6th May: Today In History

Today is Tuesday, June 6th, the 157th day of 2017. There are 208 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

Events:

1944:   During World War II, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on “D-Day” as they began the liberation of German-occupied Western Europe.

1523:  Gustav Vasa became Sweden’s new king, Gustav I.

1654:  Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated; she was succeeded by her cousin, Charles X Gustav.

1799:  American politician and orator Patrick Henry died at Red Hill Plantation in Virginia.

1809:  Sweden adopted a new constitution.

1844:   The Young Men’s Christian Association was founded in London.

1925:   Walter Percy Chrysler founded the Chrysler Corp.

1933:  The first drive-in movie theater was opened by Richard Hollingshead in Camden County, New Jersey. (The movie shown was “Wives Beware,” starring Adolphe Menjou.)

1966:  Black activist James Meredith was shot and wounded as he walked along a Mississippi highway to encourage black voter registration.

1968:  Sen. Robert F. Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, a day after he was shot by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan.

1977:   A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law imposing an automatic death sentence on defendants convicted of the first-degree murder of a police officer.

1982:  Israeli forces invaded Lebanon to drive Palestine Liberation Organization fighters out of the country. (The Israelis withdrew in June 1985.)

1994:   President Bill Clinton joined leaders from America’s World War II allies to mark the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. A China Northwest Airlines passenger jet crashed near Xian (SHEE’-ahn), killing all 160 people on board.

Birthdays:

Singer-songwriter Gary “U.S.” Bonds is 78.

Country singer Joe Stampley is 74.

Jazz musician Monty Alexander is 73.

Actor Robert Englund is 70.

Folk singer Holly Near is 68.

Singer Dwight Twilley is 66.

Playwright-actor Harvey Fierstein (FY’-ur-steen) is 65.

Comedian Sandra Bernhard is 62.

Quotes Of The Day: 

DISTANCE shouldn't matter because at the end of the day, we're all under the same sky....

I don't like depending on people because people leave all the time. At the end of the day all you have is yourself and that is enough.