Today in History

On June 21, 1788, the United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the required ninth state to ratify it.

On this date

1834: Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his mechanical reaper.

1954: Scientists of the American Cancer Society presented a study to a meeting of the American Medical Association in San Francisco which found that men who regularly smoked cigarettes died, particularly from lung cancer, at a considerably higher rate than nonsmokers.

1964: Civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi; their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later.

1982: A jury in Washington, D.C., found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, Washington, D.C., police office Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy.

1989: A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled, in Texas v. Johnson, that burning the American flag as a form of political protest was protected by the First Amendment.

1997: The WNBA made its debut as the New York Liberty defeated the host Los Angeles Sparks 67-57.

Today’s birthdays

Composer Lalo Schifrin is 93. Musician Ray Davies is 81. Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi is 78. Musician Nils Lofgren is 74. Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is 68. Country musician Kathy Mattea is 66. Actor Juliette Lewis is 52. Britain’s Prince William is 43.