TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Tuesday, June 6, the 157th day of 2023. There are 208 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History: On June 6, 1944, during World War II, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on "D-Day" as they began the liberation of German-occupied Western Europe.
On this date:
In 1844, the Young Men's Christian Association was founded in London.
In 1912, Novarupta, a volcano on the Alaska peninsula, began a threeday eruption, sending ash as high as 100,000 feet; it was the most powerful volcanic eruption of the 20th century and ranks among the largest in recorded history.
In 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission was established.
In 1939, the first Little League baseball game was played as Lundy Lumber defeated Lycoming Dairy 23-8 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
In 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, 25 1/2 hours after he was shot by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan.
In 1977, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law imposing an automatic death sentence on defendants convicted of the first-degree murder of a police officer.
In 1982, Israeli forces invaded Lebanon to drive Palestine Liberation Organization fighters out of the country. (The Israelis withdrew in June 1985.)
In 1989, burial services were held for Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
In 2001, Democrats assumed control of the U.S. Senate after the decision of Vermont Republican James Jeffords to become an independent.
In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, that people who smoked marijuana because their doctors recommended it to ease pain could be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws.
In 2006, soul musician Billy Preston died in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 59.
Ten years ago: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper moved to tamp down a public uproar spurred by the disclosure of secret surveillance programs involving phone and Internet records, declassifying key details about one of the programs while insisting the efforts were legal, limited in scope and necessary to detect terrorist threats. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila Putina, announced they were divorcing after nearly 30 years of marriage. Esther Williams, 91, the swimming champion turned actress, died in Los Angeles.