This day in history         

[June 18, 2007]  (AP) Today is Monday, June 18, the 169th day of 2007. There are 196 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On June 18, 1940, during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to conduct themselves in a manner that would prompt future generations to say, "This was their finest hour."

On this date:

In 1586, English colonists sailed from Roanoke Island, N.C., after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America.

In 1778, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.

In 1812, the United States declared war against Britain.

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte met his Waterloo as British and Prussian troops defeated the French in Belgium.

In 1857, Henry Clay Folger, the founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., was born in New York City.

In 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a journey with pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours.

In 1948, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights finished drafting an International Declaration of Human Rights.

In 1979, President Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.

In 1983, astronaut Sally K. Ride became America's first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

In 1986, 25 people were killed when a twin-engine plane and helicopter carrying sightseers collided over the Grand Canyon.

Ten years ago: The Southern Baptist Convention called for a boycott of the Walt Disney Co., protesting what the convention called its "gay-friendly" policies. Sirhan Sirhan failed in his tenth bid for parole in the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. Irineo Montoya, a Mexican laborer, was executed by the state of Texas for a 1985 killing despite protests by the Mexican government.

Five years ago: A Palestinian detonated a nail-studded bomb in a Jerusalem bus, killing 19 passengers and himself. President Bush sent to Congress his detailed proposal for creation of a new Homeland Security Department. Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura announced he would not seek a second term.

One year ago: Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected the first female presiding bishop for the Episcopal Church, the U.S. arm of the global Anglican Communion. Phil Mickelson's bid for a third consecutive major ended with a shocking collapse on the final hole, giving the U.S. Open to Geoff Ogilvy.

Today's birthdays: Actor Ian Carmichael is 87. Columnist Tom Wicker is 81. Rock singer-composer-musician Sir Paul McCartney is 65. Movie critic Roger Ebert is 65. Actress Constance McCashin is 60. Actress Linda Thorson is 60. Actress Isabella Rossellini is 55. Actress Carol Kane is 55. Rock singer Alison Moyet is 46. Country singer-musician Tim Hunt is 40. Rock singer-musician Sice (The Boo Radleys) is 38. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nathan Morris (Boyz II Men) is 36. Actress Mara Hobel is 36. Rapper Silkk the Shocker is 32. Actress Alana de la Garza is 31. Country singer Blake Shelton is 31. Actress Renee Olstead is 18.

Thought for today: "Frailty, thy name is no longer woman." -- Victor Riesel, American labor journalist (1913-1995).

[Associated Press]