Today is Monday, June 23, the 174th day of 2014. There are 191 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 23, 1314, during the First War of Scottish Independence, the two-day Battle of Bannockburn,
resulting in victory for the forces of Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II, began near
Stirling.
On this date:
In 1757, forces of the East India Company led by Robert Clive won the Battle of Plassey, which
effectively marked the beginning of British colonial rule in India.
In 1812, Britain, unaware that America had declared war against it five days earlier, rescinded its
policy on neutral shipping, a major issue of contention between the two countries.
In 1931, aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on a round-the-world flight that
lasted eight days and 15 hours.
In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Authority was established.
In 1947, the Senate joined the House in overriding President Harry S. Truman’s veto of the Taft-Hartley
Act, designed to limit the power of organized labor.
In 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected president of Egypt.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin (ah-LEK’-say koh-SEE’-gihn) held
the first of two meetings at Glassboro State College in New Jersey.
In 1969, Warren E. Burger was sworn in as chief justice of the United States by the man he was
succeeding, Earl Warren.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the
CIA to obstruct the FBI’s Watergate investigation. (Revelation of the tape recording of this
conversation sparked Nixon’s resignation.) President Nixon signed Title IX, which barred discrimination
on the basis of sex for "any education program or activity receiving federal financial
assistance."
In 1989, the Supreme Court refused to shut down the "dial-a-porn" industry, ruling Congress had
gone too far in passing a law banning all sexually oriented phone message services.
Ten years ago: In a major retreat, the United States abandoned an attempt to win a new exemption for
American troops from international prosecution for war crimes – an effort that had faced strong
opposition because of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.
Five years ago: Hardening the U.S. reaction to Iran’s disputed elections and bloody aftermath, President
Barack Obama condemned the violence against protesters and lent his strongest support yet to their
accusations the hardline victory was a fraud. "
One year ago: Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor behind the disclosures of the U.S.
government’s sweeping surveillance programs, left Hong Kong for Moscow with the stated intention of
seeking asylum in Ecuador; however, Snowden ended up remaining in Moscow.