历史上的今天-Today in History 2011-06-07

 June 7th, 1998In Jasper, Texas, three white men chain a black man James Byrd, Junior to a pickup¹ truck, then drag him to his death. Two of the men who dragged Byrd are later sentenced to death for the crime. The third receives life in prison.

1948,The Communists complete their takeover of Czechoslovakia, as the country's president Edvard Benes resigns. Communist rule lasts until the collapse² of the Iron Curtain across Eastern Europe more than four decades later.

1981,Israeli military planes destroy a nuclear power plant in Iraq, then under Saddam Hussein's rule. Israel charges the facility could have been used to make nuclear weapons.

1972,In New York, the musical “Grease”, a teenage love story during high school in 1950s America, opens on Broadway.

And 1958,Prince, the rock singer, songwriter and musician whose hits include Purple Rain, Kiss, and 1999, is born in Minneapolis.

Today in History, June 7th, Tim Maguire, the Associated Press

1 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。