By The Associated Press

Today in History

Today is Wednesday, June 24, the 176th day of 2020. There are 190 days left in the year.

Todayís Highlight in History:

On June 24, 1497, the first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.

On this date:

In 1807, a grand jury in Richmond, Virginia, indicted former Vice President Aaron Burr on charges of treason and high misdemeanor (he was later acquitted).

In 1940, France signed an armistice with Italy during World War II.

In 1947, whatís regarded as the first modern UFO sighting took place as private pilot Kenneth Arnold, an Idaho businessman, reported seeing nine silvery objects flying in a ìweaving formationî near Mount Rainier in Washington.

In 1948, Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the western allies to organize the Berlin Airlift. The Republican National Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, nominated New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey for president.

In 1957, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Roth v. United States, ruled 6-3 that obscene materials were not protected by the First Amendment.

In 1964, AT&T inaugurated commercial ìPicturephoneî service between New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. (the service, however, never caught on).

In 1968, ìResurrection City,î a shantytown constructed as part of the Poor Peopleís March on Washington, D.C., was closed down by authorities.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon concluded his summit with the visiting leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, who hailed the talks in an address on American television.

In 1975, 113 people were killed when Eastern Airlines Flight 66, a Boeing 727 carrying 124 people, crashed while attempting to land during a thunderstorm at New Yorkís John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In 1983, the space shuttle Challenger — carrying Americaís first woman in space, Sally K. Ride — coasted to a safe landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

In 1987, comedian-actor Jackie Gleason died at his home in Lauderhill, Florida, at age 71.

In 1992, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, strengthened its 30-year ban on officially sponsored worship in public schools, prohibiting prayer as a part of graduation ceremonies.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama declared that he and visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had ìsucceeded in resettingî the relationship between the former Cold War adversaries. Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australiaís first woman prime minister. Appleís iPhone 4 was released in five countries, selling a record 1.7 million units in three days despite criticism of its new antenna design.

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