SATURDAY,

JUNE 12, 2021

Today is the 163rd day of 2021 and the 85th day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi.

In 1964, anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall” in a speech delivered in divided Berlin.

In 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson, ex-wife of professional football player O.J. Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman were murdered in Los Angeles.

In 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and injured 53 others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Charles Kingsley (1819- 1875), priest/historian/ author; Uta Hagen (1919- 2004), actress; George H.W. Bush (1924-2018), 41st U.S. president; Anne Frank (1929-1945), diarist/Holocaust victim; Jim Nabors (1930-2017), actor; Marv Albert (1941- ), sportscaster; Chick Corea (1941-2021), musician; Hideki Matsui (1974- ), baseball player; Dave Franco (1985- ), actor; Blake Ross (1985- ), software engineer.

TODAY’S FACT: Assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers’ brother, Charles Evers, was the first African American since Reconstruction to be elected a mayor in Mississippi, in 1969.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1939, the Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Friendship is like a glass ornament; once it is broken, it can rarely be put back together exactly the same way.” -- Charles Kingsley

TODAY’S NUMBER: 28 -- years the Berlin Wall stood separating East and West Berlin.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (June 10) and first quarter moon (June 17).

SUNDAY,

JUNE 13, 2021

Today is the 164th day of 2021 and the 86th day of spring.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.

In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first African American to be nominated as a Supreme Court justice.

In 1971, The New York Times began publishing excerpts from the Pentagon Papers.

In 1996, the Montana Freemen surrendered after an 81-day standoff with federal agents outside Jordan, Montana.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), poet/dramatist; Harold “Red” Grange (1903-1991), football player; John Forbes Nash Jr. (1928-2015), mathematician; Christo (1935- ), artist; Malcolm McDowell (1943- ), actor; Ban Ki-moon (1944- ), U.N. secretary-general; Stellan Skarsgard (1951- ), actor; Tim Allen (1953- ), actor; Steve-O (1974- ), stunt performer; Chris Evans (1981- ), actor; Kat Dennings (1986- ), actress; Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen (1986- ), actresses; Aaron Taylor-Johnson (1990- ), actor.

TODAY’S FACT: Eight spellers were crowned as co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2019, the first time a group shared the title in the event’s 92-year history.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1948, Babe Ruth appeared at Yankee Stadium for the last time, on the occasion of the New York Yankees’ Silver Anniversary Day, during which his No. 3 jersey was ceremonially retired.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “ I have spread my dreams under your feet. / Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.” -- William Butler Yeats

TODAY’S NUMBER: 1,722 -- depth (in feet) of the now-inactive Mirny mine in Eastern Siberia, Russia, the 4th-deepest mine in the world. Diamond-bearing deposits were first discovered at the site on this day in 1955.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (June 10) and first quarter moon (June 17).