TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, JUNE 29, the 180th day of 2017. There are 185 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date 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 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.”
In 1927, the first trans-Pacific airplane flight was completed as Lt. Lester J. Maitland and Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger arrived at Wheeler Field in Hawaii aboard the Bird of Paradise, an AtlanticFokker C-2, after flying 2,400 miles from Oakland, Calif., in 25 hours, 50 minutes.
In 1936, entertainer and songwriter George M. Cohan was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for his contributions to building American morale during World War I.
In 1967, actress Jayne Mansfield, 34, was killed along with her boyfriend, Sam Brody, and their driver, Ronnie Harrison, when their car slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer on a highway in Slidell, La.; three children riding in the back, including Mansfield’s 3-year-old daughter, Mariska Hargitay, survived. In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Morrison v. Olson, upheld the independent counsel law in a 7-1 decision (the sole dissenter was Justice Antonin Scalia).
In 1992, the remains of Polish statesman Ignacy Jan Paderewski, interred for five decades in the United States, were returned to his homeland in keeping with his wish to be buried only in a free Poland.
In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Mir space station linked in orbit, beginning a historic five-day voyage as a single ship.
In 2003, actress Katharine Hepburn died in Old Saybrook, Conn., at age 96.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Movie producer Robert Evans is 87. Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 77. Actor Gary Busey is 73. Comedian Richard Lewis is 70. Singer Don Dokken (Dokken) and rock singer Colin Hay (Men At Work) are 64. Actress Maria Conchita Alonso is 62. Actress Sharon Lawrence is 56. Rhythm-andblues singer Stedman Pearson (Five Star) and actress Kathleen Wilhoite are 53. Actress Melora Hardin is 50. Rap DJ Shadow is 45. Actor-dancer Will Kemp and actress Zuleikha Robinson are 40. Comedian-writer Colin Jost and actress Lily Rabe are 35. Rhythm-andblues singer Aundrea Fimbres is 34.