Wolfson Campus Library Blog

Remembrance of 9/11

2011-09-09T13:59:00.001-04:00

This Sunday, September 11th marks the 10 year anniversay of the attack on the United States by terrorist. To learn more about this tragic day that will live in infamy, see the following websites:

http://www.911memorial.org

http://timeline.national911memorial.org

June 30 in History

2011-06-30T07:30:00.001-04:00

1520 - Spanish retreat from Aztec capital. Faced with an Aztec revolt against their rule, forces under the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes fight their way out of Tenochtitlan at heavy cost.
1859 - Daredevil crosses Niagara Falls on tightrope. Jean-Francois Gravelet, a Frenchman known professionally as Emile Blondin, becomes the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1934 - Night of the Long Knives. In Germany, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future.
1936 - Gone with the Wind published. Margaret Mitchell's Gone wih the Wind, one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for a blockbuster 1939 movie, is published on this day in 1936.

1950 - Truman orders U.S. forces to Korea. Just three days after the United Nations Security Council voted to provide military assistance to South Korea, President Harry S. Truman orders U.S. armed forces to assist in defending that nation from invading North Korean armies.
1962 - Sandy Koufax pitches first no-hitter. Sandy Koufax strikes out 13 batters and walks five to lead the Brooklyn Dodgers to victory over the New York Mets 5-0 with his first career no-hitter.

June 29 in History

2011-06-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

1613 - The Globe Theater burns down. The Globe Theater, where most of Shakespeare's plays debuted, burned down.
1943 - FDR writes to Manhattan Project physicist Dr. Robert Oppenheimer. President Franklin D. Roosevelt writes a letter marked “secret” to leading Manhattan Project physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.
1958 - Pele helps Brazil to World Cup title. Brazil defeats host nation Sweden 5-2 to win its first World Cup. Brazil came into the tournament as a favorite, and did not disappoint, thrilling the world with their spectacular play, which was often referred to as the "beautiful game."
1966 - Vietnam air war escalates. During the Vietnam War, U.S. aircraft bomb the major North Vietnamese population centers of Hanoi and Haiphong for the first time, destroying oil depots located near the two cities.
1972 - Supreme Court strikes down death penalty. In Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a vote of 5-4 that capital punishment, as it is currently employed on the state and federal level, is unconstitutional.
1989 - Congress votes new sanctions against China. In yet another reaction to the Chinese government's brutal massacre of protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijing earlier in the month, the House of Representatives unanimously passes a package of sanctions against the People's Republic of China.
1995 - U.S. space shuttle docks with Russian space station. The American space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.

June 28 in History

2011-06-28T07:30:00.001-04:00

1789 - Mutiny on the HMS Bounty. Three weeks into a journey from Tahiti to the West Indies, the HMS Bounty is seized in a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the master's mate. Captain William Bligh and 18 of his loyal supporters were set adrift in a small, open boat, and the Bounty set course for Tubuai south of Tahiti.
1945 - Benito Mussolini executed. "Il Duce," Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland.
1965 - U.S. troops land in the Dominican Republic. In an effort to forestall what he claims will be a "communist dictatorship" in the Dominican Republic, President Lyndon B. Johnson sends more than 22,000 U.S. troops to restore order on the island nation. Johnson's action provoked loud protests in Latin America and skepticism among many in the United States.
1967 - Muhammad Ali refuses Army induction. Boxing champion Muhammad Ali refuses to be inducted into the U.S. Army and is immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service.
1969 - De Gaulle resigns as leader of France. Following the defeat of his proposals for constitutional reform in a national referendum, Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France.

June 27 in History

2011-06-27T07:30:00.001-04:00

1939 - “Frankly, My Dear…” One of the most famous scenes in movie history is filmed--Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara parting in Gone with the Wind. Director Victor Fleming also shot the scene using the alternate line, "Frankly, my dear, I just don't care," in case the film censors objected to the word "damn." The censors approved the movie but fined producer David O. Selznick $5,000 for including the curse.
1950 - Truman orders U.S. forces to Korea. President Harry S. Truman announces that he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist North Korea. The United States was undertaking the major military operation, he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution calling for an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of communism in Asia.
1976 - Ebola breaks out in Sudan. A factory storekeeper in the Nzara township of Sudan becomes ill on this day in 1976. Five days later, he dies, and the world's first recorded Ebola virus epidemic begins making its way through the area. By the time the epidemic is over, 284 cases are reported, with about half of the victims dying from the disease.
1988 - Tyson knocks out Spinks. Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson knocks out challenger Michael Spinks 91 seconds into the first round. The decisive victory left the boxing world wondering if anyone could beat "Iron Mike" Tyson.

June 26 in History

2011-06-26T07:00:00.002-04:00

1541 - Conqueror of the Incas assassinated. Francisco Pizarro, the governor of Peru and conqueror of the Inca civilization, is assassinated in Lima by Spanish rivals.
1892 - Pearl Buck's birthday. Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl Buck is born in West Virginia to parents on furlough from their missionary work in China.
1945 - U.N. Charter signed. In the Herbst Theater auditorium in San Francisco, delegates from 50 nations sign the United Nations Charter, establishing the world body as a means of saving "succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
1948 - Berlin Airlift begins. U.S. and British pilots begin delivering food and supplies by airplane to Berlin after the city is isolated by a Soviet Union blockade
1959 - St. Lawrence Seaway opened. In a ceremony presided over by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II, the St. Lawrence Seaway is officially opened, creating a navigational channel from the Atlantic Ocean to all the Great Lakes.
1963 - Kennedy claims solidarity with the people of Berlin. President John F. Kennedy expresses solidarity with democratic German citizens in a speech on this day in 1963. In front of the Berlin Wall that separated the city into democratic and communist sectors, he declared to the crowd, “Ich bin ein Berliner” or “I am also a citizen of Berlin.”

1998 - Gone with the Wind re-released. Gone with the Wind is re-released by New Line Pictures. The movie, which originally debuted in 1939, was digitally restored and the sound remastered for its re-release.

June 25 in History

2011-06-25T07:00:00.001-04:00

1876 - Battle of Little Bighorn. Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana's Little Bighorn River.

1915 - Germans release statement on use of poison gas at Ypres. The German press publishes an official statement from the country’s war command addressing the German use of poison gas at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres two months earlier

1942 - Eisenhower takes command. Following his arrival in London, Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower takes command of U.S. forces in Europe.

1950 - Korean War begins. Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War.

1957 - Hurricane Audrey hits Gulf Coast. A hurricane watch is declared for the Texas and Louisiana coastlines as a tropical depression from the Gulf of Mexico heads toward the United States. The storm quickly becomes Hurricane Audrey, which kills 390 people

1993 - Kim Campbell takes office. In Ottawa, Kim Campbell is sworn in as Canada's 19th prime minister, becoming the first woman to hold the country's highest office.

June 24 in History

2011-06-24T07:30:00.001-04:00

1800 - Library of Congress established. President John Adams approves legislation to appropriate $5,000 to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress," thus establishing the Library of Congress.
1916 - Easter Rebellion begins. On Easter Monday in Dublin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret organization of Irish nationalists led by Patrick Pearse, launches the so-called Easter Rebellion, an armed uprising against British rule.
1945 - Truman is briefed on Manhattan Project. President Harry Truman learns the full details of the Manhattan Project, in which scientists are attempting to create the first atomic bomb, on this day in 1945.
1953 - Churchill knighted. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
1980 - Hostage rescue mission ends in disaster. An ill-fated military operation to rescue the 52 American hostages held in Tehran ends with eight U.S. servicemen dead and no hostages rescued.
1982 - Jane Fonda’s first Workout video released. Hollywood royalty, fashion model, Oscar-winning actress, controversial anti-war activist. Jane Fonda fit all of these descriptions by the late 1970s and 1980s, when she emerged in her latest incarnation--exercise guru.

June 23 in History

2011-06-23T07:30:00.001-04:00

1956 - Nasser elected president. 99.95 percent of Egyptian voters mark their ballots to elect Gamal Abdel Nasser as the first president of the Republic of Egypt.
1967 - Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Aleksei Kosygin. Hopes for better U.S.-Soviet relations run high as U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey, for a three-day summit.
1972 - Nixon signs Higher Education Act. President Richard Nixon signs into law the Higher Education Act, which includes the groundbreaking Title IX legislation. Title IX barred discrimination in higher education programs, including funding for sports and other extracurricular activities.
1973 - Haldeman encourages Nixon to ward off FBI. President Richard Nixon’s advisor, H.R. Haldeman, tells the president to put pressure on the head of the FBI to “stay the hell out of this [Watergate burglary investigation] business."
1984 - John Lennon auction raises $430,000. An auction of John Lennon's possessions raises $430,000. A guitar he played during his years with the Beatles sold for $19,000. Lennon was shot and killed by a deranged fan in 1980.
1992 - Teflon Don sentenced to life. Mafia boss John Gotti, who was nicknamed the "Teflon Don" after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on 14 accounts of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering.

June 22 in History

2011-06-22T07:30:00.001-04:00

1876 - General Santa Anna dies in Mexico City. Embittered and impoverished, the once mighty Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna dies in Mexico City.
1937 - Louis becomes champ. In Chicago's Comiskey Park, Joe Louis wins the world heavyweight boxing title when he defeats American Jim Braddock in an eighth-round knockout.
1944 - FDR signs G.I. Bill. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill, an unprecedented act of legislation designed to compensate returning members of the armed services--known as G.I.s--for their efforts in World War II.
1945 - Battle of Okinawa ends. During World War II, the U.S. 10th Army overcomes the last major pockets of Japanese resistance on Okinawa Island, ending one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.
1962 - Mysterious crash in Guadeloupe. An Air France Boeing 707 crashes on the island of Guadeloupe, killing all 113 passengers and crew members aboard.

June 21 in History

2011-06-21T07:30:00.001-04:00

1788 - U.S. Constitution ratified. New Hampshire becomes the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby making the document the law of the land
1963 - French withdraw navy from NATO. The French government shocks its allies by announcing that it is withdrawing its navy from the North Atlantic fleet of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The French action was viewed in the West as evidence that France would be pursuing an independent policy regarding its nuclear arsenal.
1964 - The KKK kills three civil rights activists. Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney are killed by a Ku Klux Klan lynch mob near Meridian, Mississippi. The three young civil rights workers were working to register black voters in Mississippi, thus inspiring the ire of the local Klan.
1965 - Mr. Tambourine Man is released, and the folk-rock revolution is on.
The Byrds’ debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man, marked the beginning of the folk-rock revolution. In just a few months, the Byrds had become a household name, with a #1 single and a smash-hit album that married the ringing guitars and backbeat of the British Invasion with the harmonies and lyrical depth of folk to create an entirely new sound.
1970 - Pele leads Brazil over Italy. Brazil, led by soccer legend Pele, wins its third World Cup championship with a 4-1 victory over Italy. The game, at Aztec Stadium in Mexico City, was attended by 112,000 spectators, most of whom could but marvel at the spectacular play Pele and the Brazilians showcased in their triumph.
1982 - Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity. John W. Hinckley, Jr., who on March 30, 1981, shot President Ronald Reagan and three others outside a Washington, D.C., hotel, was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity.
1990 - Earthquake devastates Iran. An earthquake near the Caspian Sea in Iran kills more than 50,000 and injures another 135,000 people. The 7.7-magnitude tremor wrecked havoc on the simply constructed houses in the area.

June 20 in History

2011-06-20T07:30:00.001-04:00

1782 - Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States after six years of discussion. The front of the seal depicts a bald eagle clutching an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left. On its breast appears a shield marked with 13 vertical red and white stripes topped by a bar of blue. The eagle's beak clutches a banner inscribed, E pluribus unum, a Latin phrase meaning "Out of Many One." Above the eagle's head, golden rays burst forth, encircling 13 stars.
1947 - Bugsy Siegel, organized crime leader, is killed. Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, the man who brought organized crime to the West Coast, is shot and killed at his mistress Virginia Hill's home in Beverly Hills, California. Siegel had been talking to his associate Allen Smiley when three bullets were fired through the window and into his head, killing him instantly.
1975 - Jaws released. Jaws, a film directed by Steven Spielberg that made countless viewers afraid to go into the water, opens in theaters. The story of a great white shark that terrorizes a New England resort town became an instant blockbuster and the highest-grossing film in movie history until it was bested by 1977's Star Wars.
1977 - Oil flows in Alaska. With a flip of a switch in Prudhoe Bay, crude oil from the nation's largest oil field begins flowing south down the trans-Alaska pipeline to the ice-free port of Valdez, Alaska. The steel pipeline, 48 inches in diameter, winds through 800 miles of Alaskan wilderness, crossing three Arctic mountain ranges and hundreds of rivers and streams.
2002 - Coal mine explosion kills 111 in China. A gas explosion in a Chinese coal mine kills 111 workers on this day in 2002. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this tragic incident is that it was not unique. Poor safety regulations in China have long made mining there an extremely hazardous occupation

June 19 in History

2011-06-19T07:30:00.001-04:00

1867 - Emperor of Mexico executed. Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, installed as emperor of Mexico by French Emperor Napoleon III in 1864, is executed on the orders of Benito Juarez, the president of the Mexican Republic
1934 - Nathanael West's A Cool Million is published. Nathanael West's novel A Cool Million, a satire of rags-to-riches morality tales, is published.
1944 - United States scores major victory against Japanese in Battle of the Philippine Sea. In what would become known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
1953 - Rosenbergs executed. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, are executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining,

June 18 in History

2011-06-18T07:30:00.001-04:00

1812 - War of 1812 begins. The day after the Senate followed the House of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great Britain, President James Madison signs the declaration into law--and the War of 1812 begins.
1815 - Napoleon defeated at Waterloo. At Waterloo in Belgium, Napoleon Bonaparte suffers defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington, bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of European history.
1960 - Arnold Palmer wins U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer shoots a 65 to win the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colorado. It was the best final round in U.S. Open history.
1979 - Carter and Brezhnev sign the SALT-II treaty. During a summit meeting in Vienna, President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT-II agreement dealing with limitations and guidelines for nuclear weapons.
1983 - First American woman in space. From Cape Canaveral, Florida, the space shuttle Challenger is launched into space on its second mission. Aboard the shuttle was Dr. Sally Ride, who as a mission specialist became the first American woman to travel into space.

June 17 in History

2011-06-17T07:30:00.001-04:00

1775 - The Battle of Bunker Hill. During the American Revolution, British General William Howe lands his troops on the Charlestown peninsula overlooking Boston and leads them against Breed's Hill, a fortified American position just below Bunker Hill.
1885 - Statue of Liberty arrives. The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States, arrives in New York City's harbor.
1958 - Bridge collapses, killing workers. A bridge being built to connect eastern and northern Vancouver in western Canada collapses, killing 59 workers.
1972 - Watergate burglars arrested. In the early morning of June 17, 1972, five men are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate, an office-hotel-apartment complex in Washington, D.C.
1994 - O.J. Simpson arrested after flight from justice. After a dramatic flight from justice witnessed by millions on live television, former football star and actor O.J. Simpson surrenders outside his Rockingham estate to Los Angeles police.

June 16 in History

2011-06-16T07:15:00.001-04:00

1884 - First roller coaster in America opens. The first roller coaster in America opens at Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York. Known as a switchback railway, it was the brainchild of LaMarcus Thompson, traveled approximately six miles per hour and cost a nickel to ride.
1904 - James Joyce meets his future wife, Nora. Aspiring writer James Joyce meets his future wife, Nora, a lively, uneducated woman with little interest in literature, on this day in 1904. Joyce will immortalize this day in his masterpiece Ulysses, whose narrative unfolds entirely on June 16, 1904.
1961 - Russian ballet star Nureyev defects. Rudolf Nureyev, the young star of the Soviet Union's Kirov Opera Ballet Company, defects during a stopover in Paris. The high-profile defection was a blow to Soviet prestige and generated international interest.
1963 - First woman in space. Aboard Vostok 6, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space.
1977 - Brezhnev is Soviet president. Leonid Ilich Brezhnev, first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party since 1964, is elected president of the Supreme Soviet, thereby becoming both head of party and head of state.

June 15 in History

2011-06-15T07:30:00.001-04:00

1215 - Magna Carta sealed. Following a revolt by the English nobility against his rule, King John puts his royal seal on the Magna Carta, or "Great Charter."
1300 - Dante is named prior of Florence. Poet Dante Alighieri becomes one of six priors of Florence, active in governing the city.
1846 - U.S.-Canadian border established. Representatives of Great Britain and the United States sign the Oregon Treaty, which settles a long-standing dispute with Britain over who controlled the Oregon territory.
1969 - First Hee Haw episode. TV country-western variety show Hee Haw debuts. Although the program ran for only two years, it was a hit with audiences and was in the Top 20 when CBS dropped it, deciding the show's hick country focus wasn't appropriate for the network's image.
2005 - Search continues for Alabama teen missing in Aruba. More than two weeks after Alabama teen Natalee Holloway disappeared while on vacation in Aruba, Aruban police search for any sign of her on Malmok Beach, a patch of swampy beachfront near a Marriott hotel.

June 14 in History

2011-06-14T07:30:00.001-04:00

1777 - Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that "the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white" and that "the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.
1903 - Flash flood devastates Oregon town. A flash flood in Oregon kills 324 people on this day in 1903. The sudden onslaught of water caused millions of dollars in damages to the central Oregon town of Heppner.
1940 - Germans enter Paris. Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris.
1954 - First nationwide civil defense drill held. Over 12 million Americans "die" in a mock nuclear attack, as the United States goes through its first nationwide civil defense drill. Though American officials were satisfied with the results of the drill, the event stood as a stark reminder that the United States--and the world-was now living under a nuclear shadow.
1985 - TWA flight 847 is hijacked by terrorists. TWA Flight 847 from Athens to Rome is hijacked by Shiite Hezbollah terrorists who immediately demand to know the identity of ''those with Jewish-sounding names." Two of the Lebanese terrorists, armed with grenades and a 9-mm. pistol, then forced the plane to land in Beirut, Lebanon.

June 13 in History

2011-06-13T07:30:00.003-04:00

1777 - Lafayette arrives in South Carolina. A 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, arrives in South Carolina with the intent to serve as General George Washington's second-in-command.

1962 - Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita released. “How did they ever make a movie of Lolita?” was the question posed by the posters advertising Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s famously controversial novel, released on this day in 1962.

1966 - The Miranda rights are established. The Supreme Court hands down its decision in Miranda v. Arizona, establishing the principle that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before interrogation. Now considered standard police procedure, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you in court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you," has been heard so many times in television and film dramas that it has become almost cliche.

1967 - Thurgood Marshall appointed to Supreme Court. President Lyndon Johnson appoints U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Thurgood Marshall to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom C. Clark. On August 30, after a heated debate, the Senate confirmed Marshall's nomination by a vote of 69 to 11. Two days later, he was sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren, making him the first African American in history to sit on America's highest court.

June 12 in History

2011-06-12T07:30:00.001-04:00

1898 - Philippine independence declared. During the Spanish-American War, Filipino rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo proclaim the independence of the Philippines after 300 years of Spanish rule.
1963 - Cleopatra premieres. The four-hour film spectacle Cleopatra debuts, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
1975 - Indira Gandhi convicted of election fraud. Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India, is found guilty of electoral corruption in her successful 1971 campaign.
1987 - Reagan challenges Gorbachev. In one of his most famous Cold War speeches, President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the repressive Communist era in a divided Germany.
1994 - Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murdered. Nicole Brown Simpson, famous football player O.J. Simpson's ex-wife, and her friend Ron Goldman are brutally stabbed to death outside Nicole's home in Brentwood, California, in what quickly becomes one of the most highly publicized trials of the century.

June 11 in History

2011-06-11T07:30:00.001-04:00

1509 - Henry VIII marries first wife. King Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon, the first of six wives he will have in his lifetime.
1925 - William Styron is born. Novelist William Styron, author of Sophie's Choice and other critically acclaimed novels, is born on this day in Newport News, Virginia.
1944 - D-Day landing forces converge. Five days after the D-Day landing, the five Allied landing groups, made up of some 330,000 troops, link up in Normandy to form a single solid front across northwestern France.
1963 - JFK faces down defiant governor. President John F. Kennedy issues presidential proclamation 3542, forcing Alabama Governor George Wallace to comply with federal court orders allowing two African-American students to register for the summer session at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
1967 - Six-Day War ends. The Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors ends with a United Nations-brokered cease-fire.
1979 - John Wayne dies. An iconic American film actor famous for starring in countless westerns, dies at age 72 after battling cancer for more than a decade.
1989 - China issues warrant for Tiananmen dissident. In the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, China issues a warrant for a leading Chinese dissident who had taken refuge in the U.S. embassy in Beijing.

Significant novels

2011-06-10T14:38:00.001-04:00

Significant novels of the decade
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003 is a page turner with complex characters and situations. It will make you think about good and evil, friendship, and redemption.
Available at all campuses

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Published in 2006 is a story about secrets, ghosts, winter, books and family. With a cold lemonade and a shady spot you will be content for hours.
Available at North Campus Library

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Published in 2006. You will be immersed in the circus world surrounded by ringmasters, elephants and sideshows. You will also experience the world of nursing homes and old age.
Available at Kendall and Wolfson Campus libraries

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society by M. Shaffer and A. Barrows. Published in 2008. A delightful piece of historical fiction that will make you laugh, cry and remember the transformational power of literature.
Available at InterAmerican Campus Library

Time Tratveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Published in 2004. This is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap.
Available at Hialeah, Kendall, and Wolfson campus libraries

June 10 in History

2011-06-10T07:30:00.001-04:00

1692 - First Salem witch hanging. In Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Bridget Bishop, the first colonist to be tried in the Salem witch trials, is hanged after being found guilty of the practice of witchcraft.
1752 - Franklin flies kite during thunderstorm. Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm and collects a charge in a Leyden jar when the kite is struck by lightning, enabling him to demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning. Franklin became interested in electricity in the mid-1740s, a time when much was still unknown on the topic, and spent almost a decade conducting electrical experiments.
1775 - John Adams proposes a Continental Army. John Adams proposes to Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, that the men laying siege to Boston should be considered a Continental Army led by a general.
1935 - Alcoholics Anonymous founded. In New York City, two recovering alcoholics, one a New York broker and the other an Ohio physician, found Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), a 12-step rehabilitation program that eventually helps countless people cope with alcoholism.
1980 - Mandela writes from prison. In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) makes public a statement by Nelson Mandela, the long imprisoned leader of the anti-apartheid movement. The message, smuggled out of Robben Island prison under great risk, read, "UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!
1991 - Evacuations save lives in the Philippines. At Clark Air Base in the Philippines, 14,500 personnel are evacuated in anticipation of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. Over the next several days, the eruptions killed hundreds of people and sent tons of ash and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere.

June 9 in History

2011-06-09T07:30:00.001-04:00

1534 - Cartier discovers St. Lawrence River. French navigator Jacques Cartier becomes the first European explorer to discover the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec, Canada.
1856 - Mormon handcart pioneers depart for Salt Lake City. In an extraordinary demonstration of resolve and fortitude, nearly 500 Mormons leave Iowa City and head west for Salt Lake City carrying all their goods and supplies in two-wheeled handcarts.
1934 - Donald Duck debuts. Donald Duck makes his first film appearance, in The Wise Little Hen, a short by Walt Disney.
1954 - Joseph McCarthy meets his match. In a dramatic confrontation, Joseph Welch, special counsel for the U.S. Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether communism has infiltrated the U.S. armed forces.
1956 - Patricia Cornwall is born. Bestselling crime novelist Patricia Cornwall, creator of crime-solving medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, is born on this day in Miami, Florida.
1972 - Flash flood hits Rapid City. A flash flood in Rapid City, South Dakota, kills more than 200 people on this day in 1972. This flood demonstrated the danger of building homes and businesses in a floodplain region.
1973 - Secretariat wins Triple Crown. With a spectacular victory at the Belmont Stakes, Secretariat becomes the first horse since Citation in 1948 to win America's coveted Triple Crown--the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes.

June 8 in History

2011-06-08T07:30:00.001-04:00

632 - Founder of Islam dies. In Medina, located in present-day Saudi Arabia, Muhammad, one of the most influential religious and political leaders in history, dies in the arms of Aishah, his third and favorite wife.
1949 - FBI report names Hollywood figures as communists. Hollywood figures, including film stars Frederic March, John Garfield, Paul Muni, and Edward G. Robinson, are named in a FBI report as Communist Party members.
1967 - Israel attacks USS Liberty. During the Six-Day War, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attack the USS Liberty in international waters off Egypt's Gaza Strip.
1968 - Barbara Bain wins Emmy. On this day in 1968, actress Barbara Bain wins the Emmy for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series. Bain played secret agent Cinnamon Carter on the CBS series Mission: Impossible, which ran from 1966 to 1973.
1968 - King assassination suspect arrested. James Earl Ray, an escaped American convict, is arrested in London, England, and charged with the assassination of African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
1999 - Hannibal by Thomas Harris hits bookstores. Some 1.3 million copies of Hannibal, the final book in the Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris, arrive at bookstores around the country.