June 18

Scott Winters June 18, 2024 2 Comments

A quick look at Today in History, check out some Celebrity Birthdays, and find out what Days of the Year to celebrate.

TODAY IN HISTORY:

1621 – The first duel in America took place in the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.

1778 – Britain evacuated Philadelphia, PA during the U.S. Revolutionary War.

1812 – The War of 1812 began as the U.S. declared war against Great Britain. The conflict began over trade restrictions.

1855 – The Steamship Illinois became the first ship to pass through the Sault Ste. Marie Locks.

1863 – J.J. Richardson received a patent for the ratchet wrench.

1873 – Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote for a U.S. President.

1898 – Atlantic City, NJ, opened its Steel Pier.

1923 – Checker Taxi, of Kalamazoo, MI, put their first taxi on the streets. The last Checker cab was made July 12, 1982.

1925 – The first degree in landscape architecture was granted by Harvard University.

1927 – Charles Lindbergh became the first living American to be honored on a postage stamp, which went on sale for 10 cents. The stamp was of Charles Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis”.

1928 – Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly (but not solo) across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales. She was a passenger. Wilmer Stultz was the pilot and Lou Gordon was the mechanic.

1936 – The first bicycle traffic court was established in Racine, WI.

1940 – The “Finest Hour” speech was delivered by Winston Churchill.

1948 – The United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted its International Declaration of Human Rights.

1948 – Columbia Records publicly unveiled its new long-playing phonograph record, the 33 1/3 rpm, in New York City.

1953 – Seventeen major league baseball records were tied or broken in a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers.

1956 – The comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis announced they had broken up.

1959 – The first telecast received from England was broadcast in the U.S. over NBC-TV.

1961 – “Gunsmoke” was broadcast for the last time on CBS radio.

1967 – Grand Valley State Colleges, in Allendale, MI, held their first graduation.

1975 – Fred Lynn of the Boston Red Sox hit three home runs, a triple and a single in a game against the Detroit Tigers.

1979 – In Vienna, President Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) 2.

1982 – The Senate approved the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act for an additional twenty-five years.

1983 – Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

1993 – The movie “Last Action Hero”, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, premiered in theaters.

1996 – Ted Kaczynski, suspected of being the Unabomber, was indicted on 10 criminal counts.

1996 – In San Jose, California, Richard Allen Davis was convicted for the 1993 kidnap-murder of 12 year old Polly Klaas.

1998 – The Walt Disney Co. purchased a 43% stake in the Web search engine company Infoseek Corp.

1998 – Nine commemorative U.S. postage stamps were re-issued. The stamps were considered to be classically beautiful examples of stamp engraving.

1998 – “The Boston Globe” asked Patricia Smith to resign after she admitted to inventing people and quotes in four of her recent columns.

1999 – Walt Disney’s film “Tarzan” opened in theaters.

2004 – The movie “DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story”, starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller, premiered in theaters.

2009 – NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/LCROSS probes to the Moon. It was the first American lunar mission since Lunar Prospector in 1998.

2010 – The movie “Toy Story 3” was released in theaters.

2018 – Donald Trump announced he would set up a sixth branch of the military: Space Force.

BIRTHDAYS:

Sir Paul McCartney – 82 years old (1942) – Musician (Beatles, Wings)

Linda Thorson – 77 years old (1947) – Actress (TV’s “The Avengers”)

Carol Kane – 72 years old (1952) – Actress (TV’s “Taxi”, movies “Man on the Moon”, “Addams Family Values”, “Jumping Jack Flash”, “Hester Street”, “Carnal Knowledge”)

Isabella Rossellini – 72 years old (1952) – Actress (“Blue Velvet”, “Cousins”, “Wild at Heart”, “Death Becomes Her”)

Nathan Morris – 53 years old (1971) – Singer (Boyz II Men)

Alana de la Garza – 48 years old (1976) – Actress (TV’s “Law & Order”, “Law & Order: LA”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “CSI: Miami”, “Forever”, “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders”)

Blake Shelton – 48 years old (1976) – Singer, Judge (TV’s “The Voice”)