Today in History

Today is Monday, June 3, the 154th day of 2013. There are 211 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight:

On June 3, 1963, Pope John XXIII died at age 81, ending a relatively brief but highly influential 4½-year papacy; he was succeeded by Pope Paul VI.

On this date:

In 1621, the Dutch West India Co. received its charter for a trade monopoly in parts of the Americas and Africa.

In 1808, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was born in Christian County, Ky.

In 1888, the poem “Casey at the Bat,” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was first published in the San Francisco Daily Examiner.

In 1937, Edward, The Duke of Windsor, who had abdicated the British throne, married Wallis Warfield Simpson in a private ceremony in Monts, France.

In 1943, Los Angeles saw the beginning of its “Zoot Suit Riots” as white servicemen clashed with young Latinos wearing distinctive-looking zoot suits; the violence finally ended when military officials declared the city off limits to enlisted personnel.

In 1948, the 200-inch reflecting Hale Telescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory in California was dedicated.

In 1962, Air France Flight 007, a U.S.-bound Boeing 707, crashed while attempting to take off from Orly Airport near Paris; all but two of the 132 people aboard were killed.

In 1963, a Northwest Orient Airlines DC-7 military charter en route from McChord Air Force Base in Washington state to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska crashed off Annette Island with the loss of all 101 people aboard.

In 1965, astronaut Edward White became the first American to “walk” in space during the flight of Gemini 4.

In 1972, Sally J. Priesand was ordained as America’s first female rabbi at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1983, Gordon Kahl, a militant tax protester wanted in the slayings of two U.S. marshals in North Dakota, was killed in a gun battle with law-enforcement officials near Smithville, Ark.

In 1989, Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, died. Chinese army troops began their sweep of Beijing to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations. SkyDome (now called Rogers Centre) opened in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Ten years ago: World leaders closed out a summit in Evian, France, by pledging to rebuild Iraq and combat the threat of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea. Arab leaders pledged to renounce terror and help end violence against Israel, standing in solidarity with President George W. Bush at a summit in Egypt. Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Chicago’s 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after umpires found cork in his shattered bat.

Five years ago: Barack Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination in a long-time-coming victory speech, speaking in the same St. Paul, Minn., arena that would be hosting the Republican national convention in September 2008. Astronauts installed a 37-foot-long Japanese lab at the international space station.

One year ago: A Dana Air MD-83 jetliner carrying 153 people crashed on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board and at least 10 people on the ground. George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing Trayvon Martin, surrendered to police and was booked into a central Florida jail two days after his bond was revoked. The River Thames became a royal highway as Queen Elizabeth II led a motley but majestic flotilla of more than 1,000 vessels to mark her Diamond Jubilee. Tiger Woods birdied three of his last four holes to win the Memorial, closing with a 5-under 67. Olivia Culpo, a 20-year-old cellist from Rhode Island, won the Miss USA crown in Las Vegas.

Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Alain Resnais is 91. TV producer Chuck Barris is 84. The president of Cuba, Raul Castro, is 82. Actress Irma P. Hall is 78. Author Larry McMurtry is 77. Rock singer Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) is 74. Singer Eddie Holman is 67. Actor Tristan Rogers is 67. Musician Too Slim (Riders in the Sky) is 65. Rock musician Richard Moore is 64. Singer Suzi Quatro is 63. Singer Deneice Williams is 62. Singer Dan Hill is 59. Actress Suzie Plakson is 55. Actor Scott Valentine is 55. Rock musician Kerry King (Slayer) is 49. Rock singer-musician Mike Gordon is 48. TV host Anderson Cooper is 46. Country singer Jamie O’Neal is 45. Singers Ariel and Gabriel Hernandez (No Mercy) are 42. Actor Vik Sahay is 42. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lyfe Jennings is 40. Actress Nikki M. James is 32. Tennis player Rafael Nadal is 27. Actress-singer Lalaine is 26. Actor Sean Berdy (TV: “Switched at Birth”) is 20.

Thought for Today: “Nothing is done. Everything in the world remains to be done or done over.” — Lincoln Steffens, American investigative reporter (1866-1936).

(Above Advance for Use Monday, June 3)