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Highlight in History
On March 18, 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gideon v. Wainwright, ruled unanimously that state courts were required to provide legal counsel to criminal defendants who could not afford to hire an attorney on their own.
On this date
In 1766, Britain repealed the Stamp Act of 1765.
In 1937, some 300 people, mostly children, were killed in a gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order authorizing the War Relocation Authority, which was put in charge of interning Japanese-Americans, with Milton S. Eisenhower (the younger brother of Dwight D. Eisenhower) as its director.
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Hawaii statehood bill. (Hawaii became a state on Aug. 21, 1959.)
In 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov went outside his Voskhod 2 capsule, secured by a tether.
In 1974, most of the Arab oil-producing nations ended their embargo against the United States.
In 1980, Frank Gotti, the 12-year-old youngest son of mobster John Gotti, was struck and killed by a car driven by John Favara, a neighbor in Queens, N.Y. (The following July, Favara vanished, the apparent victim of a gang hit.)
In 1990, thieves made off with 13 works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston (the crime remains unsolved).
Ten years ago
A jury in Corpus Christi, Texas, cleared Bayer Corp. of liability in a $560 million lawsuit that accused the pharmaceutical giant of ignoring research linking the cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol to dozens of deaths. In Salt Lake City, Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee were charged with aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault and burglary in the abduction of Elizabeth Smart, who was found with them six days earlier. (Although both were initially found incompetent to stand trial, Mitchell was eventually convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault, while Barzee pleaded guilty to kidnapping and unlawful transportation charges.) Olympic gold medal figure skater Sarah Hughes won the Sullivan Award as the nation’s top amateur athlete.
Five years ago
Democrat Barack Obama confronted America’s racial divide head-on with a speech in Philadelphia in which he urged the nation to break “a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel earned a standing ovation from Israel’s parliament with a speech that included a tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. Oscar-winning filmmaker Anthony Minghella (“The English Patient”) died in London at age 54.
One year ago
Mitt Romney scored an overwhelming win in Puerto Rico’s Republican presidential primary, trouncing chief rival Rick Santorum.
National, International News
Related Photos
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Soviet cosmonaut Lt. Col. Alexei Leonov, figure at left, leaves his spacecraft to become the first man to step into outer space March 18, 1965. The image is taken from a Soviet television monitor.
Discussion
Today in History for Monday, March 18, 2013
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Rare Superman comic found in house insulation
It’s considered the Holy Grail of comic books: Action Comics No. 1 from 1938, featuring the debut of Superman. David Gonzales found one mixed in with old newspapers insulating the ceiling of a house he was renovating in a small town in Minnesota.
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Toronto mayor denies he smokes crack cocaine
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denied Friday that he smokes crack cocaine and said he is not an addict after a video purported to show him using the drug. The mayor of Canada’s largest city did not say whether he has ever used crack.
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16 hurt in shuttle bus crash near Atlanta airport
Sixteen people were taken to the hospital Friday, at least two in serious condition, after they were hurt in a crash between a hotel shuttle bus and a tractor-trailer near Atlanta’s airport, officials said.
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Trucker bumps I-5 bridge, sees horror behind him
The trucker was hauling a load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water behind him. Two vehicles fell into the icy Skagit River.
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Judge: Ariz. sheriff’s office profiles Latinos
A federal judge ruled Friday that the office of America’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people.
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Today in History for Saturday, May 25, 2013
Today is Saturday, May 25, the 145th day of 2013. There are 220 days left in the year.
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Man shot by FBI had ties to Boston bombing suspect
A Chechen immigrant shot to death in Florida after an altercation with an FBI agent implicated himself in a triple slaying that officials believe may have been connected to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, authorities said.
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WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts vs. virus
International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned Thursday.
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Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set
Jurors who spent five months determining Jodi Arias’ fate couldn’t decide whether she should get life in prison or die for murdering her boyfriend, sending prosecutors back to the drawing board to rehash the shocking case of sex, lies and violence to another 12 people.
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I-5 bridge collapses in Washington state
An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said.
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