GMT 6/20/2016

This Day In History:

1840 – Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.

1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot".

1969 – David Bowie recorded 'Space Oddity' at Trident Studios London. The track went on to become a UK No.1 when re-released in 1975. Written about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut; Bowie would later revisit his Major Tom character in the songs 'Ashes to Ashes' and 'Hallo Spaceboy'.

1972 – Watergate scandal: An 18½-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.

1975 – The film Jaws is released in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing film of that time and starting the trend of films known as "summer blockbusters".

2004 – Organisers at a Paul McCartney gig hired three jets to spray dry ice into the clouds so it wouldn't rain during the concert. The gig in Petersburg, Russia, was McCartney's 3,000 concert appearance. He had performed 2,535 gigs with the Quarrymen and The Beatles, 140 gigs with Wings and 325 solo shows.