Today is Wednesday, June 24, the 175th day of 2026. There are 190 days left in the year.
On June 24, 1983, the space shuttle Challenger — carrying America’s first woman in space, Sally Ride — coasted to a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
In 1509, Henry VIII was crowned king of England; his wife, Catherine of Aragon, was crowned queen consort.
In 1812, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grande Armee began crossing the Niemen River, embarking on a campaign to invade Russia. (Napoleon’s forces would enter Moscow in early September, but failing to decisively defeat the Russians, would retreat with staggering losses to disease and desertion as winter set in.)
In 1939, the Southeast Asian country of Siam changed its name to Thailand. (It reverted to Siam in 1945, then became Thailand once again in 1949.)
In 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the Western allies to organize the Berlin Airlift.
In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Roth v. United States, ruled 6-3 that obscene materials were not protected by the First Amendment.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon concluded a summit with the visiting leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, who hailed the talks in an address on American television.
In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, strengthened its 30-year ban on officially sponsored worship in public schools, prohibiting prayer as a part of graduation ceremonies.
In 2010, in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships, American John Isner won the longest professional tennis match in history, defeating Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68; the match was played over the course of three days and lasted a total of 11 hours, 5 minutes.
In 2015, a federal judge formally sentenced Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death for the 2013 terror attacks. (A federal appeals court later threw out the sentence; the Supreme Court reinstated it.)
In 2018, women in Saudi Arabia were allowed behind the wheel for the first time as the world’s last remaining ban on female drivers was formally lifted.
In 2021, a 12-story condominium building collapsed in Surfside, Florida, killing 98 people.
In 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to remove constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place since 1973’s Roe v. Wade.
Today’s Birthdays: Author Anita Desai is 89. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro is 86. Actor Michele Lee is 84. Actor-director Georg Stanford Brown is 83. Musician Mick Fleetwood is 79. Actor Peter Weller is 79. Golf Hall of Famer Juli Inkster is 66. Actor Iain Glen is 65. Musician Curt Smith (Tears for Fears) is 65. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is 64. Singer Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) is 60. Actor Sherry Stringfield (“ER”) is 59. Actor-producer Mindy Kaling is 47. Actor Minka Kelly is 46. Singer Solange Knowles is 40. Soccer player Lionel Messi is 39. Actor Beanie Feldstein is 33. Actor Harris Dickinson is 30. Actor Liana Ramirez is 28. Actor Coy Stewart is 28.
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