Local history

June 18, 1989: Radiation frost, considered extremely rare in mid-June, blackened thousands of acres of corn in southern Minnesota.

June 18, 1979: Area independent truckers rejected a surcharge of 5.6% that had been authorized by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

June 19, 1979: Severe weather moved through Freeborn County causing $93,700 in damage. Tornado sightings were made west of Kiester, east of Emmons and on farms near Albert Lea. A barn next door to Starlight Drive-In Theatre was toppled, but the outdoor movie screen survived the storm.

June 18, 1959: Patty-O-Drive-In and Café had a grand opening. The drive-in, owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Archie Wefald, was on Margaretha Avenue near U.S. Highway 65.

June 21, 1959: The state convention of Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association was in Albert Lea. A shooting competition took place in conjunction with the convention. Albert Lea police officers Milford Egland, Woddy Chrz, John Weigel and Don Paulson were team members. Highway Patrolman Norman Storvick of Albert Lea shot a perfect score in the rapid-fire event, a first in the history of the competition.

 

U.S. history

1778: American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.

1812: The War of 1812 began as the United States Congress approved and President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Britain.

1948: Columbia Records publicly unveiled its new long-playing phonograph record in New York.

1953: A U.S. Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashed near Tokyo, killing all 129 people on board.

Egypt’s 148-year-old Muhammad Ali Dynasty came to an end with the overthrow of the monarchy and the proclamation of a republic.

1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson and Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda spoke to each other by telephone as they inaugurated the first trans-Pacific cable completed by AT&T between Japan and Hawaii.

1983: Astronaut Sally K. Ride became America’s first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger on a six-day mission.

1992: The U.S. Supreme Court, in Georgia v. McCollum, ruled that criminal defendants could not use race as a basis for excluding potential jurors from their trials.

2009: Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin was named the NHL’s Most Valuable Player for the second straight year after leading the league with 56 goals.

2014: President Barack Obama met with senior lawmakers in the Oval Office for over an hour to discuss options for responding to the crumbling security situation in Iraq; afterward, congressional leaders said the president believed he did not need authorization from Congress for some steps he might take to quell the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency.

2014: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled that the Washington Redskins’ name was “disparaging of Native Americans” and should be stripped of trademark protection.

 

— Information from Albert Lea Tribune archives and the Associated Press.