Today in 1935, Louisiana Senator Huey Long launched a one-man filibuster – speaking continuously for 15½ hours in what was then, the Senate's longest speech to date. His topic? A modification of the National Recovery Act (he maintained it was a giveaway to big business).
Today in 1939, the Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York. The first inductees were Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson.
Today in 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was fatally shot in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi. His murder and the resulting trials inspired civil rights protests; his life and these events inspired numerous works of art, music, and film. As a veteran, Evers was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith, a member of the White Citizens' Council, all-white juries failed to reach verdicts in the first two trials in the 1960s. Fast forward to 1994 and the conviction came down in a new state trial based on new evidence. Sentenced to life, he died in prison in 2001 at age 80.
Today in 1978, David Berkowitz was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for each of the six "Son of Sam" killings that had terrified New Yorkers.
Today in 1982, more than 750-thousand anti-nuclear demonstrators rallied in Central Park NYC at the “Nuclear Freeze” rally.
Today in 1987, President Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Mikhail Gorbechev to tear down the Berlin Wall in one of his most famous Cold War speeches.
Today in 1989, Jerry Falwell announced the disbanding of “the Moral Majority.”
Today in 1991, the Chicago Bulls won their first NBA championship. The Bulls beat the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one.
Today in 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered outside her home in Los Angeles. O.J. Simpson was later acquitted of the killings, but he was held liable in a civil suit.
Today in 1996, in Philadelphia a panel of federal judges blocked a law against indecency on the Internet. The panel said that the 1996 Communications Decency Act would infringe upon the free speech rights of adults.
Today in 2008, in a stinging rebuke to President George W. Bush’s anti-terror policies, a deeply divided Supreme Court ruled that foreign detainees held for years at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba had the right to appeal to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their indefinite imprisonment without charges
Today in 2018, the Singapore Summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump took place. Because of time zones, it was the 12th there…and the 11th