Today in History
Today is Tuesday, June 7, the 158th day of 2022. There are 207 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 7, 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, struck down, 7-2, a Connecticut law used to prosecute a Planned Parenthood clinic in New Haven for providing contraceptives to married couples.
On this date:
In 1712, Pennsylvania’s colonial assembly voted to ban the further importation of slaves.
In 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia offered a resolution to the Continental Congress stating “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”
In 1848, French painter and sculptor Paul Gauguin was born in Paris.
In 1892, Homer Plessy, a “Creole of color,” was arrested for refusing to leave a whites-only car of the East Louisiana Railroad. (Ruling on his case, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld “separate but equal” racial segregation, a concept it renounced in 1954.)
In 1929, the sovereign state of Vatican City came into existence as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome.
In 1942, the Battle of Midway ended in a decisive victory for American naval forces over Imperial Japan, marking a turning point in the Pacific War.
In 1967, author-critic Dorothy Parker, famed for her caustic wit, died in New York at age 73.
In 1981, Israeli military planes destroyed a nuclear power plant in Iraq, a facility the Israelis charged could have been used to make nuclear weapons.
In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious groups could sometimes meet on school property after hours. Ground was broken for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
In 1998, in a crime that shocked the nation, James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old Black man, was hooked by a chain to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas. (Two white men were later sentenced to death; one of them, Lawrence Russell Brewer, was executed in 2011 and the other, John William King, was executed in April 2019. A third defendant received life with the possibility of parole.)
In 2006, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (AH’-boo MOO’-sahb ahl-zahr-KOW’-ee), the founder of al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed by a U.S. airstrike on his safe house. The U.S. Senate rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump claimed their parties’ presidential nominations following contests in New Jersey, California, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Ten years ago: Attorney General Eric Holder clashed with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee seeking more information about a flawed gun-trafficking investigation in Arizona known as “Operation Fast and Furious.” Bob Welch, a former member of Fleetwood Mac who went on to write songs and record several hits during a solo career, died in Nashville.
Five years ago: President Donald Trump announced his choice to replace James Comey a day ahead of the ousted FBI director’s congressional testimony, tapping Christopher Wray, a white-collar defense lawyer with a strong law enforcement background. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a stunning pair of deadly attacks on Iran’s parliament and the tomb of its revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Keith Urban picked up four CMT Music Awards in Nashville, including video of the year.
One year ago: A unanimous Supreme Court ruled that thousands of people living in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons were ineligible to apply to become permanent residents. Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and her son Paul Murdaugh, 22, from a prominent South Carolina legal family, were found shot and killed on their family’s land. (In the aftermath of the deaths, Maggie Murdaugh’s husband, Alex Murdaugh, would be jailed on dozens of charges, including the theft of millions of dollars in legal settlements.) An express train barreled into another train that had derailed minutes earlier in southern Pakistan, killing more than 60 people.
Today’s Birthdays: Movie director James Ivory is 94. Actor Virginia McKenna is 91. Singer Tom Jones is 82. Poet Nikki Giovanni is 79. Former talk show host Jenny Jones is 76. Americana singer-songwriter Willie Nile is 74. Actor Anne Twomey is 71. Actor Liam Neeson is 70. Actor Colleen Camp is 69. Author Louise Erdrich (UR’-drihk) is 68. Actor William Forsythe is 67. Record producer L.A. Reid is 66. Latin pop singer Juan Luis Guerra is 65. Former Vice President Mike Pence is 63. Rock singer-musician Gordon Gano (The Violent Femmes) is 59. Rock musician Eric Kretz (Stone Temple Pilots) is 56. Rock musician Dave Navarro is 55. Actor Helen Baxendale is 52. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., is 50. Actor Karl Urban is 50. TV personality Bear Grylls is 48. Rock musician Eric Johnson (The Shins) is 46. Actor Adrienne Frantz is 44. Actor-comedian Bill Hader is 44. Actor Anna Torv is 43. Actor Larisa Oleynik (oh-LAY’-nihk) is 41. Former tennis player Anna Kournikova is 41. Actor Michael Cera is 34. Actor Shelley Buckner is 33. Rapper Iggy Azalea is 32. Actor-model Emily Ratajkowski is 31. Rapper Fetty Wap is 31.
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