TODAY IN HISTORY

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JUNE 18

1983:With Sally Ride aboard as a mission specialist, the space shuttle Challenger blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its second mission. Ride is the first American woman in space, following the Soviet Union's Valentina Tereshkova by 20 years and two days.

1812: President James Madison signs a declaration of war against the United Kingdom, beginning the War of 1812.

1979: President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign the controversial SALT II arms-reduction treaty; it will never be ratified by the U.S. Congress.