Today in History

Today in History

Today is Wednesday, June 8, the 160th day of 2016. There are 206 days left in the year.

Today's Highlights in History:

On June 8, 1966, the strongest of a series of tornadoes struck the Topeka, Kansas, area, killing 17 people. A merger was announced between the National and American Football Leagues, to take effect in 1970.

On this date:

In A.D. 632, the prophet Muhammad died in Medina.

In 1845, Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1864, Abraham Lincoln was nominated for another term as president during the National Union (Republican) Party's convention in Baltimore.

In 1912, the ballet "Daphnis et Chloe" was premiered by the Ballets Russes in Paris.

In 1915, U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned over what he viewed as President Woodrow Wilson's overly bellicose attitude toward Germany following the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.

In 1948, the "Texaco Star Theater" made its debut on NBC-TV with Milton Berle guest-hosting the first program. (Berle was later named the show's permanent host.)

In 1953, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that restaurants in the District of Columbia could not refuse to serve blacks. Eight tornadoes struck Michigan's Lower Peninsula, killing 126 people.

In 1967, 34 U.S. servicemen were killed when Israel attacked the USS Liberty, a Navy intelligence-gathering ship in the Mediterranean. (Israel later said the Liberty had been mistaken for an Egyptian vessel.)

In 1972, during the Vietnam War, an Associated Press photographer captured the haunting image of 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc as she ran naked and severely burned from the scene of a South Vietnamese napalm attack.

In 1978, a jury in Clark County, Nevada, ruled the so-called "Mormon will," purportedly written by the late billionaire Howard Hughes, was a forgery.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan became the first American chief executive to address a joint session of the British Parliament.

In 1996, China set off an underground nuclear test blast.

Ten years ago: The Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil, a vaccine against HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer. Sheikha Haya Al Khalifa, a lawyer from Bahrain, was elected U.N. General Assembly president, the first woman from the Middle East to take the post.

Five years ago: Rep. Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania became the first Democratic House colleague to call for Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York to resign after he admitted sending a lewd photo of himself to a woman via Twitter and lying about it. OPEC unexpectedly left its production levels unchanged, causing oil prices to jump as senior officials reported their meeting in Vienna had ended in disarray. Meredith Vieira ended her five-year run as co-anchor of NBC's "Today" show, telling viewers her decision to go was "right, but it's hard."

One year ago: Acknowledging setbacks, President Barack Obama said at the close of a G-7 summit in Germany that the United States still lacked a "complete strategy" for training Iraqi forces to fight the Islamic State. Siding with the White House in a foreign-policy power struggle with Congress, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Americans born in the disputed city of Jerusalem could not list Israel as their birthplace on passports. The NCAA approved multiple rule changes to men's basketball for the 2015-16 season, including a 30-second shot clock and fewer timeouts for each team.

Today's Birthdays: Former first lady Barbara Bush is 91. Actor-comedian Jerry Stiller is 89. Actress Millicent Martin is 82. Actor James Darren is 80. Actor Bernie Casey is 77. Singer Nancy Sinatra is 76. Singer Chuck Negron is 74. Musician Boz Scaggs is 72. Author Sara Paretsky is 69. Actress Sonia Braga is 66. Actress Kathy Baker is 66. Country musician Tony Rice is 65. Rock singer Bonnie Tyler is 65. Actor Griffin Dunne is 61. "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams is 59. Actor-director Keenen Ivory Wayans is 58. Singer Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) is 56. Musician Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) is 54. Rhythm-and-blues singer Doris Pearson (Five Star) is 50. Actress Julianna Margulies is 49. Actor Dan Futterman is 49. Actor David Sutcliffe is 47. Actor Kent Faulcon is 46. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nicci Gilbert is 46. Actress Kelli Williams is 46. Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., is 46. Actor Mark Feuerstein is 45. Contemporary Christian musician Mike Scheuchzer (MercyMe) is 41. Actor Eion Bailey is 40. Tennis player Lindsay Davenport is 40. Rapper Kanye West is 39. TV personality/actress Maria Menounos is 38. Country singer/songwriter Sturgill Simpson is 38. Blues-rock musician Derek Trucks (The Derek Trucks Band) is 37. Rock singer Alex Band (The Calling) is 35. Folk-bluegrass singer-musician Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek) is 35. Tennis player Kim Clijsters is 33. Actress Torrey DeVitto is 32.

Thought for Today: "Love hath no physic for a grief too deep." -- Robert Nathan, American author and poet (1894-1985).