Today in History.....June 26

On this day in …

* 1870, the first section of the boardwalk at Atlantic City, N.J., was opened to the public

* 1900, a commission that included Dr. Walter Reed began the fight against the deadly disease yellow fever

* 1917, the first troops of the American Expeditionary Force arrived in France during World War I

* 1945, the charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco

* 1948, the Berlin Airlift began in earnest after the Soviet Union cut off land and water routes to the isolated western sector of Berlin

* 1959, President Eisenhower joined Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in ceremonies officially opening the St. Lawrence Seaway

* 1963, President Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he made his famous declaration: "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner)

* 1996, the Supreme Court ordered the Virginia Military Academy to admit women, or forgo state support. ALSO: Former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum took the blame for the FBI files controversy; White House security chief Craig Livingstone resigned.
President Clinton and leaders of the world's other industrial powers gathered in Lyon, France, for their annual economic summit

* 2001, President Bush urged Ariel Sharon during a White House meeting to take the next step toward Middle East peace talks, but the Israeli prime minister said violence had to end first. It never did and Sharon went on to surrender land won in a war after the Jewish state was attacked. ALSO: George Trofimoff, a retired Army officer, was convicted in Tampa, Fla., of selling Cold War secrets to Moscow over two decades. (Trofimoff, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to life in prison.)

* 2005, dozens of international leaders met in San Francisco to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' birth