Today in History June 18
Today is Wednesday, June 18, the 170th day of 2008. There are 196 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History: On June 18, 1983, astronaut Sally K. Ride became America's first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
On this date:
In 1778, American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.
In 1812, the United States declared war against Britain.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte met his Waterloo as British and Prussian troops defeated the French in Belgium.
In 1858, the United States and China signed a treaty promoting "peace, amity and commerce."
In 1812, the US Congress declared war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Apart from the British economic blockade of France, other reasons behind the declaration included the induction of American seaman into the British Royal Navy against their will, and the British support of hostile Indian tribes along the Great Lakes frontier.
In 1908, William Howard Taft was nominated for president by the Republican national convention in Chicago.
In 1923, the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company produced the first Checker cab. The Checker name was derived from a Chicago cab company which in 1920 began buying cars manufactured by the Commonwealth Motor Company.
In 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a journey with pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours.
In 1937, the novelist Gail Godwin was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Selling more than all her five books combined, her first bestselling novel was A Mother and Two Daughters (1981). Her other novels were A Southern Family (1987) and Father Melancholy's Daughter (1991).
In 1940 June 18,Benito Mussolini arrived in Munich to discuss immediate plans with the Fuhrer.
In 1940, during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to conduct themselves in a manner that would prompt future generations to say, "This was their finest hour."
In 1948, a United Nations commission finished drafting what would become the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In 1958, President Eisenhower expressed support for his chief of staff, Sherman Adams, who was accused of improperly accepting gifts from a businessman. (Adams resigned in September 1958.)
In 1978 Victor de la Torre wins Peru election.
In 1979, President Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.
In 1983 Astronaut Sally K Ride became America’s first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger.
In 1983 ‘Pump Boys and Dinettes’ closes at Princess Theatre New York City after 573 performances.
In 1983, STS-7 astronaut Dr Sally Ride, an astrophysicist from Stanford University, became the first American woman to travel into space. It was a six-day mission, where she operated the shuttle's robot arm, which she had helped design.
In 1986 Don Sutton becomes 19th pitcher to win 300 games.
In 1991 Boris Yeltsin, president of Russia, arrives in US.
In 1994 Aleksander Popov swims world record 100m free style (48.21 sec).
In 2004 European Union leaders agreed on the first constitution for the bloc’s 25 members.
In 2006 Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected the first female presiding bishop for the Episcopal Church, the US arm of the global Anglican Communion.
Ten years ago: President Clinton tapped U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson to replace Energy Secretary Federico Pena and named diplomatic troubleshooter Richard Holbrooke as the new representative to the United Nations. (However, Holbrooke's nomination was held up for a year because of an ethics investigation.) Three people were killed when a Chicago-bound commuter train rammed a tractor-trailer in Portage, Ind.
Five years ago: Convicted rapist Andrew Luster, heir to the Max Factor fortune, was arrested in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, after five months on the run. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Larry Doby, who broke the American League's color barrier in 1947, died in Montclair, N.J.; he was believed to be 79.
One year ago: Nine firefighters died in a fire at a furniture store and warehouse in Charleston, S.C. Yahoo Inc. Chairman Terry Semel ended his six-year tenure as chief executive officer, handing over the reins to co-founder Jerry Yang. Vilma Espin Guillois, wife of acting President Raul Castro and a former rebel fighter, died in Havana, Cuba, at age 77.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Ian Carmichael is 88. Columnist Tom Wicker is 82. Rock singer-composer-musician Sir Paul McCartney is 66. Movie critic Roger Ebert is 66. Actress Constance McCashin is 61. Actress Linda Thorson is 61. Actress Isabella Rossellini is 56. Actress Carol Kane is 56. Rock singer Alison Moyet is 47. Country singer-musician Tim Hunt is 41. Rock singer-musician Sice (The Boo Radleys) is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nathan Morris (Boyz II Men) is 37. Actress Mara Hobel is 37. Rapper Silkk the Shocker is 33. Actress Alana de la Garza is 32. Country singer Blake Shelton is 32. Actress Renee Olstead is 19.
Thought for Today: "Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others." — Amelia Earhart, American aviator (1897-1937?).
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-6-2008_pg9_17
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j...lBMYQD91C8IO01
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv...=NEWEN20080053