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 Today's highlight in history:
One hundred years ago, on June 30, 1908, the Tunguska Event took place in Russia as an asteroid exploded above Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown-down trees.
On this date:
In 1859, French acrobat Blondin (born Jean Francois Gravelet) walked a tightrope above the gorge of Niagara Falls as thousands of spectators watched.
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.
In 1921, President Harding nominated former President Taft to be chief justice of the United States, to succeed the late Edward Douglass White.
In 1934, Adolf Hitler carried out his "blood purge" of political and military rivals in Germany in what came to be known as "The Night of the Long Knives."
In 1936, the novel "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell was published in New York.
In 1958, the U.S. Senate passed the Alaska statehood bill by a vote of 64-20.
In 1963, Pope Paul VI was crowned the 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1971, a Soviet space mission ended in tragedy when three cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 11 were found dead inside their spacecraft after it had returned to Earth.
In 1985, 39 American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held 17 days.
In 1986, the Supreme Court, in Bowers v. Hardwick, ruled 5-4 that states could outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults. (However, the nation's highest court effectively reversed this decision in 2003 in Lawrence v. Texas).
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 Ten years ago: Linda Tripp, whose tape-and-tell friendship with Monica Lewinsky spurred a White House crisis, spent six hours testifying before a grand jury in Washington. Officials confirmed that the previously unidentified remains of a Vietnam War serviceman buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery were those of Air Force pilot Michael J. Blassie.
Five years ago: Israeli and Palestinian commanders shook hands as bulldozers dismantled checkpoints and Palestinian traffic flowed freely in the Gaza Strip. Comedian Buddy Hackett died in Malibu, Calif., at age 78.
One year ago: Two men rammed a jeep loaded with gasoline canisters into the main terminal at Glasgow Airport in Scotland, failing to set off an explosion, but seriously burning one of suspects; the attack came a day after two cars rigged as bombs were found in London.
Today's birthdays: Singer Lena Horne is 91. Actor Tony Musante is 72. Actress Nancy Dussault is 72. Singer Glenn Shorrock is 64. Jazz musician Stanley Clarke is 57. Actor David Garrison is 56. Rock musician Hal Lindes (Dire Straits) is 55. Actor-comedian David Alan Grier is 53. Actor Vincent D'Onofrio is 49. Actress Deirdre Lovejoy is 46. Actor Rupert Graves is 45. Boxer Mike Tyson is 42. Rock musician Tom Drummond (Better Than Ezra) is 39. Actor Brian Bloom is 38. Actor Brian Vincent is 38. Actress Monica Potter is 37. Actor Rick Gonzalez is 29. Actress Lizzy Caplan is 26. Rhythm-and-blues singer Fantasia ("American Idol") is 24.
Thought for today: "Many a man thinks he is patient when, in reality, he is indifferent."
-- B.C. Forbes, Scottish journalist (1880-1954)
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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