Today in History: June 9, Secretariat wins Triple Crown in record time
Today is Monday, June 9, the 160th day of 2025. There are 205 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On June 9, 1973, Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, winning horse racing’s Triple Crown and setting a still-standing record by running the 1 1/2-mile dirt course in 2 minutes, 24 seconds.
Also on this date:
In 1732, James Oglethorpe received a charter from Britain’s King George II to establish the colony of Georgia.
In 1954, during the Senate Army-McCarthy hearings, Army special counsel Joseph N. Welch berated Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, asking: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
In 1972, heavy rains triggered record flooding in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The resulting disaster left at least 238 people dead and more than 1,300 homes destroyed.
In 1978, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a policy of excluding Black men from the Mormon priesthood that had been in place for more than 125 years.
In 1986, the Rogers Commission released its report on the Challenger disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.
In 2013, Rafael Nadal became the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tennis tournament after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the French Open final. (Nadal would finish his career with 14 French Open titles.)
In 2022, at its first public hearing on the matter, the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol placed blame squarely on Donald Trump, saying the assault was not spontaneous but an “attempted coup” and a direct result of the defeated president’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Sportscaster Dick Vitale is 86.
- Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Parker is 74.
- Film composer James Newton Howard is 74.
- Author Patricia Cornwell is 69.
- Actor Michael J. Fox is 64.
- Writer-filmmaker Aaron Sorkin is 64.
- Actor Johnny Depp is 62.
- Actor Gloria Reuben is 61.
- Actor Michaela Conlin is 47.
- Actor Natalie Portman is 44.
- Musician Anoushka Shankar is 44.
- Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Laurie Hernandez is 25.