MOMENTS IN TIME - June 3, 2010

* On May 31, 1859, the famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located atop the 320-foot-high St. Stephen’s Tower, rings out over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time. Its famously accurate timekeeping is regulated by a stack of coins placed on the clock’s huge pendulum.

* On June 2, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizen Act, granting automatic American citizenship to Native Americans born in the United States. The law attempted to finalize Indian assimilation into white culture while permitting Indians to retain some of their tribal traditions.

* On June 6, 1933, eager motorists park their automobiles on the grounds of Park-In Theaters in Camden, N.J., the first-ever drive-in movie theater. Advertising it as entertainment for the whole family, Richard Hollingshead charged 25 cents per car and 25 cents per person, with no group paying more than one dollar.

* On June 4, 1942, the Battle of Midway begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown.

* On June 3, 1956, in Santa Cruz, Calif., city authorities announced a total ban on rock and roll at public gatherings, calling the music “Detrimental to both the health and morals of our youth and community.” Two weeks later, Time magazine reported on similar bans enacted in Asbury Park, N.J., and San Antonio, Texas.

* On June 5, 1968, Senator Robert Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California presidential primary. Kennedy was shot several times by 22-year-old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan. He died a day later.

* On June 1, 1980, CNN (Cable News Network), the world’s first 24-hour television news network, makes its debut. The network signed on at 6 p.m. EST from its headquarters in Atlanta, with a lead story about the attempted assassination of civil-rights leader Vernon Jordan.

(c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.