Today is Tuesday, June 5, the 156th day of 2007. There are 209 days left in the
year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On June 5, 1968, Sen Robert F Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles' Ambassador
Hotel after claiming victory in California's Democratic presidential primary.
Gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was immediately arrested.
On this date:
In 1884, Civil War hero Gen. William T Sherman refused the Republican presidential
nomination, saying, "I will not accept if nominated and will not serve
if elected."
In 1917, about 10 million American men began registering for the draft in World
War I.
In 1933, the United States went off the gold standard.
In 1940, during the World War II Battle of France, Germany attacked French
forces along the Somme line.
In 1947, Secretary of State George C Marshall gave a speech at Harvard University
in which he outlined an aid program for Europe that came to be known as "The
Marshall Plan."
In 1967, war erupted in the Mideast as Israel raided military aircraft parked
on the ground in Egypt; Syria, Jordan and Iraq entered the conflict.
In 1976, 14 people were killed when the Teton Dam in Idaho burst.
In 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that five
homosexuals in Los Angeles had come down with a rare kind of pneumonia; they
were the first recognized cases of what later became known as AIDS.
In 1986, a federal jury in Baltimore convicted Ronald W Pelton of selling secrets
to the Soviet Union. (Pelton was sentenced to three life prison terms plus 10
years.)
In 2004, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died
in Los Angeles at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
Ten years ago: Harold J Nicholson, the highest ranking CIA officer ever caught
spying against his own country, was sentenced to more than 23 years in prison
for selling defense secrets to Russia after the Cold War.
Five years ago: 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart disappeared from her Salt Lake
City home. (Smart was found alive in a Salt Lake suburb in March 2003; two people
accused of abducting her have been found mentally unfit to stand trial.) A suicide
bomber killed 17 Israelis on a bus. Magic Johnson was introduced as a member
of the 2002 class elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Dee Dee Ramone, bass player for the pioneer punk band the Ramones, died in Los
Angeles at age 50.
One year ago: More than 50 National Guardsmen from Utah became the first unit
to work along the US-Mexico border as part of President Bush's crackdown on
illegal immigration. An Islamic militia with alleged links to al-Qaeda seized
Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, after weeks of fighting with US-backed secular
warlords. Serbian lawmakers proclaimed their Balkan republic a sovereign state
after Montenegro decided to split from a union and dissolve the remnants of
what was once Yugoslavia.
Today's Birthdays: Actor-singer Bill Hayes is 82. Broadcast journalist Bill
Moyers is 73. Rhythm-and-blues singer Floyd Butler (Friends of Distinction)
is 66. Country singer Don Reid (The Statler Brothers) is 62. Rock musician Fred
Stone (Sly and the Family Stone) is 61. Rock singer Laurie Anderson is 60. Country
singer Gail Davies is 59. Author Ken Follett is 58. Rock musician Nicko McBrain
(Iron Maiden) is 55. Jazz musician Kenny G is 51. Rock singer Richard Butler
(Psychedelic Furs) is 51. Actor Jeff Garlin is 45. Actress Karen Sillas is 42.
Actor Ron Livingston is 40. Singer Brian McKnight is 38. Rock musician Claus
Norreen (Aqua) is 37. Actor Mark Wahlberg is 36. Actor Chad Allen is 33. Rock
musician P-nut (311) is 33. Actress Navi Rawat is 30. Actress Liza Weil is 30.
Rock musician Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) is 28. Rock musician Seb Lefebvre (Simple
Plan) is 26.
Thought for Today: "Dare to be naive." — R. Buckminster Fuller,
American inventor and philosopher (1895-1983).
