TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, June 6.
Today’s highlight:
On June 6, 1944, during World War II, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Nor- mandy, France, on “D-day” as they began the liberation of German-occupied West- ern Europe.
On this date:
In 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association was founded in London.
In 1912, Novarupta, a volcano on the Alaska peninsula, began a three-day erup- tion, sending ash as high as 100,000 feet; it was the most powerful volcanic erup- tion of the 20th century and ranks among the largest in recorded history.
In 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission was established.
In 1939, the first Little League game was played as Lundy Lumber defeated Lycoming Dairy 23-8 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
In 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy died at Good Samar- itan Hospital in Los Angeles, 25 1/2 hours after he was shot by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan.
In 1977, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law imposing an automatic death sen- tence on defendants con- victed of the first-degree murder of a police officer.
In 1982, Israeli forces invaded Lebanon to drive Palestine Liberation Orga- nization fighters out of the country. (The Israelis withdrew in June 1985.)
In 1989, burial services were held for Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Washington state Democrat Tom Foley succeeded Jim Wright as House speaker.
In 2001, Democrats formally assumed control of the U.S. Senate after the decision of Vermont Republican James Jeffords to become an independent.
In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, that people who smoked marijuana because their doctors recommended it to ease pain could be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws.
In 2020, tens of thousands rallied in cities from Australia to Europe to honor George Floyd and voice support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Massive, peaceful protests took place nationwide to demand police reform, as services for George Floyd were held in North Carolina, near his birthplace.
Ten years ago: Business social network Linkedin reported that some of its users’ passwords had been stolen and leaked onto the Internet. New Yorkers lined the West Side waterfront to welcome the space shuttle Enterprise as it sailed up the Hudson River to its new home aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
Five years ago: Bill Cosby’s chief accuser, Andrea Constand, took the stand at his sexual assault trial to tell her story publicly for the first time, saying the comedian groped her after giving her three blue pills that left her paralyzed and helpless. (The jury deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial, but Cosby was convicted in a second trial; Pennsylvania’s highest court would toss out that conviction.)