TODAY IN HISTORY

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Today is Tuesday, June 9, the 161st day of 2020. There are 205 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 9, 2004, the body of Ronald Reagan arrived in Washington to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda before the 40th president’s funeral.

On this date:

In 1940, during World War II, Norway decided to surrender to the Nazis, effective at midnight.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943, which reintroduced federal income tax withholding from paychecks.

In 1954, during the Senate Army-McCarthy hearings, Army special counsel Joseph N. Welch berated Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., asking: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

In 1972, heavy rains triggered record flooding in the Black Hills of South Dakota; the resulting disaster left at least 238 people dead and $164 million in damage.

In 1973, Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.

In 1980, comedian Richard Pryor suffered almost fatal burns at his San Fernando Valley, Calif., home while freebasing cocaine.

In 1986, the Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.

In 2008, retail gas prices rose above $4 per gallon.

Today’s Birthdays: Comedian Jackie Mason is 92. Media analyst Marvin Kalb is 90. Former baseball manager and player Bill Virdon is 89. Sports commentator Dick Vitale is 81. Author Letty Cottin Pogrebin is 81. Rock musician Mick Box (Uriah Heep) is 73. Retired MLB All-Star Dave Parker is 69. Film composer James Newton Howard is 69. Mystery author Patricia Cornwell is 64. Actor Michael J. Fox is 59. Writer-producer Aaron Sorkin is 59. Actor Johnny Depp is 57.

Thought for Today: “Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he isn’t. A sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is.” — Horace Walpole, English author (1717-1797).

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