Today in History....June 22

On this day in …


* 1807, a British frigate, the HMS Leopard, attacked and boarded the American ship USS Chesapeake off the Virginia coast in search of Royal Navy deserters

* 1870, the U.S. Department of Justice was created

* 1937, Joe Louis began his reign as world heavyweight boxing champion by knocking out Jim Braddock in the eighth round of their fight in Chicago

* 1938, Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch at Yankee Stadium

* 1940, during World War II, Adolf Hitler, ym"sh, gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris

* 1944, President Roosevelt signed the "GI Bill of Rights"

* 1945, the World War II battle for Okinawa ended with an Allied victory; some 13,000 Americans and 90,000 Japanese soldiers, plus 130,000 civilians, were killed in the nearly three-month campaign

* 1970, President Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that lowered the minimum voting age to 18

* 1977, John N. Mitchell became the first former U.S. Attorney General to go to prison as he began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up. (He was released 19 months later.)

* 2006, the Red Cross finally admitted Israel as a member and allowed it to use a Star of David as its symbol. ALSO: During a visit to Hungary to commemorate the 1956 revolt against communism, President Bush said war-weary Iraqis could learn from the Hungarians' long and bloody struggle against tyranny