This day in history

[June 01, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, June 1, the 152nd day of 2010. There are 213 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On June 1, 1813, the mortally wounded commander of the U.S. frigate Chesapeake, Capt. James Lawrence, said, "Don't give up the ship" during a losing battle with a British frigate, the HMS Shannon, during the War of 1812.

On this date:

In 1533, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was crowned as Queen Consort of England.

In 1792, Kentucky became the 15th state of the union.

In 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state.

In 1868, James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, died near Lancaster, Pa., at age 77.

In 1909, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opened in Seattle. (The fair closed in October the same year.)

In 1943, a civilian flight from Portugal to England was shot down by the Germans during World War II, killing all 17 people aboard, including actor Leslie Howard.

In 1958, Charles de Gaulle became premier of France, marking the beginning of the end of the Fourth Republic.

In 1967, the Beatles released their album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

In 1979, the short-lived state of Zimbabwe, Rhodesia, came into existence.

In 1980, Cable News Network made its debut.

Ten years ago: With about half an hour to spare, Texas Governor George W. Bush blocked the scheduled execution of convicted killer Ricky McGinn so that possibly exculpatory DNA evidence could be reviewed. (The DNA tests failed to establish McGinn's innocence, and he was put to death by injection in Sept. 2000.)

Five years ago: Paul Wolfowitz began a five-year term as head of the 184-nation World Bank. (Wolfowitz resigned the post in 2007 amid controversy over the generous compensation he'd arranged for his girlfriend, bank employee Shaha Riza.) Dutch voters rejected the European Union constitution. A landslide sent 17 multi-million-dollar houses crashing down a hill in Laguna Beach, Calif. Peruvian doctors separated the fused legs of Milagros Cerron, a 13-month-old baby girl known as Peru's "mermaid."

One year ago: Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330 carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean with the loss of everyone on board. General Motors filed for Chapter 11, becoming the largest U.S. industrial company to enter bankruptcy protection. A gunman shot and killed Pvt. William Andrew Long outside of an Army recruiting center in Little Rock, Ark.; another soldier, Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula, was wounded. (Suspect Abdulhakim Muhammad, a Muslim convert, is awaiting trial.) Conan O'Brien debuted as host of NBC's "Tonight Show" (however, he stepped down last January after a dispute with the network).

Today's birthdays: Actor Richard Erdman is 85. Actor Andy Griffith is 84. Singer Pat Boone is 76. Actor-writer-director Peter Masterson is 76. Actor Morgan Freeman is 73. Actor Rene Auberjonois is 70. Opera singer Frederica von Stade is 65. Actor Brian Cox is 64. Rock musician Ronnie Wood is 63. Actor Jonathan Pryce is 63. Actor Powers Boothe is 62. Actress Gemma Craven is 60. Blues-rock musician Tom Principato is 58. Country singer Ronnie Dunn (Brooks and Dunn) is 57. Actress Lisa Hartman Black is 54. Singer-musician Alan Wilder is 51. Rock musician Simon Gallup (The Cure) is 50. Country musician Richard Comeaux (River Road) is 49. Actor-comedian Mark Curry is 49. Actor-singer Jason Donovan is 42. Actress Teri Polo is 41. Basketball player-turned-coach Tony Bennett is 41. Model-actress Heidi Klum is 37. Singer Alanis Morissette is 36. TV personality Damien Fahey is 30. Pop singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile is 29. Tennis player Justine Henin is 28. Actor Taylor Handley is 26.

Thought for today: "He who talks much cannot always talk well." -- Carlo Goldoni, Italian dramatist (1707-1793)

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.