Today in History

Today is Thursday, June 2, the 153rd day of 2022. There are 212 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 2, 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. (McVeigh was executed in June 2001.)

On this date:

In 1924, Congress passed, and President Calvin Coolidge signed, a measure guaranteeing full American citizenship for all Native Americans born within U.S. territorial limits.

In 1941, baseball’s “Iron Horse,” Lou Gehrig, died in New York of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; he was 37.

In 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in London’s Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI.

In 1961, playwright and director George S. Kaufman, 71, died in New York.

In 1962, Soviet forces opened fire on striking workers in the Russian city of Novocherkassk; a retired general in 1989 put the death toll at 22 to 24.

In 1966, U.S. space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the moon and began transmitting detailed photographs of the lunar surface.

In 1979, Pope John Paul II arrived in his native Poland on the first visit by a pope to a Communist country.

In 1981, the Japanese video arcade game “Donkey Kong” was released by Nintendo.

In 1999, South Africans went to the polls in their second post-apartheid election, giving the African National Congress a decisive victory; retiring president Nelson Mandela was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki (TAH’-boh um-BEH’-kee).

In 2011, a judge in Placerville, California, sentenced serial sex offender Phillip Garrido to life in prison for kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard; Garrido’s wife, Nancy, received a decades-long sentence.

In 2016, autopsy results showed superstar musician Prince died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a powerful opioid painkiller.

In 2020, defying curfews, protesters streamed back into the nation’s streets, hours after President Donald Trump urged governors to put down the violence set off by the death of George Floyd. Police said four officers were hit by gunfire after protests in St. Louis that began peacefully became violent. The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington sharply criticized Trump for staging a visit to St. John’s Church across from the White House after authorities had cleared the area of peaceful protesters. Mayors and governors from both parties rejected Trump’s threat to use the military against protesters.

Ten years ago: Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison after a court convicted him on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that forced him from power (Mubarak was later acquitted and freed in March 2017; he died in February 2020). Richard Dawson, 79, a British-born entertainer who made his mark in the 1960s television sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes” and later became a popular TV game show host, died in Los Angeles.

Five years ago: Environmental campaigners protested President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, while nations around the world pledged to double down on their efforts to curb global warming. Three former Penn State administrators were handed jail and house-arrest sentences ranging up to nearly two years for burying child sexual abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky.

One year ago: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents announced that they had reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader. The NFL pledged to stop the use of “race-norming” in a $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims; the practice had made it harder for Black players to show a deficit and qualify for an award. Trainer Bob Baffert was suspended for two years by the Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, after an additional drug test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit confirmed the presence of a steroid. (Medina Spirit was later disqualified from his Derby victory; the colt collapsed and died in December 2021 following a training run at Santa Anita.) Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski (shuh-SHEF’-skee) announced that the next season would be his last with the Blue Devils.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Ron Ely (EE’-lee) is 84. Filmmaker and movie historian Kevin Brownlow is 84. Actor Stacy Keach is 81. Actor Charles Haid is 79. R&B singer Chubby Tavares (Tavares) is 78. Movie director Lasse (LAH’-suh) Hallstrom is 76. Actor Jerry Mathers is 74. Actor Joanna Gleason is 72. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is 70. Actor Dennis Haysbert is 68. Comedian Dana Carvey is 67. Actor Gary Grimes is 67. Pop musician Michael Steele is 67. Rock singer Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet) is 62. Actor Liam Cunningham is 61. Actor Navid Negahban is 58. Singer Merril Bainbridge is 54. TV personality-producer Andy Cohen (“The Real Housewives” TV franchise) is 54. Rapper B-Real (Cypress Hill) is 52. Actor Paula Cale is 52. Actor Anthony Montgomery is 51. Actor-comedian Wayne Brady is 50. Actor Wentworth Miller is 50. Rock musician Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane) is 46. Actor Zachary Quinto is 45. Actor Dominic Cooper is 44. Actor Nikki Cox is 44. Actor Justin Long is 44. Actor Deon Richmond is 44. Actor Morena Baccarin is 43. R&B singer Irish Grinstead (702) is 42. Rock musician Fabrizio Moretti (The Strokes) is 42. Olympic gold medal soccer player Abby Wambach is 42. Singer-songwriter ZZ Ward is 36. Rapper/actor Awkwafina is 34. Actor Brittany Curran is 32. Actor Sterling Beaumon is 27.

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