TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, June 5, the 156th day of 2017. There are 209 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On June 5, 1967, war erupted in the Middle East as Israel, anticipating a possible attack by its Arab neighbors, launched a series of pre-emptive airfield strikes that destroyed nearly the entire Egyptian air force; Syria, Jordan and Iraq immediately entered the conflict. (By the time fighting ended on the sixth day, Israel had captured the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.)
On this date
1794 — Congress passed the Neutrality Act, which prohibited Americans from taking part in any military action against a country that was at peace with the United States. 1884 — Civil War hero Gen. William T. Sherman refused the Republican presidential nomination, saying, “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.” 1917 — About 10 million American men between the ages of 21 and 31 began registering for the draft in World War I. 1933 — The United States went off the gold standard. 1947 — Secretary of State George C. Marshall gave a speech at Harvard University in which he outlined an aid program for Europe that came to be known as The Marshall Plan. 1950 — The U.S. Supreme Court, in Henderson v. United States, struck down racially segregated railroad dining cars. 1962 — The Floyd County Board of Education adopted a policy on student marriages similar to that put in force the previous year by the Rome city system. Any student who married would be required to withdraw from school for one year, beginning at the date of marriage. 1968 — Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated after claiming victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary; gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was arrested. 1976 — Fourteen people were killed when the Teton Dam in Idaho burst. 1986 — A federal jury in Baltimore convicted Ronald W. Pelton of selling secrets to the Soviet Union. (Pelton was sentenced to three life prison terms plus ten years.) 1997 — Former CIA officer Harold J. Nicholson was sentenced to 23½ years in prison for selling defense secrets to Russia after the Cold War. 2002 — Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her Salt Lake City home. (Smart was found alive by police in a Salt Lake suburb in March 2003; her kidnappers, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, are serving prison sentences.)
Five years ago
Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker beat back a recall challenge, winning both the right to finish his term and a voter endorsement of his strategy to curb state spending.
Jury selection began in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in the trial of Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach charged with child sexual abuse. (Sandusky was later convicted of 45 counts and sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.)
Today’s Birthdays
Actor-singer Bill Hayes is 92. Broadcast journalist Bill Moyers is 83. Author Margaret Drabble is 78. Country singer Don Reid (The Statler Brothers) is 72. Rock musician Freddie Stone (AKA Freddie Stewart) (Sly and the Family Stone) is 70. Author Ken Follett is 68. Financial guru Suze Orman is 66. Rock musician Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden) is 65. Jazz musician Kenny G is 61. Rock singer Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs) is 61. Actress Karen Sillas is 54. Actor Ron Livingston is 50. Actor Mark Wahlberg is 46. Actor Chad Allen is 43. Rock musician P-Nut (311) is 43. Actress Navi Rawat is 40. Actress Liza Weil is 40. Rock musician Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) is 38. Rock musician Seb Lefebvre (Simple Plan) is 36. Actress Chelsey Crisp is 34. Actress Amanda Crew is 31. Actress Sophie Lowe is 27.