Today is Sunday, June 25, the 176th day of 2006. There are 189 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 25, 1906, in what was then called “The Crime of the Century,” architect and socialite Stanford White was shot to death atop New York’s Madison Square Garden, which he had designed, by millionaire Harry K. Thaw, the jealous husband of artist’s model and chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit, who’d once had an affair with White. (Thaw, tried for murder, was acquitted by reason of insanity.)
On this date:
In 1788, the state of Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution.
In 1876, Lt. Col. George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana.
In 1942, some 1,000 British Royal Air Force bombers raided Bremen, Germany, during World War II.
In 1950, war broke out in Korea as forces from the communist North invaded the South.
In 1951, the first commercial color telecast took place as CBS transmitted a one-hour special from New York to four other cities.
In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of an unofficial, non-denominational prayer in New York State public schools was unconstitutional.
In 1967, the Beatles performed their new song, “All You Need Is Love,” during a live international telecast.
In 1973, former White House Counsel John W. Dean began testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee.
In 1991, the western Yugoslav republics of Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence.
In 1995, Warren Burger, the 15th chief justice of the United States, died in Washington at age 87.
Ten years ago: A truck bomb killed 19 Americans and injured hundreds at a U.S. military housing complex in Saudi Arabia.
Five years ago: The United Nations opened its first global gathering on HIV/AIDS with emotional pleas for help from African leaders. Pope John Paul II, on a visit to Ukraine, offered a prayer for Holocaust victims at Babi Yar.
One year ago: Hardline Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of Iran’s presidential runoff election. The NAACP selected retired Verizon executive Bruce S. Gordon to be its new president.
Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Sidney Lumet is 82. Actress June Lockhart is 81. Rhythm-and-blues singer Eddie Floyd is 71. Actress Barbara Montgomery is 67. Basketball Hall of Famer Willis Reed is 64. Singer Carly Simon is 61. Rock musician Allen Lanier (Blue Oyster Cult) is 60. Rock musician Ian McDonald (Foreigner; King Crimson) is 60. Actor-comedian Jimmie Walker is 59. Actor-director Michael Lembeck is 58. TV personality Phyllis George is 57. Rock singer Tim Finn is 54. Rock musician David Paich (Toto) is 52. Rock singer George Michael is 43. Rapper-producer Richie Rich is 39. Rapper Candyman is 38. Musician Sean Kelly is 35. Rock musician Mike Kroeger (Nickelback) is 34. Rock musician Mario Calire is 32. Actress Linda Cardellini is 31.
Thought for Today: “No idea is so antiquated that it was not once modern. No idea is so modern that it will not some day be antiquated... To seize the flying thought before it escapes us is our only touch with reality.” — Ellen Glasgow, American author (1874-1945).