TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, June 28, the 179th day of 2021. There are 186 days left in the year. Today’s Highlights in History: On June 28, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Alien Registration Act, also known as the Smith Act, which required adult foreigners residing in the U.S. to be registered and fingerprinted. On this date:
■ In 1838, Britain’s Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
■ In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending the First World War.
■ In 1950, North Korean forces captured Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
■ In 1951, a TV version of the radio comedy program “Amos ‘N’ Andy” premiered on CBS. (It was the first network TV series to feature an all-Black cast, but came under criticism for racial stereotyping.)
■ In 1964, civil rights activist Malcolm X declared, “We want equality by any means necessary” during the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity in New York.
■ In 1978, the Supreme Court ordered the University of California-Davis Medical School to admit Allan Bakke, a white man who argued he’d been a victim of reverse racial discrimination.
■ In 2000, seven months after he was cast adrift in the Florida Straits, Elian Gonzalez was returned to his native Cuba.
■ In 2000, seven months after he was cast adrift in the Florida Straits, Elian Gonzalez was returned to his native Cuba.
Ten years ago: Taliban fighters raided an international hotel in Kabul and killed 10 people on the eve of a conference to discuss plans for Afghan forces to take over security when international troops left by the end of 2014.
Five years ago: House Republicans concluded their $7 million, two-year investigation into the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, with fresh accusations of lethal mistakes by the Obama administration but no “smoking gun” pointing to wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton, who said the report “found nothing, nothing to contradict” the findings of earlier investigations.
One year ago: A St. Louis couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, waved guns at protesters who marched on their private street amid the national racial injustice demonstrations. (The McCloskeys, who were initially indicted on felony charges including unlawful use of a weapon, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and agreed to give up the weapons they used during the confrontation.)
Today’s Birthdays: Comedian-movie director Mel Brooks is 95. Former Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., is 87. Comedian-impressionist John Byner is 84. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is 83. Rock musician Dave Knights (Procul Harum) is 76. Actor Bruce Davison is 75. Actor Kathy Bates is 73. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway is 61. Actor Mary Stuart Masterson is 55. Actor John Cusack is 55. Actor Gil Bellows is 54. Country singer Big Vinny Hickerson (Trailer Choir) is 38. Country singer Kellie Pickler is 35.