Today in News History

On June 18, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1242, Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burnt in Paris. In 1775, American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1929, The town of Murchison, New Zealand is rocked by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killing 17. At the time it was New Zealand's worst natural disaster. In 1948, United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board. In 1958, The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver (Canada), collapses into the Burrard Inlet killing 18 ironworkers and injuring others. In 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised press conference called drug abuse "America's public enemy number one", starting the War on drugs. In 1972, Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process. In 1989, Interflug Flight 102 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Berlin Schönefeld Airport, killing 21 people. In 2015, Nine people are killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2017, A series of wildfires in central Portugal kill at least 64 people and injure 204 others. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.