Today In History

Today is Friday, June 29, the 180th day of 2018. There are 185 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1927: The first trans-Pacific airplane flight was completed as U.S. Army Air Corps Lt. Lester J. Maitland and Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger arrived at Wheeler Field in Hawaii aboard the Bird of Paradise, an Atlantic-Fokker C-2, after flying 2,400 miles from Oakland, California, in 25 hours, 50 minutes.

ON THIS DATE

› 1613: London’s original Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed, was destroyed by a fire sparked by a cannon shot during a performance of “Henry VIII.”

› 1880: France annexed Tahiti, which became a French colony on December 30, 1880.

› 1936: Entertainer and songwriter George M. Cohan was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt for his contributions to building American morale during World War I.

› 1967: Jerusalem was re-unified as Israel removed barricades separating the Old City from the Israeli sector.

› 1995: The space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Mir space station linked in orbit, beginning a historic five-day voyage as a single ship.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Movie producer Robert Evans is 88. Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 78. Singer-songwriter Garland Jeffreys is 75. Actor Gary Busey is 74. Comedian Richard Lewis is 71. Actor-turned-politican-turned-radio personality Fred Grandy is 70. Singer Don Dokken (Dokken) is 65. Rock singer Colin Hay (Men At Work) is 65. Actress Maria Conchita Alonso is 63. Actress Kimberlin Brown (TV: “The Bold and the Beautiful”) is 57. Actress Sharon Lawrence is 57. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is 55. Rhythm and blues singer Stedman Pearson (Five Star) is 54. Actress Kathleen Wilhoite is 54. Producer-writer Matthew Weiner is 53. Actress Christina Chang is 47. Rap DJ Shadow is 46. Actor-dancer Will Kemp is 41. Actress Zuleikha Robinson is 41. Country musician Todd Sansom (Marshall Dyllon) is 40. Singer Nicole Scherzinger is 40. Comedian-writer Colin Jost is 36. Actress Lily Rabe is 36. Rhythm and blues singer Aundrea Fimbres is 35. Actress Camila Mendes (TV: “Riverdale”) is 24.