Today in News History

On June 21, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1848, In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell issue the Proclamation of Islaz and create a new republican government. In 1864, American Civil War: The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road begins. In 1898, The United States captures Guam from Spain. The few warning shots fired by the U.S. naval vessels are misinterpreted as salutes by the Spanish garrison, which was unaware that the two nations were at war. In 1929, An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico. In 1942, Togo D. West Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (died 2018) 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 1954, Mark Kimmitt, American general and politician, 16th Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs was born. In 1970, Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy in what was the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy to date. In 2001, A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicts 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen. In 2012, Abid Hussain, Indian economist and diplomat, Indian Ambassador to the United States (born 1926) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.