Today in News History

On June 16, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1632, The Plymouth Company granted a land patent to Thomas Purchase, the first settler of Pejepscot, Maine, settling at the site of Fort Andross. In 1738, Mary Katherine Goddard, American publisher (died 1816) was born. In 1911, IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York. In 1917, Katharine Graham, American publisher (died 2001) was born. In 1960, Peter Sterling, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster was born. In 1963, Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. In 1977, Duncan Hames, English accountant and politician was born. In 1995, The Astronomy Picture of the Day website is launched. In 2012, The United States Air Force's robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission. In 2012, China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.