Today in History

Today in History

Today is Tuesday, June 12, the 163rd day of 2018. There are 202 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 12, 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, 37, was shot and killed outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi. (In 1994, Byron De La Beckwith was convicted of murdering Evers and sentenced to life in prison; he died in 2001.)

On this date:

In 1550, the city of Helsinki was established through a decree by King Gustavus I Vasa of Sweden.

In 1665, England installed a municipal government in New York, formerly the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, and appointed its first mayor, Thomas Willett.

In 1776, Virginia's colonial legislature adopted a Declaration of Rights.

In 1898, Philippine nationalists declared independence from Spain.

In 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated in Cooperstown, New York.

In 1942, Anne Frank, a German-born Jewish girl living in Amsterdam, received a diary for her 13th birthday, less than a month before she and her family went into hiding from the Nazis.

In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, unanimously struck down state laws prohibiting interracial marriages.

In 1968, the Roman Polanski horror film "Rosemary's Baby," starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, was released by Paramount Pictures.

In 1978, David Berkowitz was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for each of the six "Son of Sam" .44-caliber killings that terrified New Yorkers.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan, during a visit to the divided German city of Berlin, exhorted Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."

In 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were slashed to death outside her Los Angeles home. (O.J. Simpson was later acquitted of the killings in a criminal trial, but was eventually held liable in a civil action.) Boeing's new 777 jetliner went on its first test flight.

In 2016, an American-born Muslim opened fire at the Pulse nightclub, a gay establishment in Orlando, Florida, leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded before being shot dead by police.

Ten years ago: In a stinging rebuke to President George W. Bush's anti-terror policies, a deeply divided Supreme Court ruled that foreign detainees held for years at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba had the right to appeal to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their indefinite imprisonment without charges. Three heavily armed robbers stole two Pablo Picasso prints, "The Painter and the Model" and "Minotaur, Drinker and Women," plus two paintings by other artists from a museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (The works were later recovered.) Taiwan and China agreed to set up permanent offices in each other's territory for the first time in nearly six decades.

Five years ago: The director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Keith Alexander, vigorously defended once-secret surveillance programs before the Senate Intelligence Committee, saying that collecting Americans' phone records and tapping into their Internet activity had disrupted dozens of terrorist attacks. Ariel Castro, 52, accused of holding three women captive in his Cleveland home for about a decade, pleaded not guilty to hundreds of rape and kidnapping charges. (Castro was later sentenced to life plus 1,000 years and soon after committed suicide in prison.) NASCAR driver Jason Leffler, 37, died after an accident during a dirt car event at Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey.

One year ago: Tens of thousands of protesters held anti-corruption rallies across Russia; more than a thousand were arrested, including opposition leader and protest organizer Alexei Navalny. The Golden State Warriors brought home the NBA championship, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-120 in Game 5.

Today's Birthdays: Former President George H.W. Bush is 94. Songwriter Richard M. Sherman is 90. Jazz musician Chick Corea is 77. Sportscaster Marv Albert is 77. Singer Roy Harper is 77. Pop singer Len Barry is 76. Actor Roger Aaron Brown is 69. Rock musician Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) is 67. Country singer-musician Junior Brown is 66. Singer-songwriter Rocky Burnette is 65. Actor Timothy Busfield is 61. Singer Meredith Brooks is 60. Actress Jenilee Harrison is 60. Rock musician John Linnell (They Might Be Giants) is 59. Actor John Enos is 56. Rapper Grandmaster Dee (Whodini) is 56. Actor Paul Schulze is 56. Actor Eamonn Walker is 56. Actress Paula Marshall is 54. Actress Frances O'Connor is 51. Actor Rick Hoffman is 48. Actor-comedian Finesse Mitchell is 46. Actor Mel Rodriguez is 45. Actor Jason Mewes is 44. Actor Michael Muhney is 43. Blues musician Kenny Wayne Shepherd is 41. Actor Timothy Simons is 40. Actor Wil Horneff is 39. Singer Robyn is 39. Rock singer-musician John Gourley (Portugal. The Man) is 37. Actor Dave Franco is 33. Country singer Chris Young is 33. Actor Luke Youngblood is 32. Rap group MC Jay Are is 29. Actor Ryan Malgarini is 26.

Thought for Today: "A man without ambition is dead. A man with ambition but no love is dead. A man with ambition and love for his blessings here on earth is ever so alive." -- Pearl Bailey, American entertainer (1918-1990).