TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Monday, June 29, the 180th day of 2015. There are 185 days
left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On June 29, 1767,
Britain approved the Townshend Revenue Act, which imposed import duties
on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper and tea shipped to the American
colonies. (Colonists bitterly protested, prompting Parliament to repeal
the duties except for tea.) On this date: In 1613, London's original
Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed, was
destroyed by a fire sparked by a cannon shot during a performance of
"Henry VIII. In 1880, France annexed Tahiti, which became a French
colony on December 30, 1880. In 1913, the Second Balkan War broke out
as Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece, its former allies from the
First Balkan War. In 1927, the first trans-Pacific airplane flight was
completed as Lt. Lester J. Maitland and Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger
arrived at Wheeler Field in Hawaii aboard the Bird of Paradise, an
Atlantic-Fokker C-2, after flying 2,400 miles from Oakland, California,
in 25 hours, 50 minutes. In 1941, Polish statesman, pianist and
composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski (een-YAHS' yahn pah-dayr-EF'-skee) died
in New York at age 80. In 1954, the Atomic Energy Commission voted
against reinstating Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer's access to classified
information. In 1967, Jerusalem was re-unified as Israel removed
barricades separating the Old City from the Israeli sector. In 1972,
the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a trio of death sentences, saying
the way they had been imposed constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
(The ruling prompted states to effectively impose a moratorium on
executions until their capital punishment laws could be revised.) In
1988, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Morrison v. Olson, upheld the
independent counsel law in a 7-1 decision (the sole dissenter was
Justice Antonin Scalia). In 1992, the remains of Polish statesman
Ignace Jan Paderewski (een-YAHS' yahn pah-dayr-EF'-skee), interred for
five decades in the United States, were returned to his homeland in
keeping with his wish to be buried only in a free Poland. In 1995, the
space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Mir space station linked in
orbit, beginning a historic five-day voyage as a single ship. A
department store in Seoul (sohl), South Korea, collapsed, killing at
least 500 people. Actress Lana Turner died in Century City, California,
at age 74. In 2003, actress Katharine Hepburn died in Old Saybrook,
Connecticut, at age 96. Ten years ago: President George W. Bush,
embracing nearly all the recommendations of a White House commission,
said he was creating a national security service at the FBI to
specialize in intelligence as part of a shake-up of the disparate U.S.
spy agencies. Mexico released a series of postage stamps depicting an
exaggerated black cartoon character known as "Memin Pinguin," prompting
protests from U.S. activists (despite the objections, Mexico refused to
withdraw the stamps). Five years ago: China and Taiwan signed a
tariff-slashing trade pact that boosted economic ties and further eased
political tensions six decades after the rivals split amid civil war.
Talk show host Larry King announced he would step down from his CNN
show in the autumn after 25 years on the air. One year ago: The
al-Qaida breakaway group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which
had seized much of northeast Syria and huge tracts in neighboring Iraq,
formally declared the establishment of a new Islamic state and demanded
allegiance from Muslims worldwide. Grammy-winning jazz flutist and New
Age music pioneer Paul Horn, 84, died in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Today's Birthdays: Movie producer Robert Evans is 85. Songwriter L.
Russell Brown is 75. Singer-songwriter Garland Jeffreys is 72. Actor
Gary Busey is 71. Comedian Richard Lewis is 68.
Actor-turned-politican-turned-radio personality Fred Grandy is 67. Rock
musician Ian Paice (Deep Purple) is 67. Singer Don Dokken (Dokken) is
62. Rock singer Colin Hay (Men At Work) is 62. Actress Maria Conchita
Alonso is 58. Actress Sharon Lawrence is 54. Actress Amanda Donohoe is
53. Actress Judith Hoag is 52. Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is 52.
Rhythm-and-blues singer Stedman Pearson (Five Star) is 51. Actress
Kathleen Wilhoite is 51. Producer-writer Matthew Weiner is 50. Musician
Dale Baker is 49. Actress Melora Hardin is 48. Rap DJ Shadow is 43.
Actress Zuleikha Robinson is 38. Country musician Todd Sansom (Marshall
Dyllon) is 37. Singer Nicole Scherzinger is 37. Comedian-writer Colin
Jost (johst) is 33. Actress Lily Rabe is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer
Aundrea Fimbres is 32. Thought for Today: "Begin somewhere; you cannot
build a reputation on what you intend to do. James Russell Lowell,
American essayist (1819-1891).
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