June 6 ...
In 1755 Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, CT. In 1799 American revolutionary Patrick Henry died in Hanover County, VA, at age 63. In 1833 President Andrew Jackson became the first US president to ride a train. In 1918 the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood, which resulted in a US victory over the Germans, began in France. In 1925 Walter Percy Chrysler founded the Chrysler Corporation. In 1933 the first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, NJ. In 1934 the Securities and Exchange Commission was established. In 1942 Japanese forces retreated in the Battle of Midway. In 1944 the D-Day invasion of Europe took place as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. In 1966 black activist James Meredith was shot and wounded as he walked along a Mississippi highway to encourage black voter registration. In 1968 Sen. Robert F. Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, a day after he was shot by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. He was 42. In 1971 The Ed Sullivan Show aired for the last time, after 23 years on the air. Gladys Knight and the Pips were the musical guests on show. In 1978 California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13, a primary ballot initiative calling for major cuts in property taxes. In 1985 authorities in Brazil exhumed a body later identified as the remains of Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious "Angel of Death" of the Nazi Holocaust.