TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Sunday, June 18, the 169th day of 2023. There are 196 days left in the year. This is Father's Day.

Today’s highlight

On June 18, 1983, astronaut Sally K. Ride became America's first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a six-day mission.

On this date

In 1778, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.

In 1812, the War of 1812 began as the U.S. Congress approved, and President James Madison signed, a declaration of war against Britain.

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte met defeat at Waterloo as British and Prussian troops defeated the French in Belgium.

In 1940,

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to conduct themselves in a manner that would prompt future generations to say, “This was their finest hour.”

In 1971, Southwest Airlines began operations, with flights between Dallas and San Antonio, and Dallas and Houston.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.

In 1986, 25 people were killed when a twin-engine plane and helicopter carrying sightseers collided over the Grand Canyon.

In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Georgia v. Mccollum, ruled that criminal defendants could not use race as a basis for excluding potential jurors from their trials.

Today’s birthdays

Paul Mccartney is 81. Actor Linda Thorson is 76. Actor Isabella Rossellini is 71. Actor Carol Kane is 71. Actor Brian Benben is 67. Singer Alison Moyet is 62. Figure skater Kurt Browning is 57. Singer-songwriter Ray Lamontagne is 50. Singer Blake Shelton is 47.