Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

June 21

1989
American Flag: Burning of the American flag in protest is ruled legal by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1979
Woolworths: Frank Winfield Woolworth opened his second store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, leading to what would become the largest department store chain in the world. His first store, opened the previous year in Utica, New York, failed.

1949
First woman Treasurer of the U.S.: Georgia Neese Clark is sworn in.

1948
First successful long-playing microgroove record: Columbia Records introduces its 21-inch 33 1/3 rpm record. One side played for 23 minutes as compared to 4 minutes for 78 records.

1945
World War II: Japanese Lieutenant General Ushijima Mitsuru surrenders the Pacific island of Okinawa to the U.S. after losing over 100,000 soldiers. Mitsuru committed suicide the next day.

1943
First Soldier's Medal awarded to a woman: Nurse Edith Greenwood is honored for saving patient's lives during an Arizona hospital fire the previous April.

1942
World War II: A Japanese submarine shells Fort Stevens, Oregon. No one is injured during what was the first attack on a military installation on the U.S. mainland since the War of 1812.

1934
National Mediation Board: The government board is established to handle disputes in the railroad and airline industries.

1913
First woman to parachute from an airplane: 18-year-old Georgia Broadwick from 1,000 feet above Los Angeles.

1834
First practical reaper: American inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick patents the machine that would be largely responsible for the U.S agricultural revolution.

1788
U.S. Constitution: New Hampshire ratifies the Constitution, becoming the ninth state and providing the necessary two-thirds majority required to make the Constitution law. It went into effect the following March.

1768
First U.S. medical school graduates: 10 members of the College of Philadelphia Department of Medicine (now the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) receive their diplomas.

1982
Prince William, Britain's prince of Wales.

1947
Michael Gross, American actor. TV: Family Ties (Mr. Keaton).

1947
Meredith Baxter, American actress. TV: Family Ties (Elyse Keaton).

1945
Chris Britton, British guitarist, with the Troggs. Music: Wild Thing (1966, #1).

1940
Mariette Hartley, American actress. TV: Polaroid commercials (fictional wife of James Garner) and Incredible Hulk (David Banner's wife).

1940
Joe Flaherty, American Emmy-winning actor, comic. TV: Second City TV and Maniac Mansion.

1938
Ron Ely (Ronald Pierce), American actor. TV: Tarzan (title role).

1933
Bernie Kopell, American actor. TV: The Love Boat (Doc).

1927     d. 1996
Carl Burton Stokes, American politician, TV newscaster. He was the first black elected mayor of a major U.S. city (1967-72, Cleveland, Ohio).

1925     d. 2006
Maureen Stapleton, American Oscar-Tony-Emmy-winning actress. Film: Reds (1981, Oscar) and Cocoon (1985). TV: Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975).

1921
Jane Russell, American actress, full-figured gal. Film: Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953) and Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955).

1905     d. 1980
Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, dramatist. He and his lover Simone de Beauvoir founded "Existentialism."

1850     d. 1941
Daniel Carter Beard, American artist, author. He created and taught the first animal-drawing class (1893, Woman's School of Applied Design), organized the first Boy Scout group in America (1910), and is for whom Mt. Beard is named.

1832     d. 1887
Joseph Hayne Rainey, American politician, first black member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1870-79).

1814
Herman Munster, TV character, of "The Munsters."

1774     d. 1825
Daniel D. Tompkins, American politician, 6th U.S. Vice-President (1817-25), and governor of New York.

1731     d. 1802
Martha Dandridge Washington, American first lady, wife of Pres. George Washington.

1002     d. 1054
Saint Leo IX, French-born religious leader, 152nd Pope (1049-54).

????
Bossie, the cow in the comic strip Barney Google.

2001     b. 1924
Carroll O'Connor, American Emmy-winning actor. TV: All in the Family (1971-79, Archie Bunker) and In the Heat of the Night (1988-94, Police Chief Bill Gillespie).

1969     b. 1934
Maureen "Little Mo" Connolly, American tennis player. She was the first woman to win the Grand Slam (1953, by winning Wimbledon, French Open, Australian Open, and U.S. Open in the same year).

1893     b. 1824
Leland Stanford, American politician, railroad builder, philanthropist, president of the Central Pacific Railroad (1863-93), president of the Southern Pacific Railroad (1885-90), and founder of Stanford University (1885).

1874     b. 1814
Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist, for whom the angstrom (a unit of length equal to 10^-10 meters) is named. He showed that hydrogen is present in the Sun's atmosphere (1862).

1852     b. 1782
Friedrich Froebel, German educator. He founded the first kindergarten (1837). Because of his radical teaching beliefs, in 1851 kindergartens were banned by the Prussian minister of education.

1377     b. 1312
Edward III, King of England (1327-77). His rein was marked by numerous successful military ventures.

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