Today is Sunday, June 11, the 162nd day of 2017. There are 203 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight: On June 11, 1947, the government announced the end of sugar rationing for households and “institutional users” (e.g., restaurants and hotels) as of midnight.
On this date:
In 1509, England’s King Henry VIII married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
In 1770, Captain James Cook, commander of the British ship Endeavour, “discovered” the Great Barrier Reef off Australia by running onto it.
In 1919, Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner.
In 1937, eight members of the Soviet Red Army High Command accused of disloyalty were put on trial, convicted and immediately executed as part of Josef Stalin’s Great Purge.
In 1942, the United States and the Soviet Union signed a lend-lease agreement to aid the Soviet war effort in World War II.
In 1962, three prisoners at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay staged an escape, leaving the island on a makeshift raft; they were never found or heard from again.
In 2001, Timothy McVeigh, 33, was executed by injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
Ten years ago: Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in a restroom sex sting. (Craig, who denied soliciting an undercover police officer, later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid a fine.)
Today’s birthdays: Former U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., is 87. International Motorsports Hall of Famer Jackie Stewart is 78. Actress Adrienne Barbeau is 72. Rock musician Frank Beard (ZZ Top) is 68. Animal rights activist Ingrid Newkirk is 68. Rock singer Donnie Van Zant is 65. Actor Peter Bergman is 64. Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana is 61. Actor Hugh Laurie is 58. TV personality Mehmet Oz, M.D., is 57. Singer Gioia Bruno (Expose) is 54. Rock musician Dan Lavery (Tonic) is 51. Country singer-songwriter Bruce Robison is 51. Actress Clare Carey is 50. Actor Peter Dinklage is 48. Country musician Smilin’ Jay McDowell is 48. Actor Lenny Jacobson is 43. Rock musician Tai Anderson (Third Day) is 41. Actor Joshua Jackson is 39. Americana musician Gabe Witcher (Punch Brothers) is 39. Christian rock musician Ryan Shrout is 37. Actor Shia LaBeouf is 31.
Thought for today: “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” — David Brinkley, American broadcast journalist (born 1920, died this date in 2003).
Associated Press
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
