 Today's highlight in history:
On June 4, 1942, the World War II Battle of Midway began, resulting
in a decisive American victory against Japan and marking the turning
point of the war in the Pacific.
On this date:
In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers first publicly demonstrated their
hot-air balloon, which did not carry any passengers, over Annonay,
France.
In 1812, the Louisiana Territory was renamed the Missouri Territory.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a declaration of war
against Britain.
In 1892, the Sierra Club was incorporated in San Francisco.
In 1912, Massachusetts became the first state to adopt a minimum
wage law.
In 1919, Congress approved the 19th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution guaranteeing citizens the right to vote regardless of
their gender, and sent it to the states for ratification.
In 1937, one of the first, if not the first, shopping carts was
introduced by supermarket chain owner Sylvan Goldman in Oklahoma
City.
In 1939, the German ocean liner St. Louis, carrying more than 900
Jewish refugees from Germany, was turned away from the Florida coast
by U.S. officials.
In 1940, during World War II, the Allied military evacuation of more
than 338,000 troops from Dunkirk, France, ended.
In 1954, French Premier Joseph Laniel and Vietnamese Premier Buu Loc
signed treaties in Paris according "complete independence" to
Vietnam.
In 1972, a jury in San Jose, Calif., acquitted radical activist
Angela Davis of murder and kidnapping for her alleged connection to
a deadly courthouse shootout in Marin County in 1970.
In 1990, Dr. Jack Kevorkian carried out his first publicly assisted
suicide, helping Janet Adkins, a 54-year-old Alzheimer's patient
from Portland, Ore., end her life in Oakland County, Mich.
In 1992, the U.S. Postal Service announced the results of a
nationwide vote on the Elvis Presley stamp, saying more people
preferred the "younger Elvis" design.
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush said the CIA and FBI
had failed to communicate adequately before the Sept. 11 terror
attacks; Congress began closed-door hearings into intelligence
lapses. A panel of U.S. Roman Catholic bishops called for a
zero-tolerance policy against priests who molest children in the
future and a two-strikes-he's-out policy for those guilty of past
abuse. Japan ratified the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at cutting emissions
of heat-trapping gases.
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 Five years ago: President George W. Bush left
on an eight-day European trip that included a Group of Eight summit
in Germany. Military judges dismissed charges against a Guantanamo
detainee accused of chauffeuring Osama bin Laden and another who
allegedly killed a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. Insurgents linked to
al-Qaida issued a video in which they claimed to have killed all
three U.S. soldiers captured in an ambush on May 12. (The bodies of
the soldiers were later recovered.) A federal indictment accused
Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., of receiving more than $500,000 in
bribes (Jefferson was later convicted of bribery and racketeering).
One year ago: China's Li Na captured her first Grand Slam
singles title, becoming the first tennis player from China, man or
woman, to achieve such a feat; Na beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6
(0) in the French Open final. Former Secretary of State Lawrence
Eagleburger, 80, died in Charlottesville, Va.
Today's birthdays: Actor Bruce Dern is 76. Musician Roger
Ball is 68. Actress-singer Michelle Phillips is 68. Jazz musician
Anthony Braxton is 67. Rock musician Danny Brown (The Fixx) is 61.
Actor Parker Stevenson is 60. Actor Keith David is 56. Actress Julie
Gholson is 54. Actor Eddie Velez is 54. Singer-musician El DeBarge
is 51. Actress Julie White is 51. Actress Lindsay Frost is 50.
Tennis player Andrea Jaeger is 47. Rhythm-and-blues singer Al B.
Sure! is 44. Actor Scott Wolf is 44. Actor-comedian Rob Huebel is
43. Comedian Horatio Sanz is 43. Actor Noah Wyle is 41. Rock
musician Stefan Lessard (The Dave Matthews Band) is 38.
Actor-comedian Russell Brand is 37. Actress Angelina Jolie is 37.
Actor Theo Rossi is 37. Alt-country singer Kasey Chambers is 36.
Rock musician JoJo Garza (Los Lonely Boys) is 32. Model Bar Refaeli
(ruh-FEHL'-lee) is 27. Rock musician Zac Farro is 22.
Thought for today: "If America forgets where she came from,
if the people lose sight of what brought them along, if she listens
to the deniers and mockers, then will begin the rot and
dissolution."-- Carl Sandburg, American writer (1878-1967)
[Associated Press]
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