Today in News History

On June 17, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 653, Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism. In 1953, Vernon Coaker, English educator and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence was born. In 1967, Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon. 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 1992, A "joint understanding" agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II). In 1994, Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. In 2001, Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1919) passed away. In 2019, Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian professor and politician, first elected president of Egypt after Egyptian revolution (born 1951) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.