TODAY IN HISTORY
On June 16, 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Also on this date
In 1903, Ford Motor Co. was incorporated.
In 1933, the National Industrial Recovery Act became law with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature. (The Act was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.)
In 1933, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was founded as President Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933.
In 1963, the world’s first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova, 26, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6; Tereshkova spent 71 hours in flight, circling the Earth 48 times before returning safely.
In 1970, Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo, 26, died at a New York hospital after battling cancer.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos signed the instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties during a ceremony in Panama City.
In 1999, Thabo Mbeki took the oath as president of South Africa, succeeding Nelson Mandela.
In 2020, federal authorities announced murder and attempted murder charges against an Air Force sergeant, Steven Carrillo, in the fatal shooting of a federal security officer outside a U.S. courthouse in Oakland, California. (Carrillo, who had ties to the far-right, anti-government “boogaloo” movement, pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.)
Ten years ago: China launched its most ambitious space mission to date, carrying its first female astronaut, Liu Yang, and two male colleagues on a 13-day mission to an orbiting module that ended safely.
Five years ago: A St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer was acquitted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, a Black motorist who had just informed the officer that he was carrying a gun.
One year ago: After a three-hour summit in Geneva, President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin emerged largely where they started, with deep differences on election interference and more.