TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Wednesday, June 3.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

On June 3, 1965, astronaut Edward H. White became the first American to“walk” in space during the flight of Gemini 4.

ON THIS DATE

In 1861, Illinois Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, the Democratic presidential nominee in the 1860 election, died in Chicago of typhoid fever; he was 48.

In 1924, author Franz Kafka, 40, died near Vienna.

In 1935, the French liner Normandie set a record on its maiden voyage, arriving in New York after crossing the Atlantic in just four days.

In 1943, Los Angeles saw the beginning of its “Zoot Suit Riots” as white servicemen clashed with young Latinos wearing distinctive-looking zoot suits; the violence finally ended when military officials declared the city off limits to enlisted personnel.

In 1962, Air France Flight 007, a U.S.-bound Boeing 707, crashed while attempting to take off from Orly Airport near Paris; all but two of the 132 people aboard were killed. In 1963, Pope John XXIII died at age 81; he was succeeded by Pope Paul VI.

In 1977, the United States and Cuba agreed to set up diplomatic interests sections in each other’s countries; Cuba also announced the immediate release of 10 Americans jailed on drug charges.

In 1989, Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, died. On the same day, Chinese army troops began their sweep of Beijing to crush student-led prodemocracy demonstrations. In 2004, President George W. Bush announced the resignation of CIA Director George Tenet amid a controversy over intelligence lapses about suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In 2008, Barack Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination, speaking in the same St.

Paul, Minnesota, arena where Republicans would be holding their national convention in September 2008.

In 2016, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad

Ali died at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 74. Ten years ago: BP sliced off a pipe with giant shears to make way for a cap in the latest bid to curtail the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Five years ago: The Pentagon disclosed that it had inadvertently shipped possibly live anthrax to at least 51 laboratories across the U.S. and in three foreign countries over the previous decade, but said that public health was not at risk.

One year ago: Launching a mostly ceremonial European trip, President Donald

Trump had lunch with Queen Elizabeth and tea with Prince Charles ahead of a grand state dinner at Buckingham Palace; Trump arrived in Britain shortly after tweeting that London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a frequent Trump critic, was a “stone cold loser” who “should focus on crime in London, not me.”

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“Never be haughty to the humble; never be humble to the haughty.”

— Jefferson Davis, Confederate president (1808-1889).

— ASSOCIATED PRESS