TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, JUNE 16, the 167th day of 2018. There are 198 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1963, the world’s first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova, 26, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6; Tereshkova spent 71 hours in flight, circling the Earth 48 times before returning safely.
In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle in Scotland. (She escaped almost a year later, but ended up imprisoned again.)
In 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” In 1903, Ford Motor Co. was incorporated. In 1933, the National Industrial Recovery Act became law with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature. (The Act was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was founded as President Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933.
In 1944, George Stinney, a 14-year-old black youth, was electrocuted by the state of South Carolina for the murders of two white girls, Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos signed the instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties during a ceremony in Panama City.
In 1996, Russian voters went to the polls in their first independent presidential election; the result was a runoff between President Boris Yeltsin (the eventual winner) and Communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov. Sportscaster Mel Allen died in Greenwich, Conn., at age 83.
In 2015, real estate mogul Donald Trump launched his successful campaign to become President of the United States with a speech at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Eileen Atkins and actor Bill Cobbs are 84. Author Joyce Carol Oates and country singer Billy “Crash” Craddock are 80. Songwriter Lamont Dozier is 77. Rhythm and blues singer Eddie Levert is 76. Actress Joan Van Ark is 75. Actor Geoff Pierson is 69. Rhythm and blues singer James Smith (The Stylistics) is 68. Boxing Hall-of-Famer Roberto Duran is 67.