The landmark film "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" was released on
this day in history, June 11, 1982.

Then 34-year-old director Steven Spielberg reportedly drew
on his own experiences as an unusually imaginative, often-
lonely child of divorce for his science-fiction classic.

With Steven Spielberg as its director, the film starred Henry
Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert McNaughton and Dee
Wallace. 

Director Steven Spielberg with E.T.

TIM MAGUIRE

     
     
     
 
    
    
    
    
 John Wayne (Marion Robert Morrison)
(May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979)

Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the flag of the
United States on June 14, 1777 by resolution of the
Second Continental Congress.    

Ray Charles Robinson Sr.
(September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004)

Ray Charles was an singer, songwriter and pianist. He is regarded
as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history,
and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius."

Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called
"Brother Ray." Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly
due to glaucoma.    
   
Ray Charles died on June 10, 2004, at age 73, of complications
resulting from liver failure at his home in Beverly Hills, California.

Statue in Ray Charles Plaza in Albany, Georgia.

In Washington, D.C. on June 9, 1893, the interior of ramshackle
Ford’s Theatre collapses, causing the deaths of 22 people.

The building—where President Lincoln was shot on April 14,
1865— houses hundreds of clerks employed by the War
Department’s Records and Pensions Division.      

An investigation determined the cause of the tragedy was a pier
that had given way during excavation in the basement for an
electric-light plant.

Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865)

A National Historic Site, Ford’s Theatre today.