This Date in History - June 9

 

Happy birthday to Michael J. Fox.  A courageous guy.

53 AD:  ROMAN EMPEROR NERO MARRIES CLAUDIA OCTAVIA.

And...

68 AD:  ROMAN EMPEROR NERO COMMITS SUICIDE.

Coincidence?

1856:  FIVE HUNDRED MORMONS LEAVE IOWA CITY FOR THE MORMON TRAIL.

That's a lot of Osmonds.

1862:  STONEWALL JACKSON CONCLUDES HIS SUCCESSFUL SHENANDOAH VALLEY WITH A VICTORY IN THE BATTLE OF PORT REPUBLIC.

He'll get a statue for this.   And it will be torn down.

1870:  AUTHOR CHARLES DICKENS DIES.

This is the worst of times.

1891:  COMPOSER AND SONGWRITER COLE PORTER IS BORN.

Anything goes.

1910:  ACTOR BOB CUMMINGS IS BORN.

I never got this guy's appeal.

1926:  NELSON'S WIFE, HAPPY ROCKEFELLER, IS BORN.

There's a legendary joke that I won't even bother to share here.

1930:  A CHICAGO TRIBUNE REPORTER, JAKE LINGLE, IS KILLED DURING RUSH HOUR IN CHICAGO ALLEGEDLY OVER A $100,000 GAMBLING DEBT OWED TO AL CAPONE.

Should have taken the points.

1931:  COMIC JACKIE MASON IS BORN.

I never got his appeal either.

1944:  DURING WORLD WAR II, 39 CIVILIANS ARE HANGED FROM LAMP POSTS AND BALCONIES BY GERMAN TROOPS IN TULLE, FRANCE.

Well, that's a little excessive.

1954:  JOSEPH WELCH, SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR THE US STATES ARMY, LASHES OUT AT SENATOR JOSEPH MCCARTHY DURING HEARINGS, GIVING MCCARTHY HIS FAMOUS REBUKE, "YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH.  HAVE YOU LEFT NO SENSE OF DECENCY?"

The original Judge Judy.

1961:  ACTOR MICHAEL J. FOX IS BORN.

I bet he wishes now he could go back in time.

1961:  DIRECTOR/WRITER AARON SORKIN IS BORN.

Let the overwriting begin.

1967:  DURING THE SIX DAY WAR, ISRAEL CAPTURES THE GOLAN HEIGHTS FROM SYRIA.

And the hits just keep on coming.

1968:  US PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON DECLARES A NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING FOLLOWING THE ASSASSINATION OF SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY.

Given their strong friendship.

1973:  IN HORSE RACING, SECRETARIAT WINS THE US TRIPLE CROWN.

I remember how historic my dad said this was.

1978:  THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY DAY SAINTS OPENS ITS PRIESTHOOD TO "ALL WORTHY MEN" ENDING A 148-YEAR-OLD POLICY OF EXCLUDING BLACK MEN.

Meanwhile, is there such a thing as a Former-Day Saint?

1981:  TV HOST ALLEN LUDDEN DIES.

Forty years later, his widow is still alive.

2014:  BASEBALL PLAYER BOB WELCH DIES.

Long remembered for striking out Reggie Jackson in the World Series.

2017:  ACTOR ADAM WEST DIES.

Pow!

Dinner last night:  Leftover chicken marsala.