Today is Sunday, June 24, the 175th day of 2018. There are 190 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight: On June 24, 1968, “Resurrection City,” a shantytown constructed as part of the Poor People’s March on Washington, D.C., was closed down by authorities.
On this date:
In 1497, the first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.
In 1509, Henry VIII was crowned king of England; his wife, Catherine of Aragon, was crowned queen consort.
In 1793, the first republican constitution in France was adopted.
In 1807, a grand jury in Richmond, Virginia, indicted former Vice President Aaron Burr on charges of treason and high misdemeanor (he was later acquitted).
In 1939, the Southeast Asian country Siam changed its name to Thailand. (It went back to being Siam in 1945, then became Thailand once again in 1949.)
In 1947, what’s regarded as the first modern UFO sighting took place as private pilot Kenneth Arnold, an Idaho businessman, reported seeing nine silvery objects flying in a “weaving formation” near Mount Rainier in Washington.
In 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the western allies to organize the Berlin Airlift. The Republican National Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, nominated New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey for president.
In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Roth v. United States, ruled 6-3 that obscene materials were not protected by the First Amendment.
In 1975, 113 people were killed when Eastern Airlines Flight 66, a Boeing 727 carrying 124 people, crashed while attempting to land during a thunderstorm at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger — carrying America’s first woman in space, Sally K. Ride — coasted to a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Today’s birthdays: Actress Michele Lee is 76. Actor-director Georg Stanford Brown is 75. Rock musician Jeff Beck is 74. Rock singer Colin Blunstone (The Zombies) is 73. Musician Mick Fleetwood is 71. Actor Peter Weller is 71. Rock musician John Illsley (Dire Straits) is 69. Actress Nancy Allen is 68. Reggae singer Derrick Simpson (Black Uhuru) is 68. Reggae singer Astro (UB40) is 61. Actress Sherry Stringfield is 51. Actress-producer Mindy Kaling is 39. Singer Solange Knowles is 32. Actor Max Ehrich is 27.
Thought for today: “Move, and the way will open.” — Zen saying
— Associated Press
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