June first

Today's Highlight in History:
On June first, 1980, Cable News Network made its debut.

On this date:
In 1792, Kentucky became the 15th state of the union.

In 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state.

In 1801, Mormon leader Brigham Young was born in Whitingham, Vermont.

In 1813, the commander of the US frigate "Chesapeake," Captain James Lawrence, said, "Don't give up the ship" during a losing battle with a British frigate.

In 1868, James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, died near Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

In 1926, actress Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles.

In 1943, a civilian flight from Lisbon to London was shot down by the Germans during World War Two, killing all aboard, including actor Leslie Howard.

In 1958, Charles de Gaulle became premier of France.

In 1977, the Soviet Union formally charged Jewish human rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky with treason. (Shcharansky was imprisoned, then released in 1986.)

In 1997, Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, was fatally burned in a fire set by her 12-year-old grandson in her Yonkers, New York apartment.

Ten years ago: President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed more than a dozen bilateral accords in the second day of their Washington summit. Meanwhile, Barbara Bush and Raisa Gorbachev traveled to Wellesley College in Massachusetts to deliver commencement addresses.

Five years ago: President Clinton visited Billings, Montana, where he met with farmers and presided over a televised town hall meeting.

One year ago: An American Airlines MD-82 landed off-center during a severe thunderstorm in Little Rock, Arkansas, and barreled off the end of the runway, breaking apart and catching fire; eleven people, including the captain, died. President Clinton ordered a government investigation into whether -- and how -- the entertainment business markets violence to children.

"If America forgets where she came from, if the people lose sight of what brought them along, if she listens to the deniers and mockers, then will begin the rot and dissolution."

-- Carl Sandburg, American writer (1878-1967).