Today is Thursday, June 30, the 182st day of 2016. There are 184 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1859, French acrobat Charles Blondin walked back and forth on a tightrope above the gorge of Niagara Falls as thousands of spectators watched.

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 1912, Canada’s deadliest tornado on record occurred as a cyclone struck Regina, the provincial capital of Saskatchewan, killing 28 people.

In 1936, the Civil War novel “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell was first published by The Macmillan Co. 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, the film fantasy “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” starring Gene Wilder, was released by Paramount Pictures.

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