June 7, 2020
Day 159 of 366

 

June 7th is the 159th day of the year. It is National Cancer Survivor’s Day in the United States, celebrated on the first Sunday in June.

In the United States, today is “celebrated” as National Boone Day, National Chocolate Ice Cream Day, National VCR Day, and National Oklahoma Day.

 

Historical items of note:

• In 1776, Richard Henry Lee presented the “Lee Resolution” to the Continental Congress. The motion was seconded by John Adams and would lead to the United States Declaration of Independence.
• In 1862, the United States and the United Kingdom agreed in the Lyons–Seward Treaty to suppress the African slave trade.
• In 1896, physicist, chemist, and Nobel Prize laureate Robert S. Mulliken was born.
• In 1909, actress Jessica Tandy was born.
• In 1911, engineer and designer Brooks Stevens was born. He designed the Wienermobile.
• In 1917, singer, actor, and producer Dean Martin was born.
• In 1946, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) returned to broadcasting its television service, which had been off the air for seven years because of World War II.
• In 1950, actor Gary Graham was born.
• In 1952, actor Liam Neeson was born.
• In 1955, Lux Radio Theatre signed off the air permanently. The show launched in New York in 1934 and featured radio adaptations of Broadway shows and popular films.
• In 1958, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor Prince was born.
• In 1960, screenwriter and producer Bill Brady was born.
• In 1965, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, prohibiting the states from criminalizing the use of contraception by married couples.
• In 1971, the United States Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• In 1972, actor Karl Urban was born.
• In 1979, actress Anna Torv was born.
• In 1982, Priscilla Presley opened Graceland to the public, however, the bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier was kept off-limits.

 

June 7th is Journalist Day in Argentina.

The Gazeta de Buenos Ayres – translated, the Buenos Aires Gazette – was a newspaper originating in Buenos Aires, United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, in 1810. Initially, it was used to give publicity to the actions of Primera Junta, the first post-colonial Argentine government.

The Gazeta provided information about new laws, the development of the Peninsular War and the Argentine War of Independence, and served as a medium for political thought. The government ordered that the newspaper be read aloud at chapels after mass celebrations, because of the high illiteracy rate among the population.

It was closed by Bernardino Rivadavia, the minister of government to Buenos Aires, in 1821.

The paper was organized on June 2, 1810, and the first issue was released on June 7th with each issue following on a weekly basis. The observance of Journalist Day started in 1938.

 

The Thing About Today is an effort to look at each day of 2020 with respect to its historical context.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.