This Week in History

HISTORY, 22 Jun 2015

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

June 22-28

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.” – Lonardo da Vinci

JUNE 22

2012  Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is removed from office by impeachment and succeeded by Federico Franco.

2006  Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (aka OPCAT) enters into force. See also the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, (signed on December 10, 1984; in force on June 26, 1987).

1990  Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin.

1990  – Nelson Mandela addresses the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid in New York.

1969  The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland, Ohio, drawing national attention to water pollution, and spurring the passing of the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

1957  The Soviet Union launches an R-12 missile for the first time (in the Kapustin Yar).

1945  The Battle of Okinawa comes to an end.

1944  U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill.

1944  Opening day of the Soviet Union’s Operation Bagration against the Army Group Centre.

1942  Pledge of Allegiance formally adopted by Congress

1942  Erwin Rommel is promoted to Field Marshal after the capture of Tobruk.

1941  The June Uprising in Lithuania begins.

1941  Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.

1940  France is forced to sign the Second Compiègne armistice with Germany.

1911  George V and Mary of Teck are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1898  Spanish–American War: United States Marines land in Cuba.

1839  Cherokee leaders Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot are assassinated for signing the Treaty of New Echota, which had resulted in the Trail of Tears.

1825  The British Parliament abolishes feudalism and the seigneurial system in British North America.

 

 

JUNE 23

2014  The last of Syria’s declared chemical weapons are shipped out for destruction.

1985  A terrorist bomb aboard Air India Flight 182 brings the Boeing 747 down off the coast of Ireland killing all 329 aboard.

1972  Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds.

1972  Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation‘s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.

1969  Software Industry IBM announced that effective January 1970 it would price its software and services separately from hardware thus creating the modern software industry.

1967  Cold War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey for the three-day Glassboro Summit Conference.

1967  Cold War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey for the three-day Glassboro Summit Conference.

1961  Cold War: the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent, comes into force after the opening date for signature set for the December 1, 1959.

1960  SOFA (Status of Force Agreement between the United States and Japan) comes into effect.

1958  The Dutch Reformed Church accepts women ministers.

1956  The French National Assembly takes the first step in creating the French Community by passing the Loi Cadre, transferring a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa.

1947  The United States Senate follows the United States House of Representatives in overriding U.S. President Harry Truman‘s veto of the Taft-Hartley Act.

1943  World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sink the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoes the cruiser HMS Newfoundland.

1942  World War II: Germany’s latest fighter, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales.

1942  World War II: The first selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz take place on a train full of Jews from Paris.

1941  The Lithuanian Activist Front declares independence from the Soviet Union and forms the Provisional Government of Lithuania; it lasts only briefly as the Nazis will occupy Lithuania a few weeks later.

1940  World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler surveys newly defeated Paris in now occupied France.

1919  Estonian War of Independence: the decisive defeat of the Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cesis. This day is celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia.

1914  Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa takes Zacatecas from Victoriano Huerta.

1913  Second Balkan War: The Greeks defeat the Bulgarians in the Battle of Doiran.

1887  The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada creating the nation’s first national park, Banff National Park.

1868  Typewriter: Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer.”

1848  Beginning of the June Days Uprising in Paris, France.

 

 

JUNE 24

2013  Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is found guilty of abusing his power and having sex with an underage prostitute, and is sentenced to seven years in prison.

2012  Lonesome George, the last known individual of Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii, a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise, dies.

2004  In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional.

1989  Jiang Zemin succeeds Zhao Ziyang to become the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China after 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests.

1973  The UpStairs Lounge arson attack takes place at a gay bar located on the second floor of the three-story building at 141 Chartres Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Thirty-two people die as a result of fire or smoke inhalation.

1963  The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government.

1954  First Indochina War: Battle of Mang Yang Pass — Vietminh troops belonging to the 803rd Regiment ambush G.M. 100 of France in An Khê.

1948  Start of the Berlin Blockade: the Soviet Union makes overland travel between West Germany and West Berlin impossible.

1947  Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.

1947  American Anthropological Association issues a statement on human rights: “The problem faced by the Commission of Human Rights of the United Nations in preparing its Declaration of the Rights of Man must be approached from two points of view…”

1940  World War II: Operation Collar, the first British Commando raid on occupied France, by No 11 Independent Company.

1939  Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the country’s third prime minister.

1938  Pieces of a meteor, estimated to have weighed 450 metric tons when it hit the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded, land near Chicora, Pennsylvania.

1932  A bloodless Revolution instigated by the People’s Party ends the absolute power of King Prajadhipok of Siam (now Thailand).

1931  USSR & Afghanistan sign neutrality treaty.

1931  USSR and Germany renewed the Treaty of Berlin (German-Soviet Neutrality and Nonaggression Pact of April 1926).

1916  World War I: the Battle of the Somme begins with a week-long artillery bombardment on the German Line.

1916  Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million dollar contract.

1913  Greece and Serbia annul their alliance with Bulgaria.

1894  Marie Francois Sadi Carnot is assassinated by Sante Geronimo Caserio.

1866  Battle of Custoza: an Austrian army defeats the Italian army during the Austro-Prussian War.

1859  Battle of Solferino (Battle of the Three Sovereigns): Sardinia and France defeat Austria in Solferino, northern Italy.

1821  The Battle of Carabobo takes place. It is the decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain.

1813  Battle of Beaver Dams: a British and Indian combined force defeats the United States Army.

1812  Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon’s Grande Armée crosses the Neman River beginning the invasion of Russia.

1793  The first Republican constitution in France is adopted.

1762  Battle of Wilhelmsthal: The British-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats French forces in Westphalia.

1717  The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London.

1622  Battle of Macau: The Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macau.

1597  The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java).

1571  Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines.

1531  The city of San Juan del Río, Mexico, is founded.

 

 

JUNE 25

2013  Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani becomes the 8th Emir of Qatar.

1993  Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action is adopted by World Conference on Human Rights.

1991  Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia.

The Beginning of the Breakup of Yugoslavia:

Independence of Slovenia and the Ten-Day War:

Independence of Croatia:

Ethnic Minority Issues of Croatia and Slovenia:

1982  Greece abolishes the head shaving of recruits in the military.

1981  Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington.

1978  The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.

1976  Missouri Governor Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, formally apologizing on behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had caused to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

1975  Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has a state of internal Emergency declared in India.

1975  Mozambique achieves independence.

1967  Broadcasting of the first live global satellite television program: Our World

1960  Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.

1950  The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.

1947  The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published.

1945  President Harry S Truman arrived for the signing of the U.N. Charter at the ninth and closing plenary sessions of the United Nations.

1944  World War II: United States Navy and Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.

1944  World War II: The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic Countries, begins.

1943  The Holocaust: Jews in the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland stage an uprising against the Nazis.

1940  World War II: France officially surrenders to Germany at 01:35.

1938  Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland.

1935  Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Colombia are established.

1910  Igor Stravinsky‘s ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer.

1910  The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come.

1900  The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.

1876  Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.

1741  Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Hungary.

1678  Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy when she graduates from the University of Padua.

1658  Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Rio Nuevo during the Anglo-Spanish War.

1530  At the Diet of Augsburg the Augsburg Confession is presented to the Holy Roman Emperor by the Lutheran princes and Electors of Germany.

 

 

JUNE 26

2013  Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani became Prime Minister of Qatar.

2013  Riots in China‘s Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injuring 21 others.

2013  The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

2007  Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive 2/3 of the votes.

2006  Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.

2000  John Paul II reveals the third secret of Fátima.

2000  President Clinton announces the completion of the first survey of the entire human genome.

1995  Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani deposes his father Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless coup.

1991  Ten-Day War: The Yugoslav people’s army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.

1987  Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (aka UN Convention Against Torture or CAT) enters into force. See also the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (adopted on December 18, 2002; in force on June 22, 2006).

1967  Karol Wojtyła (later John Paul II) made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

1963  Levi Eshkol becomes the Israeli Prime Minister.

1963  U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.

1960  Madagascar gains its independence from France.

1960  The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland.

1955  The South African Congress Alliance adopts the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.

1952  The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewide labour parties.

1948  The Western allies begin an airlift to Berlin after the Soviet Union blockades West Berlin.

1945  The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco.

History of the United Nations:

Atlantic Charter of 1941:

Dumbarton Oaks and Yalta:

San Francisco Conference: April 26 – June 26, 1945:

1944  World War II: The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, one of the largest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance forces, ends with the defeat of the latter.

1942  The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

1941  World War II: Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), giving Hungary the impetus to declare war the next day.

1940  World War II: Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.

1934  President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.

1924  American occupying forces leave the Dominican Republic.

1918  World War I, Western Front: Battle for Belleau Wood – Allied Forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German Forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.

1917  The first U.S. troops arrive in France to fight alongside Britain and France against Germany in World War I.

1889  Bangui is founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac in what was then the upper reaches of the French Congo.

1886  Henri Moissan isolated elemental Fluorine for the first time.

1848  End of the June Days Uprising in Paris.

1843  Treaty of Nanking comes into effect, Hong Kong Island is ceded to the British “in perpetuity”.

 

 

JUNE 27

2008  In a highly scrutizined election President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is re-elected in a landslide after his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai had withdrawn a week earlier, citing violence against his party‘s supporters.

2007  The Brazilian Military Police invades the favelas of Complexo do Alemão in an episode which is remembered as the Complexo do Alemão massacre.

2007  Tony Blair resigns as British Prime Minister, a position he had held since 1997.

1991  Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft starting the Ten-Day War.

1981  African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (in force on 21 October 1986) is adopted.

Also see the following Protocols to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights:

1981  The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issues its “Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China”, laying the blame for the Cultural Revolution on Mao Zedong.

1977  France grants independence to Djibouti.

1974  U.S. president Richard Nixon visits the Soviet Union.

1973  The President of Uruguay Juan María Bordaberry dissolves Parliament and establishes a dictatorship.

1954  The Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, the Soviet Union‘s first nuclear power station, opens in Obninsk, near Moscow.

1952  Guatemala passes Decree 900, ordering the redistribution of uncultivated land.

1950  The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War.

1946  In the Canadian Citizenship Act, the Parliament of Canada establishes the definition of Canadian citizenship.

1941  German troops capture the city of Białystok during Operation Barbarossa.

1941  Romanian governmental forces, allies of Nazi Germany, launch one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history in the city of Iaşi, (Romania), resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews.

1927  Prime Minister of Japan Tanaka Giichi leads a conference to discuss Japan‘s plans for China; later, a document detailing these plans, the “Tanaka Memorial” is leaked, although it is now considered a forgery.

1905  Battleship Potemkin uprising: sailors start a mutiny aboard the battleship Potemkin, denouncing the crimes of autocracy, demanding liberty and an end to war.

1898  The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia.

1844 Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are murdered by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail.

1806  British forces take Buenos Aires during the first British invasions of the Río de la Plata.

1760  Cherokee warriors defeat British forces at the Battle of Echoee near present-day Otto, North Carolina during the Anglo-Cherokee War.

1759  General James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec.

1743  War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Dettingen: On the battlefield in Bavaria, George II personally leads troops into battle. The last time that a British monarch would command troops in the field.

1556  The thirteen Stratford Martyrs are burned at the stake near London for their Protestant beliefs.

 

 

JUNE 28

2009  Honduran president Manuel Zelaya is ousted by a local military coup following a failed request to hold a referendum to rewrite the Honduran Constitution. This was the start of the 2009 Honduran political crisis.

2008  The inaugural meeting of the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija.

2006  Montenegro is announced as the 192nd member state of the United Nations.

2001  Slobodan Milošević is deported to the ICTY to stand trial.

1990  An amendment is brought to the Constitution of Croatia changing the status of Serbs from constituent people (konstitutivni narod) of the Croatian nation to national minority.

1989  On the 600th anniversary of the battle of Kosovo, Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević delivers the Gazimestan speech on the site of the historic battle.

Milošević’s Gazimestan speech:

Why Is Kosovo Important to Serbs?

History of Kosovo and Kosovo Serbs:

1987  For the first time in military history, a civilian population is targeted for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht.

Chemical Weapon Convention:

1981  A powerful bomb explodes in Tehran, killing 73 officials of Islamic Republic Party.

1976  The Angolan court sentences US and UK mercenaries to death sentences and prison terms in the Luanda Trial.

1969  Stonewall Riots begin in New York City, marking the start of the Gay Rights Movement.

1967  Israel annexes East Jerusalem.

1964  Malcolm X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

1956  In Poznań, workers from HCP factory went to the streets, sparking one of the first major protests against communist government both in Poland and Europe.

1950  Korean War: North Korean Army conducted Seoul National University Hospital Massacre.

1950  Korean War: Packed with its own refugees fleeing Seoul and leaving their 5th Division stranded, South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge to in attempt to slow North Korea’s offensive.

1950  Korean War: Suspected communist sympathizers, argued to be between 100,000 and 200,000 are executed in the Bodo League massacre.

1950  Korean War: Seoul is captured by North Korean troops.

1948  The Cominform circulates the “Resolution on the situation in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia”; Yugoslavia is expelled from the Communist bloc.

1945  Poland‘s Soviet-allied Provisional Government of National Unity is formed over a month after V-E Day.

1942  World War II: Nazi Germany started its strategic summer offensive against the Soviet Union, codenamed Case Blue

1940  Romania cedes Bessarabia (current-day Moldova) to the Soviet Union after facing an ultimatum.

1936  The Japanese puppet state of Mengjiang is formed in northern China.

1926  Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies.

1922  The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces.

1921  The Serbian King Alexander I proclaims the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, known thereafter as the Vidovdan Constitution (Vidovdanski ustav).

Vidovdan:

King Alexander I:

1919  The Treaty of Versailles is signed ending World War I.

1914  Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by Bosnia Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I.

1895  El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua form the Greater Republic of Central America.

1882  The Anglo-French Convention of 1882 marks the territorial boundaries between Guinea and Sierra Leone.

1881  Secret treaty between Austria and Serbia. “June 28, 1881, a secret treaty between Austria-Hungary and Serbia is signed with Serbia earning the right to be recognized as a monarchy in exchange of surrendering its independence to the Habsburg Empire.”

1865  1865 – The Army of the Potomac is disbanded.

1807  Second British invasion of the Río de la Plata; John Whitelock lands at Ensenada on an attempt to recapture Buenos Aires and is defeated by the locals.

1745  War of the Austrian Succession: A New England colonial army captures Louisbourg, New France, after a forty-seven-day siege (New Style).

1389  The Ottoman Empire defeated the Serbian army in the Battle of Kosovo on the Kosovo field. Both Sultan Murad and Prince Lazar were slain in battle. The Kosovo Myth became important in forming Serbian identity.

______________________________

Satoshi Ashikaga is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment.

(Sources and references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_22 to 28; http://www.historyorb.com/events/june/22 to 28; http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/june_22.html to 28.html; and other pertinent web sites and/or documents, mentioned above.)

  1. The views expressed in the cited or quoted websites and/or documents in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this article. These websites and/or documents are cited or quoted for academic or educational purposes. Neither the author of this article nor the Transcend Media Service (TMS) is responsible for the contents, information, or whatsoever contained in these websites and/or documents.
  2. One of the primary purposes of this article is to provide the readers with opportunities to think about “peace”, including positive peace and negative peace as well as external/outer peace and internal/inner peace, and more, directly or indirectly, from various angles and/or in the broadest sense, through historical events. It is because this article is prepared specifically for the TMS whose main objective is to address “peace” through peace journalism.

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 22 Jun 2015.

Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: This Week in History, is included. Thank you.

If you enjoyed this article, please donate to TMS to join the growing list of TMS Supporters.

Share this article:

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

Comments are closed.

Read more

Click here to go to the current weekly digest or pick another article:

HISTORY: