Today is Saturday, June 30, the 181st day of 2018 with 184 to follow.
The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Venus.
Those born on this date are under the sign of Cancer. They include actor Susan Hayward in 1917; singer Lena Horne in 1917; magician Harry Blackstone Jr. in 1934; actor Nancy Dussault in 1936 (age 82); singer Florence Ballard of The Supremes in 1943; actor David Alan Grier in 1956 (age 62); former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson in 1966 (age 52); metal singer Phil Anselmo (Pantera) in 1968 (age 50); rapper Matisyahu, born Matthew Paul Miller, in 1979 (age 39); actor Lizzy Caplan in 1982 (age 36); country singer Cole Swindell in 1983 (age 35); American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino in 1984 (age 34); swimmer Michael Phelps, winner of 23 Olympic gold medals, in 1985 (age 33); WWE wrestler Alicia Fox, born Victoria Elizabeth Michelle Crawford, in 1986 (age 32).
On this date in history:
In 1859, Frenchman Jean Francois Gravelet, known professionally as the Great Blondin, became the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
In 1870, Ada Kepley became the first woman to graduate from an accredited law school in the United States — Union College of Law in Chicago.
In 1905, the theory of relativity was introduced by Albert Einstein in “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.”
In 1908, a spectacular explosion occurred over central Siberia, probably caused by a meteorite. The fireball could be seen hundreds of miles away.
In 1934, German leader Adolf Hitler ordered a bloody purge of his own political party — the so-called Night of the Long Knives. Hundreds of Nazis he feared might become political enemies were assassinated.
In 1936, Margaret Mitchell’s Civil War novel Gone With the Wind was published.
In 1950, U.S. troops were moved from Japan to help defend South Korea against invading North Koreans.
In 1971, three Soviet Cosmonauts, members of the crew of the world’s first space station, were killed when their spacecraft depressurized during re-entry.
In 1982, the extended deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment expired, three states short of the 38 needed for passage.
In 1988, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre after he consecrated four bishops in defiance of Pope John Paul II.
In 2009, Yemenia Airways Flight IY626, which had taken off from Sanaa, Yemen, crashed into the Indian Ocean while trying to land at Moroni, the capital of Comoros, killing 152 of 153 people aboard. The lone survivor was 14-year-old Bahia Bakari, who became known as “the miracle girl.”
In 2011, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as director of the CIA. Petraeus resigned in November 2012, saying he showed “extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair.”
In 2013, the Yarnell Hill wildfire in Arizona killed 19 firefighters on what Gov. Jan Brewer called “as dark a day as I can remember.” On July 9 in Prescott, thousands of people, including firefighters from across the country, attended a memorial service for the victims, all members of specialized firefighting unit called the Granite Mountain Hotshots.
In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that family-owned corporations can’t be required to pay for insurance coverage for contraception under the Affordable Care Act.
In 2015, the American Ballet Theater promoted Misty Copeland to be principal dancer — the highest rank within a professional dance company. She was the first African-American woman to hold the post for the company.
In 2017, the German parliament passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage after Chancellor Angela Merkel, who voted against the measure, encouraged her party to vote their conscience.
A thought for the day: “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” — Albert Einstein
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