TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT 1968

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded after claiming victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles; assassin Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was arrested at the scene.

ALSO 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.

1912

U.S. Marines landed in Cuba at the order of President William Howard Taft to ensure order and protect U.S. interests.

1933

The United States went off the gold standard.

1950

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Henderson v. United States, struck down racially segregated railroad dining cars.

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.

1981

The Centers for Disease Control reported that five homosexuals in Los Angeles had come down with a rare kind of pneumonia; they were the first recognized cases of what later became known as AIDS.

1999

Jazz and pop singer Mel Torme died in Los Angeles at age 73.

2002

14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her Salt Lake City home.

2004

Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died in Los Angeles at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.