Today is Monday, June 24, the 175th day of 2019.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 24, 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.
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 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 1908, Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, died in Princeton, New Jersey, at age 71.
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 1964, AT&T inaugurated commercial “Picturephone” service between New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (the service, however, never caught on).
In 1968, “Resurrection City,” a shantytown constructed as part of the Poor People’s March on Washington, D.C., was closed down by authorities.
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 1992, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, strengthened its 30-year ban on officially sponsored worship in public schools, prohibiting prayer as a part of graduation ceremonies.
In 1997, the U.S. Air Force released a report on the so-called “Roswell Incident,” suggesting the “alien bodies” that witnesses reported seeing in 1947 were actually life-sized dummies. Actor Brian Keith was found dead in his Malibu home, an apparent suicide; he was 75.
In 2004, federal investigators questioned President George W. Bush for more than an hour in connection with the news leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.
Ten years ago: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitted he had secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he was having an affair, and said he would resign as head of the Republican Governors Association. Ed Thomas, the football coach of Aplington-Parkersburg High School in Iowa for 34 years, was gunned down by former player Mark Becker. (Becker was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
Five years ago: Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, a mainstream conservative with more than 40 years’ of congressional experience, narrowly turned back a primary challenge from state Sen. Chris McDaniel, a tea party favorite. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby won his second Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player at the league’s postseason awards ceremony. Character actor Eli Wallach, 98, died in New York.
One year ago: President Donald Trump compared people entering the U.S. from Mexico to invaders and said they should be immediately sent back without appearing before a judge. Women in Saudi Arabia were able to drive for the first time, as the world’s last remaining ban on female drivers was lifted.
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