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25 May 1977 – Star Wars is released in theaters.

Star Wars (film)

This article is about the 1977 film. For other films with Star Wars in the title, see List of Star Wars films.

"A New Hope" redirects here. For other uses, see A New Hope (disambiguation).

"Star Wars IV" redirects here. For the fourth film released, see Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

1977 American epic space-opera film directed by George Lucas

Warning: Page using Template:Infobox film with unknown parameter "website" (this message is shown only in preview).

Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew. It is the first installment of the original Star Wars trilogy, the first of the franchise to be produced, and the fourth episode of the "Skywalker Saga".

Lucas had the idea for a science-fiction film in the vein of Flash Gordon around the time he completed his first film, THX 1138 (1971), and began working on a treatment after the release of American Graffiti (1973). Star Wars focuses on the journey of Luke Skywalker (Hamill), who along with Han Solo (Ford) and the wizened Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness), attempt to free Rebellion leader Princess Leia (Fisher) from the clutches of the Galactic Empire and the Sith lord Darth Vader (Prowse, voiced by Jones). The heroes, in league with the Rebel Alliance, attempt to destroy the Empire's planet-destroying space station, the Death Star.

Star Wars was released in a limited number of theaters in the United States on May 25, 1977, and quickly became a blockbuster hit, leading to it being expanded to a much wider release. The film opened to critical acclaim, most notably for its groundbreaking visual effects. It grossed a total of $775 million, surpassing Jaws (1975) to become the highest-grossing film at the time until the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the second-highest-grossing film in North America (behind Gone with the Wind) and the fourth-highest-grossing film in the world. It received ten Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), winning seven. In 1989, it became one of the first films to be selected as part of the U.S. Library of Congress's National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." At the time, it was the most recent film in the registry and the only one chosen from the 1970s. In 2004, its soundtrack was added to the U.S. National Recording Registry. Today, it is regarded as one of the most important films in the history of motion pictures.

The film has been reissued multiple times with Lucas's support—most significantly with its 20th-anniversary theatrical "Special Edition"—incorporating many changes including modified computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, re-edited shots, remixed soundtracks and added scenes. It launched an industry of tie-in products, including novels, comics, video games, amusement park attractions, and merchandise including toys, games, clothing and many other spin-off works.

The film's success led to two critically and commercially successful sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), and later to a prequel trilogy, a sequel trilogy, two anthology films and various spin-off TV series.

1. ^ "Star Wars". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
2. ^ "Star Wars (1977)". Archived from the original on July 9, 2017.
3. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference BOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Cyriaque Lamar (January 13, 2012). "Behold, the 1977 budget breakdown for Star Wars". io9. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.

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25 May 1977 – Star Wars is released in theaters.

Star Wars (film)

This article is about the 1977 film. For other films with Star Wars in the title, see List of Star Wars films.

"A New Hope" redirects here. For other uses, see A New Hope (disambiguation).

"Star Wars IV" redirects here. For the fourth film released, see Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

1977 American epic space-opera film directed by George Lucas

Warning: Page using Template:Infobox film with unknown parameter "website" (this message is shown only in preview).

Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew. It is the first installment of the original Star Wars trilogy, the first of the franchise to be produced, and the fourth episode of the "Skywalker Saga".

Lucas had the idea for a science-fiction film in the vein of Flash Gordon around the time he completed his first film, THX 1138 (1971), and began working on a treatment after the release of American Graffiti (1973). Star Wars focuses on the journey of Luke Skywalker (Hamill), who along with Han Solo (Ford) and the wizened Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness), attempt to free Rebellion leader Princess Leia (Fisher) from the clutches of the Galactic Empire and the Sith lord Darth Vader (Prowse, voiced by Jones). The heroes, in league with the Rebel Alliance, attempt to destroy the Empire's planet-destroying space station, the Death Star.

Star Wars was released in a limited number of theaters in the United States on May 25, 1977, and quickly became a blockbuster hit, leading to it being expanded to a much wider release. The film opened to critical acclaim, most notably for its groundbreaking visual effects. It grossed a total of $775 million, surpassing Jaws (1975) to become the highest-grossing film at the time until the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the second-highest-grossing film in North America (behind Gone with the Wind) and the fourth-highest-grossing film in the world. It received ten Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), winning seven. In 1989, it became one of the first films to be selected as part of the U.S. Library of Congress's National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." At the time, it was the most recent film in the registry and the only one chosen from the 1970s. In 2004, its soundtrack was added to the U.S. National Recording Registry. Today, it is regarded as one of the most important films in the history of motion pictures.

The film has been reissued multiple times with Lucas's support—most significantly with its 20th-anniversary theatrical "Special Edition"—incorporating many changes including modified computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, re-edited shots, remixed soundtracks and added scenes. It launched an industry of tie-in products, including novels, comics, video games, amusement park attractions, and merchandise including toys, games, clothing and many other spin-off works.

The film's success led to two critically and commercially successful sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), and later to a prequel trilogy, a sequel trilogy, two anthology films and various spin-off TV series.

1. ^ "Star Wars". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
2. ^ "Star Wars (1977)". Archived from the original on July 9, 2017.
3. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference BOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Cyriaque Lamar (January 13, 2012). "Behold, the 1977 budget breakdown for Star Wars". io9. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.

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26 May 1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Stock market index

This article is about the stock market index with ticker DJIA. For the company that publishes it, see S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), or simply the Dow (/ˈdaʊ/), is a stock market index that measures the stock performance of 30 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. Although it is one of the most commonly followed equity indices, many consider the Dow not to be a good representation of the U.S. stock market (compared to total market indexes such as the Wilshire 5000 or Russell 3000) because it only includes 30 large cap companies, is not weighted by market capitalization, and does not use a weighted arithmetic mean.^[4][5][6][7]

The value of the index is sum of the price of one share of stock for each component company divided by a factor which changes whenever one of the component stocks has a stock split or stock dividend, so as to generate a consistent value for the index. Since the divisor is currently around 0.1474, the value of the index is 6.7843 times larger than the sum of the component prices.

It is the second-oldest U.S. market index after the Dow Jones Transportation Average, created by The Wall Street Journal editor and Dow Jones & Company co-founder Charles Dow. It is the best known of the Dow Averages, of which the first (non-industrial) was originally published on February 16, 1885. The averages are named after Dow and one of his business associates, statistician Edward Jones. The industrial average was first calculated on May 26, 1896.^[2]

The Industrial portion of the name is largely historical, as many of the modern 30 components have little or nothing to do with traditional heavy industry.

The index is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a joint venture majority-owned by S&P Global and its components are selected by a committee.

The ten components of the index with the highest dividend yields are referred to as the Dogs of the Dow.

1. ^ Dow Record Book Adds Another First. Philly.com. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
2. ^ ^{a b} "26 May 1896: Charles Dow launches the Dow Jones Industrial Average".
3. ^ "Dow Jones (DJIA) Historical Total Market Cap".
4. ^ "Standard & Poor's 500 Index – S&P 500". Investopedia.
5. ^ Deporre, James (September 7, 2018). "Ignore the Misleading Dow Jones Industrial Average". TheStreet.com.
6. ^ Floyd, David (June 25, 2019). "Discover What Makes the Dow Jones Industrial Average Stupid". Investopedia.
7. ^ Dzombak, Dan (April 18, 2014). "Why the Dow Jones Industrial Average Is Useless". The Motley Fool.

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27 May 1883 – Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.

Alexander III of Russia

Emperor of Russia

Alexander III (Russian: Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, tr. Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 1845 – 1 November 1894)^[1] was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death on 1 November 1894.^[2] He was highly reactionary and reversed some of the liberal reforms of his father, Alexander II. Under the influence of Konstantin Pobedonostsev (1827–1907) he opposed any reform that limited his autocratic rule. During his reign, Russia fought no major wars; he was therefore styled "The Peacemaker" (Russian: Миротво́рец, tr. Mirotvórets, IPA: [mʲɪrɐˈtvorʲɪt͡s]).

1. ^ 10 March [O.S. 26 February] 1845 – 1 November [O.S. 20 October] 1894
2. ^ 13 March [O.S. 1 March] 1881 – 1 November [O.S. 20 October] 1894.

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28 May 1977 – In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 people inside.

Beverly Hills Supper Club fire

Nightclub fire in Kentucky in 1977

The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Kentucky, is the third deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history. It occurred on the night of May 28, 1977, during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A total of 165 people died and more than 200 were injured as a result of the blaze.^[1]

1. ^ Southgate, KY Nightclub Fire Disaster, May 1977 | GenDisasters ... Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods. .gendisasters.com. Retrieved on May 28, 2013.

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29 May 1848 – Wisconsin is admitted as the 30th U.S. state.

Wisconsin

State in the upper Midwest region of the United States

This article is about the state. For other uses, see Wisconsin (disambiguation).

"Badger State" redirects here. For other uses, see Badger State (disambiguation).

State in the United States

Wisconsin (/wɪˈskɒnsɪn/ (listen)) is a U.S. state located in the north-central, Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the country. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous. The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The state is divided into 72 counties.

Wisconsin's geography is diverse, having been greatly impacted by glaciers during the Ice Age with the exception of the Driftless Area. The Northern Highland and Western Upland along with a part of the Central Plain occupies the western part of the state, with lowlands stretching to the shore of Lake Michigan. Wisconsin is second to Michigan in the length of its Great Lakes coastline.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many European settlers entered the state, many of whom emigrated from Germany and Scandinavia. Like neighboring Minnesota, the state remains a center of German American and Scandinavian American culture.

The state is one of the nation's leading dairy producers and is known as "America's Dairyland"; it is particularly famous for its cheese.^[10][11] Manufacturing (especially paper products), information technology (IT), cranberries, ginseng,^[12] and tourism are also major contributors to the state's economy.

1. ^ Dornfeld, Margaret; Hantula, Richard (2010). Wisconsin: It's my state!. Marshall Cavendish. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-60870-062-2. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
2. ^ Urdang, Laurence (1988). Names and Nicknames of Places and Things. Penguin Group USA. p. 8. ISBN 9780452009073. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015. "America's Dairyland" A nickname of Wisconsin
3. ^ Kane, Joseph Nathan; Alexander, Gerard L. (1979). Nicknames and sobriquets of U.S. cities, States, and counties. Scarecrow Press. p. 412. ISBN 9780810812550. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015. Wisconsin – America's Dairyland, The Badger State ... The Copper State ...
4. ^ Herman, Jennifer L. (2008). Wisconsin Encyclopedia, American Guide. North American Book Dist LLC. p. 10. ISBN 9781878592613. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015. Nicknames Wisconsin is generally known as The Badger State, or America's Dairyland, although in the past it has been nicknamed The Copper State.
5. ^ "Wisconsin State Symbols Archived February 22, 2017, at the Wayback Machine" in Wisconsin Blue Book 2005–2006, p. 966.
6. ^ ^{a b} "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
7. ^ ^{a b} Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
8. ^ "Median Annual Household Income". The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
9. ^ "Wisconsin State Symbols". Wisconsin Historical Society. Archived from the original on March 26, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
10. ^ "wisconsin.uk". Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
11. ^ Our Fifty States.
12. ^ Journal, Barry Adams | Wisconsin State. "Ginseng continues rebound in central Wisconsin". madison.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.

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30 May 1635 – Thirty Years' War: The Peace of Prague is signed.

Peace of Prague (1635)

For the settlement ending the Austro-Prussian War, see Peace of Prague (1866).

Saxony makes peace with Emperor Ferdinand and exits the Thirty Years War

The Peace of Prague, Pražský mír (Czech), Prager Frieden (German), signed on 30 May 1635, ended Saxony's participation in the Thirty Years War. The terms would later form the basis of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia.

Other German princes subsequently joined the treaty and although the Thirty Years War continued, it is generally agreed Prague ended it as a religious civil war within the Holy Roman Empire.^[2] Thereafter, the conflict was largely driven by foreign powers, including Spain, Sweden, and France.

1. ^ ^{a b} Asbach, Schröder 2014, p. 288.
2. ^ Onnekink, Rommelse 2019, p. 62.

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31 May 1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

"Alaska Pipeline" redirects here. For the proposed natural gas pipeline from Alaska to Alberta, see Alaska gas pipeline.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) includes the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the world's largest pipeline systems. It is commonly called the Alaska pipeline, trans-Alaska pipeline, or Alyeska pipeline, (or the pipeline as referred to in Alaska), but those terms technically apply only to the 800 miles (1,287 km) of the pipeline with the diameter of 48 inches (1.22 m) that conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska. The crude oil pipeline is privately owned by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.

The pipeline was built between 1975 and 1977, after the 1973 oil crisis caused a sharp rise in oil prices in the United States. This rise made exploration of the Prudhoe Bay oil field economically feasible. Environmental, legal, and political debates followed the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, and the pipeline was built only after the oil crisis provoked the passage of legislation designed to remove legal challenges to the project.

In building the pipeline, engineers faced a wide range of difficulties, stemming mainly from the extreme cold and the difficult, isolated terrain. The construction of the pipeline was one of the first large-scale projects to deal with problems caused by permafrost, and special construction techniques had to be developed to cope with the frozen ground. The project attracted tens of thousands of workers to Alaska, causing a boomtown atmosphere in Valdez, Fairbanks, and Anchorage.

The first barrel of oil traveled through the pipeline in the summer of 1977,^[1][2][3][4] with full-scale production by the end of the year. Several notable incidents of oil leakage have occurred since, including those caused by sabotage, maintenance failures, and bullet holes. As of 2010, it had shipped almost 16 billion barrels (2.5×10⁹ m³) of oil. The pipeline has been shown capable of delivering over 2 million barrels of oil per day but nowadays usually operates at a fraction of maximum capacity. If flow were to stop or throughput were too little, the line could freeze. The pipeline could be extended and used to transport oil produced from proposed drilling projects in the nearby Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

1. ^ ^{a b} "'Pig' leading flow of oil in pipeline". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. June 20, 1977. p. 1A.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Hot North Slope oil flowing". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. June 20, 1977. p. 1.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Valdez celebrates arrival of first oil". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 29, 1977. p. 1A.
4. ^ "Tanker casts off with load of oil". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. August 2, 1977. p. 3A.

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1 June 1533 – Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England.

Anne Boleyn

For other people named Anne Boleyn, see Anne Boleyn (disambiguation).

Second wife of Henry VIII of England

Marchioness of Pembroke

Anne Boleyn (/ˈbʊlɪn, bʊˈlɪn/;^[3][4][5] c. 1501^[2] – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of King Henry VIII. Their marriage, and her execution for treason and other charges by beheading, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked the start of the English Reformation. Anne was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard, and was educated in the Netherlands and France, largely as a maid of honour to Queen Claude of France. Anne returned to England in early 1522, to marry her Irish cousin James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond; the marriage plans were broken off, and instead she secured a post at court as maid of honour to Henry VIII's wife, Catherine of Aragon.

Early in 1523 Anne was secretly betrothed to Henry Percy, son of Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, but the betrothal was broken off when the Earl refused to support their engagement. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey refused the match in January 1524 and Anne was sent back home to Hever Castle. In February or March 1526, Henry VIII began his pursuit of Anne. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, which her sister Mary had been. Henry soon focused his desires on annulling his marriage to Catherine so he would be free to marry Anne. When it became clear that Pope Clement VII would not annul the marriage, Henry and his advisers began the breaking of the Catholic Church's power in England. In 1532, Henry granted Anne the Marquessate of Pembroke.

Henry and Anne formally married on 25 January 1533, after a secret wedding on 14 November 1532. On 23 May 1533, newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry and Catherine's marriage null and void; five days later, he declared Henry and Anne's marriage valid. Shortly afterwards, the Pope decreed sentences of excommunication against Henry and Cranmer. As a result of this marriage and these excommunications, the first break between the Church of England and Rome took place, and the King took control of the Church of England. Anne was crowned Queen of England on 1 June 1533. On 7 September, she gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. Henry was disappointed to have a daughter rather than a son but hoped a son would follow and professed to love Elizabeth. Anne subsequently had three miscarriages and, by March 1536, Henry was courting Jane Seymour. In order to marry Seymour, Henry had to find reasons to end the marriage to Anne.

Henry VIII had Anne investigated for high treason in April 1536. On 2 May she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London, where she was tried before a jury of peers – which included Henry Percy, her former betrothed, and her own uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk; she was convicted on 15 May. She was beheaded four days later. Modern historians view the charges against her, which included adultery, incest, and plotting to kill the king, as unconvincing. Some say that Anne was also accused of witchcraft but the indictments make no mention of this charge.^[6][7]

After her daughter, Elizabeth, was crowned as queen in 1533, Anne became venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation, particularly through the written works of John Foxe.^[8] Over the centuries, she has inspired, or been mentioned, in many artistic and cultural works and thereby retained her hold on the popular imagination. She has been called "the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had",^[9] as she provided the occasion for Henry VIII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and declare the English church's independence from the Vatican.

1. ^ Ives, pp. 42–43; Strong, pp. 6–7.
2. ^ ^{a b} Earlier historians considered 1507 to be the accepted date. But in 1981, the art historian Hugh Paget successfully demonstrated that Anne had written a letter in 1513 from Brussels, when she was a maid of honour in that court. This was significant for two reasons: the position was open only to a 12- or 13-year-old girl, and the letter was demonstrably not written in the hand of a six-year-old. [Ives – Life & Death of Anne Boleyn]
3. ^ Pronunciations with stress on the second syllable were rare until recently and were not mentioned by reference works until the 1960s; see The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations (2006) by Charles Harrington Elster
4. ^ Jones, Daniel Everyman's English Pronouncing Dictionary 12th edition (1963)
5. ^ Wells, John C. (1990). Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow, England: Longman. p. 83. ISBN 0-582-05383-8. entry "Boleyn"
6. ^ Gairdner, James, ed. (1887). Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 10, January–June 1536. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 349–371.
7. ^ Wriothesley, Charles (1875). A Chronicle of England During the Reigns of the Tudors, From A.D. 1485 to 1559. 1. Camden Society. pp. 189–226.
8. ^ "Review: The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn". Copperfieldreview.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
9. ^ Ives, p. xv.

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2 June 2012 – Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

Egyptian revolution of 2011

2011 political upheaval in Egypt

The Egyptian revolution of 2011, also known as the January 25 Revolution (Arabic: ثورة 25 يناير‎; Thawrah 25 yanāyir),^[21] started on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against increasing police brutality during the last few years of Mubarak's presidency. It consisted of demonstrations, marches, occupations of plazas, non-violent civil resistance, acts of civil disobedience and strikes. Millions of protesters from a range of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Violent clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in at least 846 people killed and over 6,000 injured.^[22][23] Protesters retaliated by burning over 90 police stations across the country.^[24]

The Egyptian protesters' grievances focused on legal and political issues,^[25] including police brutality, state-of-emergency laws,^[1] lack of political freedom, civil liberty, freedom of speech, corruption,^[2] high unemployment, food-price inflation^[3] and low wages.^[1][3] The protesters' primary demands were the end of the Mubarak regime and emergency law. Strikes by labour unions added to the pressure on government officials.^[26] During the uprising, the capital, Cairo, was described as "a war zone"^[27] and the port city of Suez saw frequent violent clashes. Protesters defied a government-imposed curfew, which was impossible to enforce by the police and military. Egypt's Central Security Forces, loyal to Mubarak, were gradually replaced by military troops. In the chaos, there was looting by rioters which was instigated (according to opposition sources) by plainclothes police officers. In response, watch groups were organized by civilian vigilantes to protect their neighborhoods.^{[28][29][30][31][32]}

On 11 February 2011, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak resigned as president, turning power over to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).^[33] The military junta, headed by effective head of state Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, announced on 13 February that the constitution is suspended, both houses of parliament dissolved and the military would govern for six months (until elections could be held). The previous cabinet, including Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, would serve as a caretaker government until a new one was formed.^[34]

After the revolution against Mubarak and a period of rule by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the Muslim Brotherhood took power in Egypt through a series of popular elections, with Egyptians electing Islamist Mohamed Morsi to the presidency in June 2012.^[35] However, the Morsi government encountered fierce opposition after his attempt to pass an Islamic-leaning constitution. Morsi also issued a temporary presidential decree that raised his decisions over judicial review to enable the passing of the constitution.^[36] It sparked general outrage from secularists and members of the military, and mass protests broke out against his rule on 28 June 2013.^[37] On 3 July 2013, Morsi was deposed by a coup d'état led by the minister of defense, General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi,^[38] as millions of Egyptians took to the streets in support of early elections.^[39] El-Sisi went on to become Egypt's president by popular election in 2014.^[40]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Egypt braces for nationwide protests". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Egypt activists plan biggest protest yet on Friday". Al Arabiya. 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Egypt protests a ticking time bomb: Analysts". The New Age. South Africa. Agence France-Presse. 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
4. ^ Korotayev A., Zinkina J. Egyptian Revolution: A Demographic Structural Analysis. Entelequia. Revista Interdisciplinar 13 (2011): 139–169.
5. ^ "Egypt's prime minister quits, new govt soon-army". Forexyard.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
6. ^ Egypt's Mubarak Steps Down; Military Takes Over, The Wall Street Journal, 11 February 2011.
7. ^ "Egypt's military moves to dissolve parliament, suspend constitution". Haaretz. Reuters. 29 November 2010. Archived from the original on 14 February 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
8. ^ "Egyptian state security disbanded". 15 March 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
9. ^ Egypt dissolves former ruling party http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011416125051889315.html
10. ^ "How the mighty have fallen". Al-Ahram Weekly. 2 February 2011. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
11. ^ Kirkpatrick, David D.; Stack, Liam (13 March 2011). "Prosecutors Order Mubarak and Sons Held". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
12. ^ "Mubarak to be tried for murder of protesters". Reuters. 24 May 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
13. ^ "Egypt's state of emergency ends after 31 years". The Daily Telegraph. London. 31 May 2012.
14. ^ "Mohammed Morsi sworn in as Egypt's president". CBS News. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
15. ^ "Estimated 2 Million People Protest in _ Around Tahrir Square in Cairo Egypt.mp4 | Current News World Web Source for News and Information". Cnewsworld.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
16. ^ "Egypt's revolution death toll rises to 384". Al Masry Al Youm. 22 February 2011. Archived from the original on 14 March 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
17. ^ "846 killed in Egypt uprising". 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
18. ^ "924 killed in Egyptian Revolution". 31 December 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
19. ^ "Activists on Facebook: the military killed 99 and wounded 2702 in 10 months". Tahrirnews.com. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
20. ^ Faisal Al Yafai (12 November 2012). "Egypt's army fails to grasp the post-Mubarak realities – The National". Thenational.ae. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
21. ^ Egyptian-American leaders call for U.S. support of 'Lotus Revolution' – CNN.com. Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved on 2013-12-06.
22. ^ "شيحة: مكاتب الصحة وثقت سقوط 840 شهيداً خلال ثورة 25 يناير". Almasry-alyoum.com. 16 March 2011. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
23. ^ "Egypt: Cairo's Tahrir Square fills with protesters". BBC. 8 July 2011. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
24. ^ "Was the Egyptian revolution really non-violent?". Egypt Independent. 24 January 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
25. ^ "Q&A: What's Behind the Unrest?". SBS. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
26. ^ "Trade unions: the revolutionary social network at play in Egypt and Tunisia". Defenddemocracy.org. Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
27. ^ Siddique, Haroon; Owen, Paul; Gabbatt, Adam (25 January 2011). "Protests in Egypt and unrest in Middle East – as it happened". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
28. ^ Fleishman, Jeffrey and Edmund Sanders (Los Angeles Times) (29 January 2011). "Unease in Egypt as police replaced by army, neighbors band against looters". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
29. ^ "Looting spreads in Egyptian cities". Al Jazeera. 29 January 2011. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
30. ^ Hauslohner, Abigail (29 January 2011). "The Army's OK with the Protesters, for now". Time. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
31. ^ "Mubarak plays last card, the army; Police vanish". World Tribune (online). 31 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
32. ^ Stirewalt, Chris (31 January 2011). "Egypt: From Police State to Military Rule". Fox News Channel. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
33. ^ "Hosni Mubarak resigns as president". Al Jazeera. 11 February 2011.
34. ^ el-Malawani, Hania (13 February 2011). "Egypt's military dismantles Mubarak regime". The Sydney Morning Herald.
35. ^ "Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi declared president of Egypt". The Guardian. 24 June 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
36. ^ Kirkpatrick, David D.; Sheikh, Mayy El (22 November 2012). "President Morsi in Egypt Seizes New Powers". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
37. ^ Taylor, Alan. "Millions March in Egyptian Protests". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
38. ^ "Morsi ousted, under house arrest, as crowds celebrate in Cairo". NBC News. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
39. ^ "The Simplest Explanation of Egypt's Revolution You'll Ever Read". TakePart. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
40. ^ "Sisi elected Egypt president by landslide". Al Jazeera. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.

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3 June 1539 – Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.

Hernando de Soto

For the Peruvian economist, see Hernando de Soto Polar.

Hernando de Soto (/də ˈsoʊtoʊ/;^[4] Spanish: [eɾˈnando ðe ˈsoto]; c. 1500 – May 21, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula, and played an important role in Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, but is best known for leading the first Spanish and European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and most likely Arkansas). He is the first European documented as having crossed the Mississippi River.^[5]

De Soto's North American expedition was a vast undertaking. It ranged throughout what is now the southeastern United States, both searching for gold, which had been reported by various Native American tribes and earlier coastal explorers, and for a passage to China or the Pacific coast. De Soto died in 1542 on the banks of the Mississippi River;^[6] different sources disagree on the exact location, whether it was what is now Lake Village, Arkansas, or Ferriday, Louisiana.

1. ^ Leon, P., 1998, The Discovery and Conquest of Peru, Chronicles of the New World Encounter, edited and translated by Cook and Cook, Durham: Duke University Press, ISBN 9780822321460
2. ^ "De Soto dies in the American wilderness". HISTORY.com.
3. ^ "Hernando de Soto".
4. ^ "De Soto". Collins English Dictionary.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Morison1974 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ "De Soto dies in the American wilderness". Retrieved 2017-08-05.

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4 June 1896 – Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.

Ford Quadricycle

This article is about the pioneering automobile. For other uses, see Quadricycle.

‹ The template Infobox automobile is being considered for merging. ›

The Ford Quadricycle was the first vehicle developed by Henry Ford. Ford's first car was a simple frame with a gas-powered engine and four bicycle wheels mounted on it.^[3]

The earliest cars were hand built, one by one, and very expensive. The peculiar machines were seen as toys for the rich.^[3] In the 1890s, the "horseless carriage" was a relatively new idea, with no one having a fixed, universal idea of what a car should look like or how it should work. Most of the first car builders were inventors, rather than businessmen, working with their imaginations and the parts they had on hand.^[3] Thus, the invention of the Quadricycle marks an important innovation as a proto-automobile that would lay the foundation for the future, with more practical designs to follow.

On June 4, 1896 in a tiny workshop behind his home on 58 Bagley Avenue, Detroit,^[2][4] where the Michigan Building now stands, Ford put the finishing touches on his pure ethanol-powered motor. After more than two years of experimentation, Ford, at the age of 32, had completed his first experimental automobile. He dubbed his creation the "Quadricycle," so named because it ran on four bicycle tires, and because of the means through which the engine drove the back wheels.^[5] The success of the little vehicle led to the founding of the Henry Ford Company and then later the Ford Motor Company in 1903.^[6]

The two cylinder engine could produce 4 horsepower.^[7] The Quadricycle was driven by a chain. The transmission had only two gears (first for 10 mph (16 km/h), 2nd for 20 mph (32 km/h)), but did not have a reverse gear. The tiller-steered machine had wire wheels and a 3 US gal (11 L) fuel tank under the seat.^[2] Ford test drove it on June 4, 1896, after various test drives, achieving a top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h).^[2] Ford would later go on to found the Ford Motor Company and become one of the world's richest men.^[3]

Today the original Quadricycle resides at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

1. ^ Herndon, Ford: An Unconventional Biography of the Men and Their Times, (New York: Weybright & Talley, 1969), p. 62; also Flammang et al., Ford Chronicle, (Publications International, 1992), p.9 (as cited in Brinkley, David, Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, (New York: Penguin Group, 2003), p.23
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.58.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Doeden, Matt (2007). Crazy Cars. Lerner Publications. ISBN 978-0-8225-6565-9.
4. ^ "Henry Ford Story Timeline - Henry Ford Heritage Association". hfha.org. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
5. ^ Brinkley, David, Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, (New York: Penguin Group, 2003), p.22
6. ^ The Showroom of Automotive History: 1896 Quadricycle Archived 2010-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ 1896 Ford Quadricycle RemarkableCars.com

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5 June 2017 – Montenegro becomes the 29th member of the NATO.

Montenegro

This article is about the country in Europe. For other uses, see Montenegro (disambiguation).

"Crna Gora" redirects here. For other uses, see Crna Gora (disambiguation).

Republic in the Balkans

Coordinates: 42°30′N 19°18′E / 42.500°N 19.300°E / 42.500; 19.300

Montenegro (/ˌmɒntɪˈneɪɡroʊ, -ˈniːɡroʊ, -ˈnɛɡroʊ/ (listen); Montenegrin: Црна Гора, romanized: Crna Gora, [tsr̩̂ːnaː ɡǒra]) is a country of South and Southeast Europe on the coast of the Balkans. It borders Bosnia-Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo^[a] to the east, Albania to the southeast, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, and Croatia to the west. Montenegro has an area of 13,812 square kilometres and a population of 620,079 (2011 census). Its capital Podgorica is one of the twenty-three municipalities in the country. Cetinje is designated as the Old Royal Capital.

During the Early Medieval period, three principalities were located on the territory of modern-day Montenegro: Duklja, roughly corresponding to the southern half; Travunia, the west; and Rascia proper, the north.^[7][8][9] In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in the independence of Duklja from the Byzantine Empire and the establishment of the Vojislavljević dynasty. After being ruled by the Nemanjić dynasty for two centuries, the independent Principality of Zeta emerged in the 14th and 15th centuries, ruled by the House of Balšić between 1356 and 1421, and by the House of Crnojević between 1431 and 1498, when the name Montenegro started being used for the country. After falling under Ottoman rule, Montenegro regained de facto independence in 1697 under the rule of the House of Petrović-Njegoš, first under the theocratic rule of prince-bishops, before being transformed into a secular principality in 1852. Montenegro's de jure independence was recognised by the Great Powers at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, following the Montenegrin–Ottoman War. In 1905, the country became a kingdom. After World War I, it became part of Yugoslavia. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the republics of Serbia and Montenegro together established a federation known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was renamed to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. On the basis of an independence referendum held in May 2006, Montenegro declared independence and the federation peacefully dissolved on 3 June of that year, ending a nearly 88-year union between the two states.^[10]

Since 1990, the state of Montenegro has been governed by the Democratic Party of Socialists and its minor coalition partners. Classified by the World Bank as an upper middle-income country, Montenegro is a member of the UN, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the Central European Free Trade Agreement. It is a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean.

1. ^ "Language and alphabet Article 13". Constitution of Montenegro. WIPO. 19 October 2007. The official language in Montenegro shall be Montenegrin. Latin and Cyrillic alphabet shall be equal.
2. ^ "Language and alphabet Article 13". Constitution of Montenegro. WIPO. 19 October 2007. Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian shall also be in the official use.
3. ^ "Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in Montenegro 2011" (PDF). Monstat. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. October 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
5. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate)". World Bank. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
6. ^ "Human Development Report 2019" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
7. ^ David Luscombe; Jonathan Riley-Smith (2004). The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, c. 1024 – c. 1198. Cambridge University Press. pp. 266–. ISBN 9780521414111.
8. ^ Jean W Sedlar (2013). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500. University of Washington Press. pp. 21–. ISBN 9780295800646.
9. ^ John Van Antwerp Fine (1983). he early medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century. University of Michigan Press. p. 194. ISBN 9780472100255.
10. ^ Serbia ends union with Montenegro

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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6 June 1749 – The Conspiracy of the Slaves in Malta is discovered.

Conspiracy of the Slaves

Redirect to:

• 1749 Muslim slave revolt in Malta

• From a page move: This is a redirect from a page that has been moved (renamed). This page was kept as a redirect to avoid breaking links, both internal and external, that may have been made to the old page name.

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7 June 1981 – The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor during Operation Opera.

Operation Opera

For the Yugoslav Wars operation, see Operation Opera Orientalis.

Operation Opera (Hebrew: מבצע אופרה‎‎‎),^[1] also known as Operation Babylon,^[2] was a surprise Israeli air strike carried out on 7 June 1981, which destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor under construction 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) southeast of Baghdad.^[3][4][5] The operation came after Iran's unsuccessful Operation Scorch Sword operation had caused minor damage to the same nuclear facility the previous year, the damage having been subsequently repaired by French technicians. Operation Opera, and related Israeli government statements following it, established the Begin Doctrine, which explicitly stated the strike was not an anomaly, but instead “a precedent for every future government in Israel.” Israel's counter-proliferation preventive strike added another dimension to their existing policy of deliberate ambiguity, as it related to the nuclear capability of other states in the region.^[6]

In 1976, Iraq purchased an "Osiris"-class nuclear reactor from France.^[7][8] While Iraq and France maintained that the reactor, named Osirak by the French, was intended for peaceful scientific research,^[9] the Israelis viewed the reactor with suspicion, believing it was designed to make nuclear weapons.^[3] On 7 June 1981, a flight of Israeli Air Force F-16A fighter aircraft, with an escort of F-15As, bombed and heavily damaged the Osirak reactor.^[10] Israel called the operation an act of self-defense said that the reactor had "less than a month to go" before "it might have become critical."^[11] Ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian were killed.^[12] The attack took place about three weeks before the elections for the Knesset.^[13]

At the time, the attack was met with sharp international criticism, including in the United States, and Israel was rebuked by the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly in two separate resolutions.^[14][15] Media reactions were also negative: "Israel's sneak attack ... was an act of inexcusable and short-sighted aggression", wrote the New York Times, while the Los Angeles Times called it "state-sponsored terrorism".^[14] The destruction of Osirak has been cited as an example of a preventive strike in contemporary scholarship on international law.^[16][17] The efficacy of the attack is debated by historians,^[18] who acknowledge that it brought back Iraq from the brink of nuclear capability but drove its weapons program underground and cemented Saddam Hussein's future ambitions for acquiring nuclear weapons.

1. ^ Perlmutter, p. 172.
2. ^ Amos Perlmutter, Michael I. Handel, Uri Bar-Joseph. Two Minutes over Baghdad. Routledge (2nd ed.), 2008. p. 120.
3. ^ ^{a b} "1981: Israel bombs Baghdad nuclear reactor". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 June 1981. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
4. ^ Donald Neff (1995). "Israel Bombs Iraq's Osirak Nuclear Research Facility". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Andrew I. Kilgore: 81–82. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference fainberg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Country Profiles -Israel, Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) updated May 2014
7. ^ Ramberg, Bennett. Nuclear Power Plants as Weapons for the Enemy: An Unrecognized Military Peril. University of California Press, 1985. p. xvii.
8. ^ Cordesman, Anthony H. Iraq and the War of Sanctions: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Praeger, 1999. p. 605.
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference worldbook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Shirley V. Scott, Anthony Billingsley, Christopher Michaelsen. International Law and the Use of Force: A Documentary and Reference Guide. Praeger, 2009. p. 182.
11. ^ Scott, p. 132.
12. ^ Polakow-Suransky, Sasha. The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa. Pantheon (1 ed.), 2010. p. 145.
13. ^ Cite error: The named reference perryIQP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
14. ^ ^{a b} Jonathan Steele (7 June 2002). "The Bush doctrine makes nonsense of the UN charter". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
15. ^ Cite error: The named reference scres was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
16. ^ Shue, Henry and Rhodin, David (2007). Preemption: Military Action and Moral Justification. Oxford University Press. p. 215.
17. ^ Cite error: The named reference council was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
18. ^ [1]

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8 June 1984 – Homosexuality is declared legal in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Homosexuality

This article is about homosexuality in humans. For homosexuality in other species, see Homosexual behavior in animals.

Romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender

Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the same sex. It "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions."^[1][2]

Along with bisexuality and heterosexuality, homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation within the heterosexual–homosexual continuum.^[1] Scientists do not know what determines an individual's sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences,^[3][4][5] and do not view it as a choice.^[3][4][6] Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, scientists favor biologically-based theories.^[3] There is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males.^[7][8][9] There is no substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences play a role with regard to sexual orientation.^[10] While some people believe that homosexual activity is unnatural,^[11] scientific research shows that homosexuality is a normal and natural variation in human sexuality and is not in and of itself a source of negative psychological effects.^[1][12] There is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation.^[13][14]

The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males, but gay also commonly refers to both homosexual females and males. The percentage of people who are gay or lesbian and the proportion of people who are in same-sex romantic relationships or have had same-sex sexual experiences are difficult for researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons, including many gay and lesbian people not openly identifying as such due to prejudice or discrimination such as homophobia and heterosexism.^[15] Homosexual behavior has also been documented in many non-human animal species.^[21]

Many gay and lesbian people are in committed same-sex relationships, though only in the 2010s have census forms and political conditions facilitated their visibility and enumeration.^[22] These relationships are equivalent to heterosexual relationships in essential psychological respects.^[2] Homosexual relationships and acts have been admired, as well as condemned, throughout recorded history, depending on the form they took and the culture in which they occurred.^[23] Since the end of the 19th century, there has been a global movement towards freedom and equality for gay people, including the introduction of anti-bullying legislation to protect gay children at school, legislation ensuring non-discrimination, equal ability to serve in the military, equal access to health care, equal ability to adopt and parent, and the establishment of marriage equality.

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Sexual orientation, homosexuality and bisexuality". American Psychological Association. Archived from the original on 8 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Case No. S147999 in the Supreme Court of the State of California, In re Marriage Cases Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding No. 4365[...] – APA California Amicus Brief — As Filed" (PDF). p. 30. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Frankowski BL; American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence (June 2004). "Sexual orientation and adolescents". Pediatrics. 113 (6): 1827–32. doi:10.1542/peds.113.6.1827. PMID 15173519.
4. ^ ^{a b} Mary Ann Lamanna; Agnes Riedmann; Susan D Stewart (2014). Marriages, Families, and Relationships: Making Choices in a Diverse Society. Cengage Learning. p. 82. ISBN 1305176898. Retrieved 11 February 2016. The reason some individuals develop a gay sexual identity has not been definitively established  – nor do we yet understand the development of heterosexuality. The American Psychological Association (APA) takes the position that a variety of factors impact a person's sexuality. The most recent literature from the APA says that sexual orientation is not a choice that can be changed at will, and that sexual orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factors...is shaped at an early age...[and evidence suggests] biological, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person's sexuality (American Psychological Association 2010).
5. ^ Gail Wiscarz Stuart (2014). Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 502. ISBN 032329412X. Retrieved 11 February 2016. No conclusive evidence supports any one specific cause of homosexuality; however, most researchers agree that biological and social factors influence the development of sexual orientation.
6. ^ Gloria Kersey-Matusiak (2012). Delivering Culturally Competent Nursing Care. Springer Publishing Company. p. 169. ISBN 0826193811. Retrieved 10 February 2016. Most health and mental health organizations do not view sexual orientation as a 'choice.'
7. ^ Bailey JM, Vasey PL, Diamond LM, Breedlove SM, Vilain E, Epprecht M (2016). "Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science". Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 17 (21): 45–101. doi:10.1177/1529100616637616. PMID 27113562.
8. ^ LeVay, Simon (2017). Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199752966.
9. ^ Balthazart, Jacques (2012). The Biology of Homosexuality. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199838820.
10. ^ "Submission to the Church of England's Listening Exercise on Human Sexuality". The Royal College of Psychiatrists. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
11. ^ Robinson, B. A. (2010). "Divergent beliefs about the nature of homosexuality". Religious Tolerance.org. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
12. ^ ""Therapies" to change sexual orientation lack medical justification and threaten health". Pan American Health Organization. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
13. ^ American Psychological Association: Resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts
14. ^ "Psychological practices that attempt to change sexual orientation: Position statement | APS". www.psychology.org.au. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
15. ^ LeVay, Simon (1996). Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality. Cambridge: The MIT Press ISBN 0-262-12199-9
16. ^ "Same-sex Behavior Seen In Nearly All Animals, Review Finds". ScienceDaily.
17. ^ 1,500 animal species practice homosexuality. The Medical News, 23 October 2006 Archived 10 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
18. ^ Sommer, Volker & Paul L. Vasey (2006), Homosexual Behaviour in Animals, An Evolutionary Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-86446-1
19. ^ (Bagemihl 1999)
20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Biological Exuberance: Animal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
21. ^ ^{[16][17][18][19][20]}
22. ^ *Census statistics show quarter of California same-sex couples raising kids
    • Region Saw Increase In Same-Sex Households
    • Census 2010: One Quarter of Gay Couples Raising Children
    • Minnesota Sees 50% Rise in Number of Gay Couples Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
    • Census:Dutchess, Ulster Gay Households Increase
    • Same Sex Couples' Numbers Soar In N.Y, 2010 Census Finds Archived 30 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
    • 87% Increase in Same-Sex Nevada Households Since 2000
    • 2010 Census indicates increase among same-sex homeowners in Oklahoma
    • Spike In Number of City's Same-Sex Couples Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
23. ^ Sexual Orientation Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. American Psychiatric Association.

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9 June 1934 – Donald Duck makes his debut in The Wise Little Hen.

The Wise Little Hen

The Wise Little Hen is a Walt Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon, based on the fairy tale The Little Red Hen. The cartoon features the debut of Donald Duck, dancing to the Sailor's Hornpipe. Donald and his friend Peter Pig try to avoid work by faking stomach aches until Mrs. Hen teaches them the value of labor. This cartoon was released on June 9, 1934.^[2] It was animated by Art Babbitt, Dick Huemer, Clyde Geronimi, Louie Schmitt, and Frenchy de Tremaudan (with assistance from a group of junior animators headed by Ben Sharpsteen)^[3][1] and directed by Wilfred Jackson.^[4] The story was also adapted in the Silly Symphony Sunday comic strip by Ted Osborne and Al Taliaferro,^[5] which was Donald Duck's first appearance in Disney comics.

1. ^ ^{a b} "Happy Birthday Donald Duck! Walt Disney's "The Wise Little Hen" (1934) |". Cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
2. ^ Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J. B. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (2nd ed.). Glendale, CA: Disney Editions. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.
3. ^ Malone, Patrick A. "The Wise Little Hen". The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
4. ^ "The Wise Little Hen". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
5. ^ Duvall, Earl; Taliaferro, Al; Osborne, Ted; De Maris, Merrill (2016). Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics, vol 1. San Diego: IDW Publishing. ISBN 978-1631405587.

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10 June 1947 – Saab produces its first automobile.

Saab Automobile

This article is about the car manufacturer. For the aerospace and defence company, see Saab AB. For other uses, see Saab.

Saab Automobile AB^[1][2] (/sɑːb/) was a manufacturer that was founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, SAAB AB, began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in 1949. In 1968 the parent company merged with Scania-Vabis, and ten years later the Saab 900 was launched, in time becoming Saab's best-selling model. In the mid-1980s the new Saab 9000 model also appeared.

In 1989, the automobile division of Saab-Scania was restructured into an independent company, Saab Automobile AB. The American manufacturer General Motors (GM) took 50 percent ownership with an investment of US$600 million. Two well-known models to come out of this period were the Saab 9-3 and the Saab 9-5. Then in 2000, GM exercised its option to acquire the remaining 50 percent for a further US$125 million; so turning Saab Automobile into a wholly owned GM subsidiary. In 2010 GM sold Saab Automobile AB to the Dutch automobile manufacturer Spyker Cars N.V.^[3]

Saab 900

After many years establishing a sound engineering reputation and ultimately a luxury price tag, Saab failed to build its customer base beyond its niche following.^[4] After struggling to avoid insolvency throughout 2011, the company petitioned for bankruptcy following the failure of a Chinese consortium to complete a purchase of the company; the purchase had been blocked by the former owner GM, which opposed the transfer of technology and production rights to a Chinese company.^[5] On 13 June 2012, it was announced that a newly formed company called National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) had bought Saab Automobile's bankrupt estate.^[6] According to "Saab United", the first NEVS Saab 9-3 drove off its pre-production line on 19 September 2013.^[7] Full production restarted on 2 December 2013,^[8] initially the same gasoline-powered 9-3 Aero sedans that were built before Saab went bankrupt, and intended to get the automaker’s supply chain reestablished as it attempted development of a new line of NEVS-Saab products.^[9][10] NEVS lost its license to manufacture automobiles under the Saab name (which the namesake aerospace company still owns) in the summer of 2014 and now produces electric cars based on the Saab 9-3 but under its own new car designation "NEVS".^[11][12]

1. ^ "History and Background: Timeline, Video". US: Saab Group. 1980-01-01. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
2. ^ "The History of Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget or Saab". Saab history. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
3. ^ "Spyker Cars finalizes the purchase of Saab" (PDF) (Press release). Spyker. 2010-02-23.
4. ^ "The People Who Will Miss Saab the Most; With the bankruptcy and impending doom facing Saab, we mourn with the certain, loyal fans that will miss the Swedish auto-maker". US: The Atlantic. 2011-12-19. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
5. ^ "Saab Automobile Files for Bankruptcy" (Press release). Saab Automobile. 2011-12-19. Archived from the original on 2012-01-07. Retrieved 2011-12-20..
6. ^ Zachariasson, Helena (13 June 2012). "Saab har fatt en kopare" [Saab's new owners will hire hundreds]. SVT (in Swedish). SE. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
7. ^ "First Nevs Saab Rolls off Pre-Production Line" (Youtube) (video Posted). Trollhättan: Saab Group. 2013-09-19.
8. ^ Lönnroth, Valdemar (Nov 28, 2014), "Lööf på plats nar Nevs drar igang produktion" [Lööf in place when Nevs kicks off production], Ttela (in Swedish), SE.
9. ^ Gastelu, Gary (2 December 2013). "Saab restarts production". Fox News. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
10. ^ Stoll, John D. (2 December 2013). "Saab Automobile Is Poised to Resume Production". Gasgoo Automotive News. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
11. ^ Saab carmaker NEVS granted creditor protection by court but loses right to use Saab name; Automotive News Europe, 29 August 2014, at europe.autonews.com Accessed 8 November 2017
12. ^ nevs.com: NEVS launches its new trademark Archived 2016-09-14 at the Wayback Machine

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11 June 1837 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and Irish.

Broad Street Riot

The Broad Street Riot was a massive brawl that occurred in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 11, 1837, between Irish Americans and Yankee firefighters. An estimated 800 people were involved in the actual fighting, with at least 10,000 spectators egging them on. Nearby homes were sacked and vandalized, and the occupants beaten. Many on both sides were seriously injured, but no immediate deaths resulted from the violence. After raging for hours, the riot was quelled when Mayor Samuel Eliot called in the state militia.

In the wake of the riot, Boston's police and fire departments were established.

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12 June 1776 – The Virginia Declaration of Rights is adopted.

Virginia Declaration of Rights

The Virginia Declaration of Rights is a document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government.^[2] It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and the United States Bill of Rights (1789).^[3]

1. ^ "American Treasures of the Library of Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
2. ^ "The Virginia Declaration of Rights; Article 3". Retrieved May 1, 2015.
3. ^ McDonald, Robert (2008). "Mason, George (1725–1792)". In Hamowy, Ronald (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; Cato Institute. p. 321. doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n194. ISBN 978-1-4129-6580-4. LCCN 2008009151. OCLC 750831024.

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13 June 1996 – The Montana Freemen surrender after an 81-day standoff with FBI agents.

Montana Freemen

The Montana Freemen were an anti-government militant "Christian Patriot movement" based outside the town of Jordan, Montana, in the United States. The members of the group referred to their land as "Justus Township" and had declared themselves no longer under the authority of any outside government. They became the center of public attention in 1996 when they engaged in a prolonged armed standoff with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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14 June 1777 – The Stars and Stripes is adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States.

Flag of the United States

"American Flag" and "Flag of the USA" redirect here. For other uses, see American Flag (disambiguation). For the flag of the U.S. of the Ionian Islands, see Flag of the United States of the Ionian Islands. For the U.S. Army's flag, see Flag of the United States Army. For the flag of the Union of South Africa, see Flag of South Africa (1928–1994).

National flag

The flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the American flag or U.S. flag, is the national flag of the United States. It consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the "union") bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows, where rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternate with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and became the first states in the U.S.^[1] Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes,^[2][3] Old Glory,^[4] and the Star-Spangled Banner.

1. ^ John Warner (1998). "Senate Concurrent Resolution 61" (PDF). U.S Government Printing Office. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
2. ^ "History of the American Flag". www.infoplease.com. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
3. ^ During the Revolutionary War era, the "Rebellious Stripes" were considered as the most important element of United States flag designs, and were always mentioned before the stars. The "Stripes and Stars" would remain a popular phrase into the 19th century. Credit for the term "Stars and Stripes" has been given to the Marquis de Lafayette. See Mastai (1973), pg. 29.
4. ^ "USFlag.org: A website dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America - "OLD GLORY!"". www.usflag.org. Retrieved December 13, 2015.

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15 June 2012 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to successfully tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls.

Nik Wallenda

For the television show, see Nik Wallenda: Beyond Niagara.

Warning: Page using Template:Infobox person with unknown parameter "weight" (this message is shown only in preview).

Nikolas Wallenda (born January 24, 1979) is an American acrobat, aerialist, daredevil, high wire artist, and author. He is known for his high-wire performances without a safety net. He holds eleven Guinness World Records for various acrobatic feats, but is best known as the first person to walk a tightrope stretched directly over Niagara Falls.

Wallenda is a seventh-generation member of The Flying Wallendas family, and he participated in various circus acts as a child. He made his professional tightrope walking debut at age 13, and he chose high-wire walking as his career in 1998 after joining family members in a seven-person pyramid on the wire. In 2001, he was part of the world's first eight-person high-wire pyramid. He performed with his family at various venues from 2002 to 2005, forming his own troupe in 2005. He performed with Bello Nock in 2007 and 2008 in a double version of the Wheel of Steel that he helped invent. In 2009, he set new personal bests for highest and longest tightrope walks, completing a total of 15 walks above 100 feet (30 m) in the air that year.

In 2008, Wallenda set Guinness World Records for longest and highest bicycle ride on a high-wire 250-foot-long (76 m) ride at 135 feet (41 m) above the ground in New Jersey. He nearly doubled the height record in 2010 to 260 feet (79 m). On the same day in 2010, he upped his personal best by tightrope walking over 2,000 feet (610 m) in a single performance. He set a world record in 2011 by performing on the Wheel of Death atop the 23 story Tropicana Casino and Resort. Later that year, he and his mother tightrope walked between the two towers of Condado Plaza Hotel in Puerto Rico. The feat was a re-creation of the one that killed Karl Wallenda, Nik's great-grandfather and primary source of inspiration. On June 10, 2011, Wallenda hung from a helicopter 250 feet (76 m) off the ground using only his toes to hold on.^[4]

Wallenda crossed Niagara Falls on June 15, 2012 on a live ABC special, following a two-year legal battle involving both sides of the Canada–United States border to gain approval. He was required to wear a safety harness for the first time in his life. A reality show aired on the Science Channel which followed his feats. In 2013, he released a memoir entitled Balance. He became the first person to high-wire walk across a Grand Canyon area gorge on June 23, 2013, crossing the Little Colorado River outside Grand Canyon National Park; the feat aired live on Discovery. He followed that up with Skyscraper Live, a live Discovery special that aired on November 2, 2014, in which he completed two tightrope walks and set two new Guinness World Records: one for walking the steepest tightrope incline between two buildings, and the other for the highest tightrope walk while blindfolded.

Wallenda is married with three children, and considers his Christian faith to be a central aspect of his life.

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Today was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chicago was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference prepares was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ "Nik Wallenda hangs from helicopter by his toes". June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2017.

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16 June 1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.

Lithuania

This article is about the European country. For other uses, see Lithuania (disambiguation).

Country on the shore of the Baltic Sea

Coordinates: 55°N 24°E / 55°N 24°E / 55; 24

Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuˈeɪniə/ (listen) LITH-ew-AY-nee-ə;^[10] Lithuanian: Lietuva [lʲɪɛtʊˈvɐ]), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Lithuania is considered to be one of the Baltic states.^[11] The country is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2019^[update], and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, the other being Latvian.

For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas and the Kingdom of Lithuania was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe;^[12] present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.

As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state^[13] to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.

Lithuania is a high-income advanced economy^[14][15] with a very high Human Development Index,^[16] a very high standard of living and performs favourably in measurements of civil liberties, press freedom, internet freedom, democratic governance and peacefulness. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, eurozone, Schengen Agreement, NATO and OECD. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank, and part of Nordic-Baltic cooperation of Northern European countries.

1. ^ "Ethnicity, mother tongue and religion". Official Statistics Portal. Statistics Lithuania. 12 December 2019. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
2. ^ Kulikauskienė, Lina (2002). Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija [The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania] (in Lithuanian). Native History, CD. ISBN 978-9986-9216-7-7.
3. ^ Veser, Ernst (23 September 1997). "Semi-Presidentialism-Duverger's Concept – A New Political System Model" (PDF) (in English and Chinese). Department of Education, School of Education, University of Cologne. pp. 39–60. Retrieved 23 August 2017. Duhamel has developed the approach further: He stresses that the French construction does not correspond to either parliamentary or the presidential form of government, and then develops the distinction of 'système politique' and 'régime constitutionnel'. While the former comprises the exercise of power that results from the dominant institutional practice, the latter is the totality of the rules for the dominant institutional practice of the power. In this way, France appears as 'presidentialist system' endowed with a 'semi-presidential regime' (1983: 587). By this standard he recognizes Duverger's pléiade as semi-presidential regimes, as well as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania (1993: 87).
4. ^ Shugart, Matthew Søberg (September 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive and Mixed Authority Patterns" (PDF). Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. United States: University of California, San Diego. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
5. ^ Shugart, Matthew Søberg (December 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns" (PDF). French Politics. Palgrave Macmillan Journals. 3 (3): 323–351. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087. Retrieved 23 August 2017. A pattern similar to the French case of compatible majorities alternating with periods of cohabitation emerged in Lithuania, where Talat-Kelpsa (2001) notes that the ability of the Lithuanian president to influence government formation and policy declined abruptly when he lost the sympathetic majority in parliament.
6. ^ "Pradžia – Oficialiosios statistikos portalas". osp.stat.gov.lt.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} "Lithuania". International Monetary Fund.
8. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
9. ^ "2017 Human Development Report". United Nations Development Programme. 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
10. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15253-2.
11. ^ "The Baltic States: Why the United States Must Strengthen Security Cooperation". The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bideleux was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. ^ "Lithuania breaks away from the Soviet Union". Theguardian.com. London: Guardian Media Group. 12 March 1990. Retrieved 7 June 2018. Lithuania last night became the first republic to break away from the Soviet Union, by proclaiming the restoration of its pre-war independence. The newly-elected parliament, 'reflecting the people's will,' decreed the restoration of 'the sovereign rights of the Lithuanian state, infringed by alien forces in 1940,' and declared that from that moment Lithuania was again an independent state.
14. ^ "Advanced economies". IMF. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
15. ^ "Lithuania". World Bank. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
16. ^ "Lithuania – Country Profile: Human Development Indicators". hdr.undp.org. United Nations. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

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16 June 1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.

Lithuania

This article is about the European country. For other uses, see Lithuania (disambiguation).

Country on the shore of the Baltic Sea

Coordinates: 55°N 24°E / 55°N 24°E / 55; 24

Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuˈeɪniə/ (listen) LITH-ew-AY-nee-ə;^[10] Lithuanian: Lietuva [lʲɪɛtʊˈvɐ]), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Lithuania is considered to be one of the Baltic states.^[11] The country is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2019^[update], and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, the other being Latvian.

For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas and the Kingdom of Lithuania was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe;^[12] present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.

As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state^[13] to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.

Lithuania is a high-income advanced economy^[14][15] with a very high Human Development Index,^[16] a very high standard of living and performs favourably in measurements of civil liberties, press freedom, internet freedom, democratic governance and peacefulness. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, eurozone, Schengen Agreement, NATO and OECD. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank, and part of Nordic-Baltic cooperation of Northern European countries.

1. ^ "Ethnicity, mother tongue and religion". Official Statistics Portal. Statistics Lithuania. 12 December 2019. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
2. ^ Kulikauskienė, Lina (2002). Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija [The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania] (in Lithuanian). Native History, CD. ISBN 978-9986-9216-7-7.
3. ^ Veser, Ernst (23 September 1997). "Semi-Presidentialism-Duverger's Concept – A New Political System Model" (PDF) (in English and Chinese). Department of Education, School of Education, University of Cologne. pp. 39–60. Retrieved 23 August 2017. Duhamel has developed the approach further: He stresses that the French construction does not correspond to either parliamentary or the presidential form of government, and then develops the distinction of 'système politique' and 'régime constitutionnel'. While the former comprises the exercise of power that results from the dominant institutional practice, the latter is the totality of the rules for the dominant institutional practice of the power. In this way, France appears as 'presidentialist system' endowed with a 'semi-presidential regime' (1983: 587). By this standard he recognizes Duverger's pléiade as semi-presidential regimes, as well as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania (1993: 87).
4. ^ Shugart, Matthew Søberg (September 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive and Mixed Authority Patterns" (PDF). Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. United States: University of California, San Diego. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
5. ^ Shugart, Matthew Søberg (December 2005). "Semi-Presidential Systems: Dual Executive And Mixed Authority Patterns" (PDF). French Politics. Palgrave Macmillan Journals. 3 (3): 323–351. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200087. Retrieved 23 August 2017. A pattern similar to the French case of compatible majorities alternating with periods of cohabitation emerged in Lithuania, where Talat-Kelpsa (2001) notes that the ability of the Lithuanian president to influence government formation and policy declined abruptly when he lost the sympathetic majority in parliament.
6. ^ "Pradžia – Oficialiosios statistikos portalas". osp.stat.gov.lt.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} "Lithuania". International Monetary Fund.
8. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
9. ^ "2017 Human Development Report". United Nations Development Programme. 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
10. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15253-2.
11. ^ "The Baltic States: Why the United States Must Strengthen Security Cooperation". The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bideleux was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. ^ "Lithuania breaks away from the Soviet Union". Theguardian.com. London: Guardian Media Group. 12 March 1990. Retrieved 7 June 2018. Lithuania last night became the first republic to break away from the Soviet Union, by proclaiming the restoration of its pre-war independence. The newly-elected parliament, 'reflecting the people's will,' decreed the restoration of 'the sovereign rights of the Lithuanian state, infringed by alien forces in 1940,' and declared that from that moment Lithuania was again an independent state.
14. ^ "Advanced economies". IMF. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
15. ^ "Lithuania". World Bank. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
16. ^ "Lithuania – Country Profile: Human Development Indicators". hdr.undp.org. United Nations. Retrieved 1 August 2019.

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17 June 1843 – The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.

Wairau Affray

The Wairau Affray^[1] (called the Wairau Massacre in many older texts), on 17 June 1843, was the first serious clash of arms between Māori and the British settlers in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take place in the South Island.^[2] The incident was sparked when a magistrate and a representative of the New Zealand Company, who held a possibly fraudulent deed to land in the Wairau Valley in the north of the South Island, led a group of European settlers to attempt to clear Māori off the land and arrest Ngāti Toa chiefs Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata. Fighting broke out and 22 British settlers were killed, several after their surrender. Four Māori were killed, including the wife of Te Rangihaeata and the wife of Te Rauparaha.

Wairau is near Nelson and Blenheim, at the top of the South Island.

The incident heightened fears among settlers of an armed Māori insurrection.^[3] It created the first major challenge for Governor Robert FitzRoy, who took up his posting in New Zealand six months later. FitzRoy investigated the incident and exonerated Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata, for which he was strongly criticised by settlers and the New Zealand Company. In 1844 a land claims commission investigation determined that the Wairau Valley had not been legally sold. The government was to pay compensation to the Rangitane iwi, determined to be the original owners.

1. ^ "Wairau Affray", 10 August 1844, Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 69, Page 2
2. ^ King 2003, p. 182.
3. ^ Burns 1989, pp. 236–237.

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18 June 1887 – The Reinsurance Treaty between Germany and Russia is signed.

Reinsurance Treaty

The Reinsurance Treaty, in effect from 1887 to 1890, was a top-secret diplomatic agreement between Germany and Russia. Only a handful of top officials in Berlin and St. Petersburg knew of its existence. The treaty played a critical role in Bismarck's extremely complex and ingenious network of alliances and agreements which aimed to keep the peace in Europe and to maintain Germany's economic, diplomatic, and political dominance. The treaty provided that each party would remain neutral if the other became involved in a war with a third great power, though this would not apply if Germany attacked France or if Russia attacked Austria. Germany paid for Russian friendship by agreeing to the Russian sphere of influence in Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia (part of present-day southern Bulgaria) and by agreeing to support Russian action to keep the Black Sea as its own preserve. When Germany declined to renew the treaty in 1890, the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1891/1892 to 1917 rapidly began to take shape.

The Reinsurance Treaty originated after the German-Austrian-Russian Dreikaiserbund (League of the Three Emperors) lapsed in 1887. The League ended because of competition between Austria-Hungary and Russia (Emperor Alexander III) for spheres of influence in the Balkans. In early 1887 a Russian diplomat went to Berlin to propose a treaty whereby Russia would be a friendly neutral in case of a war between Germany and France, and in return Germany would recognize Russian dominance in Bulgaria, and promise friendly neutrality if Russia were to seize the Straits from the Ottoman Empire. Bismarck strongly supported the idea, but Tsar Alexander rejected the plan until his Foreign Minister Nikolay Girs convinced him that - in the absence of French friendship - this was the best that Russia could do. Bismarck refused Russia's request that Germany stay neutral if Russia went to war with Austria, explaining that Berlin had an ironclad Triple Alliance with Vienna.^[1]

Bismarck had a long-term policy of preserving the peace in Europe, and the growing competition between Russia and Austria–Hungary for dominance over the Balkans threatened that peace. Bismarck felt that an agreement with Russia was essential to prevent a Russian alliance with France - he always had the policy of keeping France isolated diplomatically in order to avoid a two-front war with Germany fighting both France and Russia. Bismarck risked the expansion of the Russian sphere of influence toward the Mediterranean and diplomatic tensions with Vienna.

The treaty signed by Bismarck and the Russian Foreign Minister Nikolay Girs had two parts:

1. Germany and Russia each agreed to observe benevolent neutrality should the other become involved in a war with a third country. If Germany attacked France or if Russia attacked Austria-Hungary, this provision would not apply. In those cases, the distinguished bilateral alliances could come into effect. The Reinsurance Treaty only applied when France or Austria-Hungary were the aggressors.
2. In the most secret completion protocol, Germany would declare neutrality in the event of a Russian intervention against the Ottoman control of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

As part of Bismarck's system of "periphery diversion", the treaty was highly dependent on his prestige.^{[citation needed]} When Kaiser Wilhelm II removed Bismarck from office in 1890, Russia asked for a renewal of the treaty; Germany refused. Bismarck's successor, Leo von Caprivi felt no need to mollify Russia. Germany's foreign-policy establishment was unanimous in rejecting a renewal, because it contradicted so many other German positions with regard to Austria, Britain, Romania, and Italy. For example, the Reinsurance Treaty contradicted the secret treaty of 1883 in which Germany and Austria promised to protect Romania. Russia knew nothing of that treaty.^[2] Kaiser Wilhelm II, still highly influential in foreign policy, believed his personal friendship with Tsar Alexander III would suffice to ensure further genial diplomatic ties. His higher priority was building better relationships with Great Britain. Anglo-Russian relations had long been strained by Russia's quest to take control of the Straits linking the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. London feared that Russian expansion to its south would threaten British colonial interests in the Middle East. France, desperate for an ally, offerred financial help to rebuild the Russian economy and successfully developed the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894, ending French isolation. The dismissal of Bismarck, the erratic temper of Wilhelm II and the uncertain policy of the men who succeeded Bismarck were joint causes of a growing international instability.^[3]

In 1896 Bismarck, in retirement, caused a huge sensation when he revealed the existence of the treaty to a German newspaper. He blamed his successor (Count Caprivi) as responsible for the non-renewal in 1890. Bismarck said the failure of the treaty made it possible for France and Russia to draw together.^[4]

Historians^[which?] agree that the Reinsurance Treaty itself was not of great importance, but that the failure to renew it marked the decisive turning point of Russia's movement away from Germany and toward France, and thus was one of the multiple causes of the First World War which broke out in 1914.^[5]

1. ^ A.J.P. Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848-1918. (1954) pp 316-19.
2. ^ Norman Rich, Great power diplomacy, 1814-1914 (1992) p 230, 252
3. ^ Bury, J. P. T. (1968). The New Cambridge Modern History: The Shifting Balance of World Forces 1898–1945. XII (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 112.
4. ^ Jonathan Steinberg, Bismarck: a life (2012). pp 460-62.
5. ^ Rich, pp. 260-62, 317, 371.

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19 June 1991 – The Soviet occupation of Hungary ends.

Hungary–Soviet Union relations

Hungarian–Soviet relations were characterized by political, economic, and cultural interventions by the Soviet Union in internal Hungarian politics for 45 years, the length of the Cold War. Hungary became a member of the Warsaw Pact in 1955; since the end of World War II, Russian troops were stationed in the country, intervening at the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Starting in March 1990, the Soviet Army began leaving Hungary, with the last troops being withdrawn on June 19, 1991.

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20 June 1837 – Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.

Queen Victoria

For other uses, see Queen Victoria (disambiguation) and Victoria of the United Kingdom (disambiguation).

"Victoria Regina" redirects here. For the play, see Victoria Regina (play).

Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Queen of the United Kingdom

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. On 1 May 1876, she adopted the additional title of Empress of India. Known as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than that of any of her predecessors. It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After both the Duke and his father died in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. The United Kingdom was an established constitutional monarchy in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, she attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "the grandmother of Europe" and spreading haemophilia in European royalty. After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism in the United Kingdom temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. She died on the Isle of Wight in 1901. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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21 June 2006 – Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix and Hydra.

Pluto

This article is about the dwarf planet. For the deity, see Pluto (mythology). For other uses, see Pluto (disambiguation).

Dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt of the Solar System

Mosaic of best-resolution images of Pluto from different angles

Pluto (minor planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is an icy dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It was the first Kuiper belt object to be discovered and is the largest known dwarf planet.

Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 as the ninth planet from the Sun. After 1992, its status as a planet was questioned following the discovery of several objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt. In 2005, Eris, a dwarf planet in the scattered disc which is 27% more massive than Pluto, was discovered. This led the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term "planet" formally in 2006, during their 26th General Assembly. That definition excluded Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet.

It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object directly orbiting the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume but is less massive than Eris. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is primarily made of ice and rock and is relatively small—about one-sixth the mass of the Moon and one-third its volume. It has a moderately eccentric and inclined orbit during which it ranges from 30 to 49 astronomical units or AU (4.4–7.4 billion km) from the Sun. This means that Pluto periodically comes closer to the Sun than Neptune, but a stable orbital resonance with Neptune prevents them from colliding. Light from the Sun takes about 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its average distance (39.5 AU).

Pluto has five known moons: Charon (the largest, with a diameter just over half that of Pluto), Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Pluto and Charon are sometimes considered a binary system because the barycenter of their orbits does not lie within either body.

The New Horizons spacecraft performed a flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015, becoming the first ever, and to date only, spacecraft to do so. During its brief flyby, New Horizons made detailed measurements and observations of Pluto and its moons. In September 2016, astronomers announced that the reddish-brown cap of the north pole of Charon is composed of tholins, organic macromolecules that may be ingredients for the emergence of life, and produced from methane, nitrogen and other gases released from the atmosphere of Pluto and transferred about 19,000 km (12,000 mi) to the orbiting moon.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Cite error: The named reference Pluto Fact Sheet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference jpl-ssd-horizons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference TOP2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ ^{a b} Nimmo, Francis; et al. (2017). "Mean radius and shape of Pluto and Charon from New Horizons images". Icarus. 287: 12–29. arXiv:1603.00821. Bibcode:2017Icar..287...12N. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.06.027.
5. ^ ^{a b} Stern, S. A.; Grundy, W.; McKinnon, W. B.; Weaver, H. A.; Young, L. A. (2017). "The Pluto System After New Horizons". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 2018: 357–392. arXiv:1712.05669. doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-081817-051935.
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Stern, S. A.; et al. (2015). "The Pluto system: Initial results from its exploration by New Horizons". Science. 350 (6258): 249–352. arXiv:1510.07704. Bibcode:2015Sci...350.1815S. doi:10.1126/science.aad1815. PMID 26472913.
7. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Archinal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hamilton was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference AstDys-Pluto was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Physorg April 19, 2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
12. ^ Amos, Jonathan (July 23, 2015). "New Horizons: Pluto may have 'nitrogen glaciers'". BBC News. Retrieved July 26, 2015. It could tell from the passage of sunlight and radiowaves through the Plutonian "air" that the pressure was only about 10 microbars at the surface

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22 June 1918 – The Hammond Circus Train Wreck kills 86 and injures 127 near Hammond, Indiana.

Hammond Circus Train Wreck

Train wreck

The Hammond Circus Train Wreck occurred on June 22, 1918, during the last months of World War I and was one of the worst train wrecks in US history. Eighty-six people were reported to have died and another 127 were injured when a locomotive engineer fell asleep and ran his train into the rear of another near Hammond, Indiana. The circus train held 400 performers and roustabouts of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus.

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23 June 1926 – The College Board administers the first SAT exam.

SAT

This article is about the college admission test in the United States of America. For the exams in England colloquially known as SATs, see National Curriculum assessment.

For other uses, see SAT (disambiguation).

Test for college admissions in the U.S.

The SAT (/ˌɛsˌeɪˈtiː/ ess-ay-TEE) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since it was debuted by the College Board in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Scholastic Assessment Test, then the SAT I: Reasoning Test, then the SAT Reasoning Test, then simply the SAT.

The SAT is wholly owned, developed, and published by the College Board, a private, not-for-profit organization in the United States. It is administered on behalf of the College Board by the Educational Testing Service,^[3] which until recently developed the SAT as well.^[4] The test is intended to assess students' readiness for college. The SAT was originally designed not to be aligned with high school curricula,^[5] but several adjustments were made for the version of the SAT introduced in 2016, and College Board president, David Coleman, has said that he also wanted to make the test reflect more closely what students learn in high school with the new Common Core standards.^[6]

The SAT takes three hours to finish, plus 50 minutes for the SAT with essay, and as of 2019^[update] costs US$49.50 (US$64.50 with the optional essay), excluding late fees, with additional processing fees if the SAT is taken outside the United States.^[7] Scores on the SAT range from 400 to 1600, combining test results from two 200-to-800-point sections: Mathematics, and Critical Reading and Writing. Although taking the SAT, or its competitor the ACT, is required for freshman entry to many colleges and universities in the United States,^[8] many colleges and universities are experimenting with test-optional admission requirements^[9] and alternatives to the SAT and ACT.^[10] Starting with the 2015–16 school year, the College Board began working with Khan Academy to provide free SAT preparation.^[11]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference test takers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ "Fees And Costs". The College Board. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
3. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About ETS". ETS. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
4. ^ "'Massive' breach exposes hundreds of questions for upcoming SAT exams". Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
5. ^ Baird, Katherine (2012). Trapped in Mediocrity: Why Our Schools Aren't World-Class and What We Can Do About It. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. "And a separate process that began in 1926 was complete by 1942: the much easier SAT—a test not aligned to any particular curriculum and thus better suited to a nation where high school students did not take a common curriculum—replaced the old college boards as the nations's college entrance exam. This broke the once tight link between academic coursework and college admission, a break that remains to this day."
6. ^ Lewin, Tamar (March 5, 2014). "A New SAT Aims to Realign With Schoolwork". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014. He said he also wanted to make the test reflect more closely what students did in high school
7. ^ "SAT Registration Fees". College Board. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
8. ^ O'Shaughnessy, Lynn (July 26, 2009). "The Other Side of 'Test Optional'". The New York Times. p. 6. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
9. ^ Capuzzi Simon, Cecilia (November 1, 2015). "The Test-Optional Surge". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
10. ^ Tate, Jeremy (September 23, 2016). "The SAT and ACT Fall Short, But Now There's a Better Alternative". Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
11. ^ Balf, Todd (2014-03-06). "The Story Behind the SAT Overhaul". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2017-06-21.

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24 June 1949 – The first television western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd.

Hopalong Cassidy

For other uses, see Hopalong Cassidy (disambiguation).

Fictional cowboy hero

Hopalong Cassidy or Hop-along Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character.

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25 June 1975 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a state of internal emergency in India.

The Emergency (India)

21-month period in the history of India when PM Indira Gandhi assumed extraordinary powers

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed proclaim a state of national emergency on 25 June 1975

In India, "the Emergency" refers to an 18-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country. Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution because of the prevailing "internal disturbance", the Emergency was in effect from 26 June 1975 until its withdrawal in January 1977. The order bestowed upon the Prime Minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be suspended and civil liberties to be curbed. For much of the Emergency, most of Gandhi's political opponents were imprisoned and the press was censored. Several other human rights violations were reported from the time, including a forced mass-sterilization campaign spearheaded by Sanjay Gandhi, the Prime Minister's son. The Emergency is one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history.

The final decision to impose an emergency was proposed by Indira Gandhi, agreed upon by the president of India, and thereafter ratified by the cabinet and the parliament (from July to August 1975), based on the rationale that there were imminent internal and external threats to the Indian state.^[1][2]

1. ^ "Interview with Indira Gandhi". Interview relecast through India times. TV Eye. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
2. ^ "recallign the emergency". Indian Express. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2018.

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26 June 1906 – The first Grand Prix motor racing event held

1906 French Grand Prix

The 1906 Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France, commonly known as the 1906 French Grand Prix, was a motor race held on 26 and 27 June 1906, on closed public roads outside the city of Le Mans. The Grand Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France (ACF) at the prompting of the French automobile industry as an alternative to the Gordon Bennett races, which limited each competing country's number of entries regardless of the size of its industry. France had the largest automobile industry in Europe at the time, and in an attempt to better reflect this the Grand Prix had no limit to the number of entries by any particular country. The ACF chose a 103.18-kilometre (64.11 mi) circuit, composed primarily of dust roads sealed with tar, which would be lapped six times on both days by each competitor, a combined race distance of 1,238.16 kilometres (769.36 mi). Lasting for more than 12 hours overall, the race was won by Ferenc Szisz driving for the Renault team. FIAT driver Felice Nazzaro finished second, and Albert Clément was third in a Clément-Bayard.

Paul Baras of Brasier set the fastest lap of the race on his first lap. He held on to the lead until the third lap, when Szisz took over first position, defending it to the finish. Hot conditions melted the road tar, which the cars kicked up into the faces of the drivers, blinding them and making the racing treacherous. Punctures were common; tyre manufacturer Michelin introduced a detachable rim with a tyre already affixed, which could be quickly swapped onto a car after a puncture, saving a significant amount of time over manually replacing the tyre. This helped Nazzaro pass Clément on the second day, as the FIAT—unlike the Clément-Bayard—made use of the rims.

Renault's victory contributed to an increase in sales for the French manufacturer in the years following the race. Despite being the second to carry the title, the race has become known as the first Grand Prix. The success of the 1906 French Grand Prix prompted the ACF to run the Grand Prix again the following year, and the German automobile industry to organise the Kaiserpreis, the forerunner to the German Grand Prix, in 1907.

1. ^ Hodges (1967), pp. 2–3.

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

Tony Blair

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

"Anthony Blair" redirects here. For other uses, see Anthony Blair (disambiguation) and Tony Blair (disambiguation).

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. After his resignation, he was appointed Special Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, an office which he held until 2015. He currently runs the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

Born in Edinburgh, Blair's father was a barrister and academic. After attending the private Fettes College, he studied law at St John's College, Oxford and became a barrister. He became involved in Labour politics and was elected Member of Parliament for Sedgefield in 1983. He supported moving the party to the centre of British politics in an attempt to help it win power (it had been out of government since 1979). He was appointed to the party's frontbench in 1988 and became Shadow Home Secretary in 1992. He became Leader of the Opposition on his election as Labour Party leader in 1994, following the sudden death of his predecessor, John Smith. Under Blair, the party used the phrase "New Labour" to distance itself from previous Labour politics and the traditional idea of socialism. He declared support for the Third Way—politics that recognised individuals as socially interdependent, advocating social justice, cohesion, the equal worth of each citizen, and equal opportunity. Despite opposition from Labour's hard left, he removed the party's formal commitment to the nationalisation of the economy, weakened trade union influence in the party, and committed to the free market and the European Union. In 1997, the Labour Party won its largest landslide general election victory in its history. Blair became the country's youngest leader since 1812 and remains the party's longest-serving occupant of the office. Labour won two more general elections under his leadership—in 2001, in which it won another landslide victory (albeit with the lowest turnout since 1918), and in 2005, with a greatly reduced majority. He resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party in 2007 and was succeeded by Gordon Brown, who had been his Chancellor of the Exchequer since 1997.

Blair's governments enacted constitutional reforms, removing most hereditary peers from the House of Lords, while also establishing the UK's Supreme Court and reforming the office of Lord Chancellor (thereby separating judicial powers from the legislative and executive branches). His government held referendums in which Scottish and Welsh electorates voted in favour of devolved administration, paving the way for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly (both in 1999). He was also involved in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement. His time in office occurred during a period of continued economic growth, but this became increasingly dependent on mounting debt. In 1997, his government gave the Bank of England powers to set interest rates autonomously and he later oversaw a large increase in public spending, especially in healthcare and education. He championed multiculturalism and, between 1997 and 2007, immigration rose considerably, especially after his government welcomed immigration from the new EU member states in 2004. This provided a cheap and flexible labour supply but also fuelled Euroscepticism, especially among some of his party's core voters. His other social policies were generally progressive; he introduced the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and in 2004 allowed gay couples to enter into civil partnerships. However, he declared himself "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" and oversaw increasing incarceration rates and new anti-social behaviour legislation, despite contradictory evidence about the change in crime rates.

Blair oversaw British interventions in Kosovo (1999) and Sierra Leone (2000) which were generally perceived as successful. During the War on Terror, he supported the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration and ensured that the British Armed Forces participated in the War in Afghanistan from 2001 and, more controversially, the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The latter became increasingly unpopular among the British public, and he was criticised by opponents and (in 2016) the Iraq Inquiry for waging an unjustified and unnecessary invasion. He was in office when the 7/7 bombings took place (2005) and introduced a range of anti-terror legislation. His legacy remains controversial, not least because of his interventions in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Despite his electoral successes and reforms, he has also been criticised for his relationship with the media, centralisation of executive powers, and aspects of his social and economic policies.

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28 June 1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul.

First Crusade

"The First Crusade" redirects here. For other uses, see The First Crusade (disambiguation).

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to recapture the Holy Land, called for by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095. Urban called for a military expedition to aid the Byzantine Empire, which had recently lost most of Anatolia to the Seljuq Turks. The resulting military expedition of primarily French-speaking Western European nobles, known as the Princes' Crusade, not only re-captured much of Anatolia but went on to conquer the Holy Land (the Levant), which had fallen to Islamic expansion as early as the 7th century, and culminated in July 1099 in the re-conquest of Jerusalem and the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The expedition was a response to the appeal for military aid by Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Urban's convocation of the Council of Clermont was specifically dedicated to this purpose, proposing siege warfare against the recently occupied cities of Nicaea and Antioch, even though Urban's speech at Clermont in the testimony of witnesses writing after 1100 was phrased to allude to the re-conquest of Jerusalem and the Holy Land as additional goals.

The successful Princes' Crusade was preceded by the People's Crusade, which was a popular movement instigated by Peter the Hermit in the spring of 1096. Mobs of peasants and laymen travelled to Anatolia where they came up against the Turks, on the way attacking populations of Jews in the Rhineland. They were decisively defeated at the Battle of Civetot in October.

The Princes' Crusade, by contrast, was a well-organized military campaign, starting out in late summer of 1096 and arriving at Constantinople between November 1096 and April 1097. The crusaders marched into Anatolia, capturing Nicaea in June 1097 and Antioch in June 1098. They arrived at Jerusalem in June 1099 and took the city by assault on 7 July 1099, massacring the defenders. A brief attempt by the Saracens to recapture Jerusalem was repulsed at the Battle of Ascalon.

During their conquests, the crusaders established the Crusader states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa. This was contrary to the wishes of the Eastern Rite Byzantines, who wanted the land that the Muslims took from them returned, rather than occupied by Latin Catholics. After the retaking of Jerusalem, most of the crusaders returned home. This left the crusader kingdoms vulnerable to Muslim reconquest during the Second and Third Crusades.

1. ^ Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1990). The Atlas of the Crusades. p. 22. estimate a total of 40,000 crusaders, of whom some 4,500 were nobles; Runciman (1951) estimated that no more than 20% of crusaders were non-combatants and a cavalry to infantry ratio of about one to seven. Runciman, Steven (1951). A History of the Crusades, Volume One. pp. Appendix II.; these are rough estimates, for a total number of roughly 30,000 to 40,000 combatants, including roughly 4,000 to 5,000 cavalry.
2. ^ Nicolle 2003, pp. 21 and 32.

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29 June 1974 – Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina.

Isabel Martínez de Perón

20th and 21st-century Argentinian politician

In this Argentine name, the family name is Martínez and for married women, the marital name is Perón.

María Estela Martínez Cartas de Perón (born 4 February 1931), better known as Isabel Martínez de Perón (Spanish pronunciation: [isaˈβel maɾˈtines]) or Isabel Perón, served as the 42nd President of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She was the third wife of President Juan Perón. During her husband's third term as president from 1973 to 1974, Isabel served as both vice president and First Lady. Following her husband's death in office in 1974, Isabel served as president of Argentina from 1 July 1974 to 24 March 1976, at which time the military took over the government and placed her under house arrest for five years, before exiling her to Spain in 1981. She holds the distinction of having been the first woman to have had the title of "President", as opposed to a queen or prime minister.

In 2007 an Argentine judge ordered her arrest over the forced disappearance of an activist in February 1976, on the grounds that the disappearance was authorized by her signing of decrees allowing Argentina's armed forces to take action against "subversives".^[1] She was arrested near her home in Spain on 12 January 2007.^[2] Spanish courts subsequently refused her extradition to Argentina.^[3]

1. ^ Warrant for ex-Argentine leader, BBC, 12 January 2007.
2. ^ "Isabel Peron's arrest signals shift in Argentina". Los Angeles Times. 13 January 2007.
3. ^ "Extradition of Isabel Perón To Argentina Is Rejected By Court". New York Times. 29 April 2008.

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30 June 1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.

Chevrolet Corvette

This article is about the sports car. For other uses, see Corvette (disambiguation).

Sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors (GM)

‹ The template Infobox automobile is being considered for merging. ›

The Chevrolet Corvette, colloquially known as the Vette,^[1] is a historically front engine, rear drive, two-door, two-passenger sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet across more than 60 years of production and seven design generations^[2][3]—with GM confirming in early 2019 an eighth generation Corvette in a rear-mid-engine configuration.^[4] With its generations noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette serves as Chevrolet's halo vehicle and is widely noted for its performance and distinctive plastic—either fiberglass or composite—bodywork.

In 1953, when GM executives were looking to name the new Chevrolet sports car, assistant director for the Public Relations department Myron Scott suggested Corvette after the small maneuverable warship—and the name was approved.^[5] The first model, a convertible, was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept and was followed ten years later by the 1963 second generation, in coupe and convertible styles. Originally manufactured in Flint, Michigan, as well as St. Louis, Missouri, the Corvette has been manufactured since 1981 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The Corvette has since become widely known as "America's Sports Car."^[6] Automotive News said that after 'starring' in the early 1960s television show Route 66, the Corvette became synonymous with freedom and adventure," ultimately becoming both "the most successful concept car in history and the most popular sports car in history.^[7]

1. ^ "Vette magazine - Super Chevy".
2. ^ "2017 Corvette Stingray: Sports Cars - Chevrolet".
3. ^ Ray Miller; Glenn Embree (1975). The Real Corvette: An Illustrated History of Chevrolet's Sports Car. ISBN 978-0913056066.
4. ^ Capparella, Joey (11 April 2019). "The Mid-Engined 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8 Is Real, GM Confesses, and It Will Debut July 18". Car and Driver. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
5. ^ Falconer, Tom (2003). The Complete Corvette. Crestline. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-7603-1474-6. Retrieved Sep 30, 2012.
6. ^ Thos L. Bryant (November 6, 2012). "America's Sports Car". Road & Track.
7. ^ Jerry Burton (October 31, 2011). "Corvette: A pop culture classic". Automotive News.

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1 July 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Gettysburg begins.

Battle of Gettysburg

Battle of the American Civil War

For other uses, see Battle of Gettysburg (disambiguation).

Northern Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (1861–1865)

Gettysburg Campaign, (1863)

Battlefield of Gettysburg, (1863)

The Battle of Gettysburg (locally /ˈɡɛtɪsbɜːrɡ/ (listen))^[11] was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war and is often described as the war's turning point.^[12][13] Union Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, halting Lee's invasion of the North.

After his success at Chancellorsville in Virginia in May 1863, Lee led his army through the Shenandoah Valley to begin his second invasion of the North—the Gettysburg Campaign. With his army in high spirits, Lee intended to shift the focus of the summer campaign from war-ravaged northern Virginia and hoped to influence Northern politicians to give up their prosecution of the war by penetrating as far as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or even Philadelphia. Prodded by President Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker moved his army in pursuit, but was relieved of command just three days before the battle and replaced by Meade.

Elements of the two armies initially collided at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as Lee urgently concentrated his forces there, his objective being to engage the Union army and destroy it. Low ridges to the northwest of town were defended initially by a Union cavalry division under Brig. Gen. John Buford, and soon reinforced with two corps of Union infantry. However, two large Confederate corps assaulted them from the northwest and north, collapsing the hastily developed Union lines, sending the defenders retreating through the streets of the town to the hills just to the south.^[14]

On the second day of battle, most of both armies had assembled. The Union line was laid out in a defensive formation resembling a fishhook. In the late afternoon of July 2, Lee launched a heavy assault on the Union left flank, and fierce fighting raged at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Devil's Den, and the Peach Orchard. On the Union right, Confederate demonstrations escalated into full-scale assaults on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. All across the battlefield, despite significant losses, the Union defenders held their lines.

On the third day of battle, fighting resumed on Culp's Hill, and cavalry battles raged to the east and south, but the main event was a dramatic infantry assault by 12,500 Confederates against the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, known as Pickett's Charge. The charge was repulsed by Union rifle and artillery fire, at great loss to the Confederate army.^[15]

Lee led his army on a torturous retreat back to Virginia. Between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers from both armies were casualties in the three-day battle, the most costly in US history.

On November 19, President Lincoln used the dedication ceremony for the Gettysburg National Cemetery to honor the fallen Union soldiers and redefine the purpose of the war in his historic Gettysburg Address.

1. ^ Coddington, p. 573. See the discussion regarding historians' judgment on whether Gettysburg should be considered a decisive victory.
2. ^ Official Records, Series I, Volume XXVII, Part 1, pages 155–168
3. ^ Official Records, Series I, Volume XXVII, Part 2, pages 283–291
4. ^ Official Records, Series I, Volume XXVII, Part 1, page 151
5. ^ Busey and Martin, p. 125: "Engaged strength" at the battle was 93,921.
6. ^ Busey and Martin, p. 260, state that "engaged strength" at the battle was 71,699; McPherson, p. 648, lists the strength at the start of the campaign as 75,000.
7. ^ Official Records, Series I, Volume XXVII, Part 1, page 187
8. ^ Busey and Martin, p. 125.
9. ^ Busey and Martin, p. 260, cite 23,231 total (4,708 killed;12,693 wounded;5,830 captured/missing).
   See the section on casualties for a discussion of alternative Confederate casualty estimates, which have been cited as high as 28,000.
10. ^ Official Records, Series I, Volume XXVII, Part 2, pages 338–346
11. ^ Robert D. Quigley, Civil War Spoken Here: A Dictionary of Mispronounced People, Places and Things of the 1860's (Collingswood, NJ: C. W. Historicals, 1993), p. 68. ISBN 0-9637745-0-6.
12. ^ The Battle of Antietam, the culmination of Lee's first invasion of the North, had the largest number of casualties in a single day, about 23,000.
13. ^ Rawley, p. 147; Sauers, p. 827; Gallagher, Lee and His Army, p. 83; McPherson, p. 665; Eicher, p. 550. Gallagher and McPherson cite the combination of Gettysburg and Vicksburg as the turning point. Eicher uses the arguably related expression, "High-water mark of the Confederacy".
14. ^ "Battle of Gettysburg". Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica.com. February 15, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2012.
15. ^ Murray, Williamson; Hsieh, Wayne Wei-siang (2016). "The War in the East, 1863". A Savage War:A Military History of the Civil War. Princeton University Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-69-116940-8.

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