Today in History: June 3, Muhammad Ali dies

Today in History

Today is Monday, June 3, the 155th day of 2024. There are 211 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 3, 2016, heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, whose athletic feats and activism put him among the most revered athletes of all time, died at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 74.

On this date:

In 1621, the Dutch West India Co. received its charter for a trade monopoly in parts of the Americas and Africa.

In 1888, the poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer was first published in the San Francisco Daily Examiner.

In 1935, the French liner Normandie set a record on its maiden voyage, arriving in New York after crossing the Atlantic in just four days.

In 1937, Edward, The Duke of Windsor, who had abdicated the British throne, married Wallis Simpson in a private ceremony in Monts, France.

In 1962, Air France Flight 007, a U.S.-bound Boeing 707, crashed while attempting to take off from Orly Airport near Paris; all but two of the 132 people aboard were killed.

In 1965, astronaut Edward H. White became the first American to “walk” in space during the flight of Gemini 4.

In 1977, the United States and Cuba agreed to set up diplomatic interests sections in each other’s countries; Cuba also announced the immediate release of 10 Americans jailed on drug charges.

In 1989, Chinese army troops began their sweep of Beijing to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations. And Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, died.

In 2011, physician-assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian died at a Michigan hospital at 83. And actor James Arness of TV’s “Gunsmoke” died at age 88.

In 2012, a Dana Air jetliner carrying 153 people crashed on the outskirts of Lagos,...