Upon This Day in History...June 1-30 (Romans, Egyptian, Britain)

[Da Grouch]

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~1184 BC – The Trojan War: According to the calculations of Eratosthenes, this is the day that Troy was sacked and burned.

The 1598 painting "Aeneas' Flight from Troy"
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/BarocciAeneas.jpg (broken link)
Artist: Federico Barocci (1535–1612)


~1183 - Died this day: Henry - Young King of the English. He was known in his own lifetime as "Henry the Young King" to distinguish him from his father Henry II of England. Because he predeceased his father, he is not counted in the numerical succession of kings of England. Nonetheless, he was an anointed king and his royal status was not disputed (b. 1155).

~1216 - Died this day: Henry of Flanders, second emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople (b. circa 1174).

~1345 – The megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, was lynched by political prisoners when he decided to inspect a new prison, without being escorted by his bodyguards.

~1429 РIn France, the 2 day long Battle of Jargeau began, it was Joan of Arc's first offensive battle. Shortly after relieving the Siege at Orl̩ans, French forces recaptured the neighboring district along the Loire river. This campaign was the first sustained French offensive in a generation during the Hundred Years' War.

The 1505 miniature "Battle of Jargeau"

Artist: Martial d'Auvergne


~1488 - King James III of Scotland was killed in his defeat at the Battle of Sauchieburn, Stirling. He was succeeded by his son James IV.

~1509 – King Henry VIII of England married Catherine of Aragon. (A good move for him...not so much for her.)

~1557 – Died this day: King John III of Portugal, 15th King of Portugal and the Algarves (b. 1502).

~1727 – Died this day: King George I of Great Britain (b. 1660).

~1727 - King George II ascended the throne of Great Britain upon the death of his father King George I.

~1770 - Captain James Cook and his crew discovered the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia when their ship, HMS Endeavor, ran aground. The ship was badly damaged and Cook's voyage was delayed almost 7 weeks while repairs were carried out on the beach (near the docks of modern Cooktown, at the mouth of the Endeavour River).

The Endeavour replica in Cooktown harbor, just offshore of
the place where the original Endeavour was beached for 7
weeks in 1770

Photo by John Hill (February 7th, 2005)


~1776 – The Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.

~1798 - Napoleon captured Malta on his way to Egypt during the French Revolutionary Wars. As a ruse, Napoleon asked for safe harbour to resupply his ships. Once safely inside Valletta's harbour he turned his guns against his hosts. Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim capitulated and Napoleon stayed in Malta for a few days, during which time he systematically looted many movable assets of the island and established an administration controlled by his nominees. He then sailed for Egypt, leaving behind a substantial garrison.

~1805 – A huge fire destroyed nearly all of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.

~1825 – The first cornerstone was laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.

~1837 – The Broad Street Riot occurred in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and the Irish.

~1847 - British naval officer and Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin died in Canada's extreme north while attempting to discover the Northwest Passage.

~1892 – The Salvation Army's Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, was officially established in Melbourne, Australia.

~1895 - Charles E. Duryea received the first U.S. patent granted to an American inventor for a gasoline driven automobile.

Charles (left) and J.F. Duryea in the 1894 Duryea Car

As published in The Outing Magazine, Volume 51, Page 212


~1898 – During the Spanish-American War, U.S. war ships set sail for Cuba.

~1898 – The Hundred Days' Reform was started by Guangxu Emperor with a plan to change social, political and educational institutions in China, but was suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. The failed reform did, however, lead to the abolition of Imperial Examination in 1905.

~1903 - King Aleksandar and Queen Draga of Serbia were savagely murdered in the Imperial Palace during a coup by members of the Serbian army. Their mutilated bodies were then thrown from a palace balcony onto piles of garden manure.

~1917 – King Alexander assumed the throne of Greece after his father Constantine I abdicated under pressure by allied armies occupying Athens.

~1919 – Sir Barton (ridden by jockey Johnny Loftus) won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown.

Sir Barton and jockey Johnny Loftus at the 1919 Preakness
Stakes on May 14th, 1919

Photographer unknown/uncredited


~1920 – During the U.S. Republican National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Republican Party leaders gathered in a room at the Blackstone Hotel to come to a consensus on their candidate for the U.S. presidential election, leading the Associated Press to first coin the political phrase "smoke-filled room".

~1927 - In Washington, Charles A. Lindberg was presented the first Distinguished Flying Cross by US President Calvin Coolidge.

~1928 – Born this day: Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, Queen Fabiola of Belgium.

~1936 – The International Surrealist Exhibition opened in London, England. (All the big name acid-heads back in the day attended that gig.)

~1938 – During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Wuhan began. By the time the Japanese achieved victory, the following October, well over half a million casualties had been incurred by both sides of the conflict.

Japanese Marines at the Battle of Wuhan

Photographer unknown


~1938 – The Second Sino-Japanese War: The 1938 Yellow River Flood, to halt Japanese forces by destroying a dyke on the Yellow River, had been started 2 days earlier by the Chinese Nationalist government. But by June 11th the flow had reached massive proportions and more than 500,000 civilians were killed. To achieve full surprise on the invading Japanese force, the Chinese Nationalist government decided not to inform the mass public before destroying the dyke. The flood submerged millions of homes and since they were not informed beforehand, the majority of people did not have time to flee.

~1939 – Born this day: Sir Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver, 3 time Formula One World Champion and former F1 team principal.

~1944 – The Iowa class battleship USS Missouri received her commission from the US Navy. She was nicknamed the "Mighty Mo" and is known worldwide as "The Peace Ship", for the signing of the instrument of surrender by the Japanese upon her decks in Tokyo Harbor on September 2nd, 1945. The Missouri saw action in no less than 3 wars and received 11 Battle Stars during a career thaty spanned 6 decades. USS Missouri was the last U.S. battleship to be completed and today is a floating museum ship in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The USS Missouri underway

Photo courtesy the US Navy


~1955 – The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans Disaster: An Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collided at the while entering the pits at approximately 150 mph, sending the disintegrating (and burning) Mercedes hurtling through the air and into the crowd of spectators. In total it is estimated that between 80 and 120 spectators were killed, either by flying parts and debris, or from the fire, with a further 100 injured. Even though no official death toll was ever published, this is still the deadliest accident in auto racing history.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTd60AERIKU


~1956 – The start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that targeted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The total number of deaths in the melee was reported as 150.

~1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin became the only prisoners to ever escape from the island prison of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.

~1963 – Alabama Governor George Wallace stood at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block 2 black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school. Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they were able to register.

~1963 – Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burnt himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.

~1964 – A mentally ill World War II veteran ran amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at 8 children, 2 teachers and seriously injuried several more with a homemade flamethrower and a lance.

~1970 – After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially received their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first females to do so.

~1972 – The Eltham Well Hall Rail Crash occcurred. Caused mainly by an intoxicated train driver, 6 people were killed and a further 126 injured.

~1981 – A magnitude 6.9 on the Richter Scale earthquake at Golbaf, Iran, killed at least 3,000, injured another 9,500 and left upwards of 100,000 homeless.

~1982 - Steven Spielberg's blockbuster movie "E.T." opened in theaters.

~1985 - Karen Ann Quinlan died at age 31 while still in a comatose state after 10 years. Her case prompted a historic right to die court decision.

~1987 - Margaret Thatcher became the first British prime minister in 160 years to win a 3rd consecutive term of office.

~1993 - Yet another of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster movies "Jurassic Park" opened in theaters.

~2001 – The principal perpetrator in the Oklahoma City Bombing was executed.

~2002 – Antonio Meucci was acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.

~2004 – The NASA/ESA robotic spacecraft Cassini-Huygens made its flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe.

CGI of Cassini-Huygens approaching the Saturn system

Image courtesy of NASA


~2008 – The Canadian Indian residential school system: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an historic official apology to Canada's First Nations in regard to residential school abuse in which children were isolated from their homes, families and cultures for a century. Harper apologized, on behalf of the sitting Cabinet and in front of an audience of Aboriginal delegates (and in an address that was broadcast nationally on the CBC) for the past governments' policies of assimilation. The Prime Minister apologized not only for the known excesses of the residential school system, but for the creation of the system itself.

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[Da Grouch]

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~816 - Died this day: Pope Saint Leo III (b. 750).

~918 – Died this day: Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (b. 869).

~1020 – Died this day: Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. circa 949).

~1381 – During the Peasants' Revolt in England, Kentish rebels arrived at Blackheath.

~1429 – The Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc led the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk on the second day of the Battle of Jargeau.

~1560 – At the Battle of Okehazama, the forces of Oda Nobunaga defeated the army of Imagawa Yoshimoto, which was 14 times its size, with a surprise attack from the rear.

~1653 – On the first day of the Battle of the Gabbard (fought off the coast of Suffolk, England), the English fleet led by Admirals John Lawson and William Penn delivered a serious mauling to the Dutch fleet commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp.

The 1654 painting The Battle of the Gabbard, 12 June 1653 shows the Dutch flagship Brederode (right)
in action with the English ship Resolution

Artist: Heerman Witmont


~1758 – At the Siege of Louisbourg, during the French and Indian War, Brigadier General James Wolfe and 1,220 picked men were sent with around the harbor to seize Lighthouse Point, which dominated the harbor entrance.

~1775 – British general Thomas Gage declared martial law in Massachusetts. The British offered a pardon to all colonists who would lay down their arms. There would be only 2 exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock were to be hanged if captured.

~1776 – The Virginia Declaration of Rights was adopted unanimously by the Virginia Convention of Delegates as a separate document from the Constitution of Virginia (adopted on June 29th, 1776). It was later incorporated within the Virginia State Constitution as Article I, and a slightly updated version may still be seen in Virginia's Constitution, making it legally in effect to this day.

~1798 – During the Irish Rebellion of 1798, British forces led by Major-General George Nugent engaged the local United Irishmen led by Henry Munro. The decisive British victory ended the rebellion in Ulster.

~1860 – The State Bank of the Russian Empire was established on the base of the State Commercial Bank by ukaz of Emperor Alexander II. This ukaz also ratified the Statute of the bank. According the Statute, it was a state owned bank, intended for short term credit of trade and industry.

~1864 – At the Battle of Cold Harbor, US General Ulysses S. Grant gave the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee a victory by default when he pulled his Union troops from their positions at Cold Harbor, Virginia and marched southeast towards Petersburg, a crucial rail junction south of Richmond.

~1889 – The Armagh Rail Disaster occurred near Armagh, (Northern) Ireland when a crowded Sunday school excursion train had to negotiate a steep incline, the steam locomotive was unable to complete the climb and the train stalled out. The train crew decided to divide the train and take forward the front portion, leaving the rear portion on the running line. The rear portion had inadequate brakes, though, ran back down the gradient, colliding with a following train. At the time it was the worst rail disaster in Europe, and it remains the 4th worst in British history. 78 people were killed and 260 injured, most of them children.

~1898 – The Philippine Declaration of Independence was made in Cavite II el Viejo, Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the Philippine Islands from the colonial rule of Spain, which had been recently defeated at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.

~1899 – The New Richmond Tornado: An F5 tornado destroyed the village of New Richmond, Wisconsin killing 117 people and injuring 125. It remains the 8th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

New Richmond in ruins following the tornado. The remains of the destroyed
New Richmond Methodist Church lie in the foreground

Photo by P. Holland, courtesy the New Richmond Heritage Center


~1924 - Born this day: George H. W. Bush, World War II airman and 41st President of the United States.

~1924 - During gunnery practice off the coast of San Pedro, 48 men aboard the USS Mississippi (BB-41) were asphyxiated as a result of an explosion in her #2 Main Battery turret.

The USS Mississippi underway in the 1930s

Photo courtesy the US Navy


~1929 - Born this day: Anne Frank, German born Dutch Jewish diarist and famed victim of the Holocaust (d. 1945).

~1931 - In Chicago, Al Capone and 68 of his associates were indicted for violating U.S. Prohibition laws.

~1939 – The Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York.

~1940 – 13,000 British and French troops unable to reach Dunkirk in time for the evacuation surrendered to German forces under the command of Major General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux.

~1943 – The Berezhany Massacre: German SS troops liquidated the Jewish Ghetto in Berezhany, western Ukraine. 1,180 Jews were led to the city's old Jewish graveyard where they were machine gunned into oblivion.

~1948 - The delightful little Avro 701 Athena, a British advanced trainer aircraft, made its maiden flight. The incredibly agile little bird was described as a pleasure to fly and maintain by the personnel assigned to her. It was designed to replace the North American Harvard in the Royal Air Force, but was only brought in small numbers with the competing Boulton Paul Balliol being preferred solely due to its lower cost.

The Avro 701 Athena in flight (July 1950)

Photo courtesy the Royal Air Force


~1957 - Died this day: Jimmy Dorsey, brother of Tommy, prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader (b. 1904).

~1963 – Civil rights leader Medgar Evers was shot from behind in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by a Ku Klux Klan member. It would be more than 30 years before his murderer would be convicted of the crime.

~1963 - The movie Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison, and Richard Burton premiered at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City.

~1964 – Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.

~1967 – In Loving v. Virginia, the United States Supreme Court declared all U.S. state laws which prohibited interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.

~1967 – The Venera program: Venera 4 was launched on its mission to Venus, it would become the first space probe to enter another planet's atmosphere and successfully return data to Earth.

The Venera 4 probe

Photo courtesy NASA


~1978 – In New York City, the Son of Sam killer was sentenced to 365 years in prison for 6 murders.

~1979 – Bryan Allen won the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.

The Gossamer Albatross in flight

Photo by Jim Moran, courtesy NASA


~1987 РThe Central African Republic's former Emperor Jean-B̩del Bokassa was sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13 year rule.

~1987 – At the Brandenburg Gate U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, as a symbol of Reagan's desire for increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc.

President Reagan speaking in front of the Brandenburg Gate and the
Berlin Wall on June 12th, 1987

Photo courtesy the White House Photographic Office


~1990 – The First Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. (Now that's a mouthful.)

~1991 – Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president. However, Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after a series of economic and political crises in Russia in the 1990s.

~1991 – The Kokkadichcholai Massacre: Members of the Sri Lankan Army slaughtered 152 minority Tamil civilians in the village Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.

~1994 – Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson were murdered outside her home in Los Angeles, California. In one of the most sensational and controversial trials of the 20th century O.J. Simpson was later acquitted of the killings. Afterwards he was held liable in a wrongful death civil suit brought by the families of the 2 victims.

~1994 - The long-range, wide body Boeing 777 jet airliner took to the skies over western Washington on its maiden flight. Still in production as of this date there are more than 860 examples of the immensely popular Triple 7's plying the commercial air routes all over the globe.

An American Airlines Boeing 777-223ER landing at London (Heathrow) Airport in August 2002

Photo by Adrian Pingstone


~1996 - In Philadelphia a panel of federal judges blocked a law against indecency on the internet. The panel said that the 1996 Communications Decency Act would infringe upon the free speech rights of adults.

~1997 – In London, Queen Elizabeth II reopened the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, some 355 years after the previous Globe Theatre was permanently closed.

The Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 2003

Photo by Gary Reggae


~1998 - A jury in Hattiesburg, Mississippi convicted 17 year old Luke Woodham of killing 2 students and wounding 7 others at Pearl High School. He had also been convicted of murdering his mother at home before going to the school that day. (Other than all that, though, I'm sure he was a good kid.)

~1999 – Operation Joint Guardian began when a NATO led United Nations peacekeeping force (KFOR) entered the province of Kosovo in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

~2000 – In Rio de Janeiro a 21 year old gunman armed with a revolver boarded Bus #174 intending to rob the passengers. The incident quickly turned into a hostage taking event the highly publicized (and televised) standoff became a media circus and ended with the death of the gunman and a hostage.

~2003 - In Arkansas, Terry Wallis spoke for the first time in nearly 19 years. Wallis had been in a coma since July 13, 1984, after being injured in a car accident.

~2004 – A 1.3 kilogram chondrite type meteorite strick a house in Ellerslie, New Zealand causing serious damage but no injuries. (Try explaining that one to your insurance agent...)

~2009 – In Iran, the controversial 2009 Presidential Election was held. In its aftermath were large scale protests in Iran and around the world.

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[Da Grouch]

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~1036 - Died this day: ˤAlī az-Zāhir, the Seventh Caliph of the Fātimids (b. 1005).

~1231 - Died this day: Fernando Martins de Bulhões, venerated as Saint Anthony of Padua (b. circa 1195).

~1249 – The coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots took place at Scone, he was 7 years old at the time.

~1525 – Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora, against the celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for priests and nuns. (EEEEEEHAWWWWW...Stir it up, Marty!)

~1625 – King Charles I of England married French princess Henrietta Maria de Bourbon, a Catholic. (And if ya' think THAT didn't cause problems...!)

~1665 - The naval Battle of Lowestoft took place 40 miles east of the port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The English fleet delivered a crushing defeat to the Dutch but they failed to take advantage of it.

The oil on canvas work "The Battle of Lowestoft", showing HMS Royal Charles and the Eendracht

Artist: Hendrik van Minderhout


~1777 – The Marquis de Lafayette landed near Charleston, South Carolina, in order to help the Continental Congress train its army.

~1798 – Mission San Luis Rey de Francia was founded in coastal Las Californias, near the present day U.S. city of Oceanside in California.

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia (August 6th, 2005)

Photo by Francisco Santos


~1805 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Scouting ahead of the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and 4 companions sighted the Great Falls of the Missouri River.

~1871 – In Labrador, an early season hurricane roared in off the Atlantic, killing 300 people.

~1881 – The USS Jeannette was crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack while on an expedition to the North Pole through the Bering Strait.

The Steam Yacht Jeannette (later USS Jeannette) At Le Havre, France, in 1878, prior to her departure for San Francisco, California

Photo by Frank Breen Haggerty, courtesy the U.S. Naval Historical Center


~1886 – The Great Vancouver Fire: In a matter of only hours, a fire devastated most of Vancouver, British Columbia. The blaze began as a brush fire to clear land between present day Main and Cambie Streets, it was spread out of control by a strong gale that came up without warning. Dozens of lives were claimed by the fire and the only structures not destroyed were a stone building in the West End (it's still standing in 2010), the Hastings Mill Store and a few structures on the banks of False Creek. The city was soon rebuilt with modern water, electricity and streetcar systems.

The rebuilt Vancouver, Cordova Street looking east from Cambie (c. 1890)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Cordova_St_looking_east_from_cambie_1890s.jpg (broken link)
Photo by Richard H Trueman, courtesy the City of Vancouver Archives


~1886 – The bodies of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Dr. Bernhard von Gudden were found floating in Lake Starnberg south of Munich. Ludwig is sometimes also referred to as "Mad King Ludwig", though the accuracy of that label has been disputed. Because Ludwig was deposed on grounds of mental illness without any medical examination, and died a day later under mysterious circumstances, questions about the medical "diagnosis" remain controversial.

~1898 – In Canada's north, the Yukon Territory was formed with Dawson chosen as its capital.

~1916 - The Italian Andrea Doria class battleship Caio Duilio received her commission from the Regia Marina.

The Caio Duilio

Photographer unknown/uncredited


~1917 – The deadliest German air raid on London during World War I was carried out by Gotha G bombers and resulted in 162 deaths and 432 injuries.

The Gotha G5 (c. autumn 1917)

Sourced from: earlyaviator.com


~1920 - The United States Postal Service ruled that children may not be sent via parcel post. (WHOA! What sheer brilliance on their part!)

~1927 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh received a ticker-tape parade down 5th Avenue in New York City in honor of his milestone trans-Atlantic flight the month previous.

~1934 – Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met in Venice, Italy. Mussolini later described the German dictator as "a silly little monkey". (Takes one to to know one, Benny...!)

~1935 – In one of the biggest upsets in championship boxing, the 10 to 1 underdog James J. Braddock defeated Max Baer in Long Island City, New York, to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

~1942 – The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was established by Executive Order 9182 to consolidate the functions of the Office of Facts and Figures, OWI's direct predecessor; the Office of Government Reports and the division of information of the Office for Emergency Management. The Foreign Intelligence Service, Outpost, Publication and Pictorial Branches of the Office of the Coordinator of Information were also transferred to the OWI. (Nothing more than a center for the production of propoganda.)

~1942 – The US established the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). It was the wartime intelligence agency and was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The agency was formed in order to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for the branches of the United States military.

~1944 – The Battle of Bloody Gulch took place near Hill 30, approximately one mile (1.6 km) southwest of Carentan in Normandy, France. The engagement was fought between elements of the German 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division and 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment, against the American 501st, 502nd and 506th, Parachute Infantry Regiments (PIR) of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, reinforced by elements of the U.S. 2nd Armored Division. This German counter-attack was successfully crushed.

~1944 – The Buzz Bomb: The first V-1 flying bomb was launched at London, one week after (and prompted by) the successful Allied landing in Europe. At its peak, over a hundred V-1s a day were fired at southeast England, 9,521 in total, decreasing in number as sites were overrun until October 1944 when the last V-1 site in range of Britain was overrun by Allied forces.

The V-1 Flying Bomb (Bombe volante V1)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/V1-20040830.jpg (broken link)
Photo courtesy the Musée Royal de l'Armée, Bruxelles


~1952 – The Catalina Affair: 2 Swedish military Catalina flying boats went in search of a missing DC-3 north of Estonia. One of the planes was shot down by Soviet warplanes but the crew ditched near the West German freighter Münsterland and were rescued.

An early 1950's photo of a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina flying boat, in Northern Europe

As published in the U.S. Navy Naval Aviation News, October 1956 edition


~1955 – Mir Mine, the first diamond mine in the USSR, was discovered by Soviet geologists Yuri Khabardin, Ekaterina Elagina and Viktor Avdeenko during the Amakinsky Expedition.

~1966 – The United States Supreme Court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.

~1967 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Solicitor-General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

~1971 – The New York Times began publication of the Pentagon Papers.

~1977 – The convicted assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. was recaptured after escaping from prison 3 days before.

~1981 – At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager fired 6 blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.

~1982 - Died this day: King Khalid of Saudi Arabia (b. 1912).

~1982 – Crown Prince Fahd ascended the throne of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, King Khalid.

~1983 – Pioneer 10 became the first man made object to leave the solar system.

~1986 - Died this day: Benny Goodman, musician, big band era leader, composer and "King of Swing" (b. 1909).

Film screenshot of Benny Goodman from the 1943 movie
"Stage Door Canteen"

Screenshot by RKO Radio Pictures


~1995 – French president Jacques Chirac announced the resumption of nuclear tests in French Polynesia. (Can you say HYPOCRITE? Sure ya' can...I knew ya' could!)

~1996 – The Montana Freemen surrendered after an 81 day standoff with FBI agents.

~1997 – A jury sentenced the principal perpetrator of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to death.

~1997 – The Uphaar Cinema Fire, in Green Park, Delhi, occurred during the premiere screening of Border, a patriotic Hindi movie. 59 people died and 103 were seriously injured in the subsequent stampede. Most of the victims were trapped on the balcony and were asphyxiated as they tried to reach dimly marked exits to escape the smoke and fire, only to find the doors locked.

~2000 – President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea met Kim Jong-il (leader of North Korea) for the beginning of the first ever inter-Korea summit, in the northern capital of Pyongyang.

~2000 – Italy pardoned Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.

~2002 – The United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

~2005 – A jury in Santa Maria, California acquitted Michael Jackson of molesting 13 year old Gavin Arvizo at his Neverland Ranch.

~2007 – The Al Askari Mosque in Samarra, Iraq was bombed for a 2nd time.

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[Da Grouch]

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~1161 – Died this day: Emperor Qinzong of China (b. 1100)

~1276 – While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China away from the advancing Mongol invaders the remnants of the Song Dynasty court held the coronation ceremony for the young prince Zhao Shi, making him Emperor Duanzong of Song.

~1381 - The Peasant’s Revolt, led by Wat Tyler, climaxed when rebels marched on London. They plundered, burned and captured the Tower of London, killing the Archbishop of Canterbury. This in spite of being granted a meeting with King Richard II of England. The revolt was in response to a statute intended to hold down wages during a labor shortage.

~1381 – Died this day: Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. circa 1330).

~1645 – The Battle of Naseby was fought near Market Harborough, Northamptonshire, it was the key battle of the First English Civil War. The main armed force of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.

The 1727 hand colored copper engraving "Battle of Naisby"

By Dupuis after Parrocel


~1666 - During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, The Four Days Battle (fought off the Flemish and English coast) ended with a Dutch victory. It remains one of the longest naval engagements in history.

The oil on canvas work "Four Days Battle"

Artist: Pieter Cornelisz van Soest


~1775 - the Second Continental Congress decided to proceed with the establishment of a Continental Army for purposes of common defense, adopting the forces already in place outside Boston (22,000 troops) and New York (5,000). It also raised the first 10 companies of Continental troops on a 1 year enlistment, riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia to be used as light infantry, who later became the 1st Continental Regiment in 1776.

~1777 - The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag of the United States.

The original 13 star Betsy Ross flag

Image courtesy Devin Cook


~1789 – Mutiny survivors of HMS Bounty, including Lieutenent William Bligh and 18 others reached Timor after a journey of nearly 7,400 km (4,000 mi) in an open boat.

~1800 – The Battle of Marengo was fought between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and an Austrian army led by General Michael von Melas near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. The French defeated von Melas's surprise attack, driving the Austrians out of Italy and enhancing Napoleon's political position in Paris.

The oil on canvas work "Bataille de Marengo, 1802"

Artist: Louis-François Lejeune


~1807 – Emperor Napoleon I's French Grande Armee decisively defeated the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Poland, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.

~1821 – King Badi VII of Sennar, surrendered his throne and realm to Isma'il Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom.

~1830 - The French Invasion of Algeria: French General de Bourmont landed 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch with 34,000 soldiers to begin the conquest of Algiers.

~1834 - Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

~1839 – The Henley Royal Regatta: The village of Henley-on-Thames, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, staged its first Regatta.

~1846 – The Bear Flag Revolt began. Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, started a rebellion against Mexico and proclaimed the California Republic.

~1863 – At the Battle of Second Winchester, a Union Army garrison commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy was totally defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia under Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.

~1863 – The second assault by Union Forces under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks on the Confederate works, during the Siege of Port Hudson, was successfully repelled.

~1905 - A gun explosion in the #1 Main Turret of the Royal Navy's Majestic class battleship HMS Magnificent resulted in 18 casualties.

HMS Magnificent (c. 1896)

Photo courtesy the Imperial War Museum


~1907 – Norway adopted female suffrage.

~1917 - The French built Nieuport 28 fighter aircraft flew for the first time. Designed by Gustave Delage, it was the first aircraft to see service with an American fighter squadron.

A Nieuport 28 on display at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Photo courtesy the US Air Force


~1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown departed St. John's, Newfoundland in a modified World War I surplus Vickers Vimy bomber on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.

The take-off of Alcock and Brown from St. John's, Newfoundland on June 14th, 1919

Photographer unknown/uncredited


~1926 – Brazil left the League of Nations.

~1932 - U.S. Representative Edward Eslick died on the floor of the House of Representatives while pleading for the passage of the bonus bill.

~1933 - The first Grumman FF biplane fighters to enter service were delivered to Fighter Squadron VF-5B of the USS Lexington. In service the FF-1 became familiarly known as the "Fifi". Although it was withdrawn from first-line duties after only 3 years, it would soldier on as a training aircraft well into the Second World War.

The Grumman FF in flight (c. spring 1934)




~1940 – Paris fell to German forces with Allied armies in full retreat.

~1940 – The Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania resulting in the Lithuanian loss of independence.

~1940 – The first transport of 728 Polish prisoners, which included 20 Jews, arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Selection on the Jewish ramp at Auschwitz. To be sent to
the right meant labor; to the left, the gas chambers

Photographer unknown


~1941 – The June Deportation: The first major wave of Soviet mass deportations and murder of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, began.

~1942 – Anne Frank began to keep her diary.

~1951 – UNIVAC I was dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.

~1954 - Americans took part in the first nationwide civil defense test against atomic attack.

~1959 – A group of Dominican exiles with leftist tendencies departed from Cuba and landed in the Dominican Republic with the intent of deposing Generalissimo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. All but 4 of them were killed or executed by Trujillo's army.

~1962 – The New Mexico Supreme Court, in the case of Montoya v. Bolack, prohibited state and local governments from denying Indians the right to vote because they lived on a reservation.

~1966 – The Vatican announced the abolition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (index of prohibited books), which was originally instituted in 1559.

~1967 – The Mariner Program: Mariner 5 was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 12 on its mission to Venus.

Mariner 5

CG Image courtesy NASA


~1976 – The trial of the killer known as the Black Panther, began at Oxford Crown Court.

~1982 – The Falklands War ended when the occupying Argentine troops in the capital of Stanley unconditionally surrendered to British forces.

British paratroopers guarding Argentine Prisoners of war in Port Stanley

Photo by Kenneth Griffiths


~1985 – TWA Flt. 847, a Boeing 727, was hijacked by Lebanese Shia Extremists after originally taking off from Cairo, Egypt. The flight was en route from Athens, Greece to Rome, Italy, from where it was scheduled to travel on to London. The aircraft with its passengers and crew endured a 3 day intercontinental ordeal during which one passenger, a U.S. Navy diver, was murdered. Dozens of passengers were then held hostage over the next 2 weeks, until released by their captors.

~1989 - Former U.S. President Reagan received an honorary knighthood from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

~1989 - Zsa Zsa Gabor was arrested in Beverly Hills for slapping a motorcycle cop when he stopped her for a traffic violation. She was found guilty of the assault in a well publicized trial and sentenced to 3 days in the El Segundo jail. The judge also required her to pay $13,000 in court costs.

~1995 - Chechen rebels took over 2,000 people hostage in a hospital in Russia.

~2002 - A truck with a fertilizer bomb, driven by a suicide bomber, was detonated outside the US Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. 12 people were killed and 51 injured in the blast. A group called al-Qanoon claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the incident is believed to have been connected with al-Qaeda and the US War on Terror although no conclusive links were proven.

...

[htlong]

1997- I went to atlantic city to play craps!

[Da Grouch]

.

~763 BC – The Assyrians recorded a solar eclipse that would later be used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.

~923 – The Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France was killed and King Charles the Simple was arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy who ascended the throne of France upon Robert's death.

~991 – Died this day: Empress Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 960).

~1073 – Died this day: Emperor Go-Sanjō of Japan (b. 1034).

~1184 – King Magnus V of Norway was killed and his fleet destroyed by the naval fleet of King Sverre at the Battle of Fimreite, fought off the coast of Norway near the hamlet of Fimreite in the long and narrow Sognefjord in Sogndal municipality, Sogn og Fjordane county.

~1215 – King John of England put his seal to the Magna Carta at Runnymede, England. Magna Carta required King John of England to proclaim certain rights pertaining to freemen, respect certain legal procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered and implicitly supported what became the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment. Magna Carta was arguably the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today in the English speaking world. Magna Carta influenced the development of the common law and many constitutional documents, including the United States Constitution.


The drawing "John of England signs Magna Carta"

Image from Cassell's History of England - Century Edition
Published circa 1902


~1219 - The Battle of Lyndanisse was fought between the troops of King Valdemar II of Denmark and an Estonian force. Valdemar II defeated the Estonians at Lyndanisse, under the pretext of helping the Crusade in Palestine, by orders from the Pope. The victory helped establish the territory of Danish Estonia during the Northern Crusades.

~1246 РThe Battle of the Leitha River was fought near the banks of the Leitha river between the forces of the King B̩la IV of Hungary and Duke Frederick II of Austria. The battle resulted in a Hungarian victory, the death of Frederick II (ending the Babenburg dybasty in Hungary) and Austrian claims to the western counties of Hungary. Its exact location is unknown, according to the description delivered by contemporary minnesinger Ulrich von Liechtenstein the battlefield may have been between the towns of Ebenfurth and Neufeld.

~1341 – Died this day: Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1297).

~1381 – Died this day: Wat Tyler, English rebel and leader of the Peasant's Revolt (b. 1341).

~1383 – Died this day: John VI Cantacuzenus, Byzantine Emperor (b. circa 1292).

~1389 – At the Battle of Kosovo, the invading army of the Ottoman Empire, under the leadership of Sultan Murad I who was killed in the battle, defeated the combined Serb and Bosnian defense forces. The battle took place in the Kosovo Field, about 5 kilometers northwest of modern day Pristina.

The 1870 oil on canvas work Battle on Kosovo 1389, Turks killed Tsar Lazar's horse

Artist: Adam Stefanović (My rant du jour: Have you ever noticed how almost every damned so-called artist of the 19th
century tried their utmost to depict battle as a glorious thing interspersed with the necessary heros
and/or villians...and always with the obligatory peons dying en masse, of course.)


~1520 – Pope Leo X threatened to excommunicate Martin Luther in the papal bull Exsurge Domine.

~1580 – King Philip II of Spain declared William I, Prince of Orange (William the Silent) to be an outlaw.

~1667 – The first human blood transfusion was administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, the personal physician to King Louis XIV. He transfused about 12 ounces of sheep blood into a 15 year old boy, who had been bled with leeches 20 times. The boy survived the transfusion.

~1752 – Benjamin Franklin proved that lightning is electricity by conducting his famous kite experiment in Philadelphia; successfully extracted sparks from a cloud.

~1775 – George Washington was unanimously appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

~1785 РJean-Fran̤ois Pil̢tre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first ever manned flight in 1783, and his companion Pierre Romain became the first ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon exploded during their attempt to cross the English Channel.

~1804 – New Hampshire approved the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are elected. This 13th vote in favor was enough to ratify the document.

~1836 – Arkansas was admitted as the 25th state of the Union.

~1844 – Charles Goodyear received a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.

~1846 – The Oregon Treaty, between Britain and the United States was signed in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by both Britain and the U.S. since the Treaty of 1818. It established the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

~1859 – The Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty led to the Northwestern Boundary Dispute between U.S. and British/Canadian settlers. Lyman Cutlar, an American farmer who had moved onto San Juan Island claiming rights to live there under the United States' Donation Land Claim Act (1850), shot and killed a large black pig rooting in his garden. He had found the giant black boar eating his tubers. This was not the first occurrence. Cutlar was so upset that he took aim and shot the pig. It turned out that the pig was owned by an Irishman, Charles Griffin, who was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company to run the sheep ranch. He also owned several pigs which he allowed to roam freely. The pair had lived in peace until this incident. When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, American settlers called for US military protection. The affair was enentually settled peacefully and the only casualty in the Pig War was the original pig.

~1867 – The Atlantic Cable Quartz Lode gold mine, located in Deer Lodge County, Montana, was officially named. (Just thought I'd mention that...in case there's someone out there who actually cares.)

~1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper became the first black cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

~1885 - The Royal Navy Admiral class battleship HMS Benbow was launched at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. shipyards. She was one of the first warships to be fitted with the new Elswick BL 16.25 inch gun.

HMS Benbow at anchor (c. autumn 1892)

Photo courtesy the Imperial War Museum


~1888 - Died this day: Frederick III, German Emperor (b. 1831).

~1888 – Crown Prince Wilhelm ascended the throne of Germany and Prussia as Kaiser Wilhelm II, upon the death of his father Emperor Frederick III; he was to be be the last Emperor of the German Empire.

~1896 – The Meiji-Sanriku Earthquake: The magnitude 7.2 shaker generated the most destructive tsunami in Japan's history, killing more than 22,000 people.

Devastation caused by the 1896 tsunami

Photo courtesy the Imperial Household Agency


~1904 – The sidewheel steam passenger ship PS General Slocum caught fire and burned to the waterline in New York City's East River. 1,021 of the 1,342 people on board were killed.

The PS General Slocum (c. 1895)

Photographer unknown


~1905 – Princess Margaret of Connaught married Gustaf, Crown Prince of Sweden in St. George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle. (Gustaf definitely had an eye for the ladies...Margaret was drop dead gorgeous!)

~1911 – The Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation was incorporated in Endicott, New York. The company operates today as International Business Machines Co., Limited (IBM).

~1913 – The Battle of Bud Bagsak in the Philippines ended with a US victory. It was fought between defending Moro resistance fighters and American forces led by General John "Black Jack" Pershing.

~1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown completed the first nonstop trans-atlantic flight when they reached (crash landed at) Clifden, County Galway in Ireland.

~1920 – The Duluth Lynchings: 3 black circus workers were attacked and lynched by a mob in Duluth, Minnesota. Rumors had circulated among the mob that 6 blacks had raped a teenage girl. A physician's examination of the girl subsequently found no evidence of rape or assault. The killings shocked the country, particularly for their having occurred in the northern United States. In 2003, the city of Duluth erected a memorial for the murdered workers.

The Duluth memorial to the event
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Duluth_Lynchings_Memorial.jpg (broken link)
Photo by Karl Wagner


~1920 – A new border treaty between Germany and Denmark gave northern Schleswig to Denmark.

~1932 - The Chaco War (1932–35) began. The conflict was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region (the Chaco Boreal) of South America, which was incorrectly thought to be rich in oil. It would prove to be the bloodiest military conflict fought in the Americas during the 20th century.

A machine gun manned by Paraguayan soldiers during the Chaco War, in June 1932

Photo taken from the 75 anniversary issue of La Razón newspaper, March 1st 1980,
page 59. First published in July 1932


~1934 – The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was officially established.

~1936 - The Vickers Wellington, a British long range medium bomber made its first flight from Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a bomber by the larger 4 engine "heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster. The Wellington continued to serve throughout the war in other duties, particularly as an anti-submarine aircraft. It was the only British bomber to be produced for the entire duration of the war. The Wellington was popularly known as the Wimpy by service personnel, after J. Wellington Wimpy from the Popeye cartoons.

The Vickers Wellington Mk.I medium bomber in flight

RAF photo courtesy the Imperial War Museum


~1937 – A German mountain climbing expedition of 16, led by Karl Wien, was wiped out in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat. It is still the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000m peak.

~1944 – The Battle of Saipan began. More than 8,000 US Marines landed on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands under the fire cover of US Navy warships.

LVTs heading ashore at Saipan on June 15th, 1944. The cruiser USS Birmingham is in the foreground; the cruiser
firing in the distance is the USS Indianapolis

Photo courtesy the US Navy


~1944 – In the Saskatchewan provincial general election, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) led by Tommy Douglas was elected and formed the first socialist government in North America.

~1945 - The first flight of the North American F-82 Twin Mustang. It was the last American piston engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long range escort fighter in World War II, however the war ended well before the first production units were operational, so its postwar role changed to that of nightfighting. Radar equipped F-82s were used extensively by the Air Defense Command as replacements for the P-61 Black Widow night fighter. During the Korean War, Japanese based F-82s were among the first USAF aircraft to operate over Korea. The first 3 North Korean aircraft destroyed by U.S. forces were shot down by F-82s, the first being a North Korean ***-11 downed over Gimpo by the USAF 68th Fighter Squadron.

The F-82 Twin Mustang over Muroc Army Field, California

Photo courtesy the US Air Force


~1954 РUEFA (Union des Associations Europ̩ennes de Football) was formed in Basel, Switzerland following discussions between the French, Italian and Belgian Football Associations.

~1969 - Hee Haw debuted on CBS television, quickly becoming an institution. (A sad institution but...)

~1978 – King Hussein of Jordan married American Lisa Halaby, who took the name Queen Noor.

~1985 – At the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Rembrandt's painting Danaë was attacked by a lunatic who threw sulfuric acid on the canvas and cut it twice with a knife.

~1992 - The United States Supreme Court ruled in United States vs. Alvarez-Machain that it is permissible for the US to abduct suspects in foreign countries and bring them to America for trial, without approval from those other countries. No reciprocal right was recognized for the reverse to happen in the US. (Ain't hypocrisy grand?)

~1996 – Died this day: Ella Fitzgerald, legendary American jazz singer (b. 1917).

~1996 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a large bomb in the middle of Manchester, England. Although no one was killed by the blast, 212 people were injured.

~1999 - George Morber Senior and Carolyn Frederick were murdered by The Railway Killer in Gorham, Illinois. They were believed to be his 14th & 15th victims, in his 7th and final incident.

~2002 – The near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN missed the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about 1/3 of the distance between the Earth and the Moon. According to NASA, it was the 2nd closest approach to Earth in recorded history. Its mass and relative velocity were in the same general range as the object ascribed to the Tunguska Event of 1908, which levelled over 800 square miles (2,100 km2) of trees in Siberia.

...

[Da Grouch]

.

~1487 - The decisive Lancastrian victory at the Battle of Stoke Field proved to be the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses.

~1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle and forced to abdicate in favor of her one year old son, James VI. (2 out of 5 sources claim this as occurring on June 15th.)

~1745 – The Siege of Louisbourg: With British forces tightening their grip on Louisberg and the rest of Cape Breton Island the French commanders decide to surrender. They capitulated the next day.

Panorama of the restored Fortress of Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia

Photo by someone called Tango7174


~1746 – Austrian and Sardinian forces engaged a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza. The result was a victory for the Austrian forces, led by Prince Josef Wenzel. It formed part of later operations in the War of Austrian Succession.

~1755 РThe French and Indian War: the French surrendered Fort Beaus̩jour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians. French priest Jean-Louis Le Loutre's last act of defiance was to burn the local Cathedral so that it would not fall into the hands of the British. For leading the resistance against the British occupation of Acadia, he was captured and imprisoned for 8 years.

~1774 – The city of Harrodsburg was founded. It is the oldest city in Kentucky.

~1779 – Spain declared war on Great Britain, the Great Siege of Gibraltar began shortly thereafter.

~1815 – The Battle of Ligny was fought in Belgium. It was the last victory of the military career of Napoleon Bonaparte. In this battle, French troops of the Armée du Nord under Napoleon's command, defeated a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher. The bulk of the Prussian army survived, however, and went on to play a pivotal role 2 days later at the Battle of Waterloo.

~1815 - The Battle of Quatre Bras, between the Duke of Wellington's Anglo-Dutch army and the left wing of the Armée du Nord under French Marshal Michel Ney, was fought near the strategic crossroads of Quatre Bras. It ended with a tactical draw.

~1846 – The Papal Conclave of 1846 concluded. Pope Pius IX was elected Pope, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy aside from St. Peter.

~1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivered his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois, upon accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination as that state's United States senator. The speech became the launching point for his unsuccessful campaign for the Senate seat against Stephen A. Douglas, which included the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. The speech also created a lasting image of the danger of disunion because of slavery and it rallied Republicans across the North. Along with the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address, this became one of the best known speeches of his career.

~1871 – The University Test Act allowed students to enter the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests, except for courses in theology.

~1883 – 183 children died during the Victoria Hall Theatre Panic in Sunderland, England when they were caught in a crowd crush at a partially blocked doorway.

Victoria Hall and Alexandra Hall, in the early 20th century
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Vichallopark.jpg (broken link)
Photo courtesy of The Sunderland Echo


~1884 - The first roller coaster in the United States, the Switchback Railway began operation at Coney Island, New York. (3 out of 7 sources list this as occurring on June 13th.)

LaMarcus Thompson's Switchback Railway in 1884

Image courtesy the Library of Congress


~1891 – John Abbott became Canada's 3rd Prime Minister. He was made famous throughout the Western World with his political comment "I hate politics". The full quote was "I hate politics and what are considered their appropriate measures. I hate notoriety, public meetings, public speeches, caucuses and everything that I know of which is apparently the necessary incident of politics; except doing public work to the best of my ability."

~1903 – The Ford Motor Company was incorporated by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. The company was launched in a converted factory with $28,000 in cash from 12 investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge. The Dodge brothers would later found their own car company.

Ford's famous "Blue Oval" logo
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/Ford_Motor_Company_Logo.svg/500px-Ford_Motor_Company_Logo.svg.png (broken link)
Image courtesy Ford Motor Company


~1904 – Eugen Schauman shot and killed Nikolai Bobrikov, the Governor General of Finland, before turning the gun on himself.

~1904 – Irish author James Joyce began his relationship with his future wife Nora Barnacle. He subsequently used the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called Bloomsday.

~1911 – A 772 gram stony meteorite impacted and seriously damaged a barn near Kilbourn, Columbia County, Wisconsin.

~1916 - The first Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 reconnaissance/bomber was delivered to the Royal Flying Corps' Central Flying School at Upavon. The sturdily built aircraft was powered by a 160 hp (110 kW) Beardmore water-cooled engine. The type was unusual in having dual controls, enabling the observer to control the aircraft in the event of the pilot becoming incapacitated by enemy action. (Read: Made a one way trip to the happy hunting ground.)

The Armstrong Whitworth FK 8
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Armstrong_Whitworth_FK8.jpg (broken link)
Photo courtesy the Imperial War Museum


~1924 – The Whampoa Military Academy was officially opened. It was a military academy in the Republic of China (ROC) that produced many prestigious commanders who fought in many of China's conflicts during the 20th century, notably the Northern Expedition, the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War.

~1925 – The most famous Young Pioneer camp of the USSR, Artek, was established near the Black Sea in the town of Gurzuf located on the Crimean peninsula.

~1938 - The US Navy placed its initial order for the Brewster Buffalo F2A-1 fighter plane. The initial order of 66 units was soon followed by orders for many more. But while the Buffalo was a delightful little plane to fly, even by the time it had made its first flight in December of 1937 it was obsolete. Contempory fighters of the day such as the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Supermarine Spitfire, the Macchi C.200 Saetta and others were far superior in performance to the Buffalo.

A Brewster F2A-1 Buffalo from aircraft carrier
Saratoga (CV-3)

Photo courtesy the US Navy


~1940 РFrench Marshal Henri Philippe P̩tain became Prime Minister of a defeated France. He held the position for 25 days before completing his traitorous sell out to Nazi Germany and becoming the puppet Premier of Vichy France.

~1958 – Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising were executed.

~1960 - Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller Psycho opened in New York.

~1963 – The launch of Vostok 6 took place. Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space during this, the last flight of a Vostok 3KA spacecraft.

~1976 – The Soweto Uprising: a non violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa turned into days of rioting when police opened fire on the crowd. More than 500 were killed and another 1,000 plus injured in the ensuing violence.

~1977 – Oracle Corporation was incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL) by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.

~1980 - Former Canadian Ambassador to Iran, Ken Taylor, was honored for helping 6 Americans escape from Tehran during the Iranian Hostage Crisis in what became known as the Canadian Caper.

~1983 - Yuri Andropov became Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.

~1997 – The Dairat Labguer Massacre in Algeria left 50 people murdered by some 30 or more guerrillas, who also kidnapped women, killed the livestock and stole jewelry. (Another day, another Algerian massacre...)

~2000 – Died this day: Empress Kōjun of Japan (b. 1903).

~2002 - ABC Television cancelled Politically Incorrect (from sponsors dropping the show) after host Bill Maher made controversial comments on air regarding the September 11th Terrorist Attacks, including the integrity of US President George W. Bush.

...

[Da Grouch]

.

~900 – Died this day: Fulk the Venerable, Archbishop of Rheims; assassinated (b. circa 838).

~1025 – Died this day: Bolesław I the Brave, first king of Poland (b. 967).

~1462 – The Night Attack: A large scale skirmish was fought between the forces of Vlad III the Impaler of Wallachia and the army of Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire. The conflict initially started with Vlad Ţepeş's refusal to pay tribute to the Sultan and intensified when Vlad Ţepeş invaded Bulgaria and impaled over 23,000 Turks and Bulgarians. Mehmed then raised a great army with the objective to conquer Wallachia and annex it to his empire. The 2 leaders fought a series of skirmishes, the most notable one being the Night Attack where Vlad Ţepeş attacked the Turkish camp in the night in an attempt to kill Mehmed. While Vlad's forces won a decisive victory that night, the assassination attempt failed and Mehmed marched to the Wallachian capital of Târgovişte. There he discovered another 20,000 impaled Turks and Bulgarians. Demoralised, the Sultan and his troops retreated.

The oil on canvas work "Battle With Torches"

Artist: Theodor Aman (1831 -91)


~1497 – The Battle of Deptford Bridge took place at present day Deptford in southeast London, adjacent to the River Ravensbourne. It was the culminating event of the Cornish Rebellion. King Henry VII of England had mustered an army of some 25,000 while the Cornish opposing him (led by An Gof) lacked the supporting cavalry and artillery arms essential to the professional forces of the time. After carefully spreading rumours that he would attack on the following Monday June 19th, Henry moved against the Cornish at dawn on his "lucky day", Saturday. The Royal forces were divided into 3 "battles", 2 under Lords Oxford, Essex and Suffolk, to wheel round the right flank and rear of enemy while the 3rd waited in reserve. When the Cornish were duly surrounded, Lord Daubeney and the 3rd "battle" were ordered into frontal attack. Estimates of the Cornish dead in the ensuing one-sided battle range from 200 to 2000 and a general slaughter of the broken army was well under way when An Gof gave the order for surrender.

~1565 – The 13th Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yosh-iteru, was killed along with his small number of troops in a skirmish with the forces of Matsunaga Hisahide. (Once again, no hyphen in the name Yosh-iteru ; but, ya' know, the auto censor and all that...same bullsh-it.)

~1579 – During his circumnavigation of the globe (1577–1580), Sir Francis Drake claimed for England a land he called Nova Albion, which is today's California. (Recent investigations have indicated that the landing actually occurred much farther north in central Oregon.)

The drawing "Francis Drake in Nova Albion, 1579"

Artist unknown, published 1580


~1631 – Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, would spend more than 20 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal (February 2002)

Photo by Meutia Chaerani


~1673 – French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reached the Mississippi River, near Prairie du Chienand, and went on to become the first Europeans making a detailed account of its course.

~1696 – Died this day: John III Sobieski, King of Poland (b. 1629)

~1733 РThe city of C̼cuta, Colombia was founded by Juana Rangel de Cu̩llar.

~1775 – The Battle of Bunker Hill took place. The fighting occurred mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston (early in the American Revolutionary War). The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill, which was peripherally involved in the battle and was the original objective of both colonial and British troops. After 2 assaults on the colonial lines were repulsed with significant British casualties, the British finally captured the positions on the 3rd assault, after the defenders in the redoubt ran out of ammunition. The colonial forces then retreated to Cambridge over Bunker Hill. With the loss of nearly a third of the British forces the state of siege was not significantly altered. Meanwhile, colonial forces were able to retreat and regroup in good order having suffered few casualties.

~1839 – In the Kingdom of Hawaii, under threat of the French government seeking to protect the work of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, King Kamehameha III issued an Edict of Toleration allowing for the establishment of the Hawaii Catholic Church.

~1863 – The Battle of Aldie: During the Gettysburg Campaign, Union Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick's brigade encountered Colonel Thomas T. Munford's Confederate troopers near the village of Aldie, resulting in 4 hours of stubborn fighting. Both sides made mounted assaults by regiments and squadrons. Kilpatrick's brigade was reinforced in the afternoon, and Munford finally withdrew toward Middleburg.

~1876 – The Battle of the Rosebud: 1,500 Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors led by Crazy Horse beat back a US Army force of similar size, commanded by General George Crook, at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.

The sketch "The Sioux charging Colonel Royall's detachment of cavalry, June 17th"
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/14/X-33716.jpg (broken link)
Artist unknown, as published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper August 12th, 1876, pg. 376


~1877 – The Battle of White Bird Canyon: Warriors of the Nez Perce nation defeated the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory in a battle provoked by the cavalry.

~1885 РThe Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor on board the French frigate Is̬re, commanded by Lespinasse De Saune.

The Statue of Liberty

Phot by someone called BigMac, taken on September 9th, 2005


~1898 – With the Spanish-American War looming, Congress passed a bill authorizing establishment of the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps, signed into law by President William McKinley.

~1905 - The Royal Navy's King Edward VII class predreadnought battleship HMS Hibernia was launched at the Davenport Dockyard. In 1912 she became the first warship underway to launch an aircraft.

HMS Hibernia (c. 1907)

Photo courtesy the Imperial War Museum


~1910 – The first flight of Aurel Vlaicu's A. Vlaicu nr.1 was made in Romania. It is generally considered to be the first aircraft specifically designed for military purposes.

~1916 - The first flight of the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8, a British 2 seat reconnaissance/bomber aircraft of World War I. Intended as a replacement for the vulnerable B.E.2, the R.E.8 was much more difficult to fly and was regarded with great suspicion at first in the Royal Flying Corps. Although eventually it gave reasonably satisfactory service it was never an outstanding combat aircraft. In spite of this, the R.E.8 served as the standard British reconnaissance and artillery spotting aircraft from mid 1917 to the end of the war, serving alongside the much more popular Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8. Over 4,000 R.E.8s were eventually produced and they served in most theatres including Italy, Russia, Palestine and Mesopotamia, as well as the Western Front.

An early R.E.8

Official RAF photo, courtesy the Imperial War Museum


~1928 - Aviator Amelia Earhart set out on her quest to become the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, when she took off as a passenger aboard a Fokker F. VII named "Friendship". Wilmer Stutz was pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic on the flight. The plane set down safely in Burry Port, Wales 20 hours and 40 minutes later.

~1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act into law that raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to record levels. The overall level tariffs under the Tariff Act of 1930 were the 2nd highest in US history, exceeded only (by a small margin) by the Tariff Act of 1828. In a prime example of the dangers surrounding protectionism, the ensuing retaliatory tariffs by U.S. trading partners reduced American exports and imports by more than half. (Hoover was a great social leader, but an economic idiot!)

~1932 – The Bonus Army: Thousands of World War I veterans amassed at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considered a bill that would give them an early cash payment redemption of the service certificates issued to them in 1924.

~1933 – The Union Station Massacre: in Kansas City, Missouri, 4 FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash were allegedly gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash. (Later evidence has suggested that wild shotgunfire by law enforcement was responsible for at least 3 of the deaths.)

~1937 - While moored at Cartagena, the España class dreadnought battleship Jaime I of the Spanish Navy was wrecked by a massive accidental internal explosion and fire that resulted in the deaths and injuries of a large portion of her crew. She was soon refloated, but determined to be beyond repair.

The Jaime I alongside the España in 1936

Photographer unknown/uncredited


~1939 – The last public guillotining in France, that of convicted murderer Eugen Weidmann, took place in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre Prison.

~1940 – Operation Ariel, which had gotten underway on June 14th, shifted into high gear as Allied troops stepped up their evacuation of France following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation. Over 215,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated during Ariel.

~1940 – The British Cunard liner RMS Lancastria was sunk by Luftwaffe Junker Ju 88 bombers near Saint-Nazaire, France, resulting in the loss of an estimated 4,000 plus lives. She had been evacuating troops and civilians during Operation Ariel.

1927 postcard of RMS Lancastria

Artist unknown, originally posted to Flickr


~1940 – The British Army's 11th Hussars attacked and seized Fort Capuzzo in Libya from Italian forces.

~1940 – The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fell under the occupation of the Soviet Union.

~1944 – Iceland declared its independence from Denmark and became a republic.

~1947 - The Yakovlev ***-17 made its first flight. It was an early Soviet jet fighter. The trainer version, known as the ***-17UTI, was the Soviet Air Arms most numerous and important early jet trainer. (3 out of 4 sources confirming this date.)

The ***-17
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Yakovlev_***-17.jpg[/IMG]
Photo by Kobel


~1948 – United Airlines Flt. 624, a Douglas DC-6. crashed near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people aboard.

~1953 – The East Germany Workers Uprising: in East Germany, the Soviet Union ordered a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a labor led rebellion.

~1958 – The Second Narrows Bridge, while in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver, British Columbia, collapsed into Burrard Inlet killing 18 of the ironworkers and injuring many others. A diver sent down to recover bodies drowned later. The span has since been renamed the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

The wreckage of the Second Narrows Bridge
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Ironworkers_Memorial_collapse.jpg (broken link)
Photo courtesy the Vancouver Public Library Archives


~1958 – (Meanwhile, on the same day just a quarter mile from the collapsing Second Narrows Bridge): The Wooden Roller Coaster at Playland, located on the Pacific National Exhibition Grounds in Vancouver's Hastings Park, opened. It is still in operation today and is the signature ride of Playland.

~1961 – The socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) was founded with the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

~1963 – The United States Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp that school sponsored Bible reading and reciting of the Lord's Prayer in public schools in the United States was unconstitutional.

~1963 – A day after South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem announced the Joint Communique to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2,000 people broke out.

~1972 – The Watergate Scandal: 5 White House operatives were arrested at the Watergate Complex for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.

~1987 – With the death of the last known bird of the species, Southern Florida's Dusky Seaside Sparrow became extinct.

~1991 – The South African Parliament repealed the Population Registration Act of 1950 which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.

~1992 – A "Joint Understanding" agreement on arms reduction was signed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. This would be later codified in START II.

~1994 – Following a low speed highway chase that turned into a televised media circus, O.J. Simpson was arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

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[Da Grouch]

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~618 – Li Yuan became Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating almost 3 centuries of Tang Dynasty rule over China.

~1178 – 5 monks from Canterbury reported to the abbey's chronicler, Gervase, that shortly after sunset they saw "two horns of light" on the shaded part of the Moon. This was probably the Giordano Bruno crater being formed from an asteroid making a lunar impact on the far side of the Moon. It is believed that the current oscillations of the Moon's distance from the Earth (on the order of metres) are a result of this collision.

~1250 - Died this day: Queen Teresa of Portugal (b. 1178).

~1264 – The Parliament of Ireland met at Castledermot in County Kildare. It is the first definite known meeting of this Irish legislature.

~1291 - Died this day: King Alfonso III of Aragon (b. 1265).

~1429 – French forces dealt a decisive defeat to the main English army under sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War. Although the victory was credited to Joan of Arc, most of the fighting took place at the vanguard of the French army and the battle was over before the main body could arrive.

~1757 – The Battle of Kolín was fought between Prussian forces under Frederick the Great and an Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal Count Leopold Joseph von Daun in the Seven Years' War. There were more than 23,000 casualties on both sides in this Austrian victory.

The (c. 1760) oil on canvas work "Battle of Kolín"

Artist uncredited


~1767 – English sea captain Samuel Wallis and his men sighted Tahiti. He and his crew are believed to be the first Europeans to reach the island.

~1812 – The U.S. Congress declared war on Britain.

~1815 - The Battle of Waterloo was fought near Waterloo in present day Belgium. An Imperial French army under the command of Emperor Napoleon was defeated by combined armies of the Seventh Coalition, an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington along with a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher. It was the culminating battle of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. The defeat at Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. There were more than 47,000 casualties in this, arguably the most famous battle of the 19th century.

The 1816 painting "The Battle of Waterloo"

Artist: William Sadler (1782-1839)


~1858 – Charles Darwin received a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that included nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.

~1859 – The first ascent of Aletschhorn, the second summit of the Bernese Alps, was made by Francis Fox Tuckett, J. J. Bennen, V. Tairraz and P. Bohren.

~1873 – Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 Presidential Election.

~1887 – The Reinsurance Treaty between Germany and Russia was signed. It was an attempt by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to continue to ally with Russia after the League of the Three Emperors had broken down in the aftermath of the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War.

~1900 – Empress Dowager Longyu of China ordered all foreigners to be killed, including foreign diplomats and their families. (Bit of a PMS day there, Dow?)

~1908 – Japanese immigration to Brazil began when 781 people arrived in Santos aboard the ship Kasato-Maru.

The Kasato Maru docking at warehouse n.14 in the Port of Santos to disembarkment the first Japanese immigrants in Brazil.

Photographer unknown - scanned 1908 postcard


~1908 – The University of the Philippines was established through Act No. 1870 of the first Philippine Legislature, it is known as the "University Act".

~1928 - Died this day: Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer of the world's polar regions (b. 1872).

~1935 - The Ballantyne Pier Riot: A major clash erupted between city, provincial and federal (RCMP) police and longshoremen protesters on the waterfont dock in the East End of Vancouver, British Columbia. It lasted for about 3 hours and was the climax of a company lockout of the longshoremen. Local political and business leaders alleged that the strike (lockout) protest was illegitimate, claiming it was part of an international Communist conspiracy to spark a Pacific coast Bolshevik revolution beginning on Vancouver's waterfront. No evidence of these claims has ever been forthcoming.

Police guarding the entrance to Ballantyne Pier shortly before the riot broke out

Photo courtesy the Vancouver Public Library Archives


~1940 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave his now legendary "Finest Hour" speech to the House of Commons:

"....However matters may go in France or with the French Government or with another French Government, we in this island and in the British Empire will never lose our sense of comradeship with the French people. If we are now called upon to endure what they have suffered we shall emulate their courage, and if final victory rewards our toils they shall share the gains, aye. And freedom shall be restored to all. We abate nothing of our just demands—Czechs, Poles, Norwegians, Dutch, Belgians, all who have joined their causes to our own shall be restored.

What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.

But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour."

~1940 – Also in London that day; Charles de Gaulle made the famous Appeal of June 18. This is generally accepted to be the origin of the French Resistance to the German occupation during World War II. De Gaulle spoke to the French people from London after the fall of France. He declared that the war for France was not yet over, and rallied the country in support of the Resistance.

~1942 - Born this day: Sir Paul McCartney, British singer, songwriter and musician (The Beatles - Wings), classical composer and social activist.

~1953 – The Republic of Egypt was declared and the monarchy abolished, with General Muhammad Naguib becoming the first President of the Republic.

~1953 – A United States Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashed and burned near Tokyo, Japan killing 129.

The Douglas C-124C Globemaster II

Photo courtesy the US Air Force


~1967 - Jimi Hendrix burnt his guitar on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival. (And the reason for this was what, Jimi?)

~1972 – The Staines Disaster: British European Airways Flt. 548, a Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C, stalled and crashed near the town of Staines less than 3 minutes after departing from London Heathrow. There were no survivors among the 118 aboard.

A British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident similar to the plane that crashed

Photo by Adrian Pingstone


~1979 – SALT II: In Vienna an agreement to limit strategic launchers was reached and signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.

~1983 – The Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space, aboard the shuttle Challenger.

~1983 – Mona Mahmudnizhad together with 9 other Bahá'í women, was sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran because of her Bahá'í Faith.

~1984 – A major clash between about 5,000 police and a similar number of miners took place at Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the 1984-1985 UK Miners' Strike.

~1994 – The Loughinisland Massacre: Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) attacked a crowded bar with assault rifles, killing 6 civilians and wounding 5 others. The bar was targeted because those inside were believed to be Irish nationalists and/or Catholics. (Ooh! They go to a different church than us...we'd better kill the bastards!)

~2001 – Protests occurred in Manipur over the extension of the ceasefire between Naga insurgents and the government of India. (How dare they not kill each other!)

~2006 – The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat was launched.

~2008 - The European Parliament passed legislation that allowed undocumented aliens to be held in detention centres for up to 18 months and banned from European Union territory for 5 years.

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[Da Grouch]

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~1027 – Died this day: Saint Romuald (b. 951).

~1179 РIn Norway the Battle of Kalvskinnet was fought outside Nidaros. A force of Birkebeiners, led by future king Sverre Sigurdsson (Sverrir Sigur̡arson) engaged and defeated the army of King Magnus Erlingsson, commanded by Earl Erling Skakke. Skakke was killed and the battle changed the tide of the civil wars.

~1269 – King Louis IX of France ordered all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined 10 livres of silver.

~1306 – The Earl of Pembroke's troops defeated Robert the Bruce's Scottish force in a surprise attack at the Battle of Methven. While the English incurred only ~600 casualties in total out of a force of just over 3000, more than 4000 of the 4500 Scots were killed.

~1586 – English colonists left Roanoke Island, after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America.

~1692 - Died this day: Rebecca Nurse, accused American witch, hanged (b. 1621).

~1807 – In the Aegean Sea, Admiral Dmitry Senyavin destroyed the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Athos. As a result of the battle, the Ottoman Empire lost its combat capable fleet for more than a decade and signed an armistice with Russia on August 12th.

~1816 РThe Fight at Seven Oaks was fought between the M̩tis of the North West Company and a group of Hudson's Bay Company men and settlers, near Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Hudson's Bay group were no match for the battle hardened M̩tis.

The 1816 watercolor "The Fight at Seven Oaks"

Artist unknown


~1821 – The Battle of Dragashani was fought in Drăgăşani, Wallachia, between the Ottoman forces of Sultan Mahmud II and the Greek Filiki Etaireia insurgents. Although the Ottomans achieved victory that day it was only a prelude to the Greek War of Independence.

~1846 – The first officially recorded, organized baseball match was played under Alexander Joy Cartwright's rules on Hoboken, New Jersey's Elysian Fields with the New York Nine Baseball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23-1. Cartwright umpired.

~1850 – Princess Louise of the Netherlands married Crown Prince Karl of Sweden-Norway. (Too bad for Louise, for as much as she loved him...the bed-hopping lowlife didn't love her.)

~1865 – Over 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas were finally informed of their freedom. The anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 35 other states as Juneteenth.

Ashton Villa, it was from the home's front balcony that the Emancipation
Proclamation was read on June 19th, 1865
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3c/Ashton_Villa_Galveston_Texas.jpg (broken link)
Photo by something or somebody called nsaum75 (???)


~1867 РAfter being captured by the Republicans, Maximilian I of the Mexican Empire was executed by a firing squad in Quer̩taro, Quer̩taro.

~1875 – The Herzegovinian Rebellion: Catholics in the Gabela and Hrasno districts of lower Herzegovina, ignited by overtaxing, rebelled against the Ottoman authorities under the leadership of don Ivan Musić.

~1893 - In the trial of Lizzie Borden, for the axe murder of her parents, the defense rested and the case was put to the jury the following day.

~1902 - Died this day: King Albert of Saxony (b. 1828).

~1910 – The first Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington.

~1915 – The Pennsylvania-class battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) was launched from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. She was the first US Navy ship to be named Arizona. This was done specifically in honor of the 48th state's admission into the union, which had happened just the year before the battleship was authorized by Congress. The Arizona was commissioned in 1916 and served stateside during World War I. USS Arizona is most famously known for her sinking, with the loss of 1,177 lives, during the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941; the event that brought about US involvement in World War II. The ship was deemed unserviceable, however salvage operations removed several elements of the ship to be used for the war effort. The wreck continues to lie at the floor of Pearl Harbor where it is the site of a memorial to those who perished on that day. (My cousin is aboard that ship...I never met him, but I'm told he was a damned good man.)

The USS Arizona (BB-39) underway with President Herbert Hoover on board, March 1931. The Presidential
Flag is flying from her mainmast peak.

Photo courtesy the US Navy


~1918 - The highly effective Pfalz D.XII German fighter plane, built by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke, passed its type test and was approved to enter into service with the Luftstreitkräfte. The D.XII began reaching the Jagdstaffeln, primarily Bavarian units, in July of 1918 and was active until the end of World War I. Designed by Rudolph Gehringer as a successor to the Pfalz D.III, the D.XII was the last Pfalz aircraft to see widespread service.

The Pfalz D.XII

Photo courtesy the Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives )


~1934 – The Communications Act of 1934 established the United States' Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

~1937 - The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford made its first flight, over southern England. The aircraft was utilized as an excellent trainer by British Commonwealth aircrews for navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery right through the Second World War. More than 4,400 Oxfords would eventually be built and several airworthy examples of this tough old bird still exist.

An Airspeed AS.10 Oxford of Marham station flight at Blackbushe on September 7th, 1955

Photo by RuthAS


~1943 – The Beaumont Race Riots: Racial tension was already high when workers at the Pennsylvania shipyard in Beaumont, Texas learned that a white woman had accused a black man of raping her. The resulting race riots left hundreds injured.

~1944 – The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot: The 2 day long Battle of the Philippine Sea began. The largest aircraft carrier battle in history, it was fought between the navies of the United States and the Empire of Japan. While the US only lost 123 combat aircraft (80 of whose crews survived) in their lopsided victory, the engagement proved disastrous for the Imperial Japanese Navy, which lost 3 aircraft carriers and some 600 aircraft. One US airman stated to his crew chief about the waves of Japanese aircraft being swept from the sky, "This is nothing more than a turkey shoot"...the term stuck.

~1944 - During the opening phases of the Marianas battle, the Essex class carrier USS Bunker Hill was damaged when an enemy near miss scattered shrapnel fragments across the ship. 2 men were killed and more than 80 were wounded. Bunker Hill continued to fight, with her aircraft shooting down some of the 476 Japanese aircraft destroyed during the battle, and assisting in the sinking of a Japanese carrier. Bunker Hill received one of her 11 Battle Stars for her World War II service in this engagement. She also received the Presidential Unit Citation for all of her wartime action.

The USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) is near-missed by a Japanese bomb during the air attacks of June 19th 1944

Photo courtesy the US Navy


~1944 - During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Shōkaku, was struck by 3 (possibly 4) torpedoes from the submarine USS Cavalla. As Shōkaku had been in the process of refueling aircraft and was in an extremely vulnerable position, the torpedoes started fires that proved impossible to control. At 14:08 hrs. an aerial bomb exploded, detonating aviation fuel. Shōkaku sank quickly however 571 men were rescued.

Sorry about the link but the pic is a memory wh-ore:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...okaku_1941.jpg


~1950 - The first commercial drag races, The Santa Ana Drags, began at Orange County Airport (now John Wayne Airport) in Santa Ana, California. Admission was 50 cents; or 75 cents if the ticket holder wanted to watch the mechanics work (the equivalency of today's pitt pass).

~1952 - The first flight of the Yakovlev ***-25 Mandrake. Introduced into service in 1955, the swept wing, turbojet powered interceptor aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft was used by the Soviet Union until its retirement in 1967. Of the 638 examples built, less than a dozen are known to still exist today.

A Yakovlev Jak-25 interceptor on display at the Monino museum

Photo by Kobel


~1953 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for espionage at New York's Sing Sing Prison.

~1954 - The animated Bugs Bunny short "Devil May Hare" debuted in theaters, introducing The Tasmanian Devil.

~1961 – Kuwait was granted its independence from Britain.

~1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved by the United States Senate, after surviving an 83 day filibuster.

~1976 - King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden married Silvia Sommerlath.

~1978 - Born this day: Garfield, Jon Arbuckle's lazy, Monday hating, lasagna eating cat. (Yes I know the launch date was June 18th, but Garfield wasn't delivered to the newsstands until the next day.)

Lo-Rez image of Garfield

Image courtesy of Paws Inc.


~1982 – In one of the first militant attacks by Hezbollah, David S. Dodge, president of the American University in Beirut, was kidnapped.

~1987 – The Basque separatist group ETA committed one of its most violent attacks, in which a bomb was detonated in the Hipercor Shopping Centre on Avinguda Meridiana, Barcelona Spain. The bombing killed 21 people and injured 45 others. To date this represents the deadliest attack in ETA's history.

~1990 – The current international law defending indigenous peoples, 1989 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, was ratified by Norway; the first country to do so.

~2006 – The prime ministers of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland participated in a ceremonial "laying of the first stone" at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Spitsbergen, Norway.

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