1791 - In the U.S., the first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of
Rights, went into effect following ratification by the state of Virginia.
1815 --- Jane Austen's "Emma" was published.
1890 --- American Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed
in Grand River, SD, during an incident with Indian police working for the U.S. government.
1939 --- Gone With the Wind, premiered at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia on
this day in 1939. It was the first movie premiere ceremony to be televised. The governor
of Georgia proclaimed the day a state holiday in commemoration of the event and the
holiday celebrations continued for three days. Earlier the same year on June 27th, a
‘wrap’ party was held to celebrate the completion of the major cinematography of GWTW.
David O. Selznick had paid author Margaret Mitchell $50,000 for the movie, and
ultimately, the TV rights to her novel. MGM then paid out $1.25 million to help finance
the film, to convince Clark Gable to play the role of Rhett Butler, and to receive a
fifty percent share of the movie’s profits. Two versions of the film were produced. One
contains Rhett Butler’s famous farewell to Scarlett, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a
damn.” For including the word ‘damn’, Selznick was fined $5,000. The other version had
Gable’s Butler saying, “Frankly my dear, I just don’t care.”
1944 --- A small plane carrying band leader Glenn Miller disappeared on a flight from
England to Paris. Forty years later a British bomber crew admitted they had accidentally
dropped bombs onto Miller's plane over the English Channel.
1961 --- Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem by an
Israeli court. He had been tried on charges for organizing the deportation of Jews to
concentration camps
1970 --- The Soviet probe Venera 7 became the first spacecraft to land softly on the
surface of Venus. The probe only survived the extreme heat and pressure for about 23
minutes and transmitted the first data received on Earth from the surface of another
planet.
1973 --- The American Psychiatric Association reversed a longstanding position and
declared for the first time that homosexuality was not a mental illness.
1993 --- The prime ministers of Britain and the Republic of Ireland (John Major and
Albert Reynolds respectively) made the "Downing Street Declaration," stating the basis
for trying to achieve peace in Northern Ireland.
2001 --- It was announced that Siena Heights University would begin offering a class
called "Animated Philosophy and Religion." The two-credit class would cover how religion
and philosophy are part of popular culture and is based on the television series "The
Simpsons."