Today is Sunday, June 10, the 161st day of 2007. There are 204 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
One hundred years ago, on June 10, 1907, 11 men in five cars set out from the French embassy in Beijing on a race to Paris. (Prince Scipione Borghese of Italy was the first to arrive in the French capital two months later.)
On this date:
In 1865, the Richard Wagner opera “Tristan und Isolde” premiered in Munich, Germany.
In 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio.
In 1940, Italy declared war on France and Britain; Canada declared war on Italy.
In 1942, the Gestapo massacred 173 male residents of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in retaliation for the killing of a Nazi official.
In 1964, the Senate voted to limit further debate on a proposed civil rights bill, shutting off a filibuster by Southern states.
In 1967, the Middle East War ended as Israel and Syria agreed to observe a United Nations-mediated cease-fire.
In 1977, James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., escaped from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Tennessee with six others; he was recaptured June 13.
In 1978, Affirmed won the Belmont Stakes and with it, horse racing’s Triple Crown.
In 1981, in Frascati, Italy, 6-year-old Alfredo Rampi fell down an artesian well; the story ended tragically as efforts to rescue him proved futile.
In 1985, socialite Claus von Bulow was acquitted by a jury in Providence, R.I., at his retrial on charges he’d tried to murder his heiress wife, Martha “Sunny” von Bulow.
Ten years ago: Pope John Paul II bade farewell to his “beloved” native Poland as he ended an 11-day pilgrimage. Former Black Panther Geronimo Pratt was released on bail after 27 years behind bars on what he says were trumped-up murder charges. (Authorities decided against retrying him.)
Five years ago: Organized crime figure John Gotti died at a prison hospital in Missouri at age 61.
One year ago: Two Saudis and one Yemeni hanged themselves at the Guantanamo Bay military prison, the first successful suicides at the base after dozens of attempts. Justine Henin-Hardenne won the French Open, beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4. Jazil cruised to victory, holding off Bluegrass Cat in the Belmont Stakes.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Barry Morse is 89. Britain’s Prince Philip is 86. Columnist Nat Hentoff is 82. Actor-director Lionel Jeffries is 81. Author Maurice Sendak is 79. Attorney F. Lee Bailey is 74. Actress Alexandra Stewart is 68. Singer Shirley Alston Reeves (The Shirelles) is 66. Actor Jurgen Prochnow is 66. Media commentator Jeff Greenfield is 64. Country singer-songwriter Thom Schuyler is 55. Actor Andrew Stevens is 52. Singer Barrington Henderson is 51. Rock musician Kim Deal is 46. Singer Maxi Priest is 46. Actress Gina Gershon is 45. Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn is
44. Rock musician Jimmy Chamberlin is 43. Model-actress Elizabeth Hurley is 42. Rock musician Joey Santiago is 42. Actor Doug McKeon is 41. Rock musician Emma Anderson is 40. Country musician Brian Hofeldt (The Derailers) is 40. Rapper The D.O.C. is 39. Rock singer Mike Doughty is 37. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jo-Jo is 36. Rhythm-and-blues singer Faith Evans is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lemisha Grinstead (702) is 29. Actor DJ Qualls is 29. Actor Shane West is 29. Singer Hoku is 26. Actress Leelee Sobieski is 25. Olympic gold medal figure skater Tara Lipinski is 25.
Thought for Today: “History is worth reading when it tells us truly what the attitude toward life was in the past.” — Dorothy Canfield Fisher, American author (1879-1958).