Today in History

Today is Friday, June 21, the 172nd day of 2019. There are 193 days left in the year. Summer begins at 11:54 a.m. Eastern time.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 21, 1964, civil rights workers Michael H. Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James E. Chaney were slain in Philadelphia, Mississippi; their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. (Forty-one years later on this date in 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was found guilty of manslaughter; he was sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died in January 2018.)

On this date:

In 1377, King Edward III died after ruling England for 50 years; he was succeeded by his grandson, Richard II.

In 1788, the United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.

In 1834, Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

In 1942, German forces led by Generaloberst (Colonel General) Erwin Rommel captured the Libyan city of Tobruk during World War II. (Rommel was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal; Tobruk was retaken by the Allies in November 1942.) An Imperial Japanese submarine fired shells at Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, causing little damage.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Miller v. California, ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.

In 1977, Menachem Begin of the Likud bloc became Israel's sixth prime minister.

In 1982, a jury in Washington, D.C. found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three other men.

In 1988, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," a comedy fantasy starring Bob Hoskins that combined live action and legendary animated cartoon characters, premiered in New York.

In 1989, a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest was protected by the First Amendment.

In 2001, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., indicted 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in absentia for the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen. Death claimed actor Carroll O'Connor at age 76 and blues musician John Lee Hooker at age 80.

In 2002, one of the worst wildfires in Arizona history grew to 128,000 acres, forcing thousands of homeowners near the community of Show Low to flee.

In 2013, President Barack Obama nominated James Comey, a Bush-era Justice official, to head the FBI, succeeding Robert Mueller. The Food Network said it was dropping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted the first of two videotaped apologies begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.

Ten years ago: Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari was among hundreds of people arrested during the Tehran government's crackdown on nationwide protests over Iran's disputed presidential election. (Bahari was released nearly four months later.)

Five years ago: An armed South Korean soldier fled after killing five of his comrades and wounding seven at an outpost near the North Korean border. (The soldier, identified only as Sgt. Yim, was captured two days later.) Gerry Conlon, 60, who was unjustly imprisoned for an Irish Republican Army killing and inspired the Oscar-nominated film "In the Name of the Father," died in Belfast.

One year ago: First lady Melania Trump visited with migrant children during a brief stop at a Texas facility housing some children separated from their parents at the border; she caused a stir when she left Washington wearing a green, hooded military jacket with lettering that said, "I really don't care, do u?" Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist and pundit Charles Krauthammer died at 68; he had said a year earlier that he was being treated for a tumor in his abdomen.

Today's Birthdays: Composer Lalo Schifrin is 87. Actor Bernie Kopell is 86. Actor Monte Markham is 84. Songwriter Don Black is 81. Actress Mariette Hartley is 79. Comedian Joe Flaherty is 78. Rock singer-musician Ray Davies (The Kinks) is 75. Actress Meredith Baxter is 72. Actor Michael Gross is 72. Rock musician Joe Molland (Badfinger) is 72. Rock musician Don Airey (Deep Purple) is 71. Rock musician Joey Kramer (Aerosmith) is 69. Rock musician Nils Lofgren is 68. Actress Robyn Douglass is 67. Actor Leigh McCloskey is 64. Cartoonist Berke Breathed is 62. Actor Josh Pais is 61.Country singer Kathy Mattea is 60. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is 59. Actor Marc Copage is 57. Actress Sammi Davis is 55. Actor Doug Savant is 55. Country musician Porter Howell is 55. Actor Michael Dolan is 54. Writer-director Lana Wachowski is 54. Actress Carrie Preston is 52. Actress Paula Irvine is 51. Rapper/producer Pete Rock is 49. Country singer Allison Moorer is 47. Actress Juliette Lewis is 46. Actress Maggie Siff is 45. Musician Justin Cary is 44. Rock musician Mike Einziger (Incubus) is 43. Actor Chris Pratt is 40. Rock singer Brandon Flowers is 38. Britain's Prince William is 37. Actor Jussie Smollett is 37. Actor Benjamin Walker is 37. Actor Michael Malarkey is 36. Pop singer Kris Allen (TV: "American Idol") is 34. Pop/rock singer Lana Del Rey is 34. Actor Jascha Washington is 30. Country musician Chandler Baldwin (LANCO) is 27. Pop singer Rebecca Black is 22.

Thought for Today: "In America, to look a couple of years younger than you actually are is not only an achievement for which you are to be congratulated, it is patriotic." -- Cynthia Propper Seton, American writer (1926-1982).