June 28th

Today's Highlight in History:
On June 28th, 1950, North Korean forces captured Seoul, South Korea.

On this date:
In 1778, "Molly Pitcher" (Mary Ludwig Hays) carried water to American soldiers at the Revolutionary War Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey.

In 1836, the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, died in Montpelier, Virginia.

In 1838, Britain's Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey.

In 1914, Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sofia, were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist -- the event which triggered World War One.

In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending the First World War.

In 1928, New York Governor Alfred E. Smith was nominated for president at the Democratic national convention in Houston.

In 1939, Pan American Airways began regular trans-Atlantic air service.

In 1951, a TV version of the radio program "Amos 'N' Andy" premiered on CBS. (Although criticized for racial stereotyping, it was the first network TV series to feature an all-black cast.)

In 1978, the Supreme Court ordered the University of California at Davis Medical School to admit Allan Bakke, a white man who'd argued he was a victim of reverse racial discrimination.

In 1996, the Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old men-only policy at the South Carolina military school.

Ten years ago: Jurors in the drug and perjury trial of Washington DC Mayor Marion S. Barry Junior viewed a videotape showing Barry smoking crack cocaine during an FBI hotel-room sting operation. (Barry was later convicted of a single count of misdemeanor drug possession.)

Five years ago: The House overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to protect the American flag from desecration (however, the amendment was defeated in the Senate). Webster Hubbell, the former number-three official at the Justice Department, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for bilking clients of the law firm where he and Hillary Rodham Clinton were partners.

One year ago: Announcing even bigger projected budget surpluses, President Clinton said the government could drastically reduce the national debt while still buttressing Social Security and Medicare.

"The secret of a man who is universally interesting is that he is universally interested."

-- William Dean Howells, American author (1837-1920).