TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SATURDAY, JUNE 30, the 181st day of 2018. There are 184 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1953, the first Chevrolet Corvette, with its innovative fiberglass body, was built at a General Motors assembly facility in Flint, Mich.
In 1908, the Tunguska Event took place in Russia as an asteroid exploded above Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown-down trees.
In 1918, labor activist and socialist Eugene V. Debs was arrested in Cleveland, charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 for a speech he’d made two weeks earlier denouncing U.S. involvement in World War I. Debs was sentenced to prison and disenfranchised for life.
In 1936, the Civil War novel “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell was first published by The Macmillan Co. in New York. In 1949, “The Missouri Waltz” became the official state song of Missouri. In 1963, Pope Paul VI was crowned the 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in Washington, D.C.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter announced he had decided against production of the Rockwell B-1 bomber, saying it was too costly. The B-1 was later revived by President Ronald Reagan.
In 1985, 39 American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held 17 days.
In 1993, actor George “Spanky” McFarland of “Our Gang” and “Little Rascals” fame died in Grapevine, Texas, at age 64.
In 1997, the Union Jack was lowered for the last time over Government House in Hong Kong as Britain prepared to hand the colony back to China at midnight after ruling it for 156 years.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Lea Massari is 85. Actress Nancy Dussault is 82. Songwriter Tony Hatch is 79. Singer Glenn Shorrock is 74. Actor Leonard Whiting is 68. Jazz musician Stanley Clarke is 67. Actor David Garrison is 66. Rock musician Hal Lindes (Dire Straits) is 65. Actor-comedian David Alan Grier is 62. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio is 59. Actress Deirdre Lovejoy is 56. Actor Rupert Graves is 55. Boxer Mike Tyson and actor Peter Outerbridge are 52. Rock musician Tom Drummond (Better Than Ezra) and actor-comedian Tony Rock (TV: “Living Biblically”) are 49. Actors Brian Bloom and Brian Vincent are 48. Actress Monica Potter is 47. Actress Molly Parker is 46. Actress Lizzy Caplan is 36. Rock musician James Adam Shelley (American Authors) and country singer Cole Swindell are 35. Rhythm and blues singer Fantasia is 34. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps is 33.