TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, June 14, the 165th day of 2018. There are 200 days left in the year. This is Flag Day.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 14, 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, ruled 6-3 that public school students could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States.
On this date:
In 1775, the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created.
In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the design of the original American flag.
In 1801, former American Revolutionary War general and notorious turncoat Benedict Arnold, 60, died in London.
In 1928, the Republican National Convention, meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, nominated Herbert Hoover for president on the first ballot.
In 1934, Max Baer defeated Primo Carnera with an 11th round TKO to win the world heavyweight boxing championship in Long Island City, New York.
In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis began transporting prisoners to the Auschwitz (OWSH’-vitz) concentration camp in Germanoccupied Poland.
In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1968, Dr. Benjamin Spock and three other peace activists were convicted in Boston of conspiring to encourage young men to evade the draft during the Vietnam War. (The verdicts were later overturned by an appeals court.) The Iron Butterfly single “In-A-GaddaDa-Vida” was released by Atco Records.
In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a ban on domestic use of the pesticide DDT, to take effect at year’s end.
In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.
In 1985, the 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite (SHEE’-eyet) Muslim extremists seized the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Today’s Birthdays: Actress Marla Gibbs is 87. President Donald Trump is 72. Actor Will Patton is 64. Singer Boy George is 57. Actress Yasmine Bleeth is 50. Actor Faizon Love is 50. International Tennis Hall of Famer Steffi Graf is 49. Actress Lucy Hale is 29. Pop singer Jesy Nelson (Little Mix) is 27. Country singer Joel Crouse is 26. Actor Daryl Sabara is 26.
Thought for Today: “The flag is the embodiment not of sentiment, but of history.” — President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924).