Today in History for June 28

Today in History

Today is Monday, June 28, the 179th day of 2010. There are 186 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in +History+:

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo (sah-ruh-YAY’-voh) by Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip — the event which sparked World War I.

On this date:

In 1491, England’s King Henry VIII was born at Greenwich.

In 1778, the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth took place in New Jersey; it was from this battle that the legend of “Molly Pitcher” arose.

In 1836, the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, died in Montpelier, Va.

In 1838, Britain’s Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles (vehr-SY’) was signed in France, ending the First World War. In Independence, Mo., future president Harry S. Truman married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace.

In 1928, New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith was nominated for president at the Democratic national convention in Houston.

In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the National Housing Act, which established the Federal Housing Administration.

In 1939, Pan American Airways began regular trans-Atlantic air service with a flight that departed New York for Marseilles, France.

In 1950, North Korean forces captured Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

In 1978, the Supreme Court ordered the University of California-Davis Medical School to admit Allan Bakke (BAHK’-ee), a white man who argued he’d been a victim of reverse racial discrimination.

Ten years ago: Seven months after he was cast adrift in the Florida Straits, Elian Gonzalez was returned to his native Cuba. The Supreme Court struck down Nebraska’s “partial-birth” abortion law. The Supreme Court ruled the Boy Scouts can bar homosexuals from serving as troop leaders.

Five years ago: On the first anniversary of Iraqi sovereignty, President George W. Bush, addressing the nation from Fort Bragg, N.C., rejected suggestions that he set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq or send in more troops as he counseled patience for Americans who were questioning the war’s painful costs. Sixteen service members were killed when an American MH-47 Chinook crashed in Afghanistan after it had been struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.

One year ago: Soldiers ousted Manuel Zelaya, the democratically elected president of Honduras; congressional leader Roberto Micheletti was sworn in to serve until Zelaya’s term ended in Jan. 2010. Michael Jackson was honored at the BET Awards, which had been completely revamped to recognize the legacy of The King of Pop, who died three days earlier at age 50. Death claimed TV pitchman Billy Mays, 50, at his Florida home and Las Vegas impressionist Fred Travalena, 66.

Today’s Birthdays: Blues singer-musician David “Honeyboy” Edwards is 95. Comedian-movie director Mel Brooks is 84. Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is 76. Comedian-impressionist John Byner is 73. CIA Director Leon Panetta is 72. Rock musician Dave Knights (Procul Harum) is 65. Actor Bruce Davison is 64. Actress Kathy Bates is 62. Actress Alice Krige is 56. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway is 50. Record company chief executive Tony Mercedes is 48. Actress Jessica Hecht is 45. Rock musician Saul Davies (James) is 45. Actress Mary Stuart Masterson is 44. Actor John Cusack is 44. Actor Gil Bellows is 43. Actress-singer Danielle Brisebois is 41. Jazz musician Jimmy Sommers is 41. Actress Tichina Arnold is 39. Actor Alessandro Nivola (nih-VOH’-luh) is 38. Actress Camille Guaty is 34. Rock musician Tim Nordwind (OK Go) is 34. Rock musician Mark Stoermer (The Killers) is 33. Country singer Kellie Pickler is 24.

Thought for Today: “One of the sources of pride in being a human being is the ability to bear present frustrations in the interests of longer purposes.” — Helen Merrell Lynd, American sociologist and educator (1896-1982).

(Above Advance for Use Monday, June 28)

Copyright 2010, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.