John Gullion

Today is Tuesday, June 16, the 167th day of 2026. There are 198 days left in the year. Today in history: On June 16, 1963, the world’s first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova, 26, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6. Tereshkova spent 71 hours in flight, circling the Earth 48 times before returning safely. Also on this date: In 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln said the issue of slavery in the United States had to be resolved, declaring, “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” In 1884, designer La Marcus Thompson opened the first commercially successful roller coaster, known as the Switchback Railway, in Coney Island, New York. In 1903, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Glass-Steagall Act into law, creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to bolster public confidence in the U.S. banking system. In 1961, Soviet dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West, seeking asylum in Paris during a tour by the Kirov Ballet. In 1976, thousands of Black students in Johannesburg’s Soweto township demonstrated against the imposition of the Dutchbased Afrikaans language in schools; police opened fire on the students, killing at least 176 and as many as 700. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos signed the instruments of ratification for the Panama Canal treaties during a ceremony in Panama City. Today’s Birthdays: Author Joyce Carol Oates is 88. Country singer Billy “Crash” Craddock is 87. R&B singer Eddie Levert is 84. Boxing Hall of Famer Roberto Durán is 75. Pop singer Gino Vannelli is 74. Actor Laurie Metcalf is 71. Rapper MC Ren is 57. Golfer Phil Mickelson is 56. Actor John Cho is 54. Actor Daniel Brühl is 48. Actor Missy Peregrym is 44. Singer Diana DeGarmo (TV: “American Idol”) is 39. NFL wide receiver Justin Jefferson is 27. Tennis player Bianca Andreescu is 26. Actor Anna Cathcart is 23. Actor Charlie Bushnell is 22.