Today in History
Today is Monday, June 5, the 156th day of 2023. There are 209 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 5, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded after claiming victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles; assassin Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was arrested at the scene.
On this date:
In 1794, Congress passed the Neutrality Act, which prohibited Americans from taking part in any military action against a country that was at peace with the United States.
In 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Henderson v. United States, struck down racially segregated railroad dining cars.
In 1967, war erupted in the Middle East. Israel, anticipating a possible attack by its Arab neighbors, launched a series of airfield strikes that destroyed nearly the entire Egyptian air force; Syria, Jordan and Iraq immediately entered the conflict.
In 1975, Egypt reopened the Suez Canal to international shipping, eight years after it was closed because of the 1967 war with Israel.
In 1976, 14 people were killed when the Teton Dam in Idaho burst.
In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control reported that five men in Los Angeles had come down with a rare kind of pneumonia; they were the first recognized cases of what later became known as AIDS.
In 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her Salt Lake City home. (Smart was found alive by police in a Salt Lake suburb in March 2003. One kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, was sentenced to life without parole; the other, Wanda Barzee, was released in September 2018.)
In 2004, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died in Los Angeles at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
In 2006, more than 50 National Guardsmen from Utah became the first unit to work along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a crackdown by President George W. Bush.
In 2016, Novak Djokovic (NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich) became the first man in nearly a half-century to win four consecutive major championships, finally earning an elusive French Open title with a win over Andy Murray to complete a career Grand Slam.
In 2020, Minneapolis banned chokeholds by police, the first of many changes in law enforcement practices to be announced in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death; officers would also now be required to intervene any time they saw unauthorized force by another officer.
Ten years ago: British newspaper The Guardian reported the National Security Agency was collecting the telephone records of millions of American customers of Verizon under a top secret court order. President Barack Obama named Susan Rice his national security adviser, and nominated Samantha Power to replace Rice as United Nations ambassador. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, many of them sleeping women and children, pleaded guilty to murder at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, to avoid the death penalty. Carrie Underwood won the top honor video of the year at the CMT Music Awards for “Blown Away”; Miranda Lambert and Florida Georgia Line were the night’s top winners with two awards apiece.
Five years ago: Fashion designer Kate Spade, known for her sleek handbags, was found dead in her Park Avenue apartment in New York in what the medical examiner determined was a suicide by hanging; she was 55. After it became clear that most players from the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles weren’t going to show up, President Donald Trump gave the boot to a White House ceremony for the team, and instead threw his own brief “Celebration of America.” Former TV mogul Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty in New York to rape and criminal sex act charges; he’d been indicted a week earlier on charges involving two women. The Miss America pageant announced that it was eliminating the swimsuit competition from the event; the new head of the organization’s board of trustees, Gretchen Carlson, said on ABC, “We’re not going to judge you on your appearance because we are interested in what makes you you.”
One year ago: Queen Elizabeth II appeared at the balcony of Buckingham Palace, delighting fans who had hoped to catch a glimpse of her during the final day of festivities marking the monarch’s 70 years on the throne. Thousands massed outside the palace as the monarch appeared on the balcony with her son and heir, Prince Charles, his wife Camilla, and her eldest grandson Prince William and his family. (The queen died three months later, and Charles became king.) A massive fire at a container depot near a port city in southeastern Bangladesh killed at least 49 people, including nine firefighters, and injured more than 100 others. Alec John Such, former bassist and a founding member of Bon Jovi, died at age 70.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor-singer Bill Hayes is 98. Broadcast journalist Bill Moyers is 89. Former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark is 84. Author Dame Margaret Drabble is 84. Country singer Don Reid (The Statler Brothers) is 78. Rock musician Freddie Stone (AKA Freddie Stewart) (Sly and the Family Stone) is 76. Rock singer Laurie Anderson is 76. Country singer Gail Davies is 75. Author Ken Follett is 74. Financial guru Suze Orman is 72. Rock musician Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) is 71. Jazz musician Peter Erskine is 69. Jazz musician Kenny G is 67. Rock singer Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs) is 67. Actor Beth Hall is 65. Actor Jeff Garlin is 61. Actor Karen Sillas is 60. Actor Ron Livingston is 56. Singer Brian McKnight is 54. Rock musician Claus Norreen (Aqua) is 53. Actor Mark Wahlberg is 52. Actor Chad Allen is 49. Rock musician P-Nut (311) is 49. Actor Navi Rawat (ROH’-waht) is 46. Actor Liza Weil is 46. Rock musician Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) is 44. Rock musician Seb Lefebvre (Simple Plan) is 42. Actor Chelsey Crisp is 40. Actor Amanda Crew is 37. Musician/songwriter/producer DJ Mustard is 33. Actor Sophie Lowe is 33. Actor Hank Greenspan is 13.
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