Today in History: Rod Blagojevich convicted
Today is Friday, June 27, the 178th day of 2025. There are 187 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On June 27, 2011, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago on a wide range of corruption charges, including the allegation that he'd tried to sell or trade President Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. (Blagojevich was later sentenced to 14 years in prison; his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump in February 2020, and he received a full and unconditional pardon from Trump in February 2025.)
Rod Blagojevich saga: From arrest to Donald Trump's pardonAlso on this date:
In 1844, Mormon leader Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
In 1950, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling on member nations to help South Korea repel an invasion from the North.
In 1957, Hurricane Audrey slammed into coastal Louisiana and Texas as a Category 4 storm, causing as many as 600 deaths.
In 1991, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first Black jurist to sit on the nation's highest court, announced his retirement.
In 2005, BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders that had spread fear across Wichita, Kansas, beginning in the 1970s.
In 2006, a constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the American flag died in a U.S. Senate cliff-hanger, falling one vote short of the 67 needed to send it to states for ratification.
In 2018, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote often decided cases on abortion, gay rights and other contentious issues, announced his retirement.
In 2022, in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the Supreme Court ruled that a high school football coach who sought to kneel and pray on the field after games was protected by the First Amendment.
Today's Birthdays: Musician Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys) is 83. Fashion designer Norma Kamali is 80. Fashion designer Vera Wang is 76. Actor Julia Duffy is 74. Actor Isabelle Adjani is 70. Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński is 66. Country singer Lorrie Morgan is 66. Actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai is 63. Writer-producer-director J.J. Abrams is 59. Actor Tobey Maguire is 50. Reality TV star Khloé Kardashian is 41. Actor Sam Claflin is 39. Actor Ed Westwick is 38. NFL linebacker Bobby Wagner is 35. Actor Madylin Sweeten ('Everybody Loves Raymond') is 34. Singer-songwriter H.E.R. is 28. Actor Chandler Riggs ('The Walking Dead') is 26.
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