June 19 ...

In 1586 English colonists sailed from Roanoke Island, NC, after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America. In 1862 Congress prohibited slavery in United States territories. In 1865 Union troops commanded by Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX with news that the Civil War was over, and that all slaves were free. (The anniversary of this celebration is called "Juneteenth.") In 1903 baseball great Lou Gehrig was born in New York City. In 1910 Father's Day was celebrated for the first time, in Spokane, WA. In 1917 during World War I, King George IV ordered the British royal family to dispense with German titles and surnames; the family took the name "Windsor." In 1934 the Federal Communications Commission was created; it replaced the Federal Radio Commission. In 1945 millions of New Yorkers turned out to cheer Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was honored with a parade. In 1953 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted of conspiring to pass US atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, were executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, NY. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved by the Senate, 73-27, after surviving a lengthy filibuster. In 1982 American University in Beirut president David S. Dodge was kidnapped by Hezbollah. In 2000 the Supreme Court reaffirmed, 6-3, that praying in public schools had to be private, barring officials from letting students lead stadium crowds in prayer before football games.

June 18 ...

In 1778 American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War. In 1812 the United States declared war against Britain. In 1815 Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by an international army under the Duke of Wellington. In 1913 composer Sammy Cahn was born in New York City. In 1928 aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours. In 1940 during a famous speech to the British House of Commons after Dunkirk, Prime Minister Winston Churchill urged his countrymen to conduct themselves in a manner that would prompt future generations to say, "This was their finest hour." In 1942 singer/songwriter Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, England. In 1945 General Dwight D. Eisenhower received a tumultuous welcome in Washington, DC, where he addressed a joint session of Congress; also on this day, William Joyce, known as "Lord Haw-Haw," was charged in London with high treason for his English-language wartime broadcasts on German radio. (He was hanged the following January.) In 1948 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted its International Declaration of Human Rights. In 1979 President Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna. In 1983 astronaut Sally K. Ride became America's first woman in space as she and four colleagues blasted off aboard the space shuttle Challenger. In 2002 a suicide bomber killed 19 people and injured at least 50 more on a city bus in Jerusalem. The Islamic terrorist group Hamas claimed responsibility for the murders.

June 17 ...

In 1775 the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston. The battle, which actually occurred on Breed's Hill, was a costly victory for the British, who suffered heavy losses while dislodging the American rebels. In 1856 in Philadelphia, the Republican Party opened its first convention. In 1885 the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York City aboard the French ship Isere. In 1940 France asked Germany for terms of surrender in World War II. In 1943 four German spies landed in Pointe Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville, FL. Four days earlier, four other German spies landed on Long Island, New York; all eight were captured, and six were executed. In 1944 the Republic of Iceland was established. In 1963 the Supreme Court struck down rules requiring the recitation of the Lord's Prayer or reading of Biblical verses in public schools. In 1972 President Nixon's eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic Party national headquarters in Washington, DC's Watergate complex. In 1992 President Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a breakthrough arms-reduction agreement. In 1995 Russian commandos stormed a hospital where Chechen rebels were holding more than 1,000 hostages, but the Chechens beat the Russians back.

June 16 ...

In 1567 Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle in Scotland. In 1858 in a speech in Springfield, IL, Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln said the slavery issue had to be resolved, declaring, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." In 1897 the federal government signed a treaty of annexation with Hawaii. In 1903 Ford Motor Co. was incorporated. In 1933 the National Industrial Recovery Act became law. (It was later struck down by the Supreme Court.) In 1961 Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West while his troupe was in Paris. In 1963 the world's first female space traveler, Valentina Tereshkova, was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union aboard Vostok 6. In 1967 the Monterey Pop Festival began, continuing through June 18. In 1977 Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev was named president, becoming the first person to hold both posts simultaneously. In 1981 the Tribune Company purchased the Chicago Cubs baseball team from William Wrigley for $20.5 million.

365 years ago on this date in 1648, Margaret Jones was hanged in Boston for witchcraft -- the first such execution in the Massachusetts colony.

June 14 ...

In 1648 Margaret Jones was hanged in Boston for witchcraft -- the first such execution in the Massachusetts colony. In 1775 the United States Army was established. In 1777 the Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Stars and Stripes as the national flag. In 1811 abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in Litchfield, CT. In 1841 the first Canadian parliament opened in Kingston. In 1846 a group of US settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California. In 1900 Hawaii became a US territory. In 1936 writer G. K. Chesterton died in Beaconsfield, England. In 1940 German troops entered Paris during World War II; also on this day, in German-occupied Poland, the Nazis opened their concentration camp at Auschwitz. In 1943 the Supreme Court ruled schoolchildren could not be compelled to salute the flag of the United States if doing so conflicted with their religious beliefs. In 1954 President Eisenhower signed an order adding the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1967 Mariner 5 was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL. The space probe's flight took it past Venus. In 1982 Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands. In 1985 the 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece.

120 years ago on this date in 1893, President Grover Cleveland secretly underwent surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; the operation was not revealed to the US public until 1917, nine years after the president's death.

Also on this date, 70 years ago in 1943, four German spies landed on Long Island, New York; four days later, four more German spies landed in Pointe Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville, FL. They were all captured, and six of the eight were executed.

June 13 ...

In 1774 Rhode Island became the first of the American colonies to ban the importation of slaves. In 1777 the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in the Colonies to help the American revolutionaries against the British. In 1865 poet and dramatist William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland. In 1866 the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed by Congress. It was ratified on July 9, 1868. In 1888 Congress created the Department of Labor. In 1893 President Grover Cleveland secretly underwent surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; the operation was not revealed to the US public until 1917, nine years after the president's death. In 1900 China's Boxer Rebellion targeting foreigners, as well as Chinese Christians, erupted into full-scale violence. In 1903 football legend Harold "Red" Grange was born in Forksville, PA. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City. In 1935 James Braddock claimed the title of world heavyweight boxing champion from Max Baer in a 15-round fight in Long Island City, NY. In 1942 President Roosevelt created the Office of War Information, and appointed radio news commentator Elmer Davis to be its head. In 1943 four German spies landed on Long Island, New York; four days later, four more German spies landed in Pointe Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville, FL. They were all captured, and six of the eight were executed. In 1944 Germany began launching V1 rocket attacks against Britain during World War II. In 1966 the Supreme Court issued its landmark Miranda decision, ruling that criminal suspects had to be informed of their constitutional rights prior to questioning by police. In 1967 President Johnson nominated Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the US Supreme Court. In 1970 The Long and Winding Road became The Beatles' last Number 1 song. In 1971 the New York Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers, a secret study of America's involvement in Vietnam. In 1977 James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was recaptured following his escape three days earlier from a Tennessee prison. In 1983 the US space probe Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, became the first spacecraft to leave the solar system as it crossed the orbit of Neptune. In 1986 jazz great Benny Goodman died in New York City at age 77. In 2000 North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il welcomed South Korea's President Kim Dae for a three-day summit in Pyongyang. It was the first such meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea.

50 years ago on this date in 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was fatally shot in front of his home in Jackson, MS; he was 37. (In 1994, Byron De La Beckwith was convicted of murdering Evers and sentenced to life in prison; De La Beckwith died in 2001.)

June 12 ...

In 1665 England installed a municipal government in New York, formerly the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. In 1776 Virginia's colonial legislature became the first to adopt a Bill of Rights. In 1838 the Iowa Territory was organized. In 1898 Philippine nationalists declared independence from Spain. In 1924 41st President of the United States George H.W. Bush was born in Milton, MA. In 1929 Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In 1963 civil rights leader Medgar Evers was fatally shot in front of his home in Jackson, MS; he was 37. (In 1994, Byron De La Beckwith was convicted of murdering Evers and sentenced to life in prison; De La Beckwith died in 2001.) In 1967 the Supreme Court struck down state laws prohibiting interracial marriages. In 1987 during a visit to then West Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate, President Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!"

June 11 ...

In 1509 England's King Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon. In 1770 Captain James Cook, commander of the British ship Endeavour, discovered the Great Barrier Reef off Australia by running onto it. In 1776 the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence calling for freedom from Britain. In 1919 Sir Barton won the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing's first Triple Crown winner. In 1942 the United States and the Soviet Union signed a lend-lease agreement to aid the Soviet war effort in World War II. In 1963 Buddhist monk Quang Duc immolated himself on a Saigon street to protest the government of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. In 1970 the United States presence in Libya came to an end as the last detachment left Wheelus Air Base. In 1977 Seattle Slew won the Belmont Stakes, capturing the Triple Crown. In 1987 Margaret Thatcher became the first British prime minister in 160 years to win a third consecutive term of office. In 2000 a day after the death of Syrian President Hafez Assad, his son, Bashar, was unanimously nominated by Syria's ruling Baath Party to succeed his father. In 2001 Timothy McVeigh was executed by injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, IN, for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

June 10 ...

In 1801 the North African state of Tripoli declared war on the United States in a dispute over safe passage of merchant vessels through the Mediterranean. In 1915 Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec (in what is now Montreal). In 1940 Italy declared war on France and Britain; Canada declared war on Italy. In 1942 the Gestapo massacred 173 male residents of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in retaliation for the killing of a Nazi official. In 1946 Italy replaced its abolished monarchy with a republic. In 1964 the Senate voted to limit further debate on a proposed civil rights bill, shutting off a filibuster by Southern states. In 1967 the Middle East War ended as Israel and Syria agreed to observe a United Nations-mediated cease-fire. In 1978 Affirmed won the Belmont Stakes and with it, horse racing's Triple Crown. In 1988 author Louis L'Amour died at age 80. In 2000 Syrian President Hafez Assad died at age 69; he was succeeded by his son, Bashar.

June 9 ...

In 68 AD the Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide. In 1672 Russia's Peter the Great was born in Moscow. In 1870 author Charles Dickens died in Godshill, England. In 1891 composer and songwriter Cole Porter was born in Peru, IN. In 1940 Norway surrendered to the Nazis during World War II. In 1943 the withholding tax on payrolls was authorized by the US Congress. In 1969 the US Senate confirmed Warren Burger to be the new Chief Justice of the United States, succeeding Earl Warren. In 1973 Secretariat became horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years by winning the Belmont Stakes. In 1985 American educator Thomas Sutherland was kidnapped in Lebanon; he was released in November 1991 along with fellow hostage Terry Waite.

June 8 ...

In 632 AD the prophet Mohammed died. In 1845 former president Andrew Jackson died in Nashville, TN. In 1867 architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland Center, WI. In 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt offered to act as a mediator in the Russo-Japanese War (a role for which he later won the Nobel Peace Prize). In 1915 Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned in a disagreement over US handling of the sinking of the Lusitania. In 1949 George Orwell's 1984 was first published. In 1953 the Supreme Court ruled that restaurants in the District of Columbia could not refuse to serve blacks. In 1967 34 US servicemen were killed when Israeli forces mistakenly raided the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War. In 1968 authorities announced the capture in London of James Earl Ray, the suspected assassin of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1982 President Reagan became the first American chief executive to address a joint session of the British Parliament. In 1998 the space shuttle Discovery pulled away from Mir, in the last space shuttle/Mir mission.

June 7 ...

In 1769 frontiersman Daniel Boone first began to explore present-day Kentucky. In 1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence. In 1848 Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin was born in Paris, France. In 1864 Abraham Lincoln was nominated for another term as president at his party's convention in Baltimore. In 1917 poet Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, KS. In 1929 the sovereign state of Vatican City came into existence as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome. In 1942he Battle of Midway ended. The sea and air battle, which lasted 4 days, saw Japan lose four carriers, a cruiser, 292 aircraft, and suffer 2,500 casualties; the US lost the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft, and suffered 307 casualties. In 1948 the Communists completed their takeover of Czechoslovakia with the resignation of President Eduard Benes. In 1965 NASA's Gemini 4 mission was completed. The mission featured the first spacewalk by an American. In 1967 author/critic Dorothy Parker died in New York City. In 1981 Israeli military planes destroyed the nuclear power plant Osirak in Iraq, a facility the Israelis charged could have been used to make nuclear weapons. In 2000 US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp., declaring the software giant should be split into two because it had "proved untrustworthy in the past." Microsoft vowed to appeal. (An appeals court later threw out the breakup order; the Justice Department, under the Bush administration, said it would no longer seek a breakup of Microsoft.)