Today in history

Today (Wednesday, June 29) is the 181st day of 2016 and the 10th day of summer.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating the interstate system.

In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty as it was then applied in the United States was unconstitutional “cruel and unusual punishment.”

In 1974, Isabel Peron was sworn in as Argentina’s president, becoming the Western Hemisphere’s first female head of government.

In 1995, the space shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian Mir station in orbit for the first time.

In 2007, Apple Inc. released the first iPhone.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Harry Frazee (1881-1929), producer/ Red Sox owner; Alan Blumlein (1903-1942), engineer; Leroy Anderson (1908-1975), composer; Slim Pickens (19191983), actor; Harmon Killebrew (1936-2011), baseball player; Gary Busey (1944- ), actor; Richard Lewis (1947- ), actor/comedian; Dan Dierdorf (1949- ), football player/sportscaster; Matthew Weiner (1965- ), TV writer/producer; Bret McKenzie (1976- ), comedian/musician; Kawhi Leonard (1991- ), basketball player.

TODAY’S FACT: The United States executed 28 convicts in 2015.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 2004, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson became the fourth pitcher in Major League Baseball with 4,000 career strikeouts.