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History

Local History

50 years ago: Ambrose Bertrand was reelected a director of the Farmers Elevator.

10 years ago: In the Freitag Trucking shop, three Fairfax women sorted, boxed and labeled donated supplies bound for Iowa flood victims.

5 years ago: SouthPoint Federal Credit Union hired Jay Gostonczik as the Vice-President of Member Services.

One year ago: Minnesota residents were able to purchase alcohol from liquor stores on Sunday legally and all New Ulm liquor stores opened for Sunday sales.

And elsewhere…

Today is Sunday, July 1, the 182nd day of 2018. There are 183 days left in the year. This is Canada Day.

Today’s Highlight:

On July 1, 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect.

On this date:

In 1535, Sir Thomas More went on trial in England, charged with high treason for rejecting the Oath of Supremacy. (More was convicted, and executed.)

In 1916, during World War I, France and Britain launched the Somme Offensive against the German army; the 4 1/2-month battle resulted in heavy casualties and produced no clear winner. Dwight D. Eisenhower married Mary (“Mamie”) Geneva Doud in Denver.

In 1946, the United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

In 1961, Diana, the princess of Wales, was born in Sandringham, England. (She died in a 1997 car crash in Paris at age 36.)

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated federal appeals court judge Robert H. Bork to the Supreme Court, setting off a tempestuous confirmation process that ended with Bork’s rejection by the Senate.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated federal appeals court judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, beginning an ultimately successful confirmation process marked by allegations of sexual harassment. The Warsaw Pact formally disbanded.

In 1997, Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule after 156 years as a British colony.

In 2002, the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal, the International Criminal Court, came into existence.

Ten years ago: Five years ago: Ex-convict Nicholas T. Sheley, suspected in eight grisly slayings in two states, was arrested outside a bar in Granite City, Ill. (Sheley has since been convicted of two murders.)

Five years ago: President Barack Obama, during a visit to Tanzania, brushed aside sharp European criticism, suggesting that all nations spy on each other as the French and Germans expressed outrage over allegations of U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats.

One year ago: Pope Francis declined to renew the mandate of German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases. During Mueller’s five-year term, the congregation amassed a 2,000-case backlog and came under blistering criticism from abuse survivors.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Olivia de Havilland is 102. Actress-dancer Leslie Caron is 87. Actress Jean Marsh is 84. Actor Jamie Farr is 84. Actor David Prowse is 83. Dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp is 77. Actress Genevieve Bujold is 76. Rock singer-actress Deborah Harry is 73. Actor Terrence Mann is 67. Actor-comedian Dan Aykroyd is 66. Olympic gold medal track star Carl Lewis is 57. Actress Pamela Anderson is 51. Hip-hop artist Missy Elliott is 47. Actress Liv Tyler is 41.

Thought for Today: “Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.” — David Sarnoff, American broadcasting pioneer (1891-1971).

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