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On This Day: North Korea sentences 2 U.S. journalists to 12 years

On June 8, 2009, North Korea sentenced American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling to 12 years in prison for "illegal entry." They were released after a visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
By UPI Staff   |   June 8, 2019 at 3:00 AM
Euna Lee (L) and Laura Ling (R), two American journalists who were arrested in March after allegedly crossing into North Korea from China, speak with reporters as former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore look on after the two arrived at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., on August 5, 2009. North Korea sentenced Lee and Ling to 12 years of hard labor on June 8, 2009. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI James Earl Ray, seen here 1991, was arrested in London and charged with the April 4 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on this day in 1968. UPI File Photo The USS Liberty (AGTR-5) receives assistance from units of the Sixth Fleet, after she was attacked and seriously damaged by Israeli forces off the Sinai Peninsula on June 8 1967. An SH-3 helicopter is near her bow. Photo courtesy U.S Navy Secretary of State Colin Powell testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Relations on April 30, 2003, in Washington. On this day in 2003, Powell said he stood by his testimony before the United Nations that Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction before the war. File Photo by Michael Kleinfeld/UPI Rugs and other household items from the last safe house of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Hibhib, Iraq, lie among the rubble on June 8, 2006. A U.S. warplane air strike on the house killed al-Zarqawi and a group of his associates late June 7, 2006. UPI File Photo by Zach Mott/U.S. Army Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force and commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 22, 2012. On this day in 2012, Allen apologized to the Afghan people for the deaths of 18 civilians, including children, in an airstrike. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

On this date in history:

In 1789, James Madison proposed the Bill of Rights, which led to the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

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In 1869, Ives McGaffney of Chicago obtained a patent for a "sweeping machine," the first vacuum cleaner.

In 1967, the USS Liberty, an intelligence ship sailing in international waters off Egypt, was attacked by Israeli jet planes and torpedo boats. Thirty-four Americans were killed in the attack, which Israel said was a case of mistaken identity.

In 1968, James Earl Ray, an escaped convict, was arrested in London and charged with the April 4 assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Ray died in prison in 1998.

In 1986, Austrian voters elected Kurt Waldheim as president. The former U.N. secretary-general's campaign was plagued with allegations he was involved in Nazi war crimes.

In 1994, two of the major warring factions in Bosnia, the Muslim-Croat federation and the Bosnian Serbs, signed a cease-fire agreement.

In 1995, U.S. Marines rescued downed American pilot Scott O'Grady in Bosnia.

In 2001, Tropical Storm Allison strikes the Texas coast for the second time in three days. The storm would go on to kill 50 people and cause $5 billion along the gulf and northeastern coasts.

File Photo by A.J. Sisco/UPI

In 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he stood by his testimony before the United Nations that Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction before the war.

In 2006, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and seven others were confirmed killed in an airstrike on a house north of Baquba.

In 2009, North Korea sentenced American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling to 12 years in prison for "illegal entry." They were released after a visit by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

In 2012, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, apologized to the Afghan people for the deaths of 18 civilians, including children, in an airstrike.

In 2013, Princess Madeleine of Sweden married British-American businessman Christopher O'Neill.

In 2018, Stephen Curry scored a game-high 37 points, leading the Golden State Warriors to their second consecutive championship with a 108-85 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI