AP Photo Mark David Chapman's 1980 mug shot

Today is Monday, June 22, the 173rd day of 2026. There are 192 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On June 22, 1938, in a rematch that bore the weight of both geopolitical symbolism and African American representation, American Joe Louis knocked out German Max Schmeling in just two minutes and four seconds to retain his heavyweight boxing title in front of 70,000 spectators at New York’s Yankee Stadium.

Also on this date:

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated for a second time as Emperor of the French.

In 1941, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive and ultimately ill-fated invasion of the Soviet Union that would prove pivotal to the Allied victory over the Axis Powers.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, more popularly known as the “GI Bill of Rights,” which provided tuition coverage, unemployment support and low-interest home and business loans to returning veterans.

In 1945, the World War II Battle of Okinawa ended with an Allied victory.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that lowered the minimum voting age to 18.

In 1977, John N. Mitchell became the first former U.S. attorney general to go to prison as he began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up.

In 1981, Mark David Chapman pleaded guilty to killing rock star and former Beatle John Lennon.

In 1986, Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona scored the infamous “Hand of God” goal in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup against England, giving Argentina a 1-0 lead before he scored again minutes later to seal a 2-1 victory. (Argentina would beat West Germany 3-2 for the World Cup trophy days later).

In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court, in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, unanimously ruled that hate crime laws that banned cross burning and similar expressions of racial bias violated free-speech rights.

In 2009, a Metro commuter train slammed into the back of another train waiting to enter a station in Washington, D.C., killing nine people, including a train operator, and leaving dozens injured. It was the deadliest accident on the Metro train system since it opened in 1976.

In 2011, after evading arrest for 16 years, mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger was captured in Santa Monica, California.

In 2012, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted by a jury in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, on 45 counts of sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years. (Sandusky would later be sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.)

In 2022, a powerful earthquake struck a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring at least 1,500 others.

In 2025, U.S. forces used bunker buster bombs and cruise missiles to attack two underground uranium enrichment plants in Iran, seeking to deliver a knockout blow to that country’s nuclear program.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Klaus Maria Brandauer is 83. Musician-producer Peter Asher (Peter and Gordon) is 82. Musician-producer Todd Rundgren is 78. Actor Meryl Streep is 77. Actor Lindsay Wagner is 77. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is 77. Singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper is 73. Actor Bruce Campbell is 68. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich is 66. Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California is 66. Basketball Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler is 64. Actor Amy Brenneman is 62. Actor Mary Lynn Rajskub is 55. Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner is 55. Actor Donald Faison is 52. Football Hall of Famer Champ Bailey is 48. Golfer Dustin Johnson is 42. Singer Dinah Jane is 29. Actor Sean Kaufman is 26.