This Day in History: June 2

Lou Gehrig dies; Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland on the first visit by a pope to a Communist country; Timothy McVeigh is convicted in the Oklahoma City bombing

On this day, June 2 …
 
1997: Timothy McVeigh is convicted of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people. (McVeigh would be executed in June 2001.)

Also on this day:

  • 1897: Mark Twain is quoted by the New York Journal as saying from London that "the report of my death was an exaggeration." (Twain was responding to a report in the New York Herald that he was "grievously ill" and "possibly dying."
  • 1924: Congress passes, and President Calvin Coolidge signs, a measure guaranteeing full American citizenship for all Native Americans born within U.S. territorial limits.

(AP)

  • 1941: Baseball's "Iron Horse," Lou Gehrig, dies at age 37 in New York of a degenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); the illness would become known as "Lou Gehrig’s Disease."
  • 1953: The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II takes place in London's Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI.
  • 1979: Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland on the first visit by a pope to a Communist country.
  • 1986: For the first time, the public can watch the proceedings of the U.S. Senate on television as a six-week experiment begins.
  • 2004: The syndicated TV game show "Jeopardy!" begins airing contestant Ken Jennings' 74-game winning streak.
  • 2017: At least 37 people are killed by a lone attacker at Resorts World Manila.
  • 2018: Bare-knuckle boxing matches take place in front of 2,000 rowdy fans at a hockey rink in Cheyenne, Wyo. The event, promoted as the first legal, regulated and sanctioned bare-knuckle fight event in U.S. history, features 10 bouts and is viewed by tens of thousands via pay-per-view.
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