FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
On the night of June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, were found stabbed to death outside Nicole’s condo in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Simpson, who had pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge against Brown in 1989, was an immediate person of interest in their murders. After police gathered all the evidence, charges were filed and a warrant was signed for Simpson’s arrest. Simpson, in agreement with his attorneys, was scheduled to turn himself in at approximately 11:00 a.m. to the Parker Center police headquarters on the morning of June 17. Simpson failed to turn himself in, and he later became the subject of a low-speed pursuit by police while riding as a passenger in a white 1993 Ford Bronco SUV, a vehicle owned and being driven by his former teammate and longtime friend Al Cowlings. According to Cowlings, Simpson was armed in the back of the vehicle with a pistol, holding it to his head and threatening to shoot himself if he wasn’t taken back to his Brentwood estate. This caused the responding California Highway Patrol officers to pursue with extreme caution. TV stations interrupted coverage of the 1994 NBA Finals to broadcast the incident live. With an estimated audience of 95 million people, the event was described as “the most famous ride on American shores since Paul Revere‘s”.
The pursuit, arrest, and trial of Simpson were among the most widely publicized events in American history. O. J. Simpson’s integrated defense counsel team included Johnnie Cochran, Robert Kardashian, Robert Shapiro, and F. Lee Bailey. Marcia Clark was the lead prosecutor for the State of California. The trial, often characterized as the Trial of the Century because of its international publicity, likened to that of Sacco and Vanzetti and the Lindbergh kidnapping, culminated after 11 months on October 3, 1995, when the jury rendered a verdict of “not guilty” for the two murders. An estimated 100 million people nationwide tuned in to watch or listen to the verdict announcement. Following Simpson’s acquittal, no additional arrests or convictions related to the murders were made.
Immediate reaction to the verdict was known for its division along racial lines: a poll of Los Angeles County residents showed that most African Americans there felt justice had been served by the “not guilty” verdict, while the majority of whites and Latinos opined that it had not. According to a 2016 poll, 83% of white Americans and 57% of black Americans believe Simpson committed the murders.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
The Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the most famous battles of the Revolutionary War, for the most part did not take place on Bunker Hill. After dark on June 16, 1775, about 1,200 colonial soldiers moved onto the Charlestown peninsula overlooking Boston (occupied by the British) and began to construct a redoubt on Breed’s Hill. When the British discovered the work party at dawn the next day, British ships in the harbor immediately opened fire. British general William Howe was given command of an assault force of 2,400 men but had to wait for a favorable tide at noon to land his troops. By then, the American position was garrisoned by 1,600 men and 6 cannons. Twice Howe’s troops, burdened by heavy packs, moved up the hill and were turned back by heavy fire. Reinforced for a third assault, Howe had his men drop their packs and ordered a bayonet attack. By that time, the patriots had run out of powder, and the British seized the hill, then rapidly assaulted Bunker Hill, as the American retreat became a rout. The British won, but at the cost of 1,054 casualties, many of them officers. Patriot losses numbered 100 dead and 267 wounded.
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Born
- John Wesley (founder of Methodism) – 1703
- James Weldon Johnson (poet) – 1871
- Ralph Bellamy (actor) – 1904
- Charles Eames (designer & architect) – 1907
- John Hersey (novelist) – 1914
- Barry Manilow (singer) – 1943
- James Ludlow Elliot (astronomer who discovered the rings of Uranus) – 1943
- Joe Piscopo (actor) – 1951
- Greg Kinnear (actor) – 1963
- Venus Williams (tennis player) – 1980
Died
- Duffy Lewis (baseball player) – 1979
- J. Carter Brown (headed the National Gallery) – 2002
- Gloria Vanderbilt (fashion icon) – 2019
Events
- Sir Francis Drake landed on the Pacific Coast– 1579
- The Battle of Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, took place during the siege of Boston. It was the first major battle of the American Revolution.– 1775
- Republican Party’s first national convention to nominate a presidential candidate took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania– 1856
- Plow and gun combo patented– 1862
- The French ship Isere, carrying the Statue of Liberty in 214 crates, arrived in New York City– 1885
- Army weekly magazine Yank coined the term G.I. Joe” in a comic strip drawn by Dave Breger”– 1942
- First U.S. mobile telephone commercial service inaugurated, St. Louis, Missouri– 1946
- Trans-Canada Air Lines began serving quick-freeze meals– 1949
- 15th FIFA World Cup soccer games began. For the first time in history, the event was held in the United States.– 1994
- Following a bizarre televised highway chase, O. J. Simpson was arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman– 1994
- Double-hulled, 66-foot Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule’a returned to Hawaii from around-the-world trip.– 2017
Weather
- Santa Ana winds roasted fruit on the trees in California– 1859
- Santa Barbara, California’s temperature hit 133 degrees F– 1859
- Tornado struck Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa– 1882
COURTESY www.almanac.com
