Today’s highlight

On June 30, 1934, Adolf Hitler launched his “blood purge” of political and military rivals in Germany in what came to be known as the “Night of the Long Knives.”

Also on this date:

1936: Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone With the Wind” was released.

1958: The U.S. Senate passed the Alaska statehood bill by a vote of 64-20.

1971: The Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, that the government could not prevent The New York Times or The Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers.

1971: A Soviet space mission ended in tragedy when three cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 11 were found dead of asphyxiation inside their capsule after it had returned to Earth.

In 1985, 39 American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held 17 days.

1994: The U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of the national championship and banned her for life for her role in the attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan.

2016: Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that transgender people would be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military, ending one of the last bans on service in the armed forces.

2022: Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Lea Massari is 91. Actor Nancy Dussault is 88. Olympic track champion Billy Mills is 86. Oceanographer Robert Ballard is 82. Singer-songwriter Glenn Shorrock is 80.