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Jun 26, 2008 3:00 am US/Eastern
Today In History - June 26, 2008
NEW YORK (AP) ―
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Actor Chris O'Donnell is 38 today. (File)
AP
Today is Thursday, June 26, the 178th day of
2008. There are 188 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On June 26, 1963, President Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he made his famous declaration: "Ich
bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner).
On this date:
In 1870, the first section of Atlantic City, New Jersey's
Boardwalk was opened to the public.
In 1945, the charter of the United Nations was signed by
50 countries in San Francisco.
In 1948, the Berlin Airlift began in earnest after the
Soviet Union cut off land and water routes to the isolated western sector of Berlin.
In 1950, President Truman authorized the Air Force and
Navy to enter the Korean conflict.
In 1959, President Eisenhower joined Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in ceremonies
officially opening the St. Lawrence Seaway.
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his choice
of Abe Fortas to succeed the retiring Earl Warren as chief justice of the United States
(however, Fortas later withdrew in the face of stiff Senate opposition).
In 1973, former White House counsel John W. Dean told the
Senate Watergate Committee about an "enemies list" kept by the Nixon White
House.
In 1977, 42 people were killed when a fire sent toxic
smoke pouring through the Maury County Jail in Columbia, Tennessee.
In 1988, three people were killed when a new Airbus A320
jetliner carrying more than 130 people crashed into a forest during an air show
demonstration flight in Mulhouse,
France.
In 1993, President Clinton announced the U.S. had launched missiles against Iraqi targets
because of "compelling evidence" Iraq had plotted to assassinate
former President Bush.
Ten years ago: The Supreme Court issued a landmark sexual
harassment ruling, putting employers on notice that they can be held
responsible for supervisors' misconduct even if they knew nothing about it.
Five years ago: The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision,
struck down state bans on gay sex. A jury in Fort Worth, Texas,
convicted former nurse's aide Chante Mallard of murder for hitting a homeless
man with her car, driving home with his mangled body jammed in the windshield
and leaving him to die in her garage. (Mallard was later sentenced to 50 years
in prison.) Strom Thurmond, the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, died in Edgefield, South Carolina,
at age 100. Sir Denis Thatcher, husband of former British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher, died in London
at age 88.
One year ago: Conservative commentator Ann Coulter,
appearing on MSNBC's "Hardball," got into a verbal fracas with Elizabeth
Edwards, who had called into the program to ask Coulter to stop making personal
attacks on her husband, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards. Paris
Hilton left the Los Angeles
County jail after a
bizarre, three-week stay for a probation violation. Fashion designer Liz
Claiborne died in New York
at age 78.
Today's Birthdays: Actress Eleanor Parker is 86. Jazz
musician-film composer Dave Grusin is 74. Actor Josef Sommer is 74. Singer
Billy Davis Junior (The Fifth Dimension) is 68. Rock singer Georgie Fame is 65.
Actor Clive Francis is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Brenda Holloway is 62. Actor
Michael Paul Chan is 58. Actor Robert Davi is 55. Singer-musician Mick Jones is
53. Actor Gedde Watanabe is 53. Rock singer Chris Isaak is 52. Rock singer
Patty Smyth is 51. Singer Terri Nunn (Berlin)
is 47. Rock singer Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays) is 45. Rock musician Colin
Greenwood (Radiohead) is 39. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson is 38. Actor
Sean Hayes is 38. Actor Matt Letscher is 38. Actor Chris O'Donnell is 38.
Actress Rebecca Budig is 35. Country singer Gretchen Wilson is 34.
Actor-musician Jason Schwartzman is 28. Actress Kaitlin Cullum is 22.
Thought for Today: "When a diplomat says yes, he means
perhaps; when he says perhaps, he means no; when he says no, he is no diplomat."—Anonymous.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
