Today is Sunday, June 9, the 161st day of 2024. There are 205 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 9, 1993, the science-fiction film “Jurassic Park,” directed by Steven Spielberg, had its world premiere in Washington, D.C.
Related: We ranked all 33 of Steven Spielberg’s movies, from worst to No. 1 best
On this date:
In 1732, James Oglethorpe received a charter from Britain’s King George II to found the colony of Georgia.
In 1870, author Charles Dickens died in Gad’s Hill Place, England.
In 1915, guitarist, songwriter and inventor Les Paul was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
In 1940, during World War II, Norway decided to surrender to the Nazis, effective at midnight.
In 1954, during the Senate Army-McCarthy hearings, Army special counsel Joseph N. Welch berated Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., asking: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
In 1969, the Senate confirmed Warren Burger to be the new chief justice of the United States, succeeding Earl Warren.
In 1972, heavy rains triggered record flooding in the Black Hills of South Dakota; the resulting disaster left at least 238 people dead and $164 million in damage.
In 1978, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding Black men from the Mormon priesthood.
In 1983, Britain’s Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, won a decisive election victory.
In 1986, the Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.
In 2004, the body of Ronald Reagan arrived in Washington to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda before the 40th president’s funeral.
In 2013, Rafael Nadal became the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tournament after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the French Open final.
In 2017, actor Adam West, TV’s “Batman,” died in Los Angeles at age 88.
In 2018, Justify, ridden by Mike Smith and trained by Bob Baffert, won the Belmont Stakes to become horse racing’s 13th Triple Crown winner and the second in four years.
In 2020, hundreds of mourners packed a Houston church for the funeral of George Floyd, a Black man whose death during a Minneapolis arrest inspired a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice.
In 2022, at its first public hearing on the matter, the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol laid the blame firmly on Donald Trump, saying the assault was not spontaneous but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.
In 2023, a felony indictment said Donald Trump improperly stored in his Florida estate sensitive documents on nuclear capabilities, repeatedly enlisted aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showed off a Pentagon “plan of attack” and classified map.
Today’s Birthdays: Media analyst Marvin Kalb is 94. Sports commentator Dick Vitale is 85. Author Letty Cottin Pogrebin is 85. Rock musician Mick Box (Uriah Heep) is 77. Retired MLB All-Star Dave Parker is 73. Film composer James Newton Howard is 73. Mystery author Patricia Cornwell is 68. Actor Michael J. Fox is 63. Writer-producer Aaron Sorkin is 63. Actor Johnny Depp is 61. Actor Gloria Reuben is 60. Gospel singer-actor Tamela Mann is 58. Rock musician Dean Felber (Hootie & the Blowfish) is 57. Rock musician Dean Dinning is 57. Musician Ed Simons is 54. Actor Keesha Sharp is 51. Bluegrass singer-musician Jamie Dailey (Dailey & Vincent) is 49. Actor Michaela Conlin is 46. Actor Natalie Portman is 43. Actor Mae Whitman is 36. Actor Lucien Laviscount is 32.