TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, June 9, the 160th day of 2022. There are 205 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history
On June 9, 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
In 1732, James Oglethorpe received a charter from Britain’s King George II to found the colony of Georgia.
In 1870, author Charles Dickens died in Gad’s Hill Place, England.
In 1915, guitarist, songwriter and inventor Les Paul was born in Waukesha, Wis.
In 1940, during Norway decided to surrender to the Nazis, effective at midnight.
In 1954, during the Senate Army-McCarthy hearings, Army special counsel Joseph N. Welch berated Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., asking: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
In 1969, the Senate confirmed Warren Burger to be the new chief justice of the United States, succeeding Earl Warren.
In 1972, heavy rains triggered record flooding in the Black Hills of South Dakota; the resulting disaster left at least 238 people dead and $164 million in damage.
In 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.
In 1983, Britain’s Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, won a decisive election victory.
In 1986, the Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster, criticizing NASA and rocketbuilder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.
In 1993, the science-fiction film “Jurassic Park,” directed by Steven Spielberg, had its world premiere in Washington, D.C.
In 2020, hundreds of mourners packed a Houston church for the funeral of George Floyd, a Black man whose death during a Minneapolis arrest inspired a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice.
Five years ago: Punching back a day after his fired FBI director’s damaging testimony, President Donald Trump accused James Comey of lying to Congress and said he was “100 percent” willing to testify under oath about their conversations. Actor Adam West, TV’s “Batman,” died in Los Angeles at age 88.
Today’s birthdays
Media analyst Marvin Kalb is 92. Sports commentator Dick Vitale is 83. Author Letty Cottin Pogrebin is 83. Musician Mick Box (Uriah Heep) is 75. Retired MLB All-Star Dave Parker is 71. Author Patricia Cornwell is 66. Actor Michael J. Fox is 61. Writer-producer Aaron Sorkin is 61. Actor Johnny Depp is 59. Actor Gloria Reuben is 58. Singeractress Tamela Mann is 56. Musician Dean Felber (Hootie & the Blowfish) is 55. Actor Natalie Portman is 41. Actor Mae Whitman is 34.