This day in history

[June 08, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, June 8, the 159th day of 2011. There are 206 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On June 8, 1861, voters in Tennessee approved an Ordinance of Secession passed the previous month by the state legislature.

On this date:

In A.D. 632, the prophet Muhammad died in Medina.

In 1845, Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tenn.

In 1864, Abraham Lincoln was nominated for another term as president during the National Union (Republican) Party's convention in Baltimore.

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt offered to act as a mediator in the Russo-Japanese War.

In 1915, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned in a disagreement with President Woodrow Wilson over U.S. handling of the sinking of the Lusitania.

In 1953, the Supreme Court ruled that restaurants in the District of Columbia could not refuse to serve blacks.

In 1966, a merger was announced between the National and American Football Leagues, to take effect in 1970.

In 1967, 34 U.S. servicemen were killed when Israel attacked the USS Liberty, a Navy intelligence-gathering ship in the Mediterranean. (Israel later said the Liberty had been mistaken for an Egyptian vessel.)

In 1978, a jury in Clark County, Nev., ruled the so-called "Mormon will," purportedly written by the late billionaire Howard Hughes, was a forgery.

In 1995, U.S. Marines rescued Capt. Scott O'Grady, whose F-16C fighter jet had been shot down by Bosnian Serbs on June 2.

Ten years ago: A knife-wielding man killed eight children at a Japanese elementary school on the outskirts of Osaka. (The killer, Mamoru Takuma, was executed in Sept. 2004.)

Five years ago: The Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine against HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer. Sheikha Haya Al Khalifa (SHAY'-kah HY'-ah al hah-LEE'-fah), a lawyer from Bahrain, was elected U.N. General Assembly president, the first woman from the Middle East to take the post.

One year ago: In several high-profile Republican primaries, Meg Whitman won the nomination for California governor while Carly Fiorina got the nod to oppose three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer; in Nevada, Sharron Angle won the right to oppose Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. (All three ended up losing their respective contests.) In South Carolina, political unknown Alvin Greene won the Democratic primary to challenge U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (Greene lost in November).

Today's birthdays: Former First Lady Barbara Bush is 86. Actor-comedian Jerry Stiller is 84. Comedian Joan Rivers is 78. Actress Millicent Martin is 77. Actor James Darren is 75. Actor Bernie Casey is 72. Singer Nancy Sinatra is 71. Singer Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night) is 69. Musician Boz Scaggs is 67. Actor Don Grady is 67. Rock musician Mick Box (Uriah Heep) is 64. Author Sara Paretsky is 64. Actress Sonia Braga is 61. Actress Kathy Baker is 61. Country musician Tony Rice is 60. Actor Griffin Dunne is 56. "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams is 54. Actor-director Keenen Ivory Wayans is 53. Singer Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) is 51. Musician Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) is 49. Rhythm-and-blues singer Doris Pearson (Five Star) is 45. Actress Julianna Margulies is 44. Actor Dan Futterman is 44. Actor David Sutcliffe is 42. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nicci Gilbert is 41. Actress Kelli Williams is 41. Actor Mark Feuerstein is 40. Contemporary Christian musician Mike Scheuchzer (MercyMe) is 36. Rapper Kanye (KAHN'-yay) West is 34. Blues-rock musician Derek Trucks (The Derek Trucks Band) is 32. Folk-bluegrass singer-musician Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek) is 30. Actress Torrey DeVitto (TV: "Pretty Little Liars") is 27.

Thought for today: "Don't talk about what you have done or what you are going to do." -- Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States (1743-1826)

[Associated Press]

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