Today in history: June 29
In 1927, the first trans-Pacific airplane flight was completed.
1927: First trans-Pacific airplane flight
In 1927, the first trans-Pacific airplane flight was completed as U.S. Army Air Corps Lt. Lester J. Maitland and Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger arrived at Wheeler Field in Hawaii aboard the Bird of Paradise, an Atlantic-Fokker C-2, after flying 2,400 miles from Oakland, California, in 25 hours, 50 minutes.
1978: Bob Crane
In 1978, actor Bob Crane of “Hogan’s Heroes” fame was found bludgeoned to death in an apartment in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was appearing in a play; he was 49.
2009: Bernard Madoff
In 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff received a 150-year sentence for his multibillion-dollar fraud. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)
2012: Lance Armstrong,
In 2012, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency filed formal charges against Lance Armstrong, accusing the seven-time Tour de France winner of using performance-enhancing drugs throughout the best years of his career. (The USADA ended up stripping Armstrong of all his Tour de France titles and issued a lifetime ban from cycling.)
2021: Donald Rumsfeld
In 2021, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld died at the age of 88 in New Mexico; he had been Pentagon chief during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban regime following the 9/11 attacks, and also at the start of the long and costly Iraq war in 2003.
2021: Jacob Zuma
In 2021, former South African President Jacob Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison for defying a court order to appear for questions about allegations of corruption; his jailing would spark violent rioting in which more than 330 people died.
2022: R. Kelly
In 2022, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his R&B superstardom to subject young fans to sexual abuse. The singer and songwriter was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking the previous year.
2022: Bataclan theater attacker
In 2022, the only surviving attacker from the 2015 terrorist massacre at the Bataclan theater and other sites in Paris was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. That was the most severe sentence possible in France, and very rare. Salah Abdeslam was the chief suspect in an exceptional trial over the attacks, which killed 130 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group.
Most Popular
In 2021, after 13 years of near silence in her conservatorship that controlled her life and money, pop star Britney Spears told a judge in Los…
Here are some of the notable people celebrating birthdays today, including Clarence Thomas, Randy Jackson, Frances McDormand, Joss Whedon, Sel…
Here are some of the notable people celebrating birthdays today, including Lalo Schifrin, Ray Davies, Don Airey, Joey Kramer, Nils Lofgren, J…
Here are some of the notable people celebrating birthdays today, including Dianne Feinstein, Kris Kristofferson, Peter Asher, Meryl Streep, Li…
In 1981, Mark David Chapman pleaded guilty to killing rock star John Lennon.
Here are some of the notable people celebrating birthdays today, including Bruce Babbitt, Bruce Johnston, Vera Wang, Lorrie Morgan, J.J. Abra…
In 1994, the Houston Rockets, led by Hakeem Olajuwon, win their first NBA title, beating New York 90-84 in Game 7 of the finals. Olajuwon gets…
In 1959, Ingemar Johansson knocks out Floyd Patterson in the third round at Yankee Stadium to win the world heavyweight title. See more sports…
In 1991, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black jurist to sit on the nation’s highest court, announced his retirement.
Here are some of the notable people celebrating birthdays today, including Billy Davis Jr, Robert Davi, Mick Jones, Chris Isaak, Colin Greenwo…