Today in History: Mormon leader Joseph Smith killed in Illinois
Today is Thursday, June 27, the 179th day of 2024. There are 187 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 27, 1844, Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
Also on this date:
In 1880, author-lecturer Helen Keller, who lived most of her life without sight or hearing, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama.
In 1942, the FBI announced the arrests of eight Nazi saboteurs put ashore in Florida and Long Island, New York. (All were tried and sentenced to death; six were executed while two were spared for turning themselves in and cooperating with U.S. authorities.)
In 1944, during World War II, American forces liberated the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans.
In 1950, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling on member nations to help South Korea repel an invasion from the North.
In 1957, Hurricane Audrey slammed into coastal Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm; the initial official death toll from the storm was placed at 390, although a variety of state, federal and local sources have estimated the number of fatalities at between 400 and 600.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon opened an official visit to the Soviet Union.
In 1991, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black jurist to sit on the nation’s highest court, announced his retirement.
In 2005, BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders that had spread fear across Wichita, Kansas, beginning in the 1970s.
In 2006, a constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the American flag died in a Senate cliffhanger, falling one vote short of the 67 needed to send it to states for ratification.
In 2011, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago on a wide range of corruption charges, including the allegation that he’d tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat. (Blagojevich was later sentenced to 14 years in prison; his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump in February 2020.)
In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its strongest defense of abortion rights in a quarter-century, striking down Texas’ widely replicated rules that sharply reduced abortion clinics.
In 2018, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote often decided cases on abortion, gay rights and other contentious issues, announced his retirement.
In 2022, the Supreme Court said a high school football coach who sought to kneel and pray on the field after games was protected by the Constitution. Opponents said the decision would open the door to “much more coercive prayer” in public schools.
Today’s Birthdays: Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt is 86. Singer-musician Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys) is 82. Fashion designer Norma Kamali is 79. Fashion designer Vera Wang is 75. Actor Julia Duffy is 73. Actor Isabelle Adjani is 69. Country singer Lorrie Morgan is 65. Writer-producer-director J.J. Abrams is 58. Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (AY’-aht), R-N.H., is 56. Olympic gold and bronze medal figure skater Viktor Petrenko (peh-TREHN’-koh) is 55. Latin singer Draco Rosa is 55. TV personality Jo Frost (“Supernanny”) is 54. Actor Tobey Maguire is 49. Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian is 40. Actor Drake Bell is 38. Actor Sam Claflin is 38. Actor India de Beaufort is 37. Actor Ed Westwick is 37. Actor Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter film series) is 35. Actor Madylin Sweeten (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is 33. Pop singer Lauren Jauregui (Fifth Harmony) is 28. Singer-songwriter H.E.R. is 27. Actor Chandler Riggs (“The Walking Dead”) is 25.
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