Today In History

Today is Tuesday, June 9, the 161st day of 2020. There are 205 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 2004: The body of Ronald Reagan arrived in Washington to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda before the 40th president’s funeral.

ON THIS DATE

› A.D. 68: Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide, ending a 13-year reign.

› 1860: What’s considered the first dime novel, “Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter” by Ann S. Stephens, was published.

› 1943: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943, which reintroduced federal income tax withholding from paychecks.

› 1973: Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.

› 1978: Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men from the Mormon priesthood.

› 1986: The Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton

Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.

› 2008: Retail gas prices rose above $4 per gallon.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Comedian Jackie Mason is 92. Media analyst Marvin Kalb is 90. Former baseball manager and player Bill Virdon is

89. Sports commentator Dick Vitale is 81. Author Letty Cottin Pogrebin is

81. Rock musician Mick Box (Uriah Heep) is 73. Retired MLB All-Star Dave Parker is 69. Film composer James Newton Howard is 69. Mystery author Patricia Cornwell is 64. Actor Michael J. Fox is 59. Writer-producer Aaron Sorkin is 59. Actor Johnny Depp is 57. Actress Gloria Reuben is

56. Gospel singer-actress Tamela Mann is 54. Rock musician Dean Felber (Hootie & the Blowfish) is 53. Rock musician Dean Dinning is 53. Musician Ed Simons is 50. Actress Keesha Sharp is 47. Country musician Shade Deggs (Cole Deggs and the Lonesome) is 46. Bluegrass singer-musician Jamie Dailey (Dailey & Vincent) is 45. Actress Michaela Conlin is 42. Actress Natalie Portman is 39. Actress Mae Whitman is 32. Actor Lucien Laviscount is 28.