Today in News History

On June 20, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1925, Audie Murphy, American lieutenant and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1971) was born. In 1941, Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut was born. In 1942, The Holocaust: Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp. In 1945, The United States Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip. In 1946, Xanana Gusmão, Timorese soldier and politician, 1st President of East Timor was born. In 1954, Ilan Ramon, Israeli colonel, pilot, and astronaut (died 2003) was born. In 1972, Watergate scandal: An .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}18+1⁄2-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex. In 1979, ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan National Guard soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle during the Nicaraguan Revolution. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime. In 1982, The International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide opens in Tel Aviv, despite attempts by the Turkish government to cancel it, as it included presentations on the Armenian genocide. In 2024, Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor and producer (born 1935) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.