Today in History

Today in History

Today is Monday, June 29, the 181st day of 2020. There are 185 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 29, 1613, London's original Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed, was destroyed by a fire sparked by a cannon shot during a performance of "Henry VIII."

On this date:

In 1520, Montezuma II, the ninth and last emperor of the Aztecs, died in Tenochtitlan under unclear circumstances (some say he was killed by his own subjects; others, by the Spanish).

In 1767, Britain approved the Townshend Revenue Act, which imposed import duties on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper and tea shipped to the American colonies. (Colonists bitterly protested, prompting Parliament to repeal the duties -- except for tea.)

In 1776, the Virginia state constitution was adopted, and Patrick Henry was made governor.

In 1880, France annexed Tahiti, which became a French colony on December 30, 1880.

In 1927, the first trans-Pacific airplane flight was completed as U.S. Army Air Corps Lt. Lester J. Maitland and Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger arrived at Wheeler Field in Hawaii aboard the Bird of Paradise, an Atlantic-Fokker C-2, after flying 2,400 miles from Oakland, California, in 25 hours, 50 minutes.

In 1933, actor-director Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle died in New York at age 46.

In 1946, authorities in British-ruled Palestine arrested more than 2,700 Jews in an attempt to stamp out extremists.

In 1970, the United States ended a two-month military offensive into Cambodia.

In 1974, Isabel Martinez de Peron was sworn in as acting president of Argentina, two days before the death of her ailing husband, President Juan Peron.

In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Mir space station linked in orbit, beginning a historic five-day voyage as a single ship. A department store in Seoul, South Korea, collapsed, killing at least 500 people. Actress Lana Turner died in Century City, California, at age 74.

In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled, 5-3, that President George W. Bush's plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law.

In 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff received a 150-year sentence for his multibillion-dollar fraud.

Ten years ago: China and Taiwan signed a tariff-slashing trade pact that boosted economic ties and further eased political tensions six decades after the rivals split amid civil war. Talk show host Larry King announced he would step down from his CNN show in the autumn after 25 years on the air.

Five years ago: A deeply divided Supreme Court upheld the use of a controversial drug, midazolam, in lethal-injection executions. (Executions that employed midazolam took longer than usual and raised concerns that the drug did not perform its intended task of putting inmates into a coma-like sleep.) A car bomb killed Egypt's chief prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, in the country's first assassination of a senior official in 25 years. Stanley Cup winners Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger and Sergei Fedorov and former NHL star Phil Housley were among the seven newcomers in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

One year ago: Former New York City police detective Luis Alvarez, who was a leader in the fight to maintain the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund, died of cancer at the age of 53. In Major League Baseball's first game in Europe, the New York Yankees outlasted the Boston Red Sox 17-13 in a London game that stretched for four hours and 42 minutes, just three minutes shy of the record for a nine-inning game.

Today's Birthdays: Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 80. Singer-songwriter Garland Jeffreys is 77. Actor Gary Busey is 76. Comedian Richard Lewis is 73. Actor-turned-politican-turned-radio personality Fred Grandy is 72. Rock musician Ian Paice (Deep Purple) is 72. Singer Don Dokken (Dokken) is 67. Rock singer Colin Hay (Men At Work) is 67. Actress Maria Conchita Alonso is 65. Actress Kimberlin Brown (TV: "The Bold and the Beautiful") is 59. Actress Sharon Lawrence is 59. Actress Amanda Donohoe is 58. Actress Judith Hoag is 57. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is 57. Rhythm and blues singer Stedman Pearson (Five Star) is 56. Actress Kathleen Wilhoite is 56. Producer-writer Matthew Weiner is 55. Musician Dale Baker is 54. Actress Melora Hardin is 53. Actor Brian D'Arcy James is 52. Actress Christina Chang is 49. Rap DJ Shadow is 48. Actor Lance Barber is 47. Actor-dancer Will Kemp is 43. Actress Zuleikha Robinson is 43. Rock musician Sam Farrar is 42. Actor Luke Kirby is 42. Country musician Todd Sansom (Marshall Dyllon) is 42. Singer Nicole Scherzinger is 42. Comedian-writer Colin Jost is 38. Actress Lily Rabe is 38. Rhythm and blues singer Aundrea Fimbres is 37. NBA forward Kawhi Leonard is 29. Actress Camila Mendes (TV: "Riverdale") is 26.