12 History Lessons + 4 Births & 6 Deaths for June 20, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1782 – The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States, featuring the bald eagle.
- 1837 – Queen Victoria ascends to the British throne at age 18, beginning a 63-year reign.
- 1840 – Samuel Morse patents the telegraph.
- 1863 – West Virginia is admitted as the 35th state of the United States.
- 1893 – Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.
- 1944 – The Battle of the Philippine Sea begins, one of the largest aircraft carrier battles in World War II.
- 1947 – Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, notorious mobster and developer of Las Vegas’s Flamingo Hotel, is murdered in Beverly Hills.
- 1963 – The United States and Soviet Union agree to establish a direct “hotline” between Washington and Moscow.
- 1967 – Muhammad Ali is convicted of draft evasion; the conviction is later overturned by the Supreme Court.
- 1990 – Nelson Mandela lands in New York City, beginning an 11-day U.S. tour after his release from prison.
- 2003 – The Wikimedia Foundation is founded, paving the way for projects like Wikipedia.
- 2013 – Instagram introduces video sharing, directly challenging Vine.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1949 – Lionel Richie, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter (Hello, All Night Long) (76)
- 1952 – John Goodman, actor known for Roseanne and numerous film roles (73)
- 1967 – Nicole Kidman, Oscar-winning actress (The Hours, Big Little Lies) (58)
- 1978 – Frank Lampard, English footballer and former Chelsea manager (47)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1837 – King William IV of the United Kingdom (Age 71)
- 1947 – Bugsy Siegel, American mobster and Las Vegas figure (Age 41)
- 1958 – Kurt Alder, German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (Age 55)
- 1966 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest and astronomer who proposed the Big Bang theory (Age 71)
- 2005 – Jack Kilby, co-inventor of the integrated circuit and Nobel Prize winner (Age 81)
- 2017 – Prodigy (Albert Johnson), rapper and member of Mobb Deep (Age 42)