Today in History

Today in History

Today is Friday, June 16, the 167th day of 2017. There are 198 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 16, 1967, the three-day Monterey International Pop Music Festival, a major event of the "Summer of Love," opened in northern California; among the featured acts were Jefferson Airplane, The Who, the Grateful Dead, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and Ravi Shankar.

On this date:

In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle in Scotland. (She escaped almost a year later but ended up imprisoned again.)

In 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."

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 1942, a second four-man team of Nazi saboteurs landed in Florida, three days after another group arrived on Long Island, New York. (The plot was foiled when two members of the first team agreed to betray their comrades.)

In 1944, George Stinney, a 14-year-old black youth, was electrocuted by the state of South Carolina for the murders of two white girls, Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7.

In 1956, poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes were married in London.

In 1963, the world's first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova, 26, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6; she spent 71 hours in flight, circling the Earth 48 times before returning safely.

In 1977, Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev was named president, becoming the first person to hold both posts simultaneously. Business software maker Oracle Corp. had its beginnings as Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates founded Oracle's precursor, Software Development Laboratories.

In 1987, a jury in New York acquitted Bernhard Goetz of attempted murder in the subway shooting of four youths he said were going to rob him; however, Goetz was convicted of illegal weapons possession. (In 1996, a civil jury ordered Goetz to pay $43 million to one of the persons he had shot.)

In 1996, Russian voters went to the polls in their first independent presidential election; the result was a runoff between President Boris Yeltsin (the eventual winner) and Communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov. Sportscaster Mel Allen died in Greenwich, Connecticut, at age 83.

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.

Ten years ago: A North Carolina State Bar disciplinary committee said disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong would be disbarred for his disastrous prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape. Six people were killed when a car driven by Australian-born professional drag racer Troy Critchley went out of control and plowed into a parade crowd in Selmer, Tennessee. (Critchley later pleaded guilty to reckless assault, thereby avoiding jail time.) U.S. astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams set a then-record aboard the international space station for the longest single spaceflight by any woman, surpassing the record of 188 days set by astronaut Shannon Lucid at the Mir space station in 1996. (Williams spent a total of 195 days aboard the station; her record was eclipsed in 2015 by Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, who spent 199 days in spaceflight.)

Five 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.

One year ago: 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. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, in a livestream to his supporters from Vermont, said he would work with Hillary Clinton to transform the Democratic Party, adding that his "political revolution" had to continue and ensure the defeat of Republican Donald Trump. Walt Disney Co. opened Shanghai Disneyland, its first theme park in mainland China.

Today's Birthdays: Actress Eileen Atkins (TV: "The Crown"; "Doc Martin") is 83. Actor Bill Cobbs is 83. Author Joyce Carol Oates is 79. Country singer Billy "Crash" Craddock is 79. Songwriter Lamont Dozier is 76. Rhythm-and-blues singer Eddie Levert is 75. Actress Joan Van Ark is 74. Actor Geoff Pierson is 68. Rhythm-and-blues singer James Smith (The Stylistics) is 67. Boxing Hall of Famer Roberto Duran is 66. Pop singer Gino Vannelli is 65. Actress Laurie Metcalf is 62. Actor Arnold Vosloo is 55. Actor Danny Burstein is 53. Model-actress Jenny Shimizu is 50. Actor James Patrick Stuart is 49. Rapper MC Ren is 48. Actor Clifton Collins Jr. is 47. Golfer Phil Mickelson is 47. Actor John Cho is 45. Actor Eddie Cibrian is 44. Actor Fred Koehler is 42. Actress China (chee-nah) Shavers is 40. Actor Daniel Bruhl is 39. Bluegrass musician Caleb Smith (Balsam Range) is 39. Actress Sibel Kekilli is 37. Actress Missy Peregrym is 35. Actress Olivia Hack is 34. Singer Diana DeGarmo (TV: "American Idol") is 30. Pop-rock musician Ian Keaggy (Hot Chelle) is 30.

Thought for Today: "Not to know is bad. Not to want to know is worse. Not to hope is unthinkable. Not to care is unforgivable." -- Nigerian saying.