This day in history

[June 16, 2011]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, June 16, the 167th day of 2011. There are 198 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On June 16, 1911, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. was incorporated in New York State; it later became known as International Business Machines, or IBM.

On this date:

In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle in Scotland. (She escaped almost a year later but ended up imprisoned again.)

In 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

In 1903, Ford Motor Co. was incorporated.

In 1932, President Herbert Hoover and Vice President Charles Curtis were renominated at the Republican national convention in Chicago.

In 1933, the National Industrial Recovery Act became law. (It was later struck down by the Supreme Court.)

In 1941, National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) opened for business with a ceremony attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1959, actor George Reeves, TV's "Superman," was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in the bedroom of his Beverly Hills, Calif., home; he was 45.

In 1963, the world's first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6.

In 1970, Kenneth A. Gibson of Newark, N.J., became the first black politician elected mayor of a major Northeast city. Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo, 26, died at a New York hospital after battling cancer.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos (toh-REE'-ohs) exchanged the instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties.

Ten years ago: Face to face for the first time, President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged during a meeting in Slovenia to deepen their nations' bonds and to explore the possibility of compromise on U.S. missile defense plans. City lawmakers elected Klaus Wowereit (VOH'-vehr-eyet) Berlin's first openly gay mayor.

Five years ago: The House rejected a timetable for pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq, 256-153. In Iraq, three 101st Airborne Division soldiers were killed in an attack while two others were abducted (their mutilated bodies were found three days later). In Martinez, Calif., Susan Polk, 48, was convicted of second-degree murder for stabbing to death her millionaire psychotherapist husband, Felix Polk, whom she had first met as a 14-year-old girl in treatment. "Lonelygirl15," a fictitious video blogger played by actress Jessica Lee Rose, made her online debut.

One year ago: After meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg announced the oil giant was establishing a $20 billion claim fund and suspending dividends as he insisted, "We care about the small people." Movie director Ronald Neame ("The Poseidon Adventure") died in Los Angeles at age 99.

Today's birthdays: Actor Bill Cobbs is 76. Author Joyce Carol Oates is 73. Country singer Billy "Crash" Craddock is 72. Songwriter Lamont Dozier is 70. Rhythm-and-blues singer Eddie Levert is 69. Actress Joan Van Ark is 68. Actor Geoff Pierson is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer James Smith (The Stylistics) is 61. Boxing Hall of Famer Roberto Duran is 60. Pop singer Gino Vannelli is 59. Actress Laurie Metcalf is 56. Model-actress Jenny Shimizu is 44. Actor James Patrick Stuart is 43. Actor Clifton Collins Jr. is 41. Actor John Cho is 39. Actor Eddie Cibrian is 38. Actress China (chee-nah) Shavers is 34. Actress Missy Peregrym (PEH'-rih-grihm) is 29. Actress Olivia Hack is 28. Singer Diana DeGarmo ("American Idol") is 24.

Thought for today: "I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me." -- Dudley Field Malone, American attorney (1882-1950)

[Associated Press]

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