Today is Friday, June 26, the 177th day of 2009. There are 188 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he expressed solidarity with the city’s residents by declaring: ”Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner).
On this date:
In 1870, the first section of Atlantic City’s Boardwalk was opened to the public in New Jersey.
In 1919, the New York Daily News was first published.
In 1945, the charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco.
In 1948, the Berlin Airlift began in earnest after the Soviet Union cut off land and water routes to the isolated western sector of Berlin.
In 1950, President Harry S. Truman authorized the Air Force and Navy to enter the Korean conflict.
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower joined Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in ceremonies officially opening the St. Lawrence Seaway. Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson knocked out Floyd Patterson in the third round of their match at New York’s Yankee Stadium to win the heavyweight title.
In 1973, former White House counsel John W. Dean told the Senate Watergate Committee about an ”enemies list” kept by the Nixon White House.
In 1977, 42 people were killed when a fire sent toxic smoke pouring through the Maury County Jail in Columbia, Tenn.
In 1988, three people were killed when a new Airbus A320 jetliner carrying more than 130 people crashed into a forest during an air show demonstration flight in Mulhouse, France.
In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty may be imposed for murderers who committed their crimes as young as age 16, and for mentally retarded killers as well.
Ten years ago: An advance contingent of Russian troops flew into Kosovo to help reopen a strategic airport and join an uneasy alliance with NATO peacekeepers.
Five years ago: President George W. Bush won support from the 25-nation European Union for an initial agreement to help train Iraq’s armed forces. A memorial service was held in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., for Paul M. Johnson Jr., an engineer slain by kidnappers in Saudi Arabia.
One year ago: The Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in the District of Columbia as it affirmed, 5-4, that an individual right to gun ownership existed. Juan Alvarez, who triggered a 2005 rail disaster in Glendale, Calif., by parking an SUV on the tracks, was convicted of 11 counts of first-degree murder. (Alvarez was later sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms.)
Thought for Today: “When I was a young man I vowed never to marry until I found the ideal woman. Well, I found her — but, alas, she was waiting for the perfect man.” — Robert Schuman, French statesman (1886-1963).