Today In History

Today is Wednesday, June 21, the 172nd day of 2017. There are 193 days left in the year. Summer begins at 12:24 a.m. Eastern time.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1788: The United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.

ON THIS DATE

› 1834: Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

› 1932: Heavyweight Max Schmeling lost a title fight rematch in New York by decision to Jack Sharkey, prompting Schmeling’s manager, Joe Jacobs, to exclaim: “We was robbed!”

› 1954: The American Cancer Society presented a study to the American Medical Association meeting in San Francisco which found that men who regularly smoked cigarettes died at a considerably higher rate than non-smokers.

› 1963: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was chosen during a conclave of his fellow cardinals to succeed the late Pope John XXIII; the new pope took the name Paul VI.

› 1989: A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest was protected by the First Amendment.

› 1997: The WNBA made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the host Los Angeles Sparks 67-57.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Composer Lalo Schifrin is 85. Actor Bernie Kopell is 84. Actor Monte Markham is 82. Songwriter Don Black is 79. Actress Meredith Baxter is 70. Actor Michael Gross is 70. Rock musician Joe Molland (Badfinger) is 70. Actress Robyn Douglass is 64. Actor Leigh McCloskey is 62. Cartoonist Berke Breathed is 60. Country singer Kathy Mattea is

58. Actor Marc Copage is

55. Actress Sammi Davis is 53. Actor Doug Savant is 53. Country musician Porter Howell is 53. Actor Michael Dolan is 52. Country singer Allison Moorer is 45. Actress Juliette Lewis is 44. Actress Maggie Siff is 43. Musician Justin Cary is

42. Rock musician Mike Einziger (Incubus) is 41. Actor Chris Pratt is 38. Rock singer Brandon Flowers is 36. Britain’s Prince William is 35. Actor Jussie Smollett is 35. Actor Benjamin Walker is 35. Actor Jascha Washington is 28. Pop singer Rebecca Black is

20.