Today in News History

On June 21, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. 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 1915, The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Guinn v. United States 238 US 347 1915, striking down Oklahoma grandfather clause legislation which had the effect of denying the right to vote to blacks. In 1927, Carl Stokes, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Seychelles (died 1996) was born. In 1949, Derek Emslie, Lord Kingarth, Scottish lawyer and judge was born. In 1960, Kate Brown, American politician, 38th Governor of Oregon was born. In 1973, In its decision in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller test for determining whether something is obscene and not protected speech under the U.S. constitution. 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 1993, Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-57 to retrieve the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) satellite. It is also the first shuttle mission to carry the Spacehab module. 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 2004, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.