Today in History – June 7
Today is Saturday, June 7, the 158th day of 2025. There are 207 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On June 7, 1998, a horrific crime took place in Jasper, Texas that shocked the nation. James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old Black man, was brutally murdered when he was hooked by a chain to a pickup truck and dragged to his death. This heinous act led to stronger state and federal hate crime laws, resulting in two white men being sentenced to death and executed for the crime, while a third was sentenced to life in prison.
Also on this date:
In 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a resolution to the Continental Congress declaring that the united colonies should be free and independent States.
In 1892, Homer Plessy, a Creole of color, was arrested for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in Louisiana. This incident led to the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case, which upheld the concept of “separate but equal” racial segregation until it was overturned in 1954.
In 1929, Vatican City formally came into existence as the Italian Parliament ratified the Lateran Treaty in Rome.
In 1942, the Battle of Midway concluded with a decisive victory for American naval forces over Imperial Japan, marking a turning point in the Pacific War.
In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut, striking down a state law that prohibited a Planned Parenthood clinic from providing contraceptives to married couples.
In 1976, an article titled “The Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night” was published in New York magazine, inspiring the film “Saturday Night Fever” and sparking a nationwide disco craze.
In 1979, Texas became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as an official state holiday, a day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth later became a federal holiday in 2021.
In 1982, Graceland, the iconic home of Elvis Presley in Memphis, was opened to the public as a tourist attraction, five years after the singer’s death.
In 2006, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. airstrike on his safe house.
In 2021, a tragic incident occurred in South Carolina where Maggie Murdaugh and her son Paul Murdaugh, from a prominent legal family, were found shot and killed on their family’s property. Alex Murdaugh, Maggie’s husband and Paul’s father, was later found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Filmmaker James Ivory turns 97 today.
- Singer Tom Jones celebrates his 85th birthday.
- Actor Liam Neeson is 73 years old.
- Author Orhan Pamuk also turns 73 today.
- Author Louise Erdrich celebrates her 71st birthday.
- Music producer L.A. Reid is 69 years old.
- Musician Juan Luis Guerra turns 68 today.
- Former Vice President Mike Pence celebrates his 66th birthday.
- Rock musician-TV host Dave Navarro is 58 years old.
- Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., turns 53 today.
- Actor Karl Urban also celebrates his 53rd birthday.
- TV personality Bear Grylls turns 51.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson celebrates his 50th birthday.
- Actor-comedian Bill Hader is 47 years old.
- Actor Michael Cera turns 37 today.
- Rapper Iggy Azalea celebrates her 35th birthday.
- Actor-model Emily Ratajkowski is 34 years old.
- NFL running back Christian McCaffrey turns 29 today.
