Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 16, 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
On this date:
In 1903, Ford Motor Co. was incorporated.
In 1933, the National Industrial Recovery Act became law with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature. (The Act was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was founded as President Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933.
In 1941, National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) opened for business with a ceremony attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1963, the world’s first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova (teh-ruhsh-KOH’-vuh), 26, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6; Tereshkova spent 71 hours in flight, circling the Earth 48 times before returning safely.
In 1970, Kenneth A. Gibson of Newark, New Jersey, became the first Black politician elected mayor of a major Northeast city. Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo, 26, died at a New York hospital after battling cancer.
In 1977, Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev was named president, becoming the first person to hold both posts simultaneously.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos (toh-REE’-ohs) signed the instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties during a ceremony in Panama City.
In 1989, Ghostbusters II was released in theaters.
In 1999, Thabo Mbeki (TAH’-boh um-BEH’-kee) took the oath as president of South Africa, succeeding Nelson Mandela.
In 2011, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., announced his resignation from Congress, bowing to the furor caused by his sexually charged online dalliances with a former porn performer and other women. Osama bin Laden’s longtime second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri (AY’-muhn ahl-ZWAH’-ree), took control of al-Qaida.
In 2015, real estate mogul Donald Trump launched his successful campaign to become president of the United States with a speech at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
In 2016, President Barack Obama traveled to Orlando, Florida, the scene of a deadly nightclub shooting that claimed 49 victims; the president embraced grieving families and cheered on Democrats’ push for new gun control measures. Walt Disney Co. opened Shanghai Disneyland, its first theme park in mainland China.
In 2020, federal authorities announced murder and attempted murder charges against an Air Force sergeant, Steven Carrillo, in the fatal shooting of a federal security officer outside a U.S. courthouse in Oakland, California. (Carrillo, who had ties to the far-right, anti-government “boogaloo” movement, pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.) A statue of Christopher Columbus that stood in a St. Louis park for 134 years was removed; park officials said it had symbolized a “historical disregard for indigenous peoples.”
Ten years ago: Egyptians began going to the polls for a two-day runoff to choose their first freely elected president; Islamist candidate Mohammed Morsi emerged the winner. China launched its most ambitious space mission to date, carrying its first female astronaut, Liu Yang, and two male colleagues on a 13-day mission to an orbiting module that ended safely.
Five years ago: President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time that he was under federal investigation as part of the expanding probe into Russia’s election meddling as he lashed out at a top Justice Department official overseeing the inquiry. A St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer was acquitted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, a Black motorist who had just informed the officer that he was carrying a gun. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl died at his home in Ludwigshafen; he was 87. Actor Stephen Furst, who played naive fraternity pledge Flounder in the hit movie “Animal House,” died in Moorpark, California, at age 63.
One year ago: After a three-hour summit in Geneva, President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin emerged largely where they started, with deep differences on human rights, cyberattacks, election interference and more. Actor Frank Bonner, best known as salesman Herb Tarlek on the TV series “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died at 79.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Eileen Atkins is 88. Actor Bill Cobbs is 88. Author Joyce Carol Oates is 84. Country singer Billy “Crash” Craddock is 84. Songwriter Lamont Dozier is 81. R&B singer Eddie Levert is 80. Actor Joan Van Ark is 79. Actor Geoff Pierson is 73. Boxing Hall of Famer Roberto Duran is 71. Pop singer Gino Vannelli is 70. Actor Laurie Metcalf is 67. Actor Arnold Vosloo is 60. Actor Danny Burstein is 58. Model-actor Jenny Shimizu is 55. Actor James Patrick Stuart is 54. Rapper MC Ren is 53. Actor Clifton Collins Jr. is 52. Golfer Phil Mickelson is 52. Actor John Cho is 50. Actor Eddie Cibrian is 49. Actor Fred Koehler is 47. Actor China (chee-nah) Shavers is 45. Actor Daniel Bruhl is 44.
Bluegrass musician Caleb Smith (Balsam Range) is 44. Actor Sibel Kekilli is 42. Actor Missy Peregrym (PEH’-rih-grihm) is 40. Actor Olivia Hack is 39. Singer Diana DeGarmo (TV: “American Idol”) is 35. Actor Ali Stroker is 35. Tennis player Bianca Andreescu is 22.
