On this day in 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death
penalty could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment." The
ruling prompted states to revise their capital punishment laws.
Israel removed barricades, re-unifying Jerusalem on this day in 1967.
On this day in 1995, the shuttle Atlantis and the Russian space
station Mir docked, forming the largest man-made satellite ever
to orbit the Earth.
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002)
Singer and actress Rosemary Clooney came to prominence
in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House",
which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-
a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey
There" and "This Ole House".
A long-time smoker, Clooney was diagnosed with lung cancer
at the end of 2001. Around this time, she gave one of her last
concerts in Hawaii, backed by the Honolulu Symphony Pops;
her last song was "God Bless America". Her final show was
at Red Bank New Jersey’s Count Basie Theater in December
2001. Despite surgery, she died six months later on June 29,
2002, at her Beverly Hills home. Her nephew, actor George
Clooney, was a pallbearer at her funeral, which was attended
by numerous stars.
Pallbearers carry the casket of Rosemary Clooney out of St. Patrick’s Church after funeral services in Maysville, Ky. Actor George Clooney,
at center.
Recorded live on November 16, 2001, Released on
November 19, 2001.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003)
Actress Katharine Hepburn was a leading lady in Hollywood for more than
60 years. She appeared in a range of genres, from comedy to literary drama,
and she received four Academy Awards—a record for any performer—for
Best Actress. In 1999, Hepburn was named by the American Film Institute
as the greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
In 1997, Katharine Hepburn had become very weak, was speaking and eating
very little, and it was feared she would die. She showed signs of dementia in
her final years. In May 2003, an aggressive tumor was found in Hepburn’s
neck. The decision was made not to medically intervene, and she died from
a cardiac arrest on June 29, 2003, a month after her 96th birthday at the
Hepburn family home in Fenwick, Connecticut.
1981