TODAY IN HISTORY

HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY 1776

the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence calling for freedom from Britain.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1770

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

1947

the government announced the end of sugar rationing for households and “institutional users” as of midnight.

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.

1970

U.S. presence in Libya came to an end as the last detachment left Wheelus Air Base.

1985

Karen Ann Quinlan, the comatose patient whose case prompted a historic rightto-die court decision, died in New Jersey at age 31.

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.

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.

2007

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in a sex sting.

2009

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