Today in History

Today is Tuesday, June 23, the 174th day of 2015. There are 191 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On June 23, 1972, President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed using the CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation. (Revelation of the tape recording of this conversation sparked Nixon's resignation in 1974.) The same day, President Nixon signed Title IX, which barred discrimination on the basis of sex for "any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

On this date:

In 1314, during the First War of Scottish Independence, the two-day Battle of Bannockburn, resulting in victory for the forces of Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II, began near Stirling.

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In 1812, Britain, unaware that America had declared war against it five days earlier, rescinded its policy on neutral shipping, a major issue of contention between the two countries.

In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for a second term of office at the Republican national convention in Chicago.

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 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 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 authorities believe was planted by Sikh separatists.

In 1995, Dr. Jonas Salk, the medical pioneer who developed the first vaccine to halt the crippling rampage of polio, died in La Jolla, California, at age 80.

Ten years ago: The White House defended presidential adviser Karl Rove against Democratic demands he apologize or quit for saying "liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen, 80, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the 1964 Mississippi slayings of three civil rights workers. The San Antonio Spurs won a thrilling Game 7 over Detroit Pistons, 81-74, to claim the NBA championship. Veteran journalist Shana Alexander died in Hermosa Beach, California, at age 79.

Five years ago: Following Gen. Stanley McChrystal's criticism of the Obama administration in a Rolling Stone magazine profile, President Barack Obama named Gen. David Petraeus to replace the Afghanistan commander. Gary Faulkner, who was detained by authorities in northern Pakistan during a personal quest to track down Osama bin Laden, was released.

One year ago: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting Baghdad, told leaders of Iraq's factions they had to keep their commitments to seat a new parliament before a Sunni insurgency swept away hopes for a lasting peace. President Barack Obama, speaking at the White House Summit on Working Families, said the United States should join the rest of the industrialized world and offer paid leave for mothers of newborns. Dominik Hasek, Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake, Mike Modano and coach Pat Burns and referee Bill McCreary were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Diana Trask is 75. Musical conductor James Levine is 72. Actor Ted Shackelford is 69. Actor Bryan Brown is 68. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is 67. Actor Jim Metzler is 64. "American Idol" ex-judge Randy Jackson is 59. Actress Frances McDormand is 58. Rock musician Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) is 53. Actor Paul La Greca is 53. Writer-director Joss Whedon is 51. Rhythm-and-blues singer Chico DeBarge is 45. Actress Selma Blair is 43. Rock singer KT Tunstall is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Virgo Williams (Ghostowns DJs) is 40. Actress Emmanuelle Vaugier is 39. Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is 38. Actress Melissa Rauch is 35. Rock singer Duffy is 31. Country singer Katie Armiger is 24.

Thought for Today: "Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self." -- May Sarton, Belgian-born American poet (1912-1995).

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