Today in News History

On June 21, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1582, Sengoku period: Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful of the Japanese daimyōs, is forced to commit suicide by his own general Akechi Mitsuhide. In 1845, Samuel Griffith, Welsh-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Queensland (died 1920) was born. In 1919, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg general strike. In 1921, Jane Russell, American actress and singer (died 2011) was born. In 1942, World War II: A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at Fort Stevens in one of only a handful of attacks by Japan against the United States mainland. In 1947, Joey Molland, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2025) was born. In 1964, Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan. In 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, who had previously been unsuccessfully tried for the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Mickey Schwerner, is convicted of manslaughter 41 years afterwards (the case had been reopened in 2004). In 2012, A boat carrying more than 200 migrants capsizes in the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian island of Java and Christmas Island, killing 17 people and leaving 70 others missing. In 2012, An Indonesian Air Force Fokker F27 Friendship crashes near Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, killing 11. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.