TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, JUNE 14, the 165th day of 2018. There are 200 days left in the year. This is Flag Day. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, ruled 6-3 that public school students could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States.
In 1775, the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created.
In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the design of the original American flag.
In 1801, former American Revolutionary War general and notorious turncoat Benedict Arnold, 60, died in London.
In 1928, the Republican National Convention, meeting in Kansas City, Mo., nominated Herbert Hoover for president on the first ballot.
In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis began transporting prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1968, Dr. Benjamin Spock and three other peace activists were convicted in Boston of conspiring to encourage young men to evade the draft during the Vietnam War. (The verdicts were later overturned by an appeals court.) The Iron Butterfly single “In-A-Gadda-DaVida” was released by Atco Records.
In 1972, the Environmental Protection
Agency ordered a ban on domestic use of the pesticide DDT, to take effect at year’s end.
In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.
In 1985, the 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Marla Gibbs is 87. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is 79. Countryrock musician Spooner Oldham is 75. Rock singer Rod Argent (The Zombies; Argent) is 73. President Donald Trump and singer Janet Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) are 72. Rock musician Barry Melton is 71. Rock musician Alan White (Yes) is 69. Actor Eddie Mekka is 66. Actor Will Patton is 64. Olympic gold medal speed skater Eric Heiden is 60. Jazz musician Marcus Miller is 59. Singer Boy George is 57. Rock musician Chris DeGarmo is 55. Actress Traylor Howard is 52. Actress Yasmine Bleeth, and actors Faizon Love and Stephen Wallem are 50. International Tennis Hallof-Famer Steffi Graf is 49. Actor Sullivan Stapleton is 41. Screenwriter Diablo Cody is 40. Actor Lawrence Saint-Victor is 36. Actors Torrance Coombs and J.R. Martinez are 35. Actor-singer Kevin McHale is 30. Actress Lucy Hale is 29. Pop singer Jesy Nelson (Little Mix) is 27. Country singer Joel Crouse and actor Daryl Sabara are 26.