Today in News History

On June 21, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1921, The Irish village of Knockcroghery was burned by British forces. In 1929, An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico. In 1931, Margaret Heckler, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (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 1970, Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy in what was the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy to date. In 1985, Braathens SAFE Flight 139 is hijacked on approach to Oslo Airport, Fornebu. Special forces arrest the hijacker and there are no fatalities. In 1989, The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, that American flag-burning is a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment. 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 2006, A Yeti Airlines de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter crashes at Jumla Airport in Nepal, killing nine people. 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.