Today is Tuesday, June 30, the 181st day of 2009. There are 184 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

June 30, 1859, French acrobat Charles Blondin (born Jean Francois Gravelet) walked back and forth on a tightrope above the gorge of Niagara Falls as thousands of spectators watched.

On this date:

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

In 1908, the Tunguska Event took place in Russia as an asteroid exploded above Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown-down trees.

In 1934, Adolf Hitler carried out his "blood purge" of political and military rivals in Germany in what came to be known as "The Night of the Long Knives."

In 1936, the novel "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell was published in New York.

In 1958, the U.S. Senate passed the Alaska statehood bill by a vote of 64-20.

In 1963, Pope Paul VI was crowned the 262nd head of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1971, a Soviet space mission ended in tragedy when three cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 11 were found dead inside their spacecraft after it had returned to Earth.

In 1985, 39 American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held 17 days.

Today's Birthdays: Actor-comedian David Alan Grier is 53. Actor Vincent D'Onofrio is 50. Boxer Mike Tyson is 43. Actress Lizzy Caplan is 27. Rhythm-and-blues singer Fantasia ("American Idol") is 25. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps is 24.

The Associated Press