This day in history

[June 03, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, June 3, the 154th day of 2009. There are 211 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On June 3, 1808, Jefferson Davis -- the first and only president of the Confederate States of America -- was born in Christian County, Ky.

On this date:

In 1621, the Dutch West India Company received its charter for a trade monopoly in parts of the Americas and Africa.

In 1888, the poem "Casey at the Bat," by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was first published, in the San Francisco Daily Examiner.

In 1935, the French liner Normandie set a record on its maiden voyage, arriving in New York after crossing the Atlantic in just four days.

In 1937, the Duke of Windsor, who had abdicated the British throne, married Wallis Warfield Simpson in Monts, France.

In 1948, the 200-inch reflecting Hale Telescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory in California was dedicated.

In 1963, Pope John XXIII died at age 81; he was succeeded by Pope Paul VI.

In 1965, astronaut Edward White became the first American to "walk" in space, during the flight of Gemini 4.

In 1968, pop artist Andy Warhol was shot and critically wounded in his New York film studio, known as "The Factory," by Valerie Solanas, an actress and self-styled militant feminist.

In 1983, Gordon Kahl, a militant tax protester wanted in the slayings of two U.S. marshals in North Dakota, was killed in a gun battle with law-enforcement officials near Smithville, Ark.

In 1989, Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, died. Chinese army troops began their sweep of Beijing to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations. SkyDome (now called Rogers Centre) opened in Toronto.

Ten years ago: Caving in to Russian and Western demands, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic accepted a peace plan for Kosovo designed to end mass expulsions of ethnic Albanians and 11 weeks of NATO airstrikes.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush announced the resignation of CIA Director George Tenet amid a controversy over intelligence lapses about suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Frances Shand Kydd, the mother of the late Princess Diana, died at her home near Oban, Scotland, at age 68. Julio Franco became, at age 45, the oldest player in major league history to hit a grand slam, connecting in Atlanta's 8-4 victory over Philadelphia.

One year ago: Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, making him the first black candidate to lead his party. Astronauts installed a 37-foot-long Japanese lab at the international space station. Health officials said an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes was reported in nine states.

Today's birthdays: Actor Tony Curtis is 84. TV producer Chuck Barris is 80. Actress Irma P. Hall is 74. Author Larry McMurtry is 73. Rock singer Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) is 70. Singer Eddie Holman is 63. Musician Too Slim (Riders in the Sky) is 61. Rock musician Richard Moore is 60. Singer Suzi Quatro is 59. Singer Deneice Williams is 58. Singer Dan Hill is 55. Actor Scott Valentine is 51. Rock musician Kerry King (Slayer) is 45. Rock singer-musician Mike Gordon is 44. CNN host Anderson Cooper is 42. Country singer Jamie O'Neal is 41. Singers Ariel and Gabriel Hernandez (No Mercy) are 38. Tennis player Rafael Nadal is 23. Actress-singer Lalaine ("Lizzie McGuire") is 22.

Thought for today: "Nothing is done. Everything in the world remains to be done or done over." -- Lincoln Steffens, American investigative reporter (1866-1936)

[Associated Press]

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