1579 – Sir Francis Drake claimed a land he called Nova Albion (modern California) for England.

1631 – Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, spent the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.

1673 – French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reached the Mississippi River and became the first Europeans to make a detailed account of its course.

1775 – American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflicted heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.

1839 – In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issued the edict of toleration which gave Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace were established as a result.

1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia.

1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign.

1876 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud: One thousand five hundred Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook’s forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.

1877 – American Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon: The Nez Perce defeated the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.

1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor.

1898 – The United States Navy Hospital Corps was established.

1901 – The College Board introduced its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.

1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act into law.

1932 – Bonus Army: Around a thousand World War I veterans amassed at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considered a bill that would give them certain benefits.

1933 – Union Station massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash are gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.

1939 – Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, was executed in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison.

1948 – United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashed near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, and killed all 43 people on board.

1957 – “So Rare”, by Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, peaked at #2.

1963 – The United States Supreme Court ruled 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.

1965 – British rock band The Kinks arrived in New York City and began their first US tour.

1967 – “Somebody To Love” by Jefferson Airplane peaked at #5.

1968 – Ohio Express’ “Yummy Yummy Yummy” went gold.

1970 – Led Zeppelin began their last European tour.

1971 – U.S. President Richard Nixon, in a televised press conference, called drug abuse “America’s public enemy number one”, which started the “War on Drugs.”

1971 – Carole King’s album “Tapestry” went to #1 on US album charts and stayed there for 15 weeks.

1972 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives were arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process.

1973 – Dolly Parton recorded her song “I Will Always Love You” for RCA in Nashville.

1985 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-G mission: Space Shuttle Discovery launched carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist.

1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the dusky seaside sparrow became extinct.

1992 – A “joint understanding” agreement on arms reduction was signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).

1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson was arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

2015 – Nine people were killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

2021 – Juneteenth National Independence Day, was signed into law by President Joe Biden, to become the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

---

To report an issue or typo with this article – CLICK HERE