TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Thursday, June 11, the 163rd day of 2020. There are 203 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence calling for freedom from Britain.

On this date:

■ In 1770, Captain James Cook, commander of the British ship Endeavour, “discovered” the Great Barrier Reef off Australia by running onto it.

■ In 1936, Kansas Gov. Alfred “Alf” Landon was nominated for president at the Republican national convention in Cleveland.

■ In 1947, the government announced the end of sugar rationing for households and “institutional users” (e.g., restaurants and hotels) as of midnight.

■ In 1955, in motor racing’s worst disaster, more than 80 people were killed during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France when two of the cars collided and crashed into spectators.

■ In 1962, three prisoners at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay staged an escape, leaving the island on a makeshift raft; they were never found or heard from again.

■ In 1970, the United States presence in Libya came to an end as the last detachment left Wheelus Air Base. (The anniversary of this event is celebrated as a holiday in Libya.)

■ In 1985, Karen Ann Quinlan, the comatose patient whose case prompted a historic right-to-die court decision, died in Morris Plains, New Jersey, at age 31.

■ In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that people who commit “hate crimes” motivated by bigotry may be sentenced to extra punishment; the court also ruled religious groups had a constitutional right to sacrifice animals in worship services. The Steven Spielberg science-fiction film “Jurassic Park” opened in wide release two days after its world premiere in Washington, D.C.

■ In 2001, Timothy McVeigh, 33, was executed by injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

■ In 2007, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in a restroom sex sting. (Craig, who denied soliciting an undercover police officer, later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a fine.)

■ In 2009, with swine flu reported in more than 70 nations, the World Health Organization declared the first global flu pandemic in 41 years.

One year ago: At a House committee hearing, comedian Jon Stewart scolded Congress for failing to ensure that a victims’ compensation fund set up after the 9/11 attacks never runs out of money. (A measure ensuring that the fund would remain permanent won final approval the following month and was signed into law by President Donald Trump.)

Thought for Today: “Forgetfulness is a form of freedom.” — Khalil Gibran, American poet and artist (1883-1931).

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