Today in News History

On June 17, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 1942, Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian politician, Vice President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate was born. In 1958, Sam Hamad, Syrian-Canadian academic and politician was born. In 1966, Mohammed Ghazy Al-Akhras, Iraqi journalist and author was born. In 1974, Refik Koraltan, Turkish lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (born 1889) passed away. In 1985, Space Shuttle program: STS-51-G mission: Space Shuttle Discovery launches carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist. 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 2012, Stéphane Brosse, French mountaineer (born 1971) passed away. In 2015, Süleyman Demirel, Turkish engineer and politician, 9th President of Turkey (born 1924) passed away. In 2019, Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian professor and politician, first elected president of Egypt after Egyptian revolution (born 1951) passed away. In 2020, Jean Kennedy Smith, American activist, humanitarian, author and diplomat (United States Ambassador to Ireland, 1993-1998) (born 1928) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.