On this Day

Monday, June 20th
The 171st day of 2005
There are 194 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On June 20, 1967, boxer Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. The conviction was later overturned by the Supreme Court. (Go to article.)

On June 20, 1905, Lillian Hellman, the American playwright and screenwriter, was born. Following her death on June 30, 1984, her obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. Other Birthdays)

On June 20, 1885, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Navy Department. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)

Reference: The New York Times



The following via Iraq War Today

Today in History
1567 - Jews are expelled from Brazil.
1756 - 146 British soldiers are imprisoned in the 'Black Hole of Calcutta'; most will die there.
1779 - Battle of Stone Ferry
1782 - Congress approves the Great Seal of the U.S., and the eagle as its symbol.
1791 - King Louis XVI is caught trying to escape the French Revolution.
1793 - Eli Whitney applies for a patent for his cotton gin.
1837 - Queen Victoria ascends British throne at 18.
1863 - The National Bank of Davenport, IA, becomes the first bank chartered in the U.S.
1863 - West Virginia becomes the 35th U.S. state.
1867 - President Andrew Johnson announces the purchase of Alaska.
1893 - Lizzie Borden is acquitted of murder in New Bedford, MA.
1900 - In China, the Boxer Rebellion begins.
1911 - In New York, the NAACP is incorporated.
1943 - British troops launch Operation Bellicose, the first 'shuttle bombing' raid of WWII.
1944 - Congress charters the Central Intelligence Agency.
1947 - President Truman vetoes the Taft-Hartley Act.
1963 - The U.S. and U.S.S.R. agree to set up a 'Hot Line.'
1964 - General William Westmoreland succeeds General Paul Harkins as head of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV).

Birthdays
1899 - Jean Moulin hero of the French Resistance during WW II
1945 - James F Buchli New Rockford ND, USMC/astr (STS 51C, 61A, 29, 48)
1953 - Brian Duffy Boston Mass, Major USAF/astronaut (STS 45)

Passings
1837 - King William IV of England
1947 - Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel, gangster, shot
1966 - Georges Lemaître, originator of "Big Bang" Theory

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Kari, Paul A., USAF (OH); According to him, this is the first F4C shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - alive as of 1998
1966
McDonough, John R., USNR (NJ); bridle connecting cable from launch catapault to EA1F broke; insufficient launch speed, plane sank - Killed, body not recovered
Tunnell, John W., USN (CA); A1H lost over water - KIA, body not recovered
1968
McCain, Marvin Raymond, Jr., US Army (AL); KIA, remains recovered August, 1973