BC-History-June 17,0583
Today in History
By The Associated Press
Today is Sunday, June 17, the 168th day of 2007. There are 197 days left in the year. This is Father’s Day.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 17, 1775, the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston. The battle, which actually occurred on Breed’s Hill, was a costly victory for the British, who suffered heavy losses while dislodging the rebels.
On this date:
In 1856, the Republican Party opened its first nominating convention in Philadelphia, during which it chose John Charles Fremont to be its presidential candidate (Fremont ended up losing to James Buchanan).
In 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor aboard the French ship Isere.
In 1928, Amelia Earhart embarked on a trans-Atlantic flight from Newfoundland to Wales with pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, becoming the first woman to make the trip, if only as a passenger.
In 1944, the republic of Iceland was established.
In 1948, a United Air Lines DC-6 crashed near Mount Carmel, Pa., killing all 43 people on board.
In 1957, mob underboss Frank Scalice was shot to death at a produce market in the Bronx, N.Y.
In 1961, Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West while his troupe was in Paris.
In 1963, the Supreme Court, in Abington School District v. Schempp, struck down rules requiring the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer or reading of Biblical verses in public schools.
In 1972, President Nixon’s eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic national headquarters in Washington’s Watergate complex.
In 1987, Charles Glass, a journalist on leave from ABC News, was kidnapped in Lebanon. (Glass escaped his captors in August 1987.)
Ten years ago: Mir Aimal Kasi, the suspect in the shooting deaths of two CIA employees outside agency headquarters in January 1993, was brought to Fairfax, Va., to face trial after being arrested in Pakistan. (He was later convicted and sentenced to death.)
Five years ago: A judge in San Francisco tossed out the second-degree murder conviction of Marjorie Knoller for the dog-mauling death of neighbor Diane Whipple, but let stand Knoller’s conviction for involuntary manslaughter. (However, the California Supreme Court has left open the possibility the murder conviction could be reinstated.) The U.S. Supreme Court struck down an Ohio village’s law that required door-to-door solicitors to register with authorities and carry a permit.
One year ago: Officials in Chechnya reported police had killed rebel leader Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev by acting on a tip from within his network.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Peter Lupus is 75. Singer Barry Manilow is 61. Comedian Joe Piscopo is 56. Actor Mark Linn-Baker is 53. Musician Philip Chevron (The Pogues) is 50. Actor Jon Gries is 50. Movie producer-director-writer Bobby Farrelly is 49. Actor Thomas Haden Church is 46. Actor Greg Kinnear is 44. Olympic gold-medal speed skater Dan Jansen is 42. Actor Jason Patric is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kevin Thornton is 38. Tennis player Venus Williams is 27. Actor-rapper Herculeez (Herculeez and Big Tyme) is
22. Actor Damani Roberts is 11.
Thought for Today: “The theological problem today is to find the art of drawing religion out of a man, not pumping it into him.” — Rev. Karl Rahner, Austrian theologian (1904-1984).