Today in History

Today is Saturday, June 23, the 175th day of 2012. There are 191 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 23, 1812, Britain, unaware that America had declared war against it five days earlier, rescinded its policy on neutral shipping, a major issue of contention between the two countries. The same day, the British frigate HMS Belvidera came under attack from the USS President and the USS Congress in the North Atlantic; the Belvidera managed to escape.

On this date:

In 1757, forces of the East India Company led by Robert Clive won the Battle of Plassey, which effectively marked the beginning of British colonial rule in India.

In 1860, a congressional resolution authorized creation of the United States Government Printing Office, which opened the following year.

In 1931, aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on a round-the-world flight that lasted eight days and 15 hours.

In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Authority was established.

In 1947, the Senate joined the House in overriding President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act, designed to limit the power of organized labor.

In 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected president of Egypt.

In 1961, the Antarctic Treaty, intended to ensure that the continent would be used only for peaceful purposes, came into force.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin held the first of two meetings at Glassboro State College in New Jersey.

In 1969, Warren E. Burger was sworn in as chief justice of the United States by the man he was succeeding, Earl Warren.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation. (Revelation of the tape recording of this conversation sparked Nixon's resignation in 1974.)

In 1985, all 329 people aboard an Air India Boeing 747 were killed when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland because of a bomb believed to have been planted by Sikh separatists.

In 2005, a divided U.S. Supreme Court, in Kelo v. City of New London, ruled that governments may seize property for private development projects.

Ten years ago: Rival groups of Protestants and Catholics clashed on the streets of north Belfast, Northern Ireland, following a weekend of sporadic sectarian violence. Twenty-six North Korean asylum seekers left South Korean and Canadian diplomatic compounds in Beijing bound for South Korea, ending a monthlong diplomatic standoff.

Five years ago: Searchers in Summit County, Ohio, found the body of Jessie Davis, a missing 26-year-old pregnant woman, in a park. (Bobby Cutts Jr., a former Canton police officer who was the father of Davis' unborn child, was later convicted of murder and aggravated murder and sentenced to 57 years to life in prison.)

One year ago: Republicans pulled out of debt-reduction talks led by Vice President Joe Biden, blaming Democrats for demanding tax increases as part of a deal rather than accepting more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicare and other government programs. "Columbo" actor Peter Falk died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 83.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Diana Trask is 72. Musical conductor James Levine is 69. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rosetta Hightower (The Orlons) is 68. Actor Ted Shackelford is 66. Actor Bryan Brown is 65. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is 64. Actor Jim Metzler is 61. "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson is 56. Actress Frances McDormand is 55. Rock musician Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) is 50. Actor Paul La Greca is 50. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chico DeBarge is 42. Actress Selma Blair is 40. Rock singer KT Tunstall is 37. Rhythm-and-blues singer Virgo Williams (Ghostowns DJs) is 37. Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is 35. Actress Melissa Rauch (TV: "The Big Bang Theory") is 32. Rock singer Duffy is 28. Country singer Katie Armiger is 21.

Thought for Today: "A bore is a man who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company." -- Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian scholar (1664-1718).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.