Today in History

Today is Monday, June 26, the 177th day of 2023. There are 188 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 26, 1945, the charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco.

On this date:

In 1917, the first troops of the American Expeditionary Force deployed to France during World War I landed in St. Nazaire.

In 1925, Charles Chaplin's classic comedy "The Gold Rush" premiered at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

In 1948, the Berlin Airlift began in earnest after the Soviet Union cut off land and water routes to the isolated western sector of Berlin.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he delivered his famous speech expressing solidarity with the city's residents, declaring: "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner).

In 1977, 42 people were killed when a fire sent toxic smoke pouring through the Maury County Jail in Columbia, Tennessee. Elvis Presley performed his last concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush went back on his "no-new-taxes" campaign pledge, conceding that tax increases would have to be included in any deficit-reduction package worked out with congressional negotiators.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced the U.S. had launched missiles against Iraqi targets because of "compelling evidence" Iraq had plotted to assassinate former President George H.W. Bush.

In 1996, the Supreme Court ordered the Virginia Military Institute to admit women or forgo state support.

In 1997, the first Harry Potter novel, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by J.K. Rowling, was published in the United Kingdom (it was later released in the United States under the title "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone").

In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in the District of Columbia as it affirmed, 5-4, that an individual right to gun ownership existed.

In 2020, after protesters in Washington, D.C., attempted to pull down a statue of Andrew Jackson, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to protect monuments, memorials and statues.

Ten years ago: In deciding its first cases on the issue, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the nation's legally married gay couples equal federal footing with all other married Americans and also cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California.New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd; Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder. Seven-time champion Roger Federer was stunned by 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon; third-seeded Maria Sharapova was knocked out by the 131st-ranked qualifier, losing to Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal.

Five years ago: A sharply divided Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump's ban on travel from several mostly Muslim countries; dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court was making a historic mistake by refusing to recognize that the ban discriminates against Muslims. Joe Crowley of New York, the fourth-ranking House Democrat, lost a primary to 28-year-old liberal activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. General Electric Co. was removed from the Dow Jones industrial average, where it had been an original component in 1896; it was replaced by the Walgreens drugstore chain.

One year ago: Opening a summit in Germany, President Joe Biden and Western allies were intent on keeping economic fallout from the war in Ukraine from fracturing the global coalition working to punish Russia's aggression. Britain's Boris Johnson warned fellow leaders not to give in to "fatigue" even as Russia fires missiles at Kyiv. In the U.S., parades celebrating LGBTQ pride kicked off in some of America's biggest cities amid new fears about the potential erosion of freedoms won through decades of activism. The annual marches in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and elsewhere took place after at least one Supreme Court justice signaled, in that week's ruling on abortion, that the court could reconsider the right to same-sex marriage recognized in 2015. A U.S. Navy destroyer that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines became the deepest wreck ever discovered, according to explorers.

Today's Birthdays: Jazz musician-film composer Dave Grusin is 89. Actor Josef Sommer is 89. Singer Billy Davis Jr. is 85. Rock singer Georgie Fame is 80. Actor Clive Francis is 77. R&B singer Brenda Holloway is 77. Actor Michael Paul Chan is 73. Actor Robert Davi is 72. Singer-musician Mick Jones is 68. Actor Gedde Watanabe is 68. Rock singer Chris Isaak is 67. Rock singer Patty Smyth is 66. Singer Terri Nunn (Berlin) is 64. U.S. Bicycling Hall of Famer Greg LeMond is 62. Country musician Eddie Perez (The Mavericks) is 55. Rock musician Colin Greenwood (Radiohead) is 54. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson is 53. Actor Sean Hayes is 53. Actor Matt Letscher is 53. Actor Chris O'Donnell is 53. Actor Nick Offerman is 53. Actor Rebecca Budig is 50. Baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter is 49. Contemporary Christian musician Jeff Frankenstein (Newsboys) is 49. Country singer Gretchen Wilson is 49. Rock musician Nathan Followill (Kings of Leon) is 44. Pop-rock singer-musician Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic) is 44. Actor-musician Jason Schwartzman is 43. Actor Aubrey Plaza is 39. Actor-singer Jennette McCurdy is 31. Actor-singer Ariana Grande is 30.