Today in History

Today is Saturday, June 24, the 175th day of 2023. There are 190 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 24, 1497, the first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.

On this date:

In 1509, Henry VIII was crowned king of England; his wife, Catherine of Aragon, was crowned queen consort.

In 1807, a grand jury in Richmond, Virginia, indicted former Vice President Aaron Burr on charges of treason and high misdemeanor (he was later acquitted).

In 1939, the Southeast Asian country Siam changed its name to Thailand. (It went back to being Siam in 1945, then became Thailand once again in 1949.)

In 1940, France signed an armistice with Italy during World War II.

In 1946, Fred M. Vinson was sworn in as the 13th chief justice of the United States, succeeding the late Harlan F. Stone.

In 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the western allies to organize the Berlin Airlift.

In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Roth v. United States, ruled 6-3 that obscene materials were not protected by the First Amendment.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon concluded his summit with the visiting leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, who hailed the talks in an address on American television.

In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger -- carrying America's first woman in space, Sally K. Ride -- coasted to a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1992, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, strengthened its 30-year ban on officially sponsored worship in public schools, prohibiting prayer as a part of graduation ceremonies.

In 2015, a federal judge in Boston formally sentenced Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the 2013 terror attacks. (A federal appeals court later threw out the sentence; the Supreme Court reinstated it.)

In 2020, three white men were indicted on murder charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was shot while running in a neighborhood near Georgia's coast. (All three were convicted.)

Ten years ago: Opening statements took place in the Sanford, Florida, trial of George Zimmerman, accused of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. (Zimmerman was acquitted.) The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup with a stunning 3-2 comeback victory in Game 6 over the Boston Bruins. In one of Wimbledon's greatest upsets, an ailing Rafael Nadal was knocked out in straight sets by 135th-ranked Steve Darcis of Belgium, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4.

Five years ago: President Donald Trump compared people entering the U.S. from Mexico to invaders and said they should be immediately sent back without appearing before a judge. Women in Saudi Arabia were able to drive for the first time, as the world's last remaining ban on female drivers was lifted.

One year ago: The Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years -- a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court's landmark abortion cases. The outcome overturning Roe v. Wade was expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. Star slugger Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees agreed to a $19 million, one-year contract, avoiding an arbitration hearing.

Today's Birthdays: Rock singer Arthur Brown is 81. Actor Michele Lee is 81. Actor-director Georg Stanford Brown is 80. Rock singer Colin Blunstone (The Zombies) is 78. Musician Mick Fleetwood is 76. Actor Peter Weller is 76. Rock musician John Illsley (Dire Straits) is 74. Actor Nancy Allen is 73. Reggae singer Derrick Simpson (Black Uhuru) is 73. Actor Joe Penny is 67. Singer-musician Andy McCluskey (Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark) is 64. R&B/pop singer-songwriter Siedah Garrett is 63. Actor Iain Glen is 62. Rock singer Curt Smith (Tears for Fears) is 62. Actor Danielle Spencer is 58. Actor Sherry Stringfield is 56. Singer Glenn Medeiros is 53. Actor Carla Gallo is 48. Actor Amir Talai (TV: "LA to Vegas") is 46. Actor-producer Mindy Kaling is 44. Actor Minka Kelly is 43. Actor Vanessa Ray is 42. Actor Justin Hires is 38. Actor Candice Patton is 38. Singer Solange Knowles is 37. Actor Max Ehrich is 32. Actor Beanie Feldstein is 30.