Today in History

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that criminal suspects had to be informed of their constitutional right to consult with an attorney and to remain silent.

On this date:

In 1842, Queen Victoria became the first British monarch to ride on a train, traveling from Slough (slow as in cow) Railway Station to Paddington in 25 minutes.

In 1911, the ballet “Petrushka,” with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Michel Fokine, was first performed in Paris by the Ballets Russes, with Vaslav Nijinsky in the title role.

In 1927, aviation hero Charles Lindbergh was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

In 1942, a four-man Nazi sabotage team arrived on Long Island, New York, three days before a second four-man team landed in Florida. (All eight men were arrested after two members of the first group defected.) President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Office of Strategic Services and the Office of War Information.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Solicitor-general Thurgood Marshall to become the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1971, The New York Times began publishing excerpts of the Pentagon Papers, a secret study of America’s involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967 that had been leaked to the paper by military analyst Daniel Ellsberg.

In 1977, James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was recaptured following his escape three days earlier from a Tennessee prison.

In 1983, the U.S. space probe Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, became the first spacecraft to leave the solar system as it crossed the orbit of Neptune.

In 1992, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton stirred controversy during an appearance before the Rainbow Coalition by criticizing rap singer Sister Souljah for making remarks that he said were “filled with hatred” toward whites.