Thursday, June 9

This Day In History

• 1870   Author Charles Dickens died at age 58.
• 1934   Donald Duck made his first appearance (as a bit player) on film
• 1940   Norway surrendered to the Nazis during World War II.
• 1943   The U.S. Congress authorized legislation giving the green light to a withholding tax on payrolls -- the pay-it-as-you-make-it income tax.
• 1969   The Senate confirmed Warren Burger to be chief justice of the United States, succeeding Earl Warren.
• 1973   Secretariat became horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years by winning the Belmont Stakes.
• 1978   Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men from the Mormon priesthood.
• 1980   Comedian Richard Pryor suffered near-fatal burns at his home when a mixture of ''free-base'' cocaine exploded.
• 1985   American educator Thomas Sutherland was kidnapped in Lebanon.
• 1986   The Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.
• 1993   Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito married commoner Masako Owada.
• 1997   Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, who had admitted that he'd had an adulterous affair years earlier, gave up his fight to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Happy Birthday To

• 1672   Peter the Great (Piotr Alekseevich Romanov)
• 1891   Cole (Albert) Porter (composer & lyricist)
• 1916   Robert McNamara (U.S. Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy & Johnson administrations; president of World Bank)
• 1961   Michael J. Fox
• 1963   Johnny Depp