Today is Saturday, June 21, the 173rd day of 2008. There are 193 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 21, 1788, the United States Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.

On this date:

• In 1834, Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

• In 1932, heavyweight Max Schmeling lost a title fight rematch in New York by decision to Jack Sharkey, prompting Schmeling’s manager, Joe Jacobs, to exclaim: “We was robbed!”

Five years ago: Ten weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, President Bush offered a broadly positive status report on the U.S. mission in Iraq in his weekly radio address.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Jane Russell is 87. Actress Mariette Hartley is 68. Rock singer-musician Ray Davies (The Kinks) is 64. Actress Meredith Baxter is 61. Rock musician Joey Kramer (Aerosmith) is 58. Rock musician Nils Lofgren is 57. Cartoonist Berke Breathed is 51. Country singer Kathy Mattea is 49. Writer-director Larry Wachowski (“The Matrix”) is Britain’s Prince William of Wales is 26.

Thought for Today: “He, who will not reason, is a bigot; he, who cannot, is a fool; and he, who dares not, is a slave.”— William Drummond, Scottish writer (1585-1649).