TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, June 16, the 167th day of 2022. There are 198 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 16, 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” On this date:
In 1933, the National Industrial Recovery Act became law with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature. (The Act was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.) The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was founded as President Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933.
In 1941, National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) opened for business with a ceremony attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1963, the world’s first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova (teh-ruhsh-KOH’-vuh), 26, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6; Tereshkova spent 71 hours in flight, circling the Earth 48 times before returning safely.
In 1970, Kenneth A. Gibson of Newark, New Jersey, became the first Black politician elected mayor of a major Northeast city. Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo, 26, died at a New York hospital after battling cancer.
In 1977, Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev was named president, becoming the first person to hold both posts simultaneously.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos (tohREE’-ohs) signed the instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties during a ceremony in Panama City.
In 1999, Thabo Mbeki (TAH’-boh um-BEH’-kee) took the oath as president of South Africa, succeeding Nelson Mandela.
In 2011, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., announced his resignation from Congress, bowing to the furor caused by his sexually charged online dalliances with a former porn performer and other women. Osama bin Laden’s longtime second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri (AY’-muhn ahl-ZWAH’-ree), took control of al-Qaida.
In 2015, real estate mogul Donald Trump launched his successful campaign to become president of the United States with a speech at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
In 2016, President Barack Obama traveled to Orlando, Florida, the scene of a deadly nightclub shooting that claimed 49 victims; the president embraced grieving families and cheered on Democrats’ push for new gun control measures. Walt Disney Co. opened Shanghai Disneyland, its first theme park in mainland China.
In 2020, federal authorities announced murder and attempted murder charges against an Air Force sergeant, Steven Carrillo, in the fatal shooting of a federal security officer outside a U.S. courthouse in Oakland, California. (Carrillo, who had ties to the far-right, anti-government “boogaloo” movement, pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.) A statue of Christopher Columbus that stood in a St. Louis park for 134 years was removed; park officials said it had symbolized a “historical disregard for indigenous peoples.”
Ten years ago: Egyptians began going to the polls for a two-day runoff to choose their first freely elected president; Islamist candidate Mohammed Morsi emerged the winner. China launched its most ambitious space mission to date, carrying its first female astronaut, Liu Yang, and two male colleagues on a 13-day mission to an orbiting module that ended safely.
Five years ago: President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time that he was under federal investigation as part of the expanding probe into Russia’s election meddling as he lashed out at a top Justice Department official overseeing the inquiry. A St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer was acquitted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, a Black motorist who had just informed the officer that he was carrying a gun. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl died at his home in Ludwigshafen; he was 87.
One year ago: After a three-hour summit in Geneva, President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin emerged largely where they started, with deep differences on human rights, cyberattacks, election interference and more.