Today in History

Today is Saturday, June 18, the 170th day of 2016. There are 196 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 18, 1983, astronaut Sally K. Ride became America's first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a six-day mission.

On this date:

In 1778, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.

In 1812, the War of 1812 began as the United States Congress approved, and President James Madison signed, a declaration of war against Britain.

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte met his Waterloo as British and Prussian troops defeated the French in Belgium.

In 1873, suffragist Susan B. Anthony was found guilty by a judge in Canandaigua, New York, of breaking the law by casting a vote in the 1872 presidential election. (The judge fined Anthony $100, but she never paid the penalty.)

In 1908, William Howard Taft was nominated for president by the Republican National Convention in Chicago.

In 1940, during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to conduct themselves in a manner that would prompt future generations to say, "This was their finest hour." Charles de Gaulle delivered a speech on the BBC in which he rallied his countrymen after the fall of France to Nazi Germany.

In 1953, a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashed near Tokyo, killing all 129 people on board. Egypt's 148-year-old Muhammad Ali Dynasty came to an end with the overthrow of the monarchy and the proclamation of a republic.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda spoke to each other by telephone as they inaugurated the first trans-Pacific cable completed by AT&T between Japan and Hawaii.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.

In 1986, 25 people were killed when a twin-engine plane and helicopter carrying sightseers collided over the Grand Canyon.

In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Georgia v. McCollum, ruled that criminal defendants could not use race as a basis for excluding potential jurors from their trials. Entertainer Peter Allen died in San Diego County, California, at age 48.

In 1996, Richard Allen Davis was convicted in San Jose, California, of the 1993 kidnap-murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas of Petaluma. (Davis remains on death row.) Two Army transport helicopters collided and crashed during training exercises near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, killing six.

Ten years ago: Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected the first female presiding bishop for the Episcopal Church, the U.S. arm of the global Anglican Communion. Phil Mickelson's bid for a third consecutive major ended with a shocking collapse on the final hole, giving the U.S. Open to Geoff Ogilvy.

Five years ago: President Hamid Karzai acknowledged that the U.S. and Afghan governments had held talks with Taliban emissaries in a bid to end the nation's nearly 10-year war. British singer Amy Winehouse was heavily booed for being late and displaying erratic behavior on stage during a concert in Belgrade, Serbia. Yelena Bonner, 88, a Russian rights activist and widow of Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov, died in Boston. Clarence Clemons, the saxophone player for the E Street Band who was one of the key influences in Bruce Springsteen's life and music, died in Florida at age 69.

One year ago: In dueling decisions about free speech, the Supreme Court upheld Texas' refusal to issue a license plate bearing the Confederate battle flag and struck down an Arizona town's restrictions on temporary signs put up by a small church. Texas death row inmate Gregory Russeau was executed for the 2001 slaying of James Syvertson, a 75-year-old East Texas auto repair shop owner, during a crack cocaine binge.

Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is 79. Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock is 77. Rock singer-composer-musician Sir Paul McCartney is 74. Actress Constance McCashin is 69. Actress Linda Thorson is 69. Rock musician John Evans is 68. Former Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., is 66. Actress Isabella Rossellini is 64. Actress Carol Kane is 64. Actor Brian Benben is 60. Actress Andrea Evans is 59. Rock singer Alison Moyet is 55. Rock musician Dizzy Reed (Guns N' Roses) is 53. Figure skater Kurt Browning is 50. Country singer-musician Tim Hunt is 49. Rock singer-musician Sice (The Boo Radleys) is 47. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nathan Morris (Boyz II Men) is 45. Actress Mara Hobel is 45. Singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne is 43. Rapper Silkk the Shocker is 41. Actress Alana de la Garza is 40. Country singer Blake Shelton is 40. Rock musician Steven Chen (Airborne Toxic Event) is 38. Actor David Giuntoli is 36. Actress Renee Olstead is 27. Actor Jacob Anderson is 26. Actress Willa Holland is 25.

Thought for Today: "Most of the successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking." -- Bernard M. Baruch, American businessman and statesman (1870-1965).