TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, JUNE 20, the 172nd day of 2020. There are 194 days left in the year. Summer begins at 5:44 p.m., Eastern time.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1837, Queen Victoria acceded to the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.
In 1782, Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States, featuring the emblem of the bald eagle.
In 1893, a jury in New Bedford, Massachusetts, found Lizzie Borden not guilty of the ax murders of her father and stepmother.
In 1921, U.S. Rep. Alice Mary Robertson, R-Okla., became the first woman to preside over a session of the House of Representatives.
In 1943, race-related rioting erupted in Detroit; federal troops were sent in two days later to quell the violence that resulted in more than 30 deaths.
In 1967, boxer Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted and was sentenced to five years in prison. (Ali’s conviction was ultimately overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court).
In 1972, three days after the arrest of the Watergate burglars, President Richard Nixon met at the White House with his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman; the secretly made tape recording of this meeting ended up with the notorious 18½-minute gap.
In 1974, the film noir “Chinatown,” starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, was released by Paramount Pictures.
In 1979, ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart was shot to death in Managua, Nicaragua, by a member of President Anastasio Somoza’s national guard.
In 1990, South African black nationalist Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, arrived in New York City for a ticker-tape parade in their honor as they began an eight-city U.S. tour.
In 1994, O.J. Simpson pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles to the killings of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Former airman Dean Allen Mellberg went on a shooting rampage at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Washington, killing four people and wounding 22 others before being killed by a military police sharpshooter.
In 2001, Houston resident Andrea Yates drowned her five children in the family bathtub, then called police. (Yates was later convicted of murder, but had her conviction overturned; she was acquitted by reason of insanity in a retrial.)
In 2014, the Obama administration granted an array of new benefits to same-sex couples, including those living in states where gay marriage was against the law; the new measures ranged from Social Security and veterans benefits to work leave for caring for sick spouses.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Bonnie Bartlett is 91. Actress Olympia Dukakis and actor James Tolkan are 89. Movie director Stephen Frears is 79. Singer-songwriter Brian Wilson is 78. Actor John McCook is 76. Singer Anne Murray is 75. TV personality Bob Vila and musician Andre Watts are 74. Actress Candy Clark is 73. Producer Tina Sinatra is 72. Rhythm and blues singer Lionel Richie is 71. Actor John Goodman is 68. Rock musician Michael Anthony is 66. Pop musician John Taylor is 60. Rock musician Mark degli Antoni is 58. Christian rock musician Jerome Fontamillas (Switchfoot), rock musician Murphy Karges (Sugar Ray), actress Nicole Kidman and country/bluegrass singer-musician Dan Tyminski are 53. Movie director Robert Rodriguez is 52. Actor Peter Paige is 51. Actor Josh Lucas and rock musician Jeordie White (AKA Twiggy Ramirez) are 49. Rock singer Chino Moreno (Deftones) is 47. Country-folk singer-songwriter Amos Lee is 43. Country singer Chuck Wicks is 41. Actress Tika Sumpter and country musician Chris Thompson (The Eli Young Band) are 40. Actress-singer Alisan Porter is 39. Christian rock musician Chris Dudley (Underoath) and rock singer Grace Potter (Grace Potter & the Nocturnals) are 37. Actor Mark Saul is 35. Actress Dreama Walker is 34. Actor Chris Mintz-Plasse is 31. Actress Maria Lark is 23.