In this June 17, 1994 file photo, a white Ford Bronco, driven by Al Cowlings and carrying O.J. Simpson, is trailed by Los Angeles police cars as it travels on a Southern California freeway in Los Angeles. Cowlings and Simpson led authorities on a chase after Simpson was charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. (AP file photo)

Today in History: June 17, O.J. Simpson charged with murder following highway chase

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, June 17, the 168th day of 2026. There are 197 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On June 17, 1994, after leading police on a slow-speed chase on Southern California freeways, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder in the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. (Simpson was acquitted of the murders in a criminal trial in 1995, but held liable in a civil trial in 1997.)

Also on this date:

In 1775, the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill resulted in a costly victory for the British, who suffered heavy losses.

In 1885, the Statue of Liberty, disassembled and packed into 214 separate crates, arrived in New York Harbor aboard the French frigate Isère.

In 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which boosted U.S. tariffs to historically high levels, prompting foreign retaliation.

In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Abington (Pennsylvania) School District v. Schempp, struck down, 8-1, rules requiring the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer or the reading of biblical verses in public schools.

In 1972, President Richard Nixon’s eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.’s, Watergate complex.

In 2008, hundreds of same-sex couples got married across California on the first full day that same-sex marriage became legal by order of the state’s highest court; an estimated 11,000 same-sex couples would be married under the California law in its first three months.

In 2015, nine Black worshippers were killed when a gunman opened fire during a Bible study gathering at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. (Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, was captured the next day; he would be convicted on state and federal murder and hate crime charges and sentenced to death.)

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, creating the first new national holiday since the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Today’s Birthdays: Filmmaker Ken Loach is 90. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is 83. Musician Barry Manilow is 83. Comedian Joe Piscopo is 75. Actor Jon Gries is 69. Filmmaker Bobby Farrelly is 68. Actor Thomas Haden Church is 66. Actor Greg Kinnear is 63. Olympic speed skating gold medalist Dan Jansen is 61. Fashion designer Tory Burch is 60. Actor Jason Patric is 60. Actor-comedian Will Forte is 56. Latin pop singer-songwriter Paulina Rubio is 55. Tennis Hall of Famer Leander Paes is 53. Tennis star Venus Williams is 46. Actor Jodie Whittaker is 44. Rapper Kendrick Lamar is 39. Actor KJ Apa is 29.