Today is Tuesday, June 4, the 156th day of 2024. There are 210 days left in the year.
Today in history
On June 4, 1942, the World War II Battle of Midway began, resulting in a decisive American victory against Japan and marking the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
Also on this date
In 1812, the U.S. House of Representatives approved, by a vote of 79-49, a declaration of war against Britain.
In 1919, Congress approved the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which said that the right to vote could not be denied or abridged based on gender. The amendment was sent to the states for ratification.
In 1939, the German ocean liner MS St. Louis, carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany, was turned away by U.S. officials on the Florida coast.
In 1940, during World War II, the Allied military evacuation of some 338,000 troops from Dunkirk, France, ended. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
In 1944, U-505, a German submarine, was captured by a U.S. Navy task group in the south Atlantic; it was the first such capture of an enemy vessel at sea by the U.S. Navy since the War of 1812. The U.S. Fifth Army began liberating Rome.
In 1967, “Mission: Impossible” won outstanding dramatic series and “The Monkees” won outstanding comedy series at the 19th Primetime Emmy Awards.
In 1985, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling striking down an Alabama law providing for a daily minute of silence in public schools.
Fun fact
The city of Melbourne was almost called “Batmania”, after one of its founding fathers John Batman
Today’s birthdays
Sex therapist and media personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer is 96. Actor Bruce Dern is 88. Musician Roger Ball is 80. Actor-singer Michelle Phillips is 80. Rock musician Danny Brown (The Fixx) is 73. Actor Parker Stevenson is 72. Actor Keith David is 68. Actor Eddie Velez is 66. Singer-musician El DeBarge is 63. Actor Julie White is 63. Actor Lindsay Frost is 62. Actor Sean Pertwee is 60. Actor Scott Wolf is 56. Actor-comedian Rob Huebel is 55. Comedian Horatio Sanz is 55. Actor James Callis is 53. Actor Noah Wyle is 53. Rock musician Stefan Lessard (The Dave Matthews Band) is 50. Actor-comedian Russell Brand is 49. Actor Angelina Jolie is 49. Actor Theo Rossi is 49. Actor Robin Lord Taylor is 46. Rock musician JoJo Garza (Los Lonely Boys) is 44. Olympic gold medal figure skater Evan Lysacek is 39. Americana singer Shakey Graves is 37. Rock musician Zac Farro is 34.
The Edge is compiled by Katie Clohessy. She can be contacted at kclohessy@lmtribune.com.
