Moments in Time – May 31, 2023

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• On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution, which determined that the U.S. flag would consist of 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white, five-pointed stars on a blue background.
• On June 12, 1817, the earliest form of bicycle – known as the Laufmaschine in German and in English by the derogatory term “dandy horse” – was demonstrated by its inventor, Karl Drais.
• On June 16, 1903, Pepsi-Cola became an official trademark. The Pepsi Cola Company had launched just the year before, to immediate success, and by 1910, boasted more than 200 franchises in 24 states.
• On June 18, 1978, American serial killer and sex offender Jeffrey Dahmer murdered his first victim just three weeks after his high school graduation. Dahmer had lured 18-year-old hitchhiker Steven Mark Hicks to his house with the promise of a few beers.
• On June 13, 1981, Queen Elizabeth II was shot at with six blank rounds by Marcus Sarjeant while she was riding a horse. The queen managed to keep her horse under control and was not injured. When police questioned Sarjeant about his motives, he said: “I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be a somebody.”
• On June 17, 1985, fighter pilot and Saudi prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud became the first Arab, the first Muslim and the first member of a royal family to fly into space, on NASA’s Discovery Space Shuttle, as a payload specialist. He chose not to fast for Ramadan while he was training and in space, but brought a small Koran along for the trip, with a prayer from his mother asking God to protect travelers, and tied his feet to the shuttle floor to prostrate himself in prayer as best he could.
• On June 15, 2019, Babe Ruth’s baseball jersey became the most expensive sports memorabilia in history when it sold for a staggering $5.6 million. According to Hunt Auctions, the jersey dated to between 1928 and 1930 and broke the previous record of $4.4 million set by a 1920 Ruth jersey.

© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.