TODAY’S HISTORY

1815: French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated his throne for the second time. 1870: Congress created the U.S. Department of Justice. 1942: Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the U.S. Flag Code. 1944: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the GI Bill, providing benefits to veterans. 1945: the Battle for Okinawa ended in an Allied victory after 83 days of fighting.

TODAY’S

BIRTHDAYS: Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001), aviator/author;

Billy Wilder (19062002), director;

Bill Blass (19222002), fashion designer; Kris Kristofferson (1936-), singer/ actor; Ed Bradley (1941-2006), journalist; Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006), author; Meryl Streep (1949-), actress; Bruce Campbell (1958-), actor; Randy Couture (1963-), mixed martial artist/actor; Amy Brenneman (1964-), actress; Dan Brown (1964-), author; Kurt Warner (1971-), football player/ broadcaster; Carson Daly (1973-), TV personality; Dustin Johnson (1984-), golfer.

TODAY’S FACT: The Pledge of Allegiance was first published in the September 1892 issue of The Youth’s Companion magazine, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1937, Joe Louis knocked out Jim Braddock in the eighth round, becoming the first African American heavyweight boxing champion since Jack Johnson in 1915.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Tolerance, like any aspect of peace, is forever a work in progress, never completed, and, if we’re as intelligent as we like to think we are, never abandoned.” — Octavia E. Butler

TODAY’S NUMBER: 49 — percentage of U.S. college students who were war veterans in 1947, marking the peak year of the GI Bill education program.

TODAY’S MOON: Between last quarter moon (June 20) and new moon (June 28).