This day in history

[June 30, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, June 30, the 181st day of 2010. There are 184 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On June 30, 1860, the famous Oxford University Museum debate on Darwin's theory of evolution took place as Anglican Bishop Samuel Wilberforce led his side in denouncing the concept, while biologist T.H. Huxley rose to defend it. (Although exact details of the debate, which was not transcribed, are in dispute, it is generally believed that Huxley's side prevailed.)

On this date:

In 1859, French acrobat Charles Blondin (blahn-DAN') walked back and forth on a tightrope above the gorge of Niagara Falls as thousands of spectators watched.

In 1908, the Tunguska Event took place in Russia as an asteroid exploded above Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown-down trees.

In 1921, President Warren G. Harding nominated former President William Howard Taft to be chief justice of the United States, succeeding the late Edward Douglass White.

In 1934, Adolf Hitler carried out his "blood purge" of political and military rivals in Germany in what came to be known as "The Night of the Long Knives."

In 1958, the U.S. Senate passed the Alaska statehood bill by a vote of 64-20.

In 1960, Belgian Congo achieved independence.

In 1963, Pope Paul VI was installed as 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1971, a Soviet space mission ended in tragedy when three cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 11 were found dead inside their spacecraft after it had returned to Earth.

In 1984, John Turner was sworn in as Canada's 17th prime minister, succeeding Pierre Elliott Trudeau (troo-DOH'). (However, Turner held the post for less than three months.)

In 1985, 39 American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held 17 days.

Ten years ago: Nine people died in a crush of fans during a rock festival in Roskilde (ROH'-skihl-duh), Denmark. An Arkansas Supreme Court committee sued President Bill Clinton to strip him of his law license. (Clinton later agreed to pay a fine and give up his law license for five years.)

Five years ago: Federal Reserve policymakers boosted the federal funds rate by one-quarter percentage point to 3.25 percent, the ninth such increase since the Fed began to tighten credit in June 2004 in an effort to keep inflation under control. Spain became the third country (after the Netherlands and Belgium) to legalize gay marriage nationwide.

One year ago: Former "Saturday Night Live" comedian Al Franken was declared the winner of Minnesota's eight-month U.S. Senate vote recount, defeating Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. A Yemeni jet with 153 people on board crashed into the Indian Ocean as it tried to land on the island nation of Comoros; a 12-year-old girl was the sole survivor. American soldier Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan, and was later confirmed to have been captured by insurgents. Musical actor Harve Presnell, 75, died in Santa Monica, Calif.

Today's birthdays: Actor Tony Musante is 74. Actress Nancy Dussault is 74. Singer Glenn Shorrock is 66. Jazz musician Stanley Clarke is 59. Actor David Garrison is 58. Rock musician Hal Lindes (Dire Straits) is 57. Actor-comedian David Alan Grier is 54. Actor Vincent D'Onofrio is 51. Actress Deirdre Lovejoy is 48. Actor Rupert Graves is 47. Boxer Mike Tyson is 44. Rock musician Tom Drummond (Better Than Ezra) is 41. Actor Brian Bloom is 40. Actor Brian Vincent is 40. Actress Monica Potter is 39. Actor Rick Gonzalez is 31. Actress Lizzy Caplan is 28. Rhythm-and-blues singer Fantasia ("American Idol") is 26. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps is 25.

Thought for today: "The good Lord set definite limits on man's wisdom, but set no limits on his stupidity -- and that's not fair!" -- Konrad Adenauer, German statesman (1876-1967)

[Associated Press]

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