Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

June 22

2004
Go F*** Yourself: Vice Pres. Dick Cheney give Sen. Patrick J. Leahy some advice on the Senate floor. Leahy had criticized Cheney about his connections to Halliburton and its sole-source contracts in Iraq.

1991
Chief of Staff Sununu's travel is restricted by the White House after criticism for travel abuse.

1983
First satellite retrieved from orbit: Accomplished by the space shuttle Challenger.

1978
Charon: The planet Pluto's moon is discovered.

1977
Youngest player to win a Wimbledon match: Traci Austin (age 14) beats Elly Vessies-Appel of the Netherlands.

1977
Watergate: John Mitchell begins serving his 30-month sentence for his involvement, making him the first U.S. attorney general to serve time.

1976
Flight 139: The PLO hijacks an Air France flight to Uganda. The hostages were rescued by Israeli commandos on July 4th.

1954
Studabaker and Packard merge: The last two independent U.S. automakers agree to combine forces.

1953
Hollow Nickel Spy Case: A newspaper delivery boy drops a nickel he was given as change and it breaks open revealing microfilm from a Soviet Spy.  See Hollow Nickel Case

1944
GI Bill: The Serviceman's Readjustment Act, known as the GI Bill, is signed providing veterans benefits.

1940
World War II: France surrenders to Germany.

1937
Joe Louis wins the world heavyweight boxing championship by knocking out James J. Braddock in the 8th round. He remained the champ until his retirement in 1949.

1870
U.S. Department of Justice is established. It is headed by the attorney general.

1868
Arkansas is readmitted to the Union after the Civil War over Pres. Johnson's veto.

1807
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair: The U.S. frigate Chesapeake is fired upon and surrenders to the British ship Leopard about 40 miles east of Chesapeake Bay. This is one of the events leading to the War of 1812.

1775
First paper money authorized by the Continental Congress is issued. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1633
Galileo Galilei is imprisoned by the Inquisition for his belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

1611
Henry Hudson's crew mutinies: He and eight others are put off his ship by Henry Greene during his voyage to find a North-West passage. He was never heard from again.

1954     d. 1977
Freddie Prinze, American actor. TV: Chico and the Man (Chico).

1949
Meryl Streep (Mary Louise Streep), American Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Deer Hunter (1978), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, Oscar), Sophie's Choice (1982, Oscar), and Postcards From the Edge (1990).

1949
Lindsay Wagner, American Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Bionic Woman (title role).

1949
Alan Osmond, American singer. Music: One Bad Apple (1971, #1) and Go Away Little Girl (1971, #1).

1948
Todd Rundgren, American singer, producer. Music: Hello It's Me (1972) and Can We Still Be Friends (1978).

1947     d. 1988
"Pistol" Pete Maravich, American basketball player, NBA Hall of Famer (1986).

1941
Ed Bradley, American Emmy-winning news correspondent. TV: 60 Minutes.

1936
Kris Kristofferson (Kris Carson), American singer, actor. Music: Me and Bobby McGee. Film: A Star Is Born (1976).

1928
Ralph Waite, American actor. TV: The Waltons (patriarch John Walton).

1922
Bill Blass, American fashion designer.

1921
Joseph Papp, American Pulitzer-winning Shakespearian theatrical producer, director.

1907     d. 1958
Mike Todd (Avram Goldenbogen), American producer. Film: Oklahoma! (1955) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). He died in a plane crash, in which his wife, Liz Taylor, would have also been a passenger had she not stayed home with a cold.

1906
Billy Wilder, Austrian-born author, director. Film: The Lost Weekend (1945, Oscar and U.S. winner of the first Cannes Film Festival), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Stalag 17 (1953), Some Like It Hot (1959), and The Apartment (1960, Oscar).

1898     d. 1970
Erich Maria Remarque, German-born American author, All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), the first non-American/English book to top the best seller list.

1864     d. 1909
Hermann Minkowski, Russian mathematician. In 1907, he laid the mathematical foundation for Einstein's general theory of relativity.

1844     d. 1924
Margaret Sidney (Harriet Lothrop), American children's author. Writings: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (1881).

1837     d. 1884
Paul Charles Morphy, American chess player, won the first American Masters tournament (1857). He went on to defeat every European master who would play him.

1757     d. 1798
George Vancouver, British explorer for whom Vancouver Island is named.

1993     b. 1912
Pat Nixon (Thelma Catherine Ryan), American first lady.

1987     b. 1899
Fred Astaire (Frederick Austerlitz), American dancer whose career spanned six decades.

1969     b. 1922
Judy Garland (Frances Gumm), American Oscar-winning actress. Film: The Wizard of Oz (1939, Dorothy).

1965     b. 1902
David O. Selznick, American Oscar-winning producer. Film: King Kong (1933), Gone With the Wind (1939, Oscar), and Rebecca (1940, Oscar).

1535     b. circa 1459
Saint John Fisher, English scholar, was beheaded for opposing the ascension of King Henry VIII to the head of the church in England.

1276     b. 1225
Innocent V, religious leader, 185th Pope (Jan. - June 1276). He was the first of the Dominican Order to become Pope.

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