Today in News History

On June 27, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1911, Marion M. Magruder, American Marine officer, commander of the VMF(N)-533 squadron (died 1997) was born. In 1927, Prime Minister of Japan Tanaka Giichi convenes an eleven-day conference to discuss Japan's strategy in China. The Tanaka Memorial, a forged plan for world domination, is later claimed to be a secret report leaked from this conference. In 1941, World War II: German troops capture the city of Białystok during Operation Barbarossa. In 1980, The 'Ustica massacre': Itavia Flight 870 crashes in the sea while en route from Bologna to Palermo, Italy, killing all 81 on board. In 1982, Space Shuttle Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the final research and development flight mission, STS-4. In 2002, Robert L. J. Long, American admiral (born 1920) passed away. In 2005, Ray Holmes, English lieutenant and pilot (born 1914) passed away. In 2008, Sam Manekshaw, Indian field marshal (born 1914) passed away. In 2013, NASA launches the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph space probe to observe the Sun. In 2014, Violet Milstead, Canadian World War II aviator and bush pilot (born 1919) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.