Today is Thursday, June 18, the 169th day of 2009. There are 196 days left in the year.
1178 _ Proposed time of origin of lunar crater Giordano Bruno
1583 _ Richard Martin of London takes out first life insurance policy on
William Gibbons
1815 _ Battle of Waterloo; Napoleon defeated by Wellington and Blucher
1940 _ Winston Churchill urges perseverance so that future generations
would remember that ``this was their finest hour"
1948 _ U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopts International Declaration of Human Rights
1953 _ Egypt proclaimed a republic, Gen. Neguib becomes president
1959 _ First telecast transmitted from England to U.S.
1976 _ NBA & ABA agree to merge
1977 _ Space Shuttle test model ``Enterprise" carries a crew aloft
for first time
1986 _ 52 die in plane-helicopter collision over Grand Canyon