Today in History for 20th June 2026

[CoM Moderators]

Historical Events

1632 - Britain grants Lord Baltimore rights to Chesapeake Bay area
1895 - First woman to earn a PhD in Physics from an American university, Caroline Willard Baldwin (25), receives her degree from Cornell University
1943 - Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) founded in Chicago
1968 - Austin Currie, then Nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) at Stormont, and other Irish civil rights activists, protest discrimination in the allocation of housing by 'squatting' (illegally occupying) in a house in Caledon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
2012 - A Syrian fighter pilot lands in Jordan and defects from the Syrian uprising

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Famous Birthdays

1756 - Joseph Martin Kraus, German-Swedish composer, known as "the Swedish Mozart", conductor, and pedagogue, born in Miltenberg am Main, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1792)
1868 - Helen Miller Shepard, American philanthropist who established Hall of Fame, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1938)
1894 - George Delacorte, American philanthropist and publisher (Dell Books), born in New York City (d. 1991)
1894 - Lloyd Hall, African-American chemist and pioneer in food chemistry (science of food preservation), born in Elgin, Illinois (d. 1971)
1947 - Candace "Candy" Clark, American actress (Man Who Fell to Earth, Q, American Graffiti), born in Norman, Oklahoma

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Famous Deaths

1846 - Pieter Adams, architect of Rotterdam, dies at about 67
1958 - Kurt Alder, German chemist (Nobel 1950), dies at 55
1960 - Mahlon Hamilton, American actor (Peg O'My Heart, High School Girl), dies at 80 (b. 1880)
2016 - James Victor, Dominican-American actor (Boulevard Night, Streets of LA), dies at 76
2021 - Luis del Sol, Spanish soccer midfielder (16 caps; Betis, Real Madrid, Juventus, Roma) and manager (Betis), dies at 86

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[+ FrankR]

Green energy made the news - On this day in 1979 Jimmy Carter unveiled the installation of solar panels at the White House.  They were used to heat the water. Was removed by Reagan in 1986.  Some can be seen at the Carter Library and the Smithsonian in DC.