Today in history
Today is Tuesday, June 26, the 177th day of 2018. There are 188 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 26, 1948, the Berlin Airlift began in earnest after the Soviet Union cut off land and water routes to the isolated western sector of Berlin.
On this date:
In 1483, Richard III began his reign as King of England (he was crowned the following month at Westminster Abbey).
In 1541, Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conqueror of Peru, was slain in Lima by rival conquistadors.
In 1870, the first section of Atlantic City, New Jersey’s Boardwalk was opened to the public.
In 1917, the first troops of the American Expeditionary Force deployed to France during World War I landed in St. Nazaire.
In 1925, Charles Chaplin’s classic comedy “The Gold Rush” premiered at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for a second term of office by delegates to the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia.
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower joined Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in ceremonies officially opening the St. Lawrence Seaway. Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson knocked out Floyd Patterson in the third round of their match at New York’s Yankee Stadium to win the heavyweight title.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he delivered his famous speech expressing solidarity with the city’s residents, declaring: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner).
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his choice of Abe Fortas to succeed the retiring Earl Warren as chief justice of the United States (however, Fortas later withdrew in the face of stiff Senate opposition).
In 1977, 42 people were killed when a fire sent toxic smoke pouring through the Maury County Jail in Columbia, Tennessee. Elvis Presley performed his last concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
In 1988, three people were killed when a new Airbus A320 jetliner carrying more than 130 people crashed into a forest during a demonstration at an air show in Mulhouse (muh-LOOZ’), France.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced the U. S. had launched missiles against Iraqi targets because of “compelling evidence” Iraq had plotted to assassinate former President George H.W. Bush.
Ten years ago: The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in the District of Columbia as it affirmed, 5- 4, that an individual right to gun ownership existed. Juan Alvarez, who triggered a 2005 rail disaster in Glendale, California, by parking a sport-utility vehicle on the tracks, was convicted of 11 counts of first- degree murder. (Alvarez was later sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms.)
Five years ago: In deciding its first cases on the issue, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the nation’s legally married gay couples equal federal footing with all other married Americans and also cleared the way for same-sex marriages to resume in California. New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd; Hernandez was convicted of first- degree murder.