Today in history

Today is Friday, June 22, the 173rd day of 2018. There are 192 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 22, 1918, a train carrying members of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus and their families was rear-ended during an emergency stop by another train near Hammond, Indiana, killing at least 86 people aboard the circus train. On this date: In 1611, English explorer Henry Hudson, his son and several other people were set adrift in presentday Hudson Bay by mutineers aboard the Discovery.

In 1868, Arkansas, which had seceded in 1861, was re-admitted to the Union.

In 1911, Britain’s King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

In 1937, Joe Louis began his reign as world heavyweight boxing champion by knocking out Jim Braddock in the eighth round of their fight in Chicago. (A year later on this date, Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch at Yankee Stadium.)

In 1940, during World War II, Adolf Hitler gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, more popularly known as the “GI Bill of Rights.”

In 1945, the World War II battle for Okinawa ended with an Allied victory.

In 1969, singer-actress Judy Garland died in London at age 47.

In 1977, John N. Mitchell became the first former U.S. Attorney General to go to prison as he began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up. (He was released 19 months later.)

In 1988, gay rights activist Leonard Matlovich, discharged from the U.S. Air Force because of his homosexuality, died at age 44. Singer Dennis Day, Jack Benny’s sidekick, died at age 72.

In 1993, former first lady Pat Nixon died in Park Ridge, New Jersey, at age 81.