Today in History, June 21, 1964: Civil rights workers slain in Mississippi

Today is June 21. On this date in:

1377

King Edward III died after ruling England for 50 years; he was succeeded by his grandson, Richard II.

1788

The United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.

1886

Ohio Grove, which became Cincinnati’s Coney Island, opened at the old Parker’s Grove picnic spot.

1893

The first Ferris wheel premiered at Chicago's Columbian Exposition.

1942

An Imperial Japanese submarine fired at Fort Stevens on the Oregon coast, causing little damage.

1964

Civil rights workers Michael H. Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James E. Chaney were slain in Philadelphia, Mississippi; their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. (Forty-one years later on this date in 2005, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman, was found guilty of manslaughter; he was sentenced to 60 years in prison, where he died in 2018.)

1973

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Miller v. California, ruled that states may ban materials found to be obscene according to local standards.

1977

Menachem Begin of the Likud bloc became Israel’s sixth prime minister.

1982

A jury found John Hinckley Jr. not guilty by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three other men.

1988

“Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” a comedy fantasy starring Bob Hoskins that combined live action and legendary animated cartoon characters, premiered in New York.

1989

A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest was protected by the First Amendment.

2013

The Food Network said it was dropping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted the first of two videotaped apologies online begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.