06/09/2025
Today's Highlight in History:
On June 9, 1954, during the Senate Army-McCarthy hearings, Army special counsel Joseph N. Welch berated Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., asking: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
On this date:
In A.D. 68, believing Roman troops sent by the Senate were coming to kill him, thirty year old Roman Emperor Nero committed su***de, ending a 13-year reign.
In 1588, construction began on the present-day Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy, with the laying of the first stone; the structure was completed in 1591.
In 1934, the first Walt Disney animated cartoon featuring Donald Duck, "The Wise Little Hen," was released.
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943, which reintroduced federal income tax withholding from paychecks.
In In 1972, heavy rains triggered record flooding in the Black Hills of South Dakota; the resulting disaster left at least 238 people dead and $164 million in damage.
In 1973, Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. His record-breaking win, where he left the field 31 lengths behind him, is widely regarded as one of the greatest races of all time.
In 1986, the Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.
Thought for Today: "It's innocence when it charms us, ignorance when it doesn't." _ Mignon McLaughlin, American journalist (1913-1983).