 - Chandler Riggs (actor)
23 - Aitana (singer)
24 - Sistine Stallone (model)
25 - Shannon Purser (actress)
25 - Tiana Musarra (model)
26 - Lauren Jauregui (singer)
26 - Hayley Hughes (reality star)
27 - Laura Louise (reality star)
31 - Madylin Sweeten (actress)
33 - Matthew Lewis (actor)
35 - Ed Westwick (actor)
35 - India de Beaufort (actress)
36 - Sam Claflin (actor)
36 - Drake Bell (actor)
38 - Khloe Kardashian (reality star)
44 - Zach Williams (singer)
46 - Leigh Nash (singer)
47 - Tobey Maguire (actor)
50 - Christian Kane (actor)
51 - Yancey Arias (actor)
52 - Jo Frost (TV personality)
53 - Viktor Petrenko (figure skater)
56 - JJ Abrams (producer/director)
62 - Brian Drillinger (actor)
63 - Lorrie Morgan (singer)
67 - Isabelle Adjani (actress)
71 - Julia Duffy (actress)
73 - Vera Wang (fashion designer)
80 - Bruce Johnston (singer)
===============================
Today in Sports History - June 27
1969 - Honduras and El Salvador break off diplomatic relations between the two countries as a result of the results of a soccer match that took place 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 ends the NCAA's monopoly on college football telecasts.
1986 - Robby Thompson (San Francisco) was caught stealing bases four times in one game.
1988 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey, heavyweight Mike Tyson knocked out Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds.
1990 - Jose Canseco signs a record contract with the Oakland Athletics worth $4.7 million per year.
1990 - Syracuse forward Derrick Coleman is selected with the first pick in the NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets.
2001 - The Washington Wizards select center Kwame Brown from Glynn Academy 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 forward Anthony Bennett with the first pick in the NBA Draft.
2014 - The NHL's Phoenix Coyotes rename themselves to become the Arizona Coyotes.
