Today in history
Today is Wednesday, June 13, the 164th day of 2018. There are 201 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 13, 1978, the movie musical “Grease,” starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, had its world premiere in New York.
On this date:
In 1525, German theologian Martin Luther married former nun Katharina von Bora.
In 1789, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly convened.
In 1842, Queen Victoria became the first British monarch to ride on a train, traveling from Slough Railway Station to Paddington in 25 minutes.
In 1911, the ballet “Petrushka,” with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Michel Fokine, was first performed in Paris by the Ballets Russes, with Vaslav Nijinsky in the title role.
In 1927, aviation hero Charles Lindbergh was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City.
In 1935, James Braddock claimed the title of world heavyweight boxing champion from Max Baer in a 15-round fight in Queens, New York. “Becky Sharp,” the first movie photographed in “three-strip” Technicolor, opened in New York.
In 1942, a four-man Nazi sabotage team arrived on Long Island, New York, three days before a second four-man team landed in Florida. (All eight men were arrested after two members of the first group defected.) President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Office of Strategic Services and the Office of War Information.
In 1957, the Mayflower II, a replica of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America in 1620, arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, after a nearly two-month journey from England.
In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that criminal suspects had to be informed of their constitutional right to consult with an attorney and to remain silent.
In 1977, James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was recaptured following his escape three days earlier from a Tennessee prison.
In 1983, the U.S. space probe Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, became the first spacecraft to leave the solar system as it crossed the orbit of Neptune.
In 1993, Canada’s Progressive Conservative Party chose Defense Minister Kim Campbell to succeed Brian Mulroney (muhl-ROO’-nee) as prime minister; she was the first woman to hold the post. Astronaut Donald K. “Deke” Slayton died in League City, Texas, at age 69.
Ten years ago: Tim Russert, moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” died suddenly while preparing for his weekly broadcast; he was 58. Pope Benedict XVI took President George W. Bush on a rare stroll through the lush grounds of the Vatican Gardens during the leaders’ third visit together. R. Kelly was acquitted of all charges in his child pornography trial in Chicago, ending a six-year ordeal for the R&B superstar.
Five years ago: The White House said it had conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime had used chemical weapons against opposition forces seeking to overthrow the government. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously threw out attempts to patent human genes, siding with advocates who said the multibillion-dollar biotechnology industry should not have exclusive control over genetic information found in the human body.