DAILY ALMANAC
Today is Monday, June 20, the 171st day of 2022. There are 194 days left in the year.
On this date in:
1782: Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States, featuring the emblem of the bald eagle.
1837: Queen Victoria acceded to the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV.
1863: West Virginia became the 35th state.
1893: A jury in New Bedford, Massachusetts, found Lizzie Borden not guilty of the ax murders of her father and stepmother.
1943: Race-related rioting erupted in Detroit; federal troops were sent in two days later to quell the violence that resulted in more than 30 deaths.
1944: During World War II, Japanese naval forces retreated in the Battle of the
Philippine Sea after suffering heavy losses to the victorious American fleet.
1947: President Harry S. Truman vetoed the Taft-hartley Act, which was designed to restrict the power of labor unions, but had his veto overriden by Congress. Gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was shot dead at the Beverly Hills, California, home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, apparently on the orders of mob associates.
1967: Boxer Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted and was sentenced to five years in prison. (Ali’s conviction was ultimately overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court).
1972: Three days after the arrest of the Watergate burglars, President Richard Nixon met at the White House with his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman; the secretly made tape recording of this meeting
ended up with the notorious 181⁄2-minute gap.
1974: The film noir “Chinatown,” starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, was released by Paramount Pictures.
1990: South African Black nationalist Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, arrived in New York City for a tickertape parade in their honor as they began an eight-city U.S. tour.
2014: The Obama administration granted an array of new benefits to same-sex couples; the new measures ranged from Social Security and veterans benefits to work leave for caring for sick spouses.
2016: A divided U.S. Supreme Court bolstered police powers, ruling 5-3 that evidence of a crime in some cases may be used against a defendant even if the police did something wrong or illegal in obtaining it.
Musician Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is 80. Singer Anne Murray is 77. Home repair show host Bob Vila is 76. Classical pianist Andre Watts is 76. Actor Candy Clark (“American Graffiti”) is 75. Singer Lionel Richie
is 73. Actor John Goodman is 70. Bassist Michael Anthony (Van Halen, Chickenfoot) is 68. Bassist John Taylor of Duran Duran is 62. Guitarist Jerome Fontamillas of Switchfoot is 55. Bassist Murphy Karges of Sugar Ray is 55. Actor Nicole Kidman is 55. Singer Dan Tyminski of Alison Krauss and Union Station is 55. Actor Peter Paige
(“Queer as Folk”) is 53. Actor Josh Lucas (“Sweet Home Alabama,” “A Beautiful Mind”) is 51. Bassist Twiggy Ramirez (Marilyn Manson) is 51.