Today in History
Today is Monday, June 29, the 180th day of 2026. There are 185 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history: On June 29, 2007, the first version of the iPhone went on sale to the public; over 2.3 billion iPhones have been sold to date.
Also on this date:
In 1520, Montezuma II, the ninth and last emperor of the Aztecs, died in Tenochtitlan (tay-nohch-TEET’-lahn) under unclear circumstances (some say he was killed by his own subjects; others, by the Spanish).
In 1613, London’s original Globe Theatre, where many of William Shakespeare’s plays were performed, was destroyed by a fire sparked by a cannon shot during a performance of “Henry VIII.”
In 1767, Britain approved the Townshend Revenue Act, which imposed import duties on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper and tea shipped to the American colonies. (Colonists bitterly protested, prompting Parliament to repeal the duties on each of the products — except for tea.)
In 1776, the Virginia state constitution was adopted, and Patrick Henry was made the state’s governor.
In 1967, Jerusalem was reunified as Israel removed barricades separating the Old City from the Israeli sector.
In 1970, the United States ended a two-month military offensive into Cambodia.
In 1995, the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docked with Russia’s Mir space station as they orbited the Earth.
In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled, 5-3, that President George W. Bush’s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law.
In 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff received a 150-year sentence for his multibillion-dollar fraud. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)
In 2022, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his R&B superstardom to subject young fans to sexual abuse. The singer and songwriter was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking the previous year.
Today’s Birthdays: Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 86. Singer-songwriter Garland Jeffreys is 83. Actor Gary Busey is 82. Former actor and politician Fred Grandy is 78. Rock musician Ian Paice (Deep Purple) is 78. Singer Don Dokken is 73. Rock singer Colin Hay (Men At Work) is 73. Actor Maria Conchita Alonso is 71. Actor Sharon Lawrence (“NYPD Blue”) is 65. Actor Amanda Donohoe is 64. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is 63. Producer-writer Matthew Weiner is 61. Actor Melora Hardin is 59. Actor Brian D’Arcy James is 58. Rap DJ and record producer DJ Shadow is 54. Actor Zuleikha Robinson is 49. Rock musician Sam Farrar (Maroon 5) is 48. Actor Luke Kirby is 48. Singer and TV personality Nicole Scherzinger is 48. Comedian-writer Colin Jost is 44. Actor Lily Rabe is 44. NBA forward Kawhi Leonard is 35. Actor Camila Mendes (TV: “Riverdale”) is 32. Soccer player Jude Bellingham is 23.
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