TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, JUNE 11, the 163rd day of 2020. There are 203 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1776, the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence calling for freedom from Britain.
In 1770, Captain James Cook, commander of the British ship Endeavour, “discovered” the Great Barrier Reef off Australia by running onto it.
In 1936, Kansas Gov. Alfred “Alf” Landon was nominated for president at the Republican national convention in Cleveland.
In 1947, the government announced the end of sugar rationing for households and “institutional users” (e.g., restaurants and hotels) as of midnight.
In 1955, in motor racing’s worst disaster, more than 80 people were killed during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France when two of the cars collided and crashed into spectators.
In 1962, three prisoners at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay staged an escape, leaving the island on a makeshift raft; they were never found or heard from again.
In 1985, Karen Ann Quinlan, the comatose patient whose case prompted a historic right-to-die court decision, died in Morris Plains, New Jersey, at age 31.
In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that people who commit “hate crimes” motivated by bigotry may be sentenced to extra
punishment.
In 2001, Timothy McVeigh, 33, was executed by injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
In 2007, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in a restroom sex sting. (Craig, who denied soliciting an undercover police officer, later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a fine.)
In 2009, with swine flu reported in more than 70 nations, the World Health Organization declared the first global flu pandemic in 41 years.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Former U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., is 90. Comedian Johnny Brown is 83. International Motorsports Hall-ofFamer Jackie Stewart is 81. Actress Adrienne Barbeau is 75. Rock musician Frank Beard (ZZ Top) and animal rights activist Ingrid Newkirk are 71. Singer Graham Russell (Air Supply) is 70. Rock singer Donnie Van Zant is 68. Actor Peter Bergman is 67. Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Joe Montana is 64. Actor Hugh Laurie is 61. TV personality Mehmet Oz, M.D., is 60. Singer Gioia Bruno (Expose) is 57. Rock musician Dan Lavery (Tonic) and country singer-songwriter Bruce Robison are 54. Actor Peter Dinklage and country musician Smilin’ Jay McDowell are 51. Rock musician Tai Anderson (Third Day) is 44. Actor Joshua Jackson and Americana musician Gabe Witcher (Punch Brothers) are 42. Actor Shia LaBeouf is 34.