Today is Sunday, June 28, the 179th day of 2009. There are 186 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlights in History
On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending World War I. In Independence, Mo., future president Harry S. Truman married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace.
On this date:
In 1389, Osmans conquer the Balkans. Despite the loss of their Sultan Murad I during the battle, the Osmans had rallied to defeat the forces of Lazar I, as well as an army of allied Bulgarian, Bosnian, Albanian, Polish and Hungarian forces, among others. The battle of Mazgit saw the beginning of a 500-year rule by the Turks. Some 77,000 people died in the battle.
In 1491, England’s King Henry VIII was born at Greenwich.
In 1712, philosopher, writer, and political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva.
In 1778, the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth took place in New Jersey; it was from this battle that the legend of “Molly Pitcher” arose. Molly Pitcher earned her nickname by carrying water to her husband’s regiment during the Battle of Monmouth Court House.
In 1836, the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, died in Montpelier, Va.
In 1838, Britain’s Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
In 1894, the U.S. Congress declared the first Monday of September as Labor Day, a holiday to honour the American worker.
In 1902, Richard Rodgers, the American composer who was a major force in 20th century musical comedy, was born. Notorious American bank robber John Dillinger was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist — the event which triggered World War I.
In 1919, Harry S. Truman married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace in Independence, Mo.
In 1928, New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith was nominated for president at the Democratic national convention in Houston. The plane of Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who was the first person to reach the South Pole, disappears on a flight to rescue the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile in the Arctic.
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the National Housing Act, which established the Federal Housing Administration.
In 1939, Pan American Airways began regular trans-Atlantic air service with a flight that departed New York for Marseilles, France.
In 1950, North Korean forces captured Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
In 1967, Israel declared Jerusalem reunified under its sovereignty following its capture of the Arab sector in the Six-Day War. Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.
In 1971, the Supreme Court overturns the conviction of boxer Muhammad Ali for draft evasion, finding that his refusal to fight in Vietnam is based on the religious principles of Islam.
In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled that the quota system used for the admission of minorities by the medical school of the University of California at Davis is unconstitutional and ordered the University to admit Allan Bakke, a white man who argued he had been a victim of reverse racial discrimination.
In 1995, Webster Hubbell, the former No. 3 official at the Justice Department, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for bilking clients of the law firm where he and Hillary Rodham Clinton were partners.
In 1996, the Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old men-only policy at the South Carolina military school.
In 1997, Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear during their WBA heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas.
In 1999, ten years ago: Announcing even bigger projected budget surpluses, President Bill Clinton said the government could drastically reduce the national debt while still buttressing Social Security and Medicare.
In 2000, Elian Gonzalez was returned to his native Cuba seven months after he was cast adrift in the Florida Straits. The Supreme Court ruled the Boy Scouts can bar homosexuals from serving as troop leaders.
In 2001, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic is tranferred to The Hague, The Netherlands, to face trial for war crimes allegedly committed during the Wars of Yugoslav Succession.
In 2004, five years ago: The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government two days ahead of schedule. The Supreme Court ruled that the war on terrorism did not give the government a “blank check” to hold a U.S. citizen and foreign-born terror suspects in legal limbo. The United States resumed direct diplomatic ties with Libya after a 24-year break.
In 2007, the American bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list.
In 2008, one year ago: Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama vied for the support of Hispanics in separate appearances before the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in Washington, with each vowing to remake immigration policy. Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Angels won 1-0. The only run of the game was scored when Matt Kemp reached on an error, stole second, went to third on a throwing error and scored on a sacrifice fly. (The Angels became the fifth team in modern major league history to win a game in which they didn’t get a hit.)
Today’s Birthdays
Blues singer-musician David “Honeyboy” Edwards is 94. Comedian-movie director Mel Brooks is 83. Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is 75. Comedian-impressionist John Byner is 72. CIA Director Leon Panetta is 71. Rock musician Dave Knights (Procul Harum) is 64. Actor Bruce Davison is 63. Actress Kathy Bates is 61. Actress Alice Krige is 55. Football Hall of Famer John Elway is 49. Record company chief executive Tony Mercedes is 47. Actress Jessica Hecht is 44. Rock musician Saul Davies (James) is 44. Actress Mary Stuart Masterson is 43. Actor John Cusack is 43. Actor Gil Bellows is 42. Actress-singer Danielle Brisebois is 40. Jazz musician Jimmy Sommers is 40. Actress Tichina Arnold is 38. Actor Alessandro Nivola is 37. Actress Camille Guaty is 33. Rock musician Tim Nordwind (OK Go) is 33. Rock musician Mark Stoermer (The Killers) is 32. Country singer Kellie Pickler is 23.
Historic Birthdays
Henry VIII (1491-1547), king of England (1509-1547),
Peter Paul Rubens
6/28/1577 – 5/30/1640
Flemish Baroque painter
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
6/28/1712 – 7/2/1778
French philosopher, writer and political theorist
Carlotta Grisi
6/28/1819 – 5/20/1899
Italian ballerina
Otis Skinner
6/28/1858 – 1/4/1942
American actor
Luigi Pirandello
6/28/1867 – 12/10/1936
Italian playwright, novelist and short story writer
Pierre Laval
6/28/1883 – 10/15/1945
French politician; led Vichy government
Floyd Dell
6/28/1887 – 7/23/1969
American novelist and journalist
Carl Spaatz
6/28/1891 – 7/14/1974
American first chief of staff of the Air Force
E. H. Carr
6/28/1892 – 11/3/1982
English political scientist and historian
Richard Rodgers
6/28/1902 – 12/30/1979
American composer of Broadway musicals
Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906-72), German American physicist and Nobel laureate, best known for her study of nuclear structure.
Eric Ambler
6/28/1909 – 10/22/1998
English author and screenwriter
Thought for Today
“Heresy is what the minority believe; it is the name given by the powerful to the doctrines of the weak.” — Robert G. Ingersoll, American lawyer and statesman (1833-1899).
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Full article: http://www.boston.com/news/history/articles/2009/06/28/today_in_history___june_28/
http://www.todayinhistory.de/index.php?tag=28&monat=6&dayisset=1&year=2009&lang=en
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20090628.html
