June 25th

Today's Highlight in History:
Fifty years ago, on June 25th, 1950, war broke out in Korea as forces from the communist North invaded the South.

On this date:
In 1788, the state of Virginia ratified the US Constitution.

In 1868, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina were re-admitted to the Union.

In 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana.

In 1942, some 1,000 British Royal Air Force bombers raided Bremen, Germany, during World War Two.

In 1951, the first commercial color telecast took place as CBS transmitted a one-hour special from New York to four other cities.

In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of an unofficial, non-denominational prayer in New York State public schools was unconstitutional.

In 1973, former White House Counsel John W. Dean began testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee.

In 1975, the People's Republic of Mozambique came into being, ending nearly five centuries of Portuguese rule.

In 1988, American-born Mildred Gillars, better known during World War Two as "Axis Sally" for her Nazi propaganda broadcasts, died in Columbus, Ohio, at age 87. (Gillars had served 12 years in prison for treason.)

In 1998, the Supreme Court rejected a 1997 line-item veto law as unconstitutional, and ruled that HIV-infected people are protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Ten years ago: African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela met with President Bush at the White House.

Five years ago: Warren Burger, the 15th chief justice of the United States, died in Washington of congestive heart failure at age 87.

One year ago: During a news conference, President Clinton said the people of Serbia had to "get out of denial" about the atrocities blamed on Slobodan Milosevic and decide if he was fit to remain president of Yugoslavia. The San Antonio Spurs won their first NBA title as they defeated the New York Knicks, 78-to-77, in game five of their championship series.

"It is not depravity that afflicts the human race so much as a general lack of intelligence."

-- Agnes Repplier, American writer and social critic (1858-1950).