Welcome to Thursday, June 26, 2025. Today marks the 177th day of the year, with 188 days remaining.
Historical Highlights:
On this day in 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court made a landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. The ruling deemed state-level bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Other Significant Events:
• In 1917, the American Expeditionary Force landed in Saint-Nazaire, France, marking the entry of U.S. troops into World War I.
• The United Nations charter was signed by 50 countries in San Francisco in 1945.
• The Berlin Airlift commenced in response to the Soviet Union cutting off access to western Berlin in 1948.
• President John F. Kennedy delivered his iconic “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech in West Berlin in 1963.
• President Bill Clinton ordered missile strikes against Iraq in 1993, citing evidence of an assassination plot against former President George H.W. Bush.
• The first Harry Potter novel by J.K. Rowling was published in the UK in 1997, later released in the U.S. as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
• The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a handgun ban in District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008, affirming the individual right to gun ownership.
• In 2013, United States v. Windsor granted equal federal rights to legally married same-sex couples, also allowing same-sex marriages in California.
Celebrity Birthdays:
- • Dave Grusin (91) – Jazz musician-composer
- • Billy Davis Jr. (87) – Singer
- • Gilberto Gil (83) – Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician
- • Tara VanDerveer (72) – Basketball Hall of Fame coach
- • Mick Jones (70) – Musician (The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite)
- • Chris Isaak (69) – Musician
- • Greg LeMond (64) – Cyclist
- • Shannon Sharpe (57) – Football Hall of Famer
- • Paul Thomas Anderson (55) – Filmmaker
- • Sean Hayes (55) – Actor
- • Chris O’Donnell (55) – Actor
- • Nick Offerman (55) – Actor
- • Gretchen Wilson (52) – Country musician
- • Derek Jeter (51) – Baseball Hall of Famer
- • Jason Schwartzman (45) – Actor
- • Aubrey Plaza (41) – Actor
- • Jennette McCurdy (33) – Actor-author
- • Ariana Grande (32) – Singer-actor
- • Jacob Elordi (28) – Actor
