Today is Thursday, June 17, the 168th day of 2010. There are 197 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On June 17, 1775, the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston. The battle (which actually occurred on Breed’s Hill) was a costly victory for the British, who suffered heavy losses while dislodging the rebels.
ON THIS DATE
In 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor aboard the French ship Isere.
In 1928, Amelia Earhart embarked on a trans-Atlantic flight from Newfoundland to Wales with pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, becoming the first woman to make the trip as a passenger.
In 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which boosted U.S. tariffs to historically high levels, prompting foreign retaliation.
In 1940, France asked Germany for terms of surrender in World War II.
In 1944, the republic of Iceland was established.
In 1957, mob underboss Frank Scalice was shot to death at a produce market in the Bronx, N.Y.
In 1961, Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West while his troupe was in Paris.
In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon’s eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic national headquarters in Washington D.C.’s Watergate complex.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan announced the retirement of Chief Justice Warren Burger, who was succeeded by William Rehnquist.
In 2009, John Houghtaling, the inventor of the “Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed” for hotels, died in Fort Pierce, Fla. at age 92.
Associated Press
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