Today in History

Today is Sunday, June 17, the 168th day of 2018. There are 197 days left in the year. This is Father's Day.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 17, 1775, the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill resulted in a costly victory for the British, who suffered heavy losses.

On this date:

In 1397, the Treaty of Kalmar created a union between the kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

In 1579, Sir Francis Drake arrived in present-day northern California, naming it New Albion and claiming English sovereignty.

In 1818, French composer Charles Gounod, known for the operas "Faust" and "Romeo et Juliette," was born in Paris.

In 1928, Amelia Earhart embarked on a trans-Atlantic flight from Newfoundland to Wales with pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, becoming the first woman to make the trip as a passenger.

In 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which boosted U.S. tariffs to historically high levels, prompting foreign retaliation.

In 1948, a United Air Lines DC-6 crashed near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.

In 1953, U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas stayed the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, originally set for the next day, the couple's 14th wedding anniversary. (They were put to death June 19.)

In 1967, China successfully tested its first thermonuclear (hydrogen) bomb.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon's eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic national headquarters in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex.

In 1987, Charles Glass, a journalist on leave from ABC News, was kidnapped in Beirut by pro-Iranian guerrillas. (Glass escaped his captors in August 1987.)

In 1994, after leading police on a slow-speed chase on Southern California freeways, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. (Simpson was later acquitted in a criminal trial, but held liable in a civil trial.)

In 2015, nine people were shot to death in a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina; suspect Dylann Roof was arrested the following morning. (Roof has since been convicted of federal hate crimes and sentenced to death; he later pleaded guilty to state murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.)

Ten years ago: Hundreds of same-sex couples got married across California on the first full day that gay marriage became legal by order of the state's highest court. (However, California voters later approved Proposition 8, which restricted nuptials to a union between a man and a woman.) A truck bombing in Baghdad killed 63 people. Four British soldiers were killed by an explosive in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA title with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6. Igor Larionov and Glenn Anderson were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame along with former linesman Ray Scapinello and junior hockey builder Ed Chynoweth. Actress-dancer Cyd Charisse died in Los Angeles at age 86.

Five years ago: A G-8 summit of wealthy nations opened in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, under a cloud, with Russian President Vladimir Putin defiantly rejecting calls from the U.S., Britain and France to halt his political and military support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad's regime. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that states can't demand proof of citizenship from people registering to vote in federal elections unless they get federal or court approval to do so.

One year ago: The jury in Bill Cosby's sexual assault case declared itself hopelessly deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial for the 79-year-old TV star charged with drugging and groping a woman more than a decade earlier; prosecutors immediately announced they would pursue a second trial, which resulted in Cosby's conviction. The Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald was damaged in a collision with a Philippine-flagged container ship off Japan that killed seven sailors.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Peter Lupus is 86. Movie director Ken Loach is 82. Actor William Lucking is 77. Singer Barry Manilow is 75. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is 75. Comedian Joe Piscopo is 67. Actor Mark Linn-Baker is 64. Actor Jon Gries is 61. Rock singer Jello Biafra is 60. Movie producer-director-writer Bobby Farrelly is 60. Actor Thomas Haden Church is 57. Actor Greg Kinnear is 55. Actress Kami Cotler is 53. Olympic gold medal speed skater Dan Jansen is 53. Actor Jason Patric is 52. Rhythm and blues singer Kevin Thornton is 49. Actor-comedian Will Forte is 48. Latin pop singer Paulina Rubio is 47. Tennis player Venus Williams is 38. Actor Arthur Darvill is 36. Actress Jodie Whittaker is 36. Country singer Mickey Guyton is 35. Actor-rapper Herculeez (AKA Jamal Mixon) is 35. Actress Marie Avgeropoulos is 32. Rapper Kendrick Lamar is 31. Actor Damani Roberts is 22.

Thought for Today: "Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad." -- Wade Boggs, Baseball Hall of Famer.