Today In History

Today is Saturday, June 30, the 181st day of 2018. There are 184 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1953: The first Chevrolet Corvette, with its innovative fiberglass body, was built at a General Motors assembly facility in Flint, Michigan.

ON THIS DATE

› 1859: French acrobat Charles Blondin walked back and forth on a tightrope above the gorge of Niagara Falls as thousands of spectators watched.

› 1908: The Tunguska Event took place in Russia as an asteroid exploded above Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blowndown trees.

› 1936: The Civil War novel “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell was first published by The Macmillan Co. in New York.

› 1963: Pope Paul VI was crowned the 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church.

› 1966: The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in Washington, D.C.

› 1977: President Jimmy Carter announced he had decided against production of the Rockwell B-1 bomber, saying it was too costly. (However, the B-1 was later revived by President Ronald Reagan.)

› 1997: The Union Jack was lowered for the last time over Government House in Hong Kong as Britain prepared to hand the colony back to China at midnight after ruling it for 156 years.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actress Lea Massari is 85. Actress Nancy Dussault is 82. Songwriter Tony Hatch is 79. Actor David Garrison is

66. Rock musician Hal Lindes (Dire Straits) is 65. Actor-comedian David Alan Grier is 62. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio is 59. Actress Deirdre Lovejoy is 56. Actor Rupert Graves is 55. Boxer Mike Tyson is 52. Actor Peter Outerbridge is 52. Rock musician Tom Drummond (Better Than Ezra) is 49. Actor-comedian Tony Rock (TV: “Living Biblically”) is 49. Actor Brian Bloom is 48. Actor Brian Vincent is 48. Actress Monica Potter is

47. Actress Molly Parker is 46. Actress Lizzy Caplan is 36. Rock musician James Adam Shelley (American Authors) is

35. Country singer Cole Swindell is 35. Rhythm and blues singer Fantasia is 34. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps is 33. Actor Sean Marquette (TV: “The Goldbergs”) is 30.