Mormon leader Joseph Smith killed in Illinois – Chicago Tribune

Today is Thursday, June 27, the 179th day of the year 2024. There are 187 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight of the story:

On June 27, 1844, Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.

Also on this date:

In 1880, author and lecturer Helen Keller, who spent most of her life without sight or hearing, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

In 1942, the FBI announced the capture of eight Nazi saboteurs who had landed in Florida and Long Island, New York. (All were tried and sentenced to death; six were executed, while two were spared because they turned themselves in and cooperated with U.S. authorities.)

In 1944, during World War II, American forces liberated the French port of Cherbourg from the Germans.

In 1950, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling on member states to assist South Korea in repelling an invasion from the North.

In 1957, Hurricane Audrey struck the coasts of Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm. The official death toll was initially reported as 390, but various state, federal, and local sources estimated the death toll at between 400 and 600.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon began an official visit to the Soviet Union.

In 1991, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black jurist on the nation’s highest court, announced his resignation.

In 2005, BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to ten murders that had spread fear and terror throughout Wichita, Kansas, since the 1970s.

In 2006, a constitutional amendment banning the desecration of the American flag failed in the Senate because it fell one vote short of the 67 votes needed for ratification by the states.

In 2011, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was found guilty by a Chicago federal court jury on a variety of corruption charges, including allegations that he attempted to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat. (Blagojevich was later sentenced to 14 years in prison; his sentence was commuted to probation by President Donald Trump in February 2020.)

In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its strongest defense of abortion rights in a quarter century, striking down widely copied Texas laws that had drastically reduced the number of abortion clinics.

In 2018, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote often decided cases involving abortion, gay rights and other controversial issues, announced his retirement.

In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that a high school football coach who wanted to kneel and pray on the field after games was protected by the Constitution. Opponents said the decision would open the door to “many more forced prayers” in public schools.

Birthdays today: Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt is 86. Singer and musician Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys) is 82. Fashion designer Norma Kamali is 79. Fashion designer Vera Wang is 75. Actress Julia Duffy is 73. Actress Isabelle Adjani is 69. Country singer Lorrie Morgan is 65. Screenwriter, producer and director JJ Abrams is 58. Former Senator Kelly Ayotte (AY’-aht), RN.H., is 56. Figure skater and Olympic gold and bronze medalist Viktor Petrenko (peh-TREHN’-koh) is 55. Latino singer Draco Rosa is 55. TV personality Jo Frost (“Supernanny”) is 54. Actor Tobey Maguire is 49. Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian is 40. Actor Drake Bell is 38. Actor Sam Claflin is 38. Actress India de Beaufort is 37. Actor Ed Westwick is 37. Actor Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter film series) is 35. Actress Madylin Sweeten (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is 33. Pop singer Lauren Jauregui (Fifth Harmony) is 28. Singer-songwriter HER is 27. Actor Chandler Riggs (“The Walking Dead”) is 25.
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