Today in History

Today is Wednesday, June 29, the 180th day of 2022. 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 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 1946, authorities in British-ruled Palestine arrested more than 2,700 Jews in an attempt to stamp out extremists.

In 1967, Jerusalem was reunified as Israel removed barricades separating the Old City from the Israeli sector.

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

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a trio of death sentences, saying the way they had been imposed constituted cruel and unusual punishment. (The ruling prompted states to effectively impose a moratorium on executions until their capital punishment laws could be revised.)

In 1978, actor Bob Crane of "Hogan's Heroes" fame was found bludgeoned to death in an apartment in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was appearing in a play; he was 49.

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. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)

In 2018, the Annapolis Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland kept its promise to put out the day's paper, despite the shooting deaths of five people in its newsroom a day earlier.

Ten years ago: A day after the House voted to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, the Justice Department said Holder's decision to withhold information about a bungled gun-tracking operation from Congress did not constitute a crime. The younger brother and business partner of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to charges of doctoring documents, but Peter Madoff insisted he knew nothing about his brother's massive Ponzi scheme. (Peter Madoff was later sentenced to 10 years in prison; he was released from home confinement in August 2020.) The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency filed formal charges against Lance Armstrong, accusing the seven-time Tour de France winner of using performance-enhancing drugs throughout the best years of his career. (The USADA ended up stripping Armstrong of all his Tour de France titles and issued a lifetime ban from cycling.)

Five years ago: A scaled-back version of President Donald Trump's travel ban took effect, stripped of provisions that brought protests and chaos at airports worldwide; the new rules tightened already-tough visa policies affecting citizens from six Muslim-majority countries.

One year ago: Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld died at the age of 88 in New Mexico; he had been Pentagon chief during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban regime following the 9/11 attacks, and also at the start of the long and costly Iraq war in 2003. Former South African President Jacob Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison for defying a court order to appear for questions about allegations of corruption; his jailing would spark violent rioting in which more than 330 people died.

Today's Birthdays: Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 82. Singer-songwriter Garland Jeffreys is 79. Actor Gary Busey is 78. Comedian Richard Lewis is 75. Actor-turned-politican-turned-radio personality Fred Grandy is 74. Rock musician Ian Paice (Deep Purple) is 74. Singer Don Dokken (Dokken) is 69. Rock singer Colin Hay (Men At Work) is 69. Actor Maria Conchita Alonso is 67. Actor Kimberlin Brown (TV: "The Bold and the Beautiful") is 61. Actor Sharon Lawrence is 61. Actor Amanda Donohoe is 60. Actor Judith Hoag is 59. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is 59. R&B singer Stedman Pearson (Five Star) is 58. Actor Kathleen Wilhoite is 58. Producer-writer Matthew Weiner is 57. Actor Melora Hardin is 55. Actor Brian D'Arcy James is 54. Actor Christina Chang is 51. Rap DJ and record producer DJ Shadow is 50. Actor Lance Barber is 49. Actor-dancer Will Kemp is 45. Actor Zuleikha Robinson is 45. Rock musician Sam Farrar is 44. Actor Luke Kirby is 44. Singer Nicole Scherzinger is 44. Comedian-writer Colin Jost is 40. Actor Lily Rabe is 40. R&B singer Aundrea Fimbres is 39. NBA forward Kawhi Leonard is 31. Actor Camila Mendes (TV: "Riverdale") is 28.