Today In History

Today is Friday, June 2, the 153rd day of 2023. There are 212 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

On June 2, 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. (McVeigh was executed in June 2001.)

ON THIS DATE

› 1924: Congress passed, and President Calvin Coolidge signed, a measure guaranteeing full American citizenship for all Native Americans born within U.S. territorial limits.

› 1941: Baseball’s “Iron Horse,” Lou Gehrig, died in New York of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; he was 37.

› 1953: The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in London’s Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI.

› 1961: Playwright and director George S. Kaufman, 71, died in New York.

› 1962: Soviet forces opened fire on striking workers in the Russian city of Novocherkassk; a retired general in 1989 put the death toll at 22 to 24.

› 1966: U.S. space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the moon and began transmitting detailed photographs of the lunar surface.

› 1979: Pope John Paul II arrived in his native Poland on the first visit by a pope to a communist country.

› 1981: The Japanese video arcade game “Donkey Kong” was released by Nintendo.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Actor Ron Ely is 85. Filmmaker and movie historian Kevin Brownlow is 85. Actor Stacy Keach is 82. Actor Charles Haid is 80. R&B singer Chubby Tavares (Tavares) is 79. Movie director Lasse Hallstrom is 77. Actor Jerry Mathers is 75. Actor Joanna Gleason is 73. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is 71. Actor Dennis Haysbert is 69. Comedian Dana Carvey is 68. Actor Gary Grimes is 68. Pop musician Michael Steele is 68. Rock singer Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet) is 63. Actor Liam Cunningham is 62. Actor Navid Negahban is 59. Singer Merril Bainbridge is 55. TV personality-producer Andy Cohen (“The Real Housewives” TV franchise) is 55. Rapper B-Real (Cypress Hill) is 53. Actor Paula Cale is 53. Actor Anthony Montgomery is 52. Actor-comedian Wayne Brady is 51. Actor Wentworth Miller is 51. Rock musician Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane) is 47. Actor Zachary Quinto is 46. Actor Dominic Cooper is 45. Actor Deon Richmond is 45. Actor Morena Baccarin is 44. R&B singer Irish Grinstead (702) is 43. Rock musician Fabrizio Moretti (The Strokes) is 43. Olympic gold medal soccer player Abby Wambach is 43. Singer-songwriter ZZ Ward is 37. Rapper/actor Awkwafina is 35. Actor Brittany Curran is 33. Actor Sterling Beaumon is 28.