Today is Wednesday, June 3, the 155th day of 2020. There are 211 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 3, 1965, astronaut Edward H. White became the first American to “walk” in space during the flight of Gemini 4.
On this date:
In 1861, Illinois Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, the Democratic presidential nominee in the 1860 election, died in Chicago of typhoid fever; he was 48.
In 1924, author Franz Kafka, 40, died near Vienna.
In 1948, the 200-inch reflecting Hale Telescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory in California was dedicated.
In 1963, Pope John XXIII died at age 81; he was succeeded by Pope Paul VI.
In 1977, the United States and Cuba agreed to set up diplomatic interests sections in each other’s countries; Cuba also announced the immediate release of 10 Americans jailed on drug charges.
In 1989, Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, died. On the same day, Chinese army troops began their sweep of Beijing to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations.
In 2008, Barack Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination, speaking in the same St. Paul, Minnesota, arena where Republicans would be holding their national convention in September 2008.
In 2016, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali died at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 74.
Today’s Birthdays: The former president of Cuba, Raul Castro, is 89. Actress Irma P. Hall is 85. Author Larry McMurtry is 84. Rock singer Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) is 81. World Golf Hall of Famer Hale Irwin is 75. Singer Suzi Quatro is 70. Singer Deneice Williams is 70. Singer Dan Hill is 66. Actress Suzie Plakson is 62. Actor Scott Valentine is 62. Rock musician Kerry King (Slayer) is 56. Actor James Purefoy is 56. Rock singer-musician Mike Gordon is 55. TV host Anderson Cooper is 53. Country singer Jamie O’Neal is 52. Tennis player Rafael Nadal is 34.
Thought for Today: “The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it.” — Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965).
