Today in history

On June 25, 1967, the Beatles performed their new song “All You Need Is Love” during the closing segment of “Our World,” the first-ever live international telecast which was carried by satellite from 14 countries.

In 1530, the Augsburg Confession, a statement outlining the articles of faith of the Lutheran Church, was presented to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg.

In 1788, Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution.

In 1867, barbed wire was patented by Lucien B. Smith of Kent, Ohio.

In 1876, Lt. Col. Colonel George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana.

In 1910, President William Howard Taft signed the WhiteSlave Traffic Act, more popularly known as the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for “immoral” purposes.

In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was enacted.

In 1947, “The Diary of a Young Girl,” the personal journal of Anne Frank, a German-born Jewish girl hiding with her family from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II, was first published.

In 1950, war broke out in Korea as forces from the communist North invaded the South.

In 1973, former White House Counsel John W. Dean began testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee, implicating top administration officials, including President Richard Nixon as well as himself, in the Watergate scandal and cover-up.

In 1981, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that male-only draft registration was constitutional.

In 1997, oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau died in Paris at age 87.

In 2009, death claimed Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” in Los Angeles at age 50 and actress Farrah Fawcett in Santa Monica, California, at age 62.

Ten years ago: A suicide bomber blew himself up in the midst of a gathering of U.S.-allied tribal sheiks at a Baghdad hotel, killing 13 people. Robert Zoellick (ZEHL’-ik) won unanimous approval of the World Bank’s board to become the institution’s next president. World Wrestling Entertainment star Chris Benoit (ben-WAH’), his wife and 7-year-old son were found dead in their Fayetteville, Georgia, home (authorities concluded that Benoit strangled his family, then killed himself). A judge in Washington, D.C. ruled in favor of a dry cleaner sued by a dissatisfied customer who was demanding $54 million for his misplaced pants.

“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.” — Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).