History Today
In 1844, Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
In 1880, Helen Keller, an author and speaker who lived most of her life without sight or hearing, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama.
In 1942, the FBI announced the arrest of eight Nazi saboteurs who had landed in Florida and Long Island, New York. (All were tried and sentenced to death; six were executed, but two were spared by turning themselves in and cooperating with U.S. authorities.)
In 1944, during World War II, American troops liberated the French port city of Cherbourg from German forces.
In 1950, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling on member states to assist South Korea in repelling a North Korean invasion.
In 1957, Hurricane Audrey struck the coasts of Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm. The official death toll from the storm was initially listed as 390, but various state, federal, and local sources estimate the death toll at between 400 and 600.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon began a state visit to the Soviet Union.
In 1991, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, announced his retirement.
In 2005, BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders that spread terror throughout Wichita, Kansas, beginning in the 1970s.
In 2006, a constitutional amendment banning the desecration of the American flag failed in the Senate, one vote short of the 67 needed to be ratified by the states.
In 2011, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago on a wide range of corruption charges, including allegations that he tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s Senate seat. (Blagojevich was later sentenced to 14 years in prison, but his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump in February 2020.)
In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a widely copied Texas rule that had drastically reduced the number of abortion clinics, handing down its strongest pro-abortion rights ruling in a quarter century.
In 2018, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was often the voting voice in cases on abortion, gay rights and other contentious issues, announced his retirement.
In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that a high school football coach who wanted to kneel and pray on the field after a game was protected by the Constitution. Critics argued that the decision opened the door to “more mandatory prayer” in public schools.
birthday
Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt is 86 years old.
Singer and musician Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys) is 82 years old.
Fashion designer Norma Kamali is 79 years old.
Fashion designer Vera Wang is 75 years old.
Actress Julia Duffy is 73 years old.
Actress Isabelle Adjani is 69 years old.
Country singer Lorrie Morgan is 65 years old.
Writer, producer and director JJ Abrams is 58 years old.
Former Senator Kelly Ayotte (RN.H) is 56 years old.
Olympic gold and bronze medalist figure skater Viktor Petrenko is 55 years old.
Latin singer Draco Rosa is 55 years old.
TV personality Jo Frost (“Supernanny”) is 54 years old.
Actor Tobey Maguire is 49 years old.
Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian is 40 years old.
Actor Drake Bell is 38 years old.
Actor Sam Claflin is 38 years old.
Actor India de Beaufort is 37 years old.
Actor Ed Westwick is 37 years old.
Actor Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter film series) is 35 years old.
Actress Madilyn Sweeton (Everybody Loves Raymond) is 33 years old.
Pop singer Lauren Jauregui (Fifth Harmony) is 28 years old.
Singer-songwriter HER is 27 years old.
Actor Chandler Riggs (“The Walking Dead”) is 25 years old.
