June 21, 2009 - Today In History

Today is Sunday, June 21, the 172nd day of 2009.

There are 193 days left in the year.

This is Father's Day.
Summer arrives at 1:45 a.m. EDT.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 21, 1788, the U.S. Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became
the ninth state to ratify it.

On this date:

In 1834, Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

In 1932, heavyweight Max Schmeling lost a title fight rematch in New York by decision to
Jack Sharkey, prompting Schmeling's manager, Joe Jacobs, to exclaim: "We was robbed!"

In 1948, the Republican national convention opened in Philadelphia. (The delegates ended up
choosing Thomas E. Dewey to be their presidential nominee.)

In 1963, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was chosen to succeed the late Pope John XXIII;
the new pope took the name Paul VI.

In 1964, civil rights workers Michael H. Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James E. Chaney
disappeared in Philadelphia, Miss.; their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later.

In 1973, the Supreme Court, in Miller v. California, ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.

In 1982, a jury in Washington found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three other men.

In 1985, scientists announced that skeletal remains exhumed in Brazil were those of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.

In 1989, a sharply divided Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment.

In 1990, an estimated 50,000 Iranians were killed by an earthquake.

Ten years ago:

President Bill Clinton visited Slovenia, formerly part of Yugoslavia, where he publicly urged Serbs
to reject Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

NATO and the Kosovo Liberation Army, meanwhile, signed an accord providing for the demilitari-
zation of the KLA.

Five years ago:

The SpaceShipOne rocket plane punched through Earth's atmosphere, then glided to a landing
in California's Mojave Desert in the first privately financed manned spaceflight.

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland resigned effective July 1, 2004, amid graft allegations and a
federal investigation. (Rowland, who ended up serving 10 months in prison, was succeeded
by Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell.)

One year ago:

A ferry carrying more than 800 people capsized as Typhoon Fengshen battered the Philippines; only about four dozen people survived.

The body of a pregnant Army soldier, Spc. Megan Touma, 23, was found submerged in a motel room bathtub in Fayetteville, N.C. (Sgt. Edgar Patino, said by police to be the unborn baby's father, was charged with first-degree murder.)

Scott Kalitta died when his Funny Car burst into flames and crashed at the end of the track during
the final round of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway
Park in New Jersey.

Today's Birthdays:

Actress Jane Russell is 88.

Actor Bernie Kopell is 76.

Actor Monte Markham is 74.

Songwriter Don Black is 71.

Actress Mariette Hartley is 69.

Comedian Joe Flaherty is 68.

Rock singer-musician Ray Davies (The Kinks) is 65.

Actress Meredith Baxter is 62.

Actor Michael Gross is 62.

Rock musician Joe Molland (Badfinger) is 62.

Rock musician Don Airey (Deep Purple) is 61.

Country singer Leon Everette is 61.

Rock musician Joey Kramer (Aerosmith) is 59.

Rock musician Nils Lofgren is 58.

Actress Robyn Douglass is 56.

Actor Leigh McCloskey is 54.

Cartoonist Berke Breathed is 52.

Country singer Kathy Mattea is 50.

Actor Marc Copage is 47.

Actress Sammi Davis is 45.

Actor Doug Savant is 45.

Country musician Porter Howell is 45.

Actor Michael Dolan is 44.

Writer-director Larry Wachowski is 44.

Actress Paula Irvine is 41.

Country singer Allison Moorer is 37.

Actress Juliette Lewis is 36.

Musician Justin Cary is 34.

Rock musician Mike Einziger (Incubus) is 33.

Actor Chris Pratt is 30.

Rock singer Brandon Flowers is 28.

Britain's Prince William of Wales is 27.

Actor Jascha Washington is 20.

Thought for Today:

"Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do."

— Jean-Paul Sartre,
French philosopher
(1905-1980).