Today’s highlight
On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at age 27 at a ceremony in Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI.
On this date
1924: Congress passed, and President Calvin Coolidge signed, a measure guaranteeing full American citizenship for all Native Americans born within U.S. territorial limits.
1941: Baseball’s “Iron Horse,” Lou Gehrig, died in New York of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS; he was 37.
1966: U.S. space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the moon and began transmitting detailed photographs of the lunar surface.
1979: Pope John Paul II arrived in his native Poland on the first visit by a pope to a Communist country.
1981: The Japanese video arcade game “Donkey Kong” was released by Nintendo.
1997: Timothy McVeigh was convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.
2016: Autopsy results showed superstar musician Prince died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a powerful opioid painkiller.
Today’s birthdays
Actor Ron Ely (EE’-lee) is 86. Actor Stacy Keach is 83. Actor Jerry Mathers is 76. Comedian Dana Carvey is 69. Rock singer Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet) is 64. TV producer Andy Cohen (“The Real Housewives” TV franchise) is 56. Actor Paula Cale is 54. Actor-comedian Wayne Brady is 52. Soccer player Abby Wambach is 44.