TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, JUNE 8, the 159th day of 2017. There are 206 days left in the year. TODAY’S
HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1967, during the six-day Middle East war, 34 American servicemen were killed when Israel attacked the USS Liberty. (Israel later said the Liberty had been mistaken for an Egyptian vessel.)
In A.D. 632, the prophet Muhammad died in Medina.
In 1042, Edward the Confessor became King of England, beginning a reign of 23½years.
In 1845, Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tenn.
In 1867, modern American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, Wis.
In 1917, Maj. Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, arrived in Liverpool, England, while en route to France.
In 1920, the Republican National Convention opened in Chicago; its delegates nominated Warren G. Harding for president.
In 1953, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that restaurants in the District of Columbia could not refuse to serve blacks.
In 1972, during the Vietnam War, an Associated Press photographer took a picture of a screaming 9-year-old girl, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, as she ran naked and severely burned from the scene of a South Vietnamese napalm attack.
In 1987, Fawn Hall began testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings, describing how she had helped National Security aide Oliver L. North to shred some documents and spirit away others.
In 1995, U.S. Marines rescued Capt. Scott O’Grady, whose F-16C fighter jet had been shot down by Bosnian Serbs on June 2.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Former first lady Barbara Bush is 92. Actor-comedian Jerry Stiller is 90. Actress Millicent Martin is 83. Singer Nancy Sinatra is 77. Musician Boz Scaggs is 73. Rock singer Bonnie Tyler is 66. “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams is 60. Actor-director Keenen Ivory Wayans is 59. Singer Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) is 57. Musician Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) is 55. Actress Julianna Margulies is 50. Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., is 47. Actor Mark Feuerstein is 46. Rapper Kanye West is 40. TV personality/actress Maria Menounos is 39. Tennis player Kim Clijsters is 34. Actress Torrey DeVitto is 33.