Good morning, it's Thursday, June 18. A dig at a Revolutionary War battlefield just yielded an unexpected item: a wig curler.
Also in today's Digest: sentencing for the Gilgo Beach murderer (Need To Know), the latest interest rate signals from the Fed (Bus. & Mkts.), America's least patriotic states (Etc.), the US' most popular federal agency (Civics Thursday), and much more.
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The US and Iran have remotely signed their deal to end hostilities, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and launch negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program, Pakistan's prime minister said yesterday. Read the 14-point memorandum of understanding here.
The agreement covers the return of ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and is predicated on an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Details surrounding Iran’s nuclear program and existing stockpile of enriched uranium are slated to be negotiated over a 60-day period. Trump said the US Space Force will monitor whether Iran tries to recover materials from its bombed nuclear facilities. At a minimum, Iran promises to down-blend its uranium in the presence of international observers.
The text outlines a $300B plan for Iranian reconstruction, and the US will issue waivers for its oil sanctions against Iran. The deal does not cover Iran’s missiles, around 70% of which are reportedly still intact. |
Artifacts of Independence |
An archaeological dig to uncover artifacts from a fort critical to the Battle of Bunker Hill ended yesterday, on the 251st anniversary of the fight. Archaeologists found musket balls, teacups, tobacco pipes, and even a wig curler. Watch the excavation process here.
Although the Americans ultimately retreated, the Massachusetts-based battle is said to have bolstered colonists' confidence (explore battle map). The night before the battle, more than 1,000 people dug a 3-foot-deep, 6-foot-wide trench protected by a 6-foot-high wall, a structure that proved critical to slowing the British advance. The dimensions, recorded two months after the battle by cartographer Henry Pelham, were confirmed by the dig. Archaeologists did not find human remains, despite nearly 150 soldiers dying in the fort.
The city of Boston carried out the dig in partnership with American Veterans Archaeological Recovery, a nonprofit introducing veterans to careers in archaeology. Learn about the organization's impact here (w/video). |
🫶 Humankind: Japanese fans clean stadium after their team's 2-2 draw with the Netherlands—a tradition upheld since Japan’s first World Cup appearance in 1998. |
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Serial killer Rex Heuermann was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole yesterday. The 62-year-old former architect admitted to killing eight women from 1993 to 2010. Their remains were discovered in or near Gilgo Beach on New York’s Long Island.
Many of the victims were sex workers with whom Heuermann had made plans to meet. While police discovered the remains of four victims in December 2010, it took over a decade for them to link their deaths to Heuermann. Ultimately, investigators zeroed in on Heuermann from a witness description and cellphone data, and were able to match DNA from a discarded pizza crust near his Manhattan office to hair found with the remains. Heuermann was arrested in 2023. His series of killings is the subject of multiple media adaptations. See a trailer for the Peacock docuseries here.
True crime is a multibillion-dollar industry. See a poll on Americans’ perceptions of the genre here. |
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> US Open Golf Championship begins today, with record $22.5M in prize money, matching the Masters Tournament purse (More) | WNBA to expand regular-season schedule from 44 to 50 games per team next year, the most in league history (More) |
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> Electronic nose detects odors linked to spoiled food and common allergens; developers say the technology could one day be integrated into refrigerators (More) |
> Oldest-known plague outbreak likely began after hunter-gatherers ate raw marmots, according to evidence from roughly 5,500-year-old cemeteries in southeastern Siberia (More) | Marmots 101, with nine fast facts (More) |
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> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -1.2%, Dow -1.0%, Nasdaq -1.3%) after Fed holds rates steady, signals at least one rate hike this year (More) | Fed Chair Kevin Warsh unveils overhaul of the central bank's operations; see highlights (More) |
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> US military strikes boat it says was carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person and leaving two survivors; at least 208 people have been killed in alleged drug boat strikes by the US since September (More) |
> Tropical Storm Arthur forms near Texas, marking the first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season; the storm is expected to bring heavy rainfall across the South in the coming days (More) | How are storms named? (More) |
> Small jet crashes on Texas highway, killing one person after pilot reports mechanical problems and requests emergency landing at a nearby airport (More) | Are small planes more prone to crashes? (More) |
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> The Price of Integrity
The Republic of Letters | Matthew Morgan. Cartoonist Bill Watterson was offered a fortune to turn the beloved "Calvin and Hobbes" into stuffed animals, TV specials, and more. He said no to all of it. Here's what he turned down and why. (Read) |
> How to Be a Supercommunicator
Big Think | Charles Duhigg. Why do we struggle to connect? Every interaction is one of three types: practical, emotional, or social—and it turns out most people are having different kinds of conversations without realizing it. (Watch) |
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1440 Civics: National Parks |
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Historybook: The US declares war against Great Britain as War of 1812 begins (1812); Paul McCartney born (1942); Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space (1983); Five people die after submersible implodes while exploring wreckage of the Titanic (2023); Baseball great Willie Mays dies (2024). |
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