June 7

Scott Winters June 7, 2024 0 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:

1712 – The Pennsylvania Assembly banned the importation of slaves.

1775 – The United Colonies changed their name to the United States.

1776 – Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, proposed to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence.

1892 – J.F. Palmer patented the cord bicycle tire.

1892 – Benjamin Harrison became the first U.S. President to attend a baseball game.

1892 – John Joseph Doyle became the first pinch-hitter in baseball when he was used in a game.

1929 – The sovereign state of Vatican City came into existence as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome.

1932 – Over 7,000 war veterans marched on Washington, DC, demanding their bonuses.

1942 – The Battle of Midway ended. The sea and air battle lasted 4 days. Japan lost four carriers, a cruiser, and 292 aircraft, and suffered 2,500 casualties. The U.S. lost the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft, and suffered 307 casualties.

1944 – Off of the coast of Normandy, France, the Susan B. Anthony sank. All 2,689 people aboard survived.

1953 – The television puppet show “Kukla, Fran and Ollie” was broadcast from Boston, MA, in history’s first “compatible color” television show.

1955 – The TV game show, “The $64,000 Question”, premiered.

1958 – The freighter, Hull 301, was launched. The ship later became known as the Edmund Fitzgerald.

1966 – Sony Corporation unveiled its brand new consumer home videotape recorder, the CV-2000. The black and white only unit sold for $995.

1965 – The Supreme Court of the U.S. handed down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, effectively legalizing the use of contraception by married couples.

1965 – In the U.S., the Gemini 4 mission was completed. The mission featured the first spacewalk by an American.

1968 – Legoland Billund opened in Billund, Denmark. It was the original Legoland park.

1969 – Johnny Cash debuted his own network show on CBS-TV. It ran for two years.

1975 – Sony introduced the Betamax, the first consumer videocassette recorder. The bulky machine sold for $995.

1976 – TV’s “The NBC Nightly News”, with John Chancellor and David Brinkley, aired for the first time.

1982 – In Memphis, TN, Priscilla Presley opened Graceland to the public. The bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier was kept off-limits. The mansion soon became the top tourist attraction in Memphis.

1985 – The film “The Goonies” opened in theaters.

1990 – Universals Studios Florida opened in Orlando, FL.

1993 – The ground breaking ceremony was held for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, OH.

1993 – On his 35th birthday, Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, and asked to be referred to as “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince”. In May 2000, he went back to being known as Prince.

1994 – The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia declared the RMS Titanic, Inc. (RMST) salvor-in-possession of the wreck and the wreck site of the RMS Titanic.

1995 – Michael Jackson set a Billboard chart record as “Scream” entered The Hot 100 at #5, the highest debut ever on the chart.

1997 – The Detroit Red Wings completed a sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers with a 2-1 win in Game 4 of the Final at Joe Louis Arena. It was the first championship victory for the Red Wings since 1955.

1998 – In a hate crime that shocked the nation, James Byrd Junior was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper, TX. Two white men are later sentenced to death for the crime. A third received life in prison.

2000 – U.S. Federal Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corporation.

2002 – A Connecticut jury found Michael Skakel, 41, a Kennedy cousin, guilty of the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley.

2018 – The journal Science announced that the Mars Curiosity Rover found organic matter, including methane, on the planet Mars.

2021 – In Siberia, a microscopic multi-cleed organism was brought back to life after being frozen for 24,000 years.

BIRTHDAYS:

Charles Strouse – 96 years old (1928) – Composer, lyricist (“Bye Bye Birdie”, “Annie”)

Tom Jones – 84 years old (1940) – Singer

Nikki Giovanni – 81 years old (1943) – Poet

Jenny Jones – 78 years old (1946) – Talk show host (TV’s “The Jenny Jones Show”)

Anne Twomey – 73 years old (1951) – Actress (“Deadly Friend”, “Last Rites”, “The Scout”, “Picture Perfect”, “The Confession”)

Liam Neeson – 72 years old (1952) – Actor (The “Taken” movies, “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace”, “Schindler’s List”, “Wrath” and “Clash of the Titans”, “The Grey”, “Unknown”, “The A-Team”, “Kinsey”, “Batman Begins”, “Michael Collins”)

Colleen Camp – 71 years old (1953) – Actress (“The Swinging Cheerleaders”, “Police Academy” movies, “Apocalypse Now”, “The Seduction”, “Clue”)

L.A. Reid – 68 years old (1956) – Record producer, TV judge (First season of “The X Factor”)

Janice Lawrence Braxton – 62 years old (1962) – Women’s basketball player

Mick Foley – 59 years old (1965) – Retired pro wrestler

Eric Kretz – 58 years old (1966) – Drummer (Stone Temple Pilots)

Dave Navarro – 57 years old (1967) – Guitarist, singer (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction)

Helen Baxendale – 54 years old (1970) – Actress (TV’s “Cold Feet”)

Allen Iverson – 49 years old (1975) – Basketball player

Bill Hader – 46 years old (1978) – Actor, comedian (TV’s “Saturday Night Live”, “Trainwreck”)

Anna Torv – 45 years old (1979) – Actress (TV’s “Fringe”)

Anna Kournikova – 43 years old (1981) – Tennis player

Larisa Oleynik – 43 years old (1981) – Actress (TV’s “The Secret World of Alex Mack”, movies “The Baby-Sitters Club”, “10 Things I Hate About You”)

Michael Cera – 36 years old (1988) – Actor (“Juno,” “Superbad”, “This Is the End”, “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”, “Year One”)

Emily Ratajkowski – 33 years old (1991) – Actress (TV’s “iCarly”, “Gone Girl”, “Entourage”, “We Are Your Friends”)

George Ezra – 31 years old (1993) – Singer