June 1, 1938 The first issue of the comic book "Superman" appeared in news stands throughout the country. "Superman" was created by two teenagers: Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster. Originally a newspaper comic strip, Superman was changed to a booklet format to immediate acclaim. The first issue gave rise to the golden era of Superman http://www.fortress.am/History/VersionI.html

June 1, 1968 The popular and enigmatic British mini-series, "The Prisoner," aired for the first time in US television. Starring Patrick McGoohan as a secret agent held against his will in a remote, controlled environment known as the Village, "The Prisoner" was one of TV's most imaginative series. In both the US and England, The Prisoner became an instant cult series http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/place/gu93/pris.htm

June 2, 1886 President Grover Cleveland became the first US president to marry while in office. He wedded Frances Folsom in a White House ceremony. Cleveland was also the first chief executive to serve two non- consecutive terms in office (1885-1889 and 1893-1897). More on Grover Cleveland http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/nbk/bios/22pclev.html

June 2, 1953 Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom was crowned Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, Greater London. She succeeded her father, King George VI, after his death. More on Elizabeth II http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/96apr/elizabeth2.html

June 3, 1937 The Duke of Windsor, who, as King Edward VIII, had abdicated the British throne six months before, married Wallis Simpson, a twice- divorced American. The duke had been forced to give up the crown because his title prevented him from marrying a commoner and a divorcee. Edward VIII was the first British monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/edwviii.html

June 3, 1965 Edward H. White became the first US astronaut to walk in space. He spent more than 30 minutes outside spacecraft Gemini-IV. The craft, launched the same day as the walk, had only two crew members: White and Commander James A. McDivitt. Gemini-IV's flight lasted for four days http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/history/gemini/gemini-iv/gemini-iv.html

June 4, 1972 African American political activist and professor Angela Y. Davis was acquitted of conspiracy, murder and kidnapping charges. She had been incarcerated for her alleged participation in an attempted escape of prisoners from the Marin County (Calif.) Courthouse that resulted in the death of judge Harold Haley. Today she remains a staunch advocate of revamping the criminal justice system. Davis granted an interview in 1970 http://drum.ncat.edu/~sister/davis.html

June 4, 1989 Chinese troops opened fire against unarmed protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Pro-democracy demonstrations began less than two months earlier as several thousand students marched to mourn the death of reform leader Hu Yaobang. Although the government claimed that few died on June 4th, estimates range from several hundred to several thousand casualties. A young man captured the imagination of the world when he stood in front of a tank column http://www.cnd.org/June4th/photos/Cover01.gif

June 5, 1968 Senator Robert "Bobby" Kennedy was shot while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Los Angeles, California, and died the following day. A brother of President John F. Kennedy, he had served as US attorney general during his brother's administration. Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of the murder. Bobby Kennedy was an extremely popular politician http://sdcc13.ucsd.edu/~sapatter/rfk.html

June 5, 1972 The United Nations (UN) Conference on the Human Environment was first organized in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference led to the establishment of the UN Environment Program, based in Nairobi, Kenya. June 5th was later designated as World Environment Day. The theme for World Environment Day 1999 is "Our Earth - Our Future - Just Save it!" http://www.unep.org/unep/per/ipa/wed/home.htm

June 6, 1944 "D-Day": the Allied forces began the invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II. The assault was led by the largest invasion fleet in history -- 1,200 fighting ships, 10,000 planes, and more than 150,000 soldiers. The successful landing was hailed as the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany. Images of D-Day http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/dday.htm

June 6, 1982 Israel launched a full-scale invasion against Lebanon. In the operation "Peace for Galilee," Israeli troops besieged and bombed Beirut. During the invasion, 14,000 people were killed and 30,000 injured, the vast majority civilians. While Israel claimed the invasion was in self-defense, the United Nations and human rights organizations considered it illegal and immoral. Two views on Israel's invasion http://www.adl.org/Israel/Record/lebanon.html http://www.megastories.com/mideast/wars/1982.htm

June 7, 1654 Louis is crowned King Louis XIV of France. Known as "Louis the Great" or the "Sun King," he masterminded the rise of France to a world power. Ruling from his great palace at Versailles, he was the dominant political figure of his time. Two paintings of King Louis XIV http://www.assumption.edu/HTML/Faculty/Gallo/Louis.html

June 7, 1979 Bhaskara-I, an Indian Earth resources and meteorology satellite, was launched from a Soviet spacecraft. Named after a famous Indian mathematician and astronomer, Bhaskara-I was launched four years after the first Indian satellite went into space. History of Indian satellites http://www-projet.cst.cnes.fr/ceos/cdrom-97/ceos1/isro/abisro/sat.htm

June 8, 1789 James Madison proposed a Bill of Rights to the House of Representatives, which led to the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution. The Bill sought to provide basic legal protection for individual rights by guarding the individual against legislative and executive abuses and by defending the minority against the majority. Although at first Madison did not think a bill of rights necessary, he later became its drafter and main defender http://www.jmu.edu/madison/madprobll.htm

June 8, 1975 The Soviet spacecraft Venera 9 was launched towards Venus. Several months later, its exploration vehicle landed on Venus and transmitted pictures back to Earth, becoming the first craft to ever transmit pictures from another planet. A photograph of Venera 9 http://www.friends-partners.org/~mwade/graphics/v/venera9o.jpg

June 9, 1934 The cartoon character "Donald Duck" was born when his egg was hatched in the short animated film "The Wise Little Hen." Created by Walt Disney, Donald Duck was first meant to be a secondary character but over time became a star. Clarence Nash provided the voice of Donald Duck until his death in 1985. Donald Duck is best remembered for his ill temper and his quacking http://stp.ling.uu.se/~starback/dcml/chars/donald.html

June 9, 1934 Engineer and inventor Edwin H. Armstrong demonstrated the superior sound quality of frequency modulation (FM) radio transmission to that of amplitude modulation (AM) by broadcasting an organ recital using both systems. With FM, Armstrong was able to eliminate static, the main problem with radio transmission at the time. Armstrong is considered one of radio's most important pioneers http://users.erols.com/oldradio/

June 10, 1865 "Tristan and Isolde," one of Richard Wagner's most well-known operas, premiered in Munich, Germany. Wagner was inspired by Gottfried Von Strassburg's version of "Tristan and Isolde," a famous medieval Celtic legend about forbidden love. The German composer wrote the music and libretto for "Tristan and Isolde" http://inkpot.com/classical/wtristan.html

June 10, 1993 The scientific journal Nature published an article about the extraction of genetic material from an insect that lived when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Raul Cano, George Poinar, and other scientists extracted DNA from insects encased in amber from deposits as old as 120 million years. This discovery served as inspiration to the movie "Jurassic Park" http://daphne.palomar.edu/wayne/ww0702.htm

June 11, 1770 English Captain James Cook ran aground Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The site where his ship "Endeavour" was repaired was later named Cooktown. Captain Cook and his crew had sighted the eastern coast of Australia less than two months earlier. Captain Cook was one of Europe's greatest explorers http://www2.lucidcafe.com/lucidcafe/library/95oct/jcook.html

June 11, 1971 The Coast Guard evicted indigenous people from Alcatraz island in the San Francisco Bay after 19 months of occupation. Through the takeover of Alcatraz, occupied in late 1969, the Native Americans sought to draw attention to their political, social, and cultural rights. The occupation of Alcatraz brought renewed pride to Native American groups http://www.net4tv.com/color/60/Alcatraz.htm

June 12, 1923 The magician Harry Houdini amazed a large and disbelieving audience as he freed himself from a straitjacket while suspended upside down 40 feet (12 m) above the ground in New York City. The Hungarian entertainer was famous worldwide for staging the most dazzling and difficult escapes. An autobiographical account of Houdini published in 1910 http://www.holonet.net/uelectric/houdini/himself.html

June 12, 1963 The lengthy and spectacular movie "Cleopatra" starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Rex Harrison, was first shown. The movie depicted Cleopatra's life with Caesar and Mark Antony, and her ill-fated attempt to save the Egyptian Empire. On the life of Cleopatra http://www.duke.edu/~aad1/

June 13, 1963 Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi. Evers was a staunch defender of desegregated schools and voter registration. The public outrage following his death was one of the factors that led President John F. Kennedy to enact a comprehensive civil rights law. Evers's death marked a turning point in the fight for racial equality http://www.gale.com/gale/bhm/eversmed.html

June 13, 1966 In the Miranda v. Arizona case, the US Supreme Court ruled that the accused have the right to remain silent and that prosecutors may not use statements made by defendants unless the police have advised them of their rights. The court's decision ended a three-year-long battle involving Ernesto Miranda who, after being arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, signed a written confession whilst unaware of his legal rights. The rights are commonly called the "Miranda Rights" or "Miranda Warning" http://www.courttv.com/legalhelp/lawguide/criminal/91.html

June 14, 1919 British pilots John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown departed Newfoundland, Canada, to accomplish the first nonstop transatlantic flight. The 1,900 mile (3,040 km) successful flight ended the following day in a crash-landing in Ireland. Neither of the pilots was injured. The two pilots flew a Vickers Vimy, designed as a bomber during World War I http://sln.fi.edu/flights/long/

June 14, 1951 The world's first commercial computer to receive wide attention, Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC I), was unveiled and demonstrated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Designed for the US Bureau of the Census, the massive computer was 8 feet high, 7.5 feet wide, and 14.5 feet long. UNIVAC I was designed under the supervision of J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly http://www.tcm.org/html/history/detail/1951-univac.html

June 15, 1844 Inventor Charles Goodyear received a patent for vulcanizing rubber. Prior to this no one knew how to keep natural rubber from melting in the summer and hardening in the winter. Reputedly Goodyear discovered the process by accident, after years of experimentation, when he dropped some rubber mixed with sulfur on a hot stove. The resulting substance resembled charred leather, but was still resilient and elastic. Goodyear called the process "vulcanization," after the Roman God of Fire, Vulcan. Vulcanized rubber was later made into tires with Goodyear's name on them http://www.fgsd.winnipeg.mb.ca/vmc/topchem/goodyear.htm

June 15, 1896 The most devastating tsunami in Japanese history struck the coast of Sanriku, Japan, causing over 20,000 deaths. Generated by an undersea earthquake, the gigantic series of waves reached heights up to 80 feet (25 meters). Many of the people killed were attending a Shinto festival. More on tsunamis http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/intro.html

June 16, 1963 Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to go into space when her spacecraft, Vostok 6, was launched. Tereshkova manually controlled Vostok 6 during the almost three-day long flight. In her first and only space flight, Tereshkova completed 48 earth orbits http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/tereshkova.html

June 16, 1976 A student uprising began in Soweto, South Africa's largest township, against the government's insistence that the Afrikaans language be used as the medium of instruction in Soweto's schools. During the demonstrations, thousands of black children and adults were killed by South Africa's police and troops. June 16th was later declared South Africa's National Youth Day. Images of the student uprising taken by photographer Peter Magubane http://www.mojones.com/photofund/magubane.html

June 17, 1885 The Statue of Liberty arrived to New York City aboard the French ship "Isere." The statue was shipped in 350 individual pieces. Sculpted by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was supposed to have been ready for the centennial of the American Revolution but financial problems delayed the construction for about ten years. An image of a section of the statue http://www.phila.gov/exhibit/fairmount/fpc319.htm

June 17, 1972 Five men were arrested in the Democratic National Committee headquarters, in Washington, DC, and the scandal known as "Watergate" began. Two years after the scandal started, President Richard Nixon resigned after he became implicated in an attempt to cover up the political scandal. More on the infamous break-in http://www.nara.gov/exhall/originals/nixon.html

June 18, 1873 Civil Rights leader Susan B. Anthony was found guilty of voting. In 1872 she had led a group of women to register to vote in the presidential elections. For this she was sentenced to pay a fine, which she refused to do. In her famous response to the judge, she said, "I will never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty...resistance to tyranny is obedience to God." Her struggle for women's rights lasted more than 50 years http://www.gis.net/~mtf/sba.htm

June 18, 1983 Physician and pilot Sally K. Ride became the first US woman to go into space. Ride was a "mission specialist" on the six-day flight aboard the space shuttle "Challenger." During her trip Ride monitored about 40 scientific experiments, including the testing of a mechanical arm she had helped design. More on Sally Ride http://www.gale.com/gale/cwh/rides.html

June 19, 1846 The first baseball game using Alexander Cartwright's rules was played in Hoboken, New Jersey. In that historic game, only four innings long, the New York Nine defeated the New York Knickerbockers, 23 to 1. In 1996, the 150th anniversary of the first game was celebrated with another game http://starbulletin.com/96/06/20/news/story3.html

June 19, 1953 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed under charges of espionage at Sing Sing Prison in New York. The married couple had been accused and convicted of stealing information about the atomic bomb for the Soviet Union. The execution proceeded despite several appeals and a worldwide campaign for mercy. The conviction has been a subject of controversy for years http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/rosenb.htm

June 20, 1837 Princess Alexandrina Victoria became Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland following the death of her uncle, King William IV. During her reign Great Britain took over new territories becoming the most powerful empire of the 19th century. She remained in power until her death in 1901 http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/hypertext/landow/victorian/vn/victor6.html

June 20, 1948 The television variety program "The Ed Sullivan Show" was first broadcasted. Called "Toast of the Town" until 1955, the Ed Sullivan Show presented more than 10,000 performers, including Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles. Ed Sullivan hosted the show until 1971 http://www.edsullivan.com/

June 21, 1964 Three civil rights workers -- James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner -- disappeared in Philadelphia, Mississippi, during the Freedom Summer, a project that brought hundreds of college students to help southern African Americans. An all-out search by the FBI led to the discovery of their murdered bodies, and eventually to the conviction of seven Ku Klux Klan members. More on the trial http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/price&bowers/price&bowers.htm

June 21, 1970 In the final game of the Soccer World Cup played in Mexico, Brazil beat Italy 4-1. Mexico's world cup is considered by many to be the greatest world cup competition ever. With its epic triumph, Brazil became the first country to win the cup three times, receiving the prestigious Jules Rimet Cup. Brazil's Pele, who scored the first goal of the game, is regarded as one of the greatest players in soccer history http://www.jps.net/migutz/pele.htm#BIO

June 22, 1944 The GI Bill of Rights was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of the most important governmental measures of the post-World-War-II era, the bill was designed to provide greater opportunities for returning war veterans. An important result of the bill was the training of almost 8 million veterans. More on the GI Bill of Rights http://www.va.gov/education/GI_Bill.htm

June 22, 1978 Charon, Pluto's only known satellite, was discovered. Astronomer James Christy first saw it after reviewing photographs of Pluto. Christy proposed the name "Charon" after his wife's name, Charlene, and after the Greek mythological figure of the same name who leads the souls of the dead across the rivers Styx and Acheron. Charon's discovery led to the calculation of Pluto's mass http://www.itsnet.com/home/bmager/public_html/pluto/pluto07.html

June 23, 1868 Publisher and politician Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for a prototype of the type writer. The device became know as a "blind-writer" as its design prevented easy viewing of the typed characters. Sholes's invention eventually led to the manufacturing of the first type writer http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/firsttw.html

June 23, 1961 The Antarctica Treaty, which made the Antarctic continent a demilitarized zone to be preserved for scientific research, went into effect. The original treaty, signed by 12 nations two years earlier, was revised in 1991 to include a ban on mineral and oil exploration for 50 years. The Australian Mawson Station is one of many research centers located in Antarctica http://www.antdiv.gov.au/stations/mawson/mawson.html

June 25, 1951 Columbia Broadcast System (CBS) aired the first color TV program. The transmission was an hour long show of Ed Sullivan and Arthur Godfrey. Few people, however, were able to see the show in color because most homes only had black and white sets. History of the color television camera http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/Color_Cameras.html

June 25, 1991 Driven by nationalist ardor and economic arguments, the Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Croatia declared independence. The declaration was poorly received by Serbian leaders in Belgrade and a bitter civil war soon began. The war spread throughout the former Yugoslavia and continued until 1995, when a fragile peace agreement was reached. Map of former Yugoslavia http://www.aristotle.net/bosnia/frmryugo.htm

June 26, 1945 The Charter of the United Nations (UN) was signed in San Francisco, California, by 50 nations. The preamble of the Charter stated the mission of the UN: "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war...to reaffirm faith in the dignity and worth of the human person...and to promote social progress and better standards of life." The site where the UN Charter was signed http://www.sonic.net/~laird/landmarks/counties/900-999/964.html#site

June 26, 1963 President John F. Kennedy stirred the world when he pronounced at the Berlin Wall: "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner). The Berlin Wall had been erected by the Soviet Union to stop the mass exodus of people fleeing East Berlin for West Berlin and the non-Communist world. The wall, the clearest symbol of the cold war, was taken down in 1989. Kennedy at the Berlin Wall http://www.nara.gov/exhall/originals/kennedy.html

June 27, 1844 The founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (popularly known as the Mormon Church), Joseph Smith, Jr., and his brother Hyrum, were shot to death by a mob in Carthage, Illinois. At the time, Joseph Smith was a presidential candidate of the National Reform Party. More on the life of Joseph Smith http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/wpages/wpgs400/w4jsmith.htm

June 27, 1954 Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz was forced to resign as a result of a military coup backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). A week earlier Guatemala had been invaded by a mercenary force launched from Honduras. Arbenz's most important program had been a land reform that expropriated idle lands for the benefit of peasant families.

June 28, 1919 Germany and the Allied forces signed the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended World War I. The treaty, named for the royal palace outside of Paris where it was negotiated, established new national boundaries and demanded that Germany pay large sums for war damage and accept all blame for the war. The terms of the treaty have been considered controversial http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/modern/versaill/versahtm.htm

June 28, 1951 The "Amos 'n Andy" show made its TV debut. The show was based on the popular radio show about black characters played by white actors Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. The TV show was widely syndicated until pressure from civil rights groups, who claimed the show was stereotypical and prejudicial, forced its withdrawal. Tim Moore acted as George "Kingfish" Stevens, one of the stars of the show http://www.geocities.com/~jimlowe/tmoore/tmoordex.html

June 29, 1956 High jumper Charles Dumas revolutionized the track and field world when he became the first person to jump over 7 feet (2.13 meters). He accomplished his feat at the US Olympic Trials in Los Angeles. Later that year he won the Olympic high jump medal in Melbourne, Australia. Learn more about high jump http://home.att.net/~highjumpertodda/

June 29, 1972 In a decision that spared the lives of 600 individuals then sitting on death row, the US Supreme Court banned capital punishment. In the 5-4 vote, capital punishment was found to be in violation of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment." Four years later, the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty for murder cases. Two views on the death penalty http://faculty.mckenna.edu/mcostanzo/death_penalty/ http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DP.html

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