This day in history

[June 12, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Friday, June 12, the 163rd day of 2009. There are 202 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On June 12, 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, 37, was fatally shot in front of his home in Jackson, Miss. (In 1994, Byron De La Beckwith was convicted of murdering Evers and sentenced to life in prison; he died in 2001.)

On this date:

In 1665, England installed a municipal government in New York, formerly the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam.

In 1776, Virginia's colonial legislature became the first to adopt a Bill of Rights.

In 1898, Philippine nationalists declared independence from Spain.

In 1909, New York's Queensboro Bridge was formally dedicated, more than two months after it had opened to the public.

In 1929, Holocaust diarist Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt.

In 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated in Cooperstown, N.Y.

In 1967, the Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, struck down state laws prohibiting interracial marriages.

In 1979, 26-year-old cyclist Bryan Allen flew the manpowered Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan, during a visit to a divided Berlin, publicly challenged Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."

In 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were slashed to death outside her Los Angeles home. (O.J. Simpson was later acquitted of the killings in a criminal trial, but was eventually held liable in a civil action.)

Ten years ago: Thousands of NATO peacekeeping troops poured into Kosovo by air and by land; but in a surprising move, a Russian armored column entered Pristina before dawn to a heroes' welcome from Serb residents.

Five years ago: Gunmen firing from a car killed Iraqi deputy foreign minister Bassam Salih Kubba. Suspected militants killed an American in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Former President Ronald Reagan's body was sealed inside a tomb at his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., following a week of mourning and remembrance by world leaders and regular Americans.

One year ago: In a stinging rebuke to President George W. Bush's anti-terror policies, a deeply divided Supreme Court ruled that foreign detainees held for years at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba had the right to appeal to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their indefinite imprisonment without charges. Three heavily armed robbers stole two Pablo Picasso prints, "The Painter and the Model" and "Minotaur, Drinker and Women," from a museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (The prints were later recovered.) Taiwan and China agreed to set up permanent offices in each other's territory for the first time in nearly six decades.

Today's birthdays: Banker/philanthropist David Rockefeller is 94. Former President George H.W. Bush is 85. Singer Vic Damone is 81. Songwriter Richard Sherman is 81. Actor-singer Jim Nabors is 79. Jazz musician Chick Corea is 68. Sportscaster Marv Albert is 68. Singer Roy Harper is 68. Rock singer Reg Presley (The Troggs) is 68. Pop singer Len Barry is 67. Rock singer-musician John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson) is 60. Rock musician Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) is 58. Country singer-musician Junior Brown is 57. Singer-songwriter Rocky Burnette is 56. Actor Timothy Busfield is 52. Singer Meredith Brooks is 51. Actress Jenilee Harrison is 51. Rock musician John Linnell (They Might Be Giants) is 50. Rapper Grandmaster Dee (Whodini) is 47. Actress Paula Marshall is 45. Actress Frances O'Connor is 42. Blues musician Kenny Wayne Shepherd is 32. Actor Wil Horneff is 30. Singer Robyn is 30. Country singer Chris Young is 24. Actor Ryan Malgarini is 17.

Thought for today: "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game." -- Jacques Barzun, French-born American author

[Associated Press]

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