Today is Saturday, June 30, the 182nd day of 2012. There are 184 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight:
On June 30, 1912, Canada’s deadliest tornado on record occurred as a cyclone struck Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28 people and destroying or damaging 500 buildings.
On this date:
In 1859, French acrobat Charles Blondin walked back and forth on a tightrope above the gorge of Niagara Falls as thousands of spectators watched.
In 1860, the famous Oxford University Museum debate on Darwin’s theory of evolution took place as Anglican Bishop Samuel Wilberforce led his side in denouncing the concept, while biologist T.H. Huxley defended it.
In 1908, the Tunguska Event took place in Russia as an asteroid exploded above Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown-down trees.
In 1934, Adolf Hitler carried out his “blood purge” of political and military rivals in Germany in what came to be known as “The Night of the Long Knives.”
In 1985, 39 American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner, a Boeing 727, were freed in Beirut after being held 17 days.
Associated Press
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