Today's Highlight in History:
On June 21st, 1788, the United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify¹ it.
On this date:
In 1834, Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

In 1932, heavyweight Max Schmeling lost a title fight by decision to Jack² Sharkey, prompting Schmeling's manager, Joe Jacobs, to exclaim: "We was robbed!"

In 1945, during World War Two, American soldiers on Okinawa found the body of the Japanese commander, Lieutenant³ General Mitsuru Ushijima, who had committed suicide.

In 1948, the Republican national convention opened in Philadelphia.

In 1963, Cardinal⁴ Giovanni Battista Montini was chosen to succeed the late Pope John the 23rd; the new pope took the name Paul the Sixth.

In 1964, civil rights workers Michael H. Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James E. Chaney disappeared in Philadelphia, Mississippi; their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later.

In 1973, the Supreme⁵ Court ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.

In 1982, a jury in Washington DC found John Hinckley Junior innocent by reason of insanity⁶ in the shootings of President Reagan and three other men.

In 1985, scientists announced that skeletal remains⁷ exhumed⁸ in Brazil were those of Nazi⁹ war criminal Josef Mengele.

In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment¹⁰.

Ten years ago: An estimated 50,000 Iranians were killed in a major earthquake.

Five years ago: Dr. Henry Foster lost a crucial Senate vote in his bid to become surgeon general as only 57 senators voted to cut off debate, three short of the 60 needed. (One last vote the next day also fell short.)

One year ago: President Clinton visited Slovenia, formerly¹¹ part of Yugoslavia, where he publicly urged Serbs to reject Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic. NATO and the Kosovo Liberation Army, meanwhile, signed an accord providing for the demilitarization of the KLA.