TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, June 24, the 175th day of 2017. There are 190 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 24, 1947, what’s regarded as the first modern UFO sighting took place as private pilot Kenneth Arnold, an Idaho businessman, reported seeing nine silvery objects flying in a “weaving formation” near Mount Rainier in Washington.
On this date:
In 1497, the first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.
In 1793, the first republican constitution in France was adopted.
In 1807, a grand jury in Richmond, Virginia, indicted former Vice President Aaron Burr on charges of treason and high misdemeanor (he was later acquitted).
In 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the western allies to organize the Berlin Airlift.
In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Roth v. United States, ruled 6-3 that obscene materials were not protected by the First Amendment.
In 1967, Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical, Sacerdotalis caelibatus, reaffirming the Catholic Church’s position on priestly celibacy.
In 1975, 113 people were killed when Eastern Airlines Flight 66, a Boeing 727 carrying 124 people, crashed while attempting to land during a thunderstorm at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
In 1987, comedian-actor Jackie Gleason died at his home in Lauderhill, Florida, at age 71.
Ten years ago: Charles W. Lindberg, one of the U.S. Marines who raised the first of two American flags on Iwo Jima during World War II, died in Edina, Minnesota, at age 86.
Five years ago: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi was declared the winner of Egypt’s first free presidential election. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a settlement that would bring $405 million to victims of Bernard Madoff’s historic investment scam.
Today’s Birthdays: Rock singer Arthur Brown is 75. Actress Michele Lee is 75. Actor-director Georg Stanford Brown is 74. Musician Mick Fleetwood is 70. Actor Peter Weller is 70. Rock musician John Illsley (Dire Straits) is 68. Reggae singer Derrick Simpson (Black Uhuru) is 67. Actor Joe Penny is 61. Reggae singer Astro (UB40) is 60. Actress Sherry Stringfield is 50. Singer Glenn Medeiros is 47. Actress Carla Gallo is 42. Actress Vanessa Ray is 36. Actor Justin Hires (“MacGyver” ”Rush Hour”) is 32. Actress Kaitlin Cullum is 31. Actor Max Ehrich is 36.
Thought for Today: “I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.”—Sir Arthur C. Clarke, British science-fiction author (1917-2008).