This day in .....

12 June 1942 – Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.

Anne Frank

German-born diarist and Holocaust victim (1929–1945)

For other uses, see Anne Frank (disambiguation).

Annelies Marie Frank^[a] (12 June 1929 – c. February or March 1945)^[1] was a German-born Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim. She gained worldwide notability posthumously for keeping a diary documenting her life in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands. In the diary, she regularly described her family's everyday life in their hiding place in a secret annex in Amsterdam from 1942 until their arrest in 1944.

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1929. In 1934, when she was four and a half, Frank and her family moved to Amsterdam after Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Party was elected to govern Germany. By May 1940, her family was trapped in Amsterdam due to Germany's occupation. Frank lost her German citizenship in 1941 and became stateless. Despite spending most of her life in the Netherlands and being a de facto Dutch national,^[2] she never officially became a Dutch citizen. As persecution of the Jewish population increased in July 1942, the family went into hiding in a secret annex concealed behind a bookcase in the building where Frank's father, Otto Frank, worked. The family was arrested two years later by the Gestapo, on 4 August 1944.

Following their arrest, the Franks were transported to concentration camps. On 1 November 1944,^[3] Anne Frank and her sister Margot were transferred from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where they died (presumably of typhus) a few months later. The Red Cross estimated that they died in March 1945, with Dutch authorities setting 31 March as the official date. Later research has alternatively suggested that they may have died in February or early March.

Otto Frank, the only Holocaust survivor in the family, returned to Amsterdam after World War II to find that Anne's diary had been saved by his secretaries, Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl. Moved by his daughter's repeated wishes to be an author, Otto Frank published her diary in 1947.^[4] It was translated from its original Dutch version and first published in English in 1952 as The Diary of a Young Girl (originally Het Achterhuis in Dutch, lit. 'the back house'; English: The Secret Annex) and has since been translated into over 70 languages.^[5] With the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne became one of the most-discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. One of the world's best-known books, Anne's diary is the basis for several plays and films.

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. ^ Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed. "New research sheds new light on Anne Frank's last months". Anne Frank House. 31 March 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020.
2. ^ "How citizenship eluded Anne Frank? | Citizenship by Investment Journal". 22 November 2019. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
3. ^ Von Benda-Beckmann, Bas (2020). Na het Achterhuis. Anne Frank en de andere onderduikers in de kampen. Amsterdam: Querido. p. 217. ISBN 978-9021423920.
4. ^ Van der Rol, Verhoeven (1995). Anne Frank Beyond the Diary: a Photographic Remembrance. New York: Puffin/Viking. pp. 80, 103. ISBN 978-0140369267.
5. ^ "The publication of the diary". 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2021.

Read More

 

13 June 1971 – Vietnam War: The New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers.

Pentagon Papers

U.S. defense Vietnam involvement report

Not to be confused with the Panama Papers.

This article is about the U.S. government documents. For the 2003 film about the documents, see The Pentagon Papers (film).

The Pentagon Papers, officially titled Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1968. Released by Daniel Ellsberg, who had worked on the study, it was made public on the front page of The New York Times in 1971.^[1][2] A 1996 article in The New York Times said that the Pentagon Papers had demonstrated, among other things, that Lyndon B. Johnson's administration had "systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress".^[3]

The Pentagon Papers revealed that the U.S. had secretly enlarged the scope of its actions in the Vietnam War with coastal raids on North Vietnam and Marine Corps attacks, none of which were reported in the mainstream media. For his disclosure of the Pentagon Papers, Ellsberg was initially charged with conspiracy, espionage, and theft of government property; these charges were later dismissed, after prosecutors investigating the Watergate scandal discovered that staff members in the Nixon White House had ordered the so-called White House Plumbers to engage in unlawful efforts to discredit Ellsberg.^[4][5]

In June 2011, the documents forming the Pentagon Papers were declassified and publicly released.^[6][7]

1. ^ "The Pentagon Papers". United Press International (UPI). 1971. Archived from the original on July 29, 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
2. ^ Sheehan, Neil (June 13, 1971). "Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces 3 Decades of Growing U.S. Involvement". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
3. ^ Apple, R.W. (June 23, 1996). "25 Years Later;Lessons From the Pentagon Papers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
4. ^ "The Watergate Story". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2013. Watergate prosecutors find a memo addressed to John Ehrlichman describing in detail the plans to burglarize the office of Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist, The Post reports.
5. ^ "Pentagon Papers Charges Are Dismissed; Judge Byrne Frees Ellsberg and Russo, Assails 'Improper Government Conduct'". The New York Times. May 11, 1973. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
6. ^ "Pentagon Papers". History (U.S. TV channel). August 2, 2011. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
7. ^ "After 40 Years, Pentagon Papers Declassified In Full". NPR. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2018.

Read More

 

14 June 1900 – Hawaii becomes a United States territory.

Territory of Hawaii

Organized incorporated territory of the United States, 1900–1959

The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory^[1][2][3] (Hawaiian: Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900,^[4] until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory was admitted to the United States as the 50th US state, the State of Hawaii. The Hawaii Admission Act specified that the State of Hawaii would not include Palmyra Island, the Midway Islands, Kingman Reef, Johnston Atoll and Sand Island.^[5]

On July 4, 1898, the United States Congress passed the Newlands Resolution authorizing the US annexation of the Republic of Hawaii, and five weeks later, on August 12, Hawaii became a US territory. In April 1900, Congress approved the Hawaiian Organic Act which organized the territory. United States Public Law 103-150, adopted in 1993 (informally known as the Apology Resolution), acknowledged that "the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States" and also "that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum".^[6]

Hawaii's territorial history includes a period from 1941 to 1944, during World War II, when the islands were placed under martial law. Civilian government was dissolved and a military governor was appointed.

1. ^ "Department of Commerce and Labor, Coast and Geodetic Survey, Terrestrial magnetism results of magnetic observations made by the coast and geodetic survey between July 1, 1905, and June 30, 1906" (PDF). ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov. p. 119. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2019.
2. ^ "Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States, page 1" (PDF). Retrieved February 1, 2013.
3. ^ https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc-3-13.pdf (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003, page III-1)
4. ^ 31 Stat. 141
5. ^ "An Act to Provide for the Admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union". Hawaii State Legislature. March 18, 1959.
6. ^ "Public Law 103-150 – Wikisource, the free online library".

Read More

 

15 June 1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1,000.

PS General Slocum

Passenger steamboat; sank in New York City in 1904

"General Slocum" redirects here. For the Union general, see Henry Warner Slocum.

PS General Slocum^{[note 1]} was an American sidewheel passenger steamboat built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891. During her service history, she was involved in a number of mishaps, including multiple groundings and collisions.

On June 15, 1904, General Slocum caught fire and sank in the East River of New York City.^[1] At the time of the disaster, she was on a chartered run carrying members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church (German Americans from Little Germany, Manhattan) to a church picnic. An estimated 1,021 out of the 1,342 people on board died.^[2]

The General Slocum disaster was the worst maritime disaster of the 20th century until the sinking of the RMS Titanic surpassed it eight years later in 1912. It remains the worst maritime disaster in New York City history, and the second-worst on U.S. waterways, after the explosion and sinking of the steamboat Sultana, and until the September 11 attacks in 2001 was the deadliest manmade disaster of any sort in the New York area.^[3]

The events surrounding the General Slocum fire have been explored in a number of books, plays, and movies.

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

1. ^ "The General Slocum An Unlucky Craft. Has Had Collisions And Accidents by the Score. Has Run Ashore Many Times. She Was a Crack Harbor Boat Thirteen Years Ago. Capt. Van Schaick's Good Record". The New York Times. June 16, 1904. Retrieved February 28, 2010. The General Slocum was one of the best known vessels about New York Harbor. Since the time of her launching, in 1891, she has been employed in so many different capacities, and on so many different runs, that possibly five out of every ten people in New York City have at some time been aboard of her, or have seen her at close range.
2. ^ Sante, Luc (2003). Low life: lures and snares of old New York (1st Farrar, Straus Giroux pbk. ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus Giroux. p. 16. ISBN 0374528993. OCLC 53464289.
3. ^ Kleinfield, N. R. (September 2, 2007). "A Debate Rises: How Much 9/11 Tribute Is Enough?". The New York Times. Retrieved July 26, 2022.

Read More

 

16 June 1779 – American Revolutionary War: Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.

Great Siege of Gibraltar

Siege of the American Revolutionary War

The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from Britain during the American Revolutionary War.^[17] It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants.^[18]

On 16 June 1779, Spain entered the war on the side of France with the primary war aim of capturing Gibraltar from the British.^[19] The vulnerable garrison of Gibraltar, commanded by George Eliott, was besieged from June 1779 to February 1783.^[20] Initially, the siege was carried out solely by Spanish forces under Martín Álvarez de Sotomayor. The siege proved to be a failure because two British relief convoys entered unmolested, the first under Admiral of the White George Rodney in 1780 and the second under Admiral George Darby in 1781, despite the presence of the Spanish Navy. A major assault was planned by the Spanish in late 1781, but the British garrison sortied in November of that year and destroyed many of the forward batteries.

Following the Spanish failure to defeat the garrison or prevent the arrival of relief convoys, the besiegers were reinforced by French forces under Louis de Crillon, who took over command in early 1782. After a lull in the siege, during which the Franco-Spanish besiegers gathered more guns, ships and troops, a "Grand Assault" was launched on 13 September 1782. This involved huge numbers—60,000 attackers, 49 ships of the line and 10 specially designed and newly invented floating batteries—against 5,000 British defenders. The assault proved to be a disastrous and humiliating failure, resulting in heavy losses for the French and Spanish. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers.

The final sign of defeat for the besiegers came when a crucial British relief convoy under Admiral Richard Howe slipped through the blockading fleet and arrived at the garrison in October 1782. The siege was finally lifted on 7 February 1783 and resulted in a decisive victory for the British. It was a factor in ending the American Revolutionary War^{[21][22][23][24]}—the Peace of Paris negotiations were reliant on news from the siege, particularly at its climax.^[25][26] At three years, seven months and twelve days, it is the longest siege ever endured by the British Armed Forces.^[27][28]

1. ^ ^{a b} Chartrand & Courcelle 2006, pp. 18–22.
2. ^ Norwich 2006, p. 394.
3. ^ Montero 1860, p. 339.
4. ^ Chartrand & Courcelle 2006, p. 63: 'Of 7,500 men in the Gibraltar garrison in September (including 400 in hospital), some 3,430 were always on duty'
5. ^ Monti 1852, p. 133.
6. ^ Falkner 2009, p. 156.
7. ^ ^{a b} Montero 1860, p. 338.
8. ^ Montero 1860, p. 356.
9. ^ Chartrand & Courcelle 2006, p. 79 'some 30,000 sailors in the combined fleet'.
10. ^ Chartrand & Courcelle 2006, p. 49.
11. ^ Chartrand & Courcelle 2006, p. 79.
12. ^ Chartrand & Courcelle 2006, p. 89.
13. ^ ^{a b c d e} Clodfelter 2017, p. 132.
14. ^ Drinkwater 1905, p. 169.
15. ^ Montero 1860, p. 373.
16. ^ Chartrand & Courcelle 2006, pp. 81–81.
17. ^ Eggenberger 2012, p. 172.
18. ^ Adkins, Lesley and Roy (2017). Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History. Viking. ISBN 978-1408708675.
19. ^ Stockley 2001, p. 19.
20. ^ Drinkwater 1905, p. 161.
21. ^ Allison & Ferreiro 2018, p. 220: critical event in the war outside America was a contemporaneous European siege that was bigger, lasted longer, and ultimately was as critical to establishing peace as the Yorktown victory
22. ^ Botta, Charles (1850). History of the United States of America: War of independence, Volume 2. National Library of the Netherlands: Fullarton & Company. p. 552.
23. ^ Bemis 2012, p. 77: That tremendous citadel thus became a vital factor in the diplomacy of the American Revolution
24. ^ Mackesy 1992, pp. 506–507.
25. ^ Falkner 2009, p. xix.
26. ^ Chartrand & Courcelle 2006.
27. ^ Adkins & Adkins 2017, p. 21.
28. ^ Dupuy, Hammerman & Hayes 1977, p. 130.

Read More

 

17 June 1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.

Statue of Liberty

Colossal sculpture in New York Harbor

For other uses, see Statue of Liberty (disambiguation).

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture of a robed and crowned woman on Liberty Island, part of New York City, in New York Harbor. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and its metal framework built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

The statue is a figure of a classically draped woman,^[8] inspired by the Roman goddess of liberty, Libertas.^[9] She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. With her left foot she steps on a broken chain and shackle,^[8] commemorating the national abolition of slavery following the American Civil War.^[10][11][12]

In 1865, the French historian and abolitionist Édouard de Laboulaye proposed a monument to commemorate the upcoming centennial of U.S. independence (1876), the perseverance of American democracy and the liberation of the nation's slaves.^[13] The Franco-Prussian War delayed progress until 1875, when Laboulaye proposed that the people of France finance the statue and the United States provide the site and build the pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions. The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans; publisher Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World started a drive for donations to finish the project. The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island. The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland.

The statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea. The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War; since 1933, it has been maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, and is a major tourist attraction. Limited numbers of visitors can access the rim of the pedestal and the interior of the statue's crown from within; public access to the torch has been barred since 1916.

1. ^ Jacobs, Julia (May 15, 2019). "New Statue of Liberty Museum Illuminates a Forgotten History". The New York Times.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference monuments was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ "Liberty Enlightening the World". Washington, D.C.: National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
4. ^ Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 9/08/2017 through 9/14/2017 (PDF), National Park Service, September 14, 2017, archived from the original on December 29, 2018, retrieved July 13, 2019.
5. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Hudson County". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
6. ^ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. November 7, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference neighbor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ ^{a b} Hayden & Despont 1986, p. 45.
9. ^ Sutherland 2003, p. 19.
10. ^ Jacobs, Julia (May 15, 2019). "New Statue of Liberty Museum Illuminates a Forgotten History". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 21, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
11. ^ "Celebrate Lady Liberty". The Statue of Liberty—Ellis Island Foundation. October 25, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
12. ^ "Abolition". Statue of Liberty National Monument. National Park Service. February 26, 2015. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
13. ^ "The French Connection". National Park Service. May 19, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2023.

Read More

 

18 June 1815 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher forcing him to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time.

Battle of Waterloo

1815 battle of the Waterloo campaign

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

Hundred Days:
Waterloo campaign

390km
242miles

8

Saint Helena

7

Rochefort

6

6 Waterloo

5

5

4

4

3

2

Paris

1

Elba

   

  Napoleon in command

  Napoleon not in command

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), being the last engagement with Napoleon I. The French Imperial Army under the command of Napoleon I was defeated by two armies of the Seventh Coalition. One was a British-led force with units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of field marshal Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. The other comprised three corps of the Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher. The battle was known contemporaneously as the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean in France (after the hamlet of Mont-Saint-Jean) and La Belle Alliance in Prussia ("the Beautiful Alliance"; after the inn of La Belle Alliance).^[18]

Upon Napoleon's return to power in March 1815, the beginning of the Hundred Days, many states that had previously opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition to oppose him again and hurriedly mobilised their armies. Wellington's and Blücher's armies were cantoned close to the northeastern border of France. Napoleon planned to attack them separately, before they could link up and invade France with other members of the coalition. On 16 June, Napoleon successfully attacked the bulk of the Prussian Army at the Battle of Ligny with his main force, while a small portion of the French Imperial Army contested the Battle of Quatre Bras to prevent the Anglo-allied army from reinforcing the Prussians. The Anglo-allied army held their ground at Quatre Bras but were prevented from reinforcing the Prussians, and on the 17th, the Prussians withdrew from Ligny in good order, while Wellington then withdrew in parallel with the Prussians northward to Waterloo on 17 June. Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, which resulted in the separate Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard on 18–19 June and prevented that French force from participating at Waterloo.

Upon learning that the Prussian Army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean^[19] escarpment across the Brussels Road, near the village of Waterloo. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon of 18 June^[20] and was eventually aided by the progressively arriving 50,000 Prussians who attacked the French flank and inflicted heavy casualties. In the evening, Napoleon assaulted the Anglo-allied line with his last reserves, the senior infantry battalions of the Imperial Guard. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, the Anglo-allied army repulsed the Imperial Guard, and the French army was routed.

Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo campaign and Napoleon's last. It was the second-bloodiest single day battle of the Napoleonic Wars, after Borodino. According to Wellington, the battle was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life".^[21] Napoleon abdicated four days later, and coalition forces entered Paris on 7 July. The defeat at Waterloo marked the end of Napoleon's Hundred Days return from exile. It precipitated Napoleon's second and definitive abdication as Emperor of the French and ended the First French Empire. It set a historical milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, often referred to as the Pax Britannica. In popular culture, the phrase "meeting one's Waterloo" has become an expression for experiencing a catastrophic reversal or undoing.^[22][23]

1. ^ Barbero 2005, p. 91.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Clodfelter 2017, p. 170.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Bodart 1908, p. 487.
4. ^ Hofschröer 1999, pp. 68–69.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Clodfelter 2017, p. 169.
6. ^ "French Cannon Captured at Waterloo". Age of Revolution. Waterloo 200 Ltd. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
7. ^ Hofschröer 1999, p. 61 cites Siborne's numbers.
8. ^ Hamilton-Williams 1994, p. 256 gives 68,000.
9. ^ Barbero 2005, pp. 75–76.
10. ^ Hamilton-Williams 1994, p. 256.
11. ^ Chesney 1874, p. 4.
12. ^ Bowden 1983, p. 329.
13. ^ ^{a b c} Barbero 2006, p. 312.
14. ^ Barbero 2005, p. 420.
15. ^ ^{a b c} Barbero 2005, p. 419.
16. ^ Clodfelter 2017, pp. 169–170.
17. ^ Dr. Fitzgerald, Liam (25 July 2024). "Waterloo Uncovered: Ten years of archaeology in ten discoveries". CBA. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
18. ^ Albert Smith, Charles Dickens, William Harrison Ainsworth (eds.) (1851) Bentley's Miscellany, Volume 30, Publisher, Richard Bentley, p. 57
19. ^ "Battle of Waterloo – The Battles of Quatre-Bras and Ligny | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
20. ^ "Battle of Waterloo | National Army Museum". www.nam.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
21. ^ Wikiquote:Wellington citing Creevey Papers, ch. x, p. 236
22. ^ Anderson, M. S. (1979). Historians and Eighteenth-Century Europe, 1715–1789. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822548-5. OCLC 185538307.
23. ^ Ribeiro, Aileen (2002). Dress in Eighteenth-Century Europe 1715–1789 (revised ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09151-9. OCLC 186413657.

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

Read More

 

19 June 1875 – The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins.

Herzegovina uprising (1875–1877)

Serb rebellion against Ottoman rule

For other uses, see Herzegovina Uprising.

The Herzegovina uprising (Serbian: Херцеговачки устанак, romanized: Hercegovački ustanak) was an uprising led by the Christian Serb population against the Ottoman Empire, firstly and predominantly in Herzegovina, from where it spread into Bosnia and Raška. It broke out in the summer of 1875, and in some regions lasted until the beginning of 1878. It was followed by the Bulgarian April Uprising of 1876, and coincided with the Serbian-Turkish wars (1876–1878); these events were each situated within the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–1878).^[1]

The primary cause of the uprising was the harsh treatment of peasants in the Ottoman province of Bosnia by its governors and landowners, who resisted the implementation of Sultan Abdülmecid I's reforming policies. The reforms, which provided that all should have religious liberty and equal civil rights; that tax farming be abolished; and that taxes be fairly imposed, were frequently opposed in more distant parts of the empire. As such, in Bosnia, peasants continued to be heavily taxed and Christians continued to be oppressed.

The rebels were aided with weapons and volunteers from the principalities of Montenegro and Serbia, whose governments eventually jointly declared war on the Ottomans on 18 June 1876, leading to the Serbian-Ottoman War (1876–78) and Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78). These led to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) and the Great Eastern Crisis. The crisis ended in 1878 with the Congress of Berlin, which granted Montenegro and Serbia independence and placed Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austro-Hungarian occupation for 30 years, although it remained de jure Ottoman territory.

1. ^ Ćirković 2004, pp. 221–226.

Read More

 

20 June 1943 – The Detroit race riot breaks out and continues for three more days.

1943 Detroit race riot

Racial violence in Michigan

A race riot took place in Detroit, Michigan, from the evening of June 20 through to the early morning of June 22, 1943. It occurred in a period of dramatic population increase and social tensions associated with the military buildup of U.S. participation in World War II, as Detroit's automotive industry was converted to the war effort. Existing social tensions and housing shortages were exacerbated by racist feelings about the arrival of nearly 400,000 migrants, both African-American and White Southerners, from the Southeastern United States between 1941 and 1943. The migrants competed for space and jobs against the city's residents as well as against European immigrants and their descendants. The riot escalated after a false rumor spread that a mob of white people had thrown a black mother and her baby into the Detroit River. Black people looted and destroyed white property as retaliation. White people overran Woodward to Veron where they proceeded to violently attack black community members and tip over 20 cars that belonged to black families.

The Detroit riot was one of five that summer; it followed others in Los Angeles; Beaumont, Texas; and Mobile, Alabama, and preceded that of New York City.

The rioting in Detroit began among youths at Belle Isle Park on June 20, 1943; the unrest spread to other areas of the city and was exacerbated by false rumors of racial attacks in both the black and white communities. It continued until June 22. It was suppressed after 6,000 federal troops were ordered into the city to restore peace. A total of 34 people were killed, 25 of them black and most at the hands of the white police force, while 433 were wounded (75 percent of them black), and property valued at $2 million (worth $30.4 million in 2020) was destroyed. Most of the riot took place in the black area of Paradise Valley, the poorest neighborhood of the city.^[1]

At the time, white commissions attributed the cause of the riot to black people and youths, but the NAACP claimed deeper causes: a shortage of affordable housing, discrimination in employment, lack of minority representation in the police, and white police brutality. A late 20th-century analysis of the rioters showed that the white rioters were younger and often unemployed (characteristics that the riot commissions had falsely attributed to black people despite evidence to the contrary). If working, the white people often held semi-skilled or skilled positions. White people traveled long distances across the city to join the first stage of the riot near the bridge to Belle Isle Park, and later some traveled in armed groups explicitly to attack the black neighborhood in Paradise Valley. The black participants were often older, established city residents, who in many cases had lived in the city for more than a decade. They also looted and destroyed white-owned property in their neighborhood.

1. ^ Dominic J. Capeci, Jr., and Martha Wilkerson, "The Detroit Rioters of 1943: A Reinterpretation", Michigan Historical Review, Jan 1990, Vol. 16 Issue 1, pp. 49–72.

Read More

 

21 June 1963 – Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini is elected as Pope Paul VI.

Pope Paul VI

Head of the Catholic Church from 1963 to 1978

Pope Paul VI^[a] (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini;^[b] 26 September 1897 – 6 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council, which he closed in 1965, implementing its numerous reforms. He fostered improved ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements.

Born in Concesio, Montini served in the Holy See's Secretariat of State from 1922 to 1954, and along with Domenico Tardini was considered the closest and most influential advisor of Pope Pius XII. In 1954, Pius named Montini Archbishop of Milan, the largest Italian diocese. Montini later became the Secretary of the Italian Bishops' Conference. John XXIII elevated Montini to the College of Cardinals in 1958, and after his death, Montini was, with little to no opposition, elected his successor, taking the name Paul VI.^[8]

He reconvened the Second Vatican Council, which had been suspended during the interregnum. After its conclusion, Paul VI took charge of the interpretation and implementation of its mandates, finely balancing the conflicting expectations of various Catholic groups. The resulting reforms were among the widest and deepest in the Church's history.

Paul VI spoke repeatedly to Marian conventions and Mariological meetings, visited Marian shrines and issued three Marian encyclicals. Following Ambrose of Milan, he named Mary as the Mother of the Church during the Second Vatican Council.^[9] In January 1964, he flew to Jordan, the first time a reigning pontiff had left Italy in more than a century.^[10] His opposition to birth control was published in the 1968 encyclical Humanae vitae. Paul VI described himself as a humble servant of a suffering humanity and demanded significant changes from the rich in North America and Europe in favour of the poor in the Third World.^[11]

Pope Benedict XVI, citing his heroic virtue, proclaimed him venerable on 20 December 2012. Pope Francis beatified Paul VI on 19 October 2014, after the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession. His liturgical feast was celebrated on the date of his birth, 26 September, until 2019 when it was changed to the date of his priestly ordination, 29 May.^[1] Pope Francis canonised him on 14 October 2018.

1. ^ ^{a b} "Decreto della Congregazione del Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti sull'iscrizione della celebrazione di San Paolo VI, Papa, nel calendario Romano Generale". Holy See. 6 February 2019. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
2. ^ "Memory of Blessed Paul VI". Archdiocese of Milan. 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
3. ^ "In the Diocese of Milan. A pastoral community dedicated to Paul VI (in Italian)". 1 October 2014. Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
4. ^ "About Paul VI, Patron of the Institute". Archdiocese of St. Louis. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
5. ^ "Paul VI Blessed! (in Italian)". Diocese of Brescia. 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
6. ^ "Letter to the diocese for calling a "Montinian Year" (in Italian)" (PDF). Diocese of Brescia. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
7. ^ "CAPOVILLA, Loris Francesco (1915–)". Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
8. ^ Hebblethwaite 1993, pp. 322–23.
9. ^ Commissio Theologica Internationalis, Catholic Church (21 August 2009). Sharkey, Michael; Weinandy, Thomas (eds.). International Theological Commission, Vol II: 1986–2007. Ignatius Press. p. 208. ISBN 978-1586172268.
10. ^ "The Pilgrimage of Pope Paul the Sixth". Life. 17 January 1964. pp. 18–29. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
11. ^ 'It's not Easy Being a Christian', says Pope, Rome, Italy: Vatican Radio, 11 August 2009, archived from the original on 7 March 2012, retrieved 19 May 2014

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).

Read More

 

22 June 1984 – Virgin Atlantic launches with its first flight from London to Newark.

Virgin Atlantic

Airline of the United Kingdom

Not to be confused with Virgin America or Virgin Australia.

Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and was originally planned by its co-founders Randolph Fields and Alan Hellary to fly between London and the Falkland Islands. Soon after changing the name to Virgin Atlantic Airways, Fields sold his shares in the company to Richard Branson in return for unlimited free travel.^[5] Its maiden flight from London–Gatwick to Newark took place on 22 June 1984.

The airline along with Virgin Holidays is controlled by a holding company, Virgin Atlantic Limited, which is 51% owned by the Virgin Group and 49% by Delta Air Lines. It is administratively separate from other Virgin-branded airlines. Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited both hold Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Type A Operating Licences (AOC numbers 534^[6] and 2435 respectively),^[6] both of which permit these airlines, operating as Virgin Atlantic Airways, to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.^[7]

Virgin Atlantic uses a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft and operates to destinations in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia from its main hub at Heathrow and its secondary hub at Manchester. The airline also operates a seasonal service from Edinburgh. Virgin Atlantic aircraft consist of three cabins: Economy, Premium (formerly Premium economy),^[8] and Upper Class (business).

In July 2017, Virgin Atlantic announced its intention to form a joint venture with Air France-KLM, but, in December 2019, it was announced that the joint venture would not include a stake in the company.^[9]

On 5 May 2020, it was announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline would lay off 3,000 staff, reduce the fleet size to 35 by the summer of 2022, retire the Boeing 747-400s,^[10] and would not resume operations from Gatwick following the pandemic.^[11]

Virgin Atlantic filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York on 4 August 2020, as part of a £1.2 billion private refinancing package.^[12][13] The airline joined the SkyTeam airline alliance in March 2023.^[14]

1. ^ "IATA - Virgin Atlantic". Retrieved 4 July 2023.
2. ^ "Virgin Atlantic Board Announces New CEO". 13 October 2025.
3. ^ "Virgin Atlantic Directors". Virgin Atlantic. 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
5. ^ "Poker". The Independent. 6 March 1997. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
6. ^ ^{a b} "UK Aeroplane and Helicopter AOC Holders (N-Z)". UK Civil Aviation Authority. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
7. ^ "Type A Operating Licence Holders". London: Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
8. ^ "Premium". London: Virgin Atlantic. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
9. ^ Jasper, Christopher (2 December 2019). "Branson drops Air France Deal to Keep Control of Virgin Atlantic". London. Bloomberg News. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
10. ^ Schlappig, Ben (5 May 2020). "Virgin Atlantic Leaving Gatwick, Retiring 747s". One Mile at a Time. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
11. ^ Burridge, Tom (5 May 2020). "Virgin Atlantic to cut 3,000 jobs and quit Gatwick". BBC News. London.
12. ^ Slotnick, David. "Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic is the second Virgin airline to declare bankruptcy". Business Insider. New York: Axel Springer SE. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
13. ^ "A Solvent Recapitalisation of Virgin Atlantic" (Press release). London: Virgin Atlantic.
14. ^ "Virgin Atlantic to join SkyTeam Alliance today". SkyTeam (Press release). 2 March 2023.

Read More

 

23 June 1961 – The Antarctic Treaty System, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and limits military activity on the continent, its islands and ice shelves, comes into force.

Antarctic Treaty System

International treaties concerning Antarctica

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, designating the continent as a scientific preserve, establishing freedom of scientific investigation, and banning military activity; for the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. Since September 2004, the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which implements the treaty system, is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.^[3]

The main treaty was opened for signature on 1 December 1959, and officially entered into force on 23 June 1961.^[4] The original signatories were the 12 countries active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–58: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.^[1] These countries had established over 55 Antarctic research stations for the IGY, and the subsequent promulgation of the treaty was seen as a diplomatic expression of the operational and scientific cooperation that had been achieved. As of 2024^[update], the treaty has 58 parties.^[2]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Antarctic Treaty" in The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 439.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "Antarctic Treaty". United States Department of State. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
3. ^ "ATS – Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty". ats.aq. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
4. ^ "Antarctic Treaty". United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. United Nations. Retrieved 28 March 2018.

Read More

 

24 June 2010 – Julia Gillard assumes office as the first female Prime Minister of Australia.

Julia Gillard

Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013

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

Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the 13th deputy prime minister from 2007 to 2010. She is the first and only woman to hold either office.

Born in Barry, Wales, Gillard migrated with her family to Adelaide in South Australia in 1966. She attended Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. Gillard went on to study at the University of Adelaide, but switched to the University of Melbourne in 1982, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1986 and a Bachelor of Arts in 1989. During this time, she was president of the Australian Union of Students from 1983 to 1984. In 1987, Gillard joined the law firm Slater & Gordon, eventually becoming a partner in 1990, specialising in industrial law. In 1996, she became chief of staff to John Brumby, the Leader of the Opposition in Victoria. Gillard was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1998 election for the Victorian division of Lalor. Following the 2001 election, she was appointed to the shadow cabinet. In December 2006, Gillard became the running mate of Kevin Rudd in a successful leadership challenge to Kim Beazley, becoming deputy leader of the opposition. After Labor's victory at the 2007 election, she was appointed as deputy prime minister, and was also given the roles of Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Minister for Social Inclusion.

On 24 June 2010, after Rudd lost internal support within the Labor Party and resigned as leader, Gillard was elected unopposed as his replacement in a leadership spill, and was sworn in as prime minister. She led Labor through the 2010 election weeks later, which saw the first hung parliament since 1940. Gillard was able to form a minority government with the support of the Greens and three independents. During its term of office, the Gillard government introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the Gonski funding, oversaw the early rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN), and controversially implemented a carbon pricing scheme. Her premiership was often undermined by party instability and numerous scandals, including the AWU affair and the Health Services Union expenses affair. Gillard and Rudd became embroiled in a lengthy political rivalry, resulting in Gillard losing the leadership of the party back to him in a June 2013 leadership spill. Her resignation as prime minister took effect the next day, and she announced her retirement from politics.

In the years following her retirement, Gillard has been a visiting professor at the University of Adelaide, the Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Universal Education, the chair of the Global Partnership for Education since 2014 and the chair of Beyond Blue from 2017 to 2023. She released her memoir, My Story, in 2014. In 2021, she became chair of the Wellcome Trust, succeeding Eliza Manningham-Buller.^[1] Although Gillard often ranked poorly in opinion polls as prime minister,^[2][3] her premiership has been more favourably received in retrospect.^[4] Political experts often place her in the middle-to-upper tier of Australian prime ministers.^[5]

1. ^ "Julia Gillard appointed as next Chair of Wellcome | News". Wellcome. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
2. ^ Curran, Enda; Glynn, James (18 March 2013). "Voter Poll Pressures Australia's Leader". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
3. ^ Sweet, Michael (11 June 2013). "Polls point to Gillard wipe-out". Neos Kosmos. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
4. ^ Reece, Nicholas (25 October 2018). "How will history remember Julia Gillard?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
5. ^ Strangio, Paul (4 August 2021). "Who were Australia's best prime ministers? We asked the experts". Monash University. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.

Read More

 

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

The Firebird

1910 ballet by Igor Stravinsky

This article is about the ballet to Stravinsky's 1910 music. For other uses of the word, see Firebird.

The Firebird (French: L'Oiseau de feu; Russian: Жар-птица, romanized: Zhar-ptitsa) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who collaborated with Alexandre Benois and others on a scenario based on the Russian fairy tales of the Firebird and the blessing and curse it possesses for its owner. It was first performed at the Opéra de Paris on 25 June 1910 and was an immediate success, catapulting Stravinsky to international fame and leading to future Diaghilev–Stravinsky collaborations including Petrushka (1911) and The Rite of Spring (1913).

The Firebird's mortal and supernatural elements are distinguished with a system of leitmotifs placed in the harmony dubbed "leit-harmony". Stravinsky intentionally used many specialist techniques in the orchestra, including ponticello, col legno, flautando, glissando, and flutter-tonguing. Set in the evil immortal Koschei's castle, the ballet follows Prince Ivan, who battles Koschei with the help of the magical Firebird.

Stravinsky later created three concert suites based on the work: in 1911, ending with the "Infernal Dance"; in 1919, which remains the most popular today; and in 1945, featuring significant reorchestration and structural changes. Other choreographers have staged the work with Fokine's original choreography or created entirely new productions using the music, some with new settings or themes. Many recordings of the suites have been made; the first was released in 1928, using the 1911 suite. A film version of the popular Sadler's Wells Ballet production, which revived Fokine's original choreography, was produced in 1959.

Read More

 

26 June 1906 – The first Grand Prix motor race is held at Le Mans.

1906 French Grand Prix

Motor race held at Le Mans

Motor car race

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.

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

Read More

 

27 June 2007 – Tony Blair resigns as British Prime Minister, a position he had held since 1997. Chancellor Gordon Brown succeeds him.

Tony Blair

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007

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

Sir 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. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, held shadow cabinet posts from 1987 to 1994, and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Labour prime minister and only person to lead Labour to three consecutive general election victories. Blair founded the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in 2016 and serves as its Executive Chairman.

Blair attended the independent school Fettes College, studied law at St John's College, Oxford, and worked as a barrister. He became involved in the Labour Party and was elected to the House of Commons in 1983 for Sedgefield. Blair supported moving Labour to the political centre of British politics. He was appointed to Neil Kinnock's shadow cabinet in 1988 and as shadow home secretary by John Smith in 1992. Following Smith's death in 1994, Blair won the Labour leadership election, and went on to rebrand the party as "New Labour". He became the youngest prime minister of the 20th century after Labour won a landslide of 418 seats in the 1997 general election, ending 18 years in opposition. It was the first Labour victory for 23 years.

During his first term, Blair enacted constitutional reforms and increased public spending on healthcare and education, while introducing market-based reforms in these areas. He introduced a minimum wage, tuition fees for higher education, devolution in Scotland and Wales, expansion of LGBTQ rights and significant progress in the Northern Ireland peace process with the landmark Good Friday Agreement. He oversaw successful interventions in Kosovo in 1999 and Sierra Leone in 2000. Blair secured a second term with another landslide victory in 2001. These years in office were shaped by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, resulting in the war on terror. Blair supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and had British Forces participate in the Iraq War, on the false beliefs that Saddam Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction and ties with al-Qaeda. The invasion was controversial and attracted widespread opposition. As the casualties of the Iraq War mounted, Blair was accused of misleading Parliament and his popularity dropped. He won a third term in the 2005 general election, but with a reduced majority. He pushed for more public sector reform and brokered an agreement to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland. Amid the Cash-for-Honours scandal, Blair was interviewed as a witness. In 2006, Blair announced he would resign within a year. He resigned as party leader and prime minister in June 2007, and was succeeded by Gordon Brown, his chancellor; on the day he ceased to be prime minister, he gave up his parliamentary seat.

Blair was immediately appointed special envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, a post he held until 2015. He has been chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change since 2016, made political interventions, and been an influence on Keir Starmer. In 2009, Blair was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush. Blair has been among the most popular and unpopular politicians in British history; as prime minister, he achieved the highest recorded approval ratings in his first term but one of the lowest after the Iraq War.^[1][2][3][4] The 2016 Iraq Inquiry report gave a damning assessment of Blair's role in the Iraq War. Blair is rated as above average in historical rankings and public opinion of British prime ministers.

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. ^ Seldon, Anthony (10 August 2015). "Why is Tony Blair so unpopular?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
2. ^ "Tony Blair: a controversial knight". The Week. 7 January 2022. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
3. ^ Wintour, Patrick (20 March 2023). "How Iraq war destroyed UK's trust in politicians and left Labour in turmoil". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
4. ^ Farand, Chloe (1 August 2017). "A huge number of Britons want to see Tony Blair tried for Iraq war crimes". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.

Read More

 

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

Malcolm X

American civil rights activist (1925–1965)

This article is about the person. For other uses, see Malcolm X (disambiguation). "Malcolm Little" and "Malik Shabazz" redirect here. For other uses, see Malcolm Little (disambiguation) and Malik Shabazz (disambiguation).

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz;^[c] May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American civil rights activist and Muslim minister who came from a background of poverty, family disruption, and criminal activity to a prominent figure during the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1965. He discovered the new religious movement the Nation of Islam while in prison and served as its spokesperson from 1952 until he transitioned to Sunni Islam in 1964. He is often regarded as one of the most significant Muslim figures in the United States. A controversial figure accused of preaching violence, Malcolm X is also a celebrated figure with lots of people in the African American community for his pursuit of racial justice.

Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes and with various relatives, after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization. In 1946, he was sentenced to eight to ten years in prison for larceny and burglary. While there, he joined the Nation of Islam, adopting the name Malcolm X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding "the white slavemaster name of 'Little'", and after his parole in 1952, he quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders. He was the public face of the organization for 12 years, advocating black empowerment and separation of Black and white Americans, as well as criticizing Martin Luther King Jr. and the mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on non-violence and racial integration. Malcolm X also expressed pride in some of the Nation's social welfare achievements such as its free drug rehabilitation program. From the 1950s onward, Malcolm X was subjected to surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In the 1960s, Malcolm X began to grow disillusioned with the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammad. He subsequently embraced Sunni Islam and the mainstream civil rights movement after completing the Hajj to Mecca and became known as "el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz", which roughly translates to "The Pilgrim Malcolm the Patriarch". After a brief period of travel across Africa, he publicly renounced the Nation of Islam and founded the Islamic MMI and the Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Throughout 1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified and he was repeatedly sent death threats. On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated in New York City. Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given indeterminate life sentences. In 2021, two of the convictions were vacated. Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, has persisted for decades.

Malcolm was posthumously honored with Malcolm X Day on which he is commemorated in various cities across the United States. Hundreds of streets and schools in the US have been renamed in his honor, while the Audubon Ballroom, the site of his assassination, was partly redeveloped in 2005 to accommodate the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. His autobiography, on which he collaborated with Alex Haley, was published posthumously in 1965.

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. ^ Harrison, Isheka N. (July 2010). "Malcolm X's Grandson Working on Memoirs in Miami". South Florida Times. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.

Read More

 

29 June 1995 – The Sampoong Department Store collapses in the Seocho District of Seoul, South Korea, killing 502 and injuring 937.

Sampoong Department Store collapse

1995 building collapse in Seoul, South Korea

On June 29, 1995, the Sampoong Department Store (Korean: 삼풍백화점; Hanja: 三豐百貨店) in Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea, collapsed due to a structural failure. The collapse killed 502 people and injured 937, making it the largest peacetime disaster in South Korean history. It was the deadliest non-deliberate modern building collapse until the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh.^[1][2]

Construction on the store began in 1987 and was completed in 1990. The construction company contracted to build the structure resisted after the chairman of Sampoong Group's construction division, Lee Joon, wanted changes to the concrete support columns that introduced structural concerns. Lee ultimately fired them and used his own in-house construction company to complete the building. Investigators blamed the collapse primarily on this and other unsafe modifications made during the building's construction and lifespan.

On December 27, 1995, Lee Joon was convicted of criminal negligence and sentenced to 10 years and 6 months imprisonment. His sentence was later lessened to 7 years and 6 months on appeal. His son, Lee Han-sang, was convicted of corruption and accidental homicide and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. Additionally, two city planners from the Seocho District were convicted of taking bribes.^[3]: 112

1. ^ "Bangladesh building collapse death toll passes 700". BBC News. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
2. ^ "<삼풍참사 20년> ① 그날 삼풍백화점에선 무슨 일이 있었나" [<20 years of Sampoong disaster> ① What happened at Sampung Department Store that day?] (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. June 28, 2015.
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wearne 2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Read More

 

30 June 1908 – The Tunguska Event, the largest impact event on Earth in human recorded history, resulting in a massive explosion over Eastern Siberia.

Tunguska event

1908 air burst explosion in Siberia, Russia

The Tunguska event was a large explosion of between 3 and 50 megatons TNT equivalent^[2] that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of 30 June [O.S. 17 June] 1908.^[1][3]

The explosion over the sparsely populated East Siberian taiga felled a large number of trees, over an area of 2,150 km² (830 sq mi) of forest, and eyewitness accounts suggest up to three people may have died.^{[2][4][5][6][7]} The explosion is attributed to a meteor air burst, the atmospheric explosion of a stony asteroid about 50–60 m (160–200 ft) wide.^{[2][8]: p. 178}

The asteroid approached from the east-south-east, probably with a relatively high speed of about 27 km/s; 98,004 km/h (Mach 80).^[2] Though the incident is classified as an impact event, the object is thought to have exploded at an altitude of 5–10 km (3–6 mi) rather than hitting the Earth's surface, leaving no impact crater.^[9]

The Tunguska event is the largest impact event on Earth in recorded history, though much larger impacts are believed to have occurred in prehistoric times, including the Chicxulub impact that ended the Cretaceous period. An explosion of the Tunguska magnitude would be capable of destroying a large metropolitan area.^[10] The event has been depicted in numerous works of fiction. The equivalent Torino scale rating for the impactor is eight: a certain collision with local destruction.

1. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Farinella-2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Jenniskens, P (2019). "Tunguska eyewitness accounts, injuries and casualties". Icarus. 327: 4–18. Bibcode:2019Icar..327....4J. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.01.001. S2CID 127618395.
3. ^ Trayner, C (1994). "Perplexities of the Tunguska meteorite". The Observatory. 114: 227–231. Bibcode:1994Obs...114..227T.
4. ^ Gritzner, C (1997). "Human Casualties in Impact Events". WGN. 25: 222. Bibcode:1997JIMO...25..222G.
5. ^ Jay, Paul. "The Tunguska event". CBC News. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
6. ^ Coppins, Philip. "The Tunguska explosion: an unexpected loud bang and explosion". philipcoppins.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
7. ^ "Reported Deaths and Injuries from Meteorite Impact". delong.typepad.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
8. ^ de Pater, Imke; Lissauer, Jack (2001). Planetary Sciences. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521482194.
9. ^ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (14 November 2007). "Tunguska: The Largest Recent Impact Event". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
10. ^ Longo, Giuseppe (2007). "18: The Tunguska event" (PDF). In Bobrowsky, Peter T.; Rickman, Hans (eds.). Comet/Asteroid Impacts and Human Society, An Interdisciplinary Approach. Berlin; Heidelberg; New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 303–330. Bibcode:2007caih.book.....B. ISBN 978-3-540-32709-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2013.

Read More

 

1 July 1903 – Start of first Tour de France bicycle race.

1903 Tour de France

Cycling race

The 1903 Tour de France was the first cycling race set up and sponsored by the newspaper L'Auto, ancestor of the current daily, L'Équipe. It ran from 1 to 19 July in six stages over 2,428 km (1,509 mi), and was won by Maurice Garin.^[1]

The race was invented to boost the circulation of L'Auto, after its circulation started to plummet from competition with the long-standing Le Vélo. Originally scheduled to start in June, the race was postponed one month, and the prize money was increased, after a disappointing level of applications from competitors. The 1903 Tour de France was the first stage road race, and compared to modern Grand Tours, it had relatively few stages, but each was much longer than those raced today. The cyclists did not have to compete in all six stages, although this was necessary to qualify for the general classification.

The pre-race favourite, Maurice Garin, won the first stage, and retained the lead throughout. He also won the last two stages, and had a margin of almost three hours over the next cyclist. The circulation of L'Auto increased more than sixfold during and after the race, so the race was considered successful enough to be rerun in 1904, by which time Le Vélo had been forced out of business.

1. ^ Augendre 2016, p. 108.

Read More

 

2 July 1966 – France conducts its first nuclear weapon test in the Pacific, on Moruroa Atoll.

1966–70 French nuclear tests

Series of French nuclear tests

See also: List of nuclear weapons tests of France

Map all coordinates in "1966–70 French nuclear tests" using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

• KML
• GPX (all coordinates)
• GPX (primary coordinates)
• GPX (secondary coordinates)

The France's 1966–1970 nuclear test series^[1] was a group of 22 nuclear tests conducted in 1966–1970. These tests followed the In Ekker series and preceded the 1971–1974 French nuclear tests series.

1. ^ The United States, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions – Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1 – 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known.
2. ^ To convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day. Historical time zone data obtained from the IANA time zone database.
3. ^ Rough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area.
4. ^ Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together.
5. ^ Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.
6. ^ Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
7. ^ Designations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed.
8. ^ Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
9. ^ Radioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released.

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v} Cite error: The named reference LT_1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ "Time Zone Historical Database". iana.com. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v} Cite error: The named reference LT_32 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v} Cite error: The named reference LT_20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v} Cite error: The named reference LT_14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference LT_114 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ "The Development and History of the Mirage IVA". Royal Aeronautical Society. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
8. ^ "Opération Tamouré (1)". aviateurs.e-monsite.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-14.
9. ^ Martin, G.; CEA Saclay, Dir des Systemes d'Information (2007-01-01). The atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa (French Polynesia). The nuclear testings. Radiological aspects (Report) (in French). CEA Saclay, Dir. des Systemes d'Information, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France).

Read More

 

3 July 1996 – British Prime Minister John Major announced the Stone of Scone would be returned to Scotland.

Stone of Scone

Ancient Scottish coronation artefact

56°23′45.06″N 3°25′45.84″W / 56.3958500°N 3.4294000°W / 56.3958500; -3.4294000

The Stone of Scone (/ˈskuːn/; Scottish Gaelic: An Lia Fàil, meaning Stone of Destiny, also called clach-na-cinneamhuinn; Scots: Stane o Scone) is an oblong block of red sandstone that was used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until the 13th century when it was seized by Edward I during the First War of Scottish Independence and taken to England. Thereafter, it was used in the coronation of English and later British monarchs.

It is considered an ancient symbol of the Scottish monarchy and the Kingdom of Scotland, with its first recorded use being in 1249 for the coronation of Alexander III of Scotland.^[1] The Stone measures 26 by 16+3⁄4 by 10+1⁄2 inches (66 cm × 43 cm × 27 cm) and weighs approximately 336 lb (152 kg; 24 st). A cross is roughly incised on one surface, and an iron ring at each end aids with transport.^[2] Monarchs sat on the Stone of Scone itself, until a wooden platform was added to the Coronation Chair in the 17th century.^[3]

The artefact was originally kept at the Scone Abbey, now ruined, in Scone, near Perth. In 1296, the forces of Edward I of England captured it during Edward's invasion of Scotland. The Stone has been used in the coronation of English and British monarchs for over 500 years. In 1996, the stone was returned to Scotland, and kept in Edinburgh Castle with the Honours of Scotland. The stone remains property of the Crown, with Crown Estate Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government responsible for the stone in the rights of the monarch. It is transported to London for use at coronations under the supervision of the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland.^[4] Since March 2024, it has been on permanent public display in Perth Museum, Perth.

1. ^ "The Stone of Destiny". Perth Museum. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
2. ^ "The stone of Destiny". English Monarchs. www.englishmonarcs.co.uk. 2004–2005. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
3. ^ James Yorke (17 August 2013). "Review of The Coronation Chair by Warwick Rodwell". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016.
4. ^ "Stone of Destiny". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 280. United Kingdom: House of Commons. 3 July 1996. col. 973. Archived 28 January 2024 at the Wayback Machine

Read More

 

4 July 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

1865 children's novel by Lewis Carroll

"Alice in Wonderland" redirects here. For other uses, see Alice in Wonderland (disambiguation).

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (also known as Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a little girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of the literary nonsense genre. The artist John Tenniel provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the original edition.

The novel received positive reviews upon release. It is now one of the best-known works of Victorian literature; its narrative, structure, characters, and imagery have had a wide influence on popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.^[1][2] It is credited as helping end an era of didacticism in children's literature, inaugurating an era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain".^[3] The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.^[4] The titular character, Alice, shares her name with Alice Liddell, a girl Carroll knew; scholars disagree about the extent to which the character was based upon her.^[5][6]

The novel has never been out of print and has been translated into 174 languages. Its legacy includes adaptations to screen, radio, visual art, ballet, opera, and musical theatre as well as theme parks, board games, and video games.^[7] Carroll published a sequel in 1871 entitled Through the Looking-Glass and a shortened version for young children, The Nursery "Alice", in 1890.

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Time was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference published was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Susina 2009, p. 3.
4. ^ Lecercle 1994, p. 1.
5. ^ Cohen 1996, pp. 135–136.
6. ^ Susina 2009, p. 7.
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Alice industry was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Read More

 

5 July 1687 – Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica

1687 work by Isaac Newton

For Whitehead and Russell's work, see Principia Mathematica.

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (English: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy),^[1] often called simply the Principia (/prɪnˈsɪpiə, -ˈkɪp-/), is a book by Sir Isaac Newton that expounds Newton's laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation.

The Principia is written in Latin and comprises three volumes, and was authorized (imprimatur) by Samuel Pepys, then-president of the Royal Society on 5 July 1686 and first published in 1687.^[2][3] After annotating and correcting his personal copy of the first edition,^[4] Newton published two further editions, one of 1713^[5] with errors in the 1687 version corrected, and another, improved one^[6] of 1726.^[5]

The Principia forms a mathematical foundation for the theory of classical mechanics, and is generally considered to be one of the most important works in the history of science.^[7] It has been referred to as "the greatest scientific work in history" and "the supreme expression in human thought of the mind's ability to hold the universe fixed as an object of contemplation".^[8]

In formulating his physical laws, Newton developed and used mathematical methods now included in the field of calculus, expressing them in the form of geometric propositions about "vanishingly small" shapes.^[9] In a revised conclusion to the Principia (see § General Scholium), Newton emphasized the empirical nature of the work with the expression Hypotheses non fingo ("I frame/feign no hypotheses").^[10] Among other achievements, Newton provides an explanation for Johannes Kepler's laws of planetary motion, which Kepler had obtained empirically.

1. ^ "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", Encyclopædia Britannica, London, archived from the original on 2 May 2015, retrieved 13 February 2015
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Principia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Motte was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Newton, Isaac. "Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Newton's personally annotated 1st edition)". Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
5. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference variorum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Hermann, Claudine (2008). "La traduction et les commentaires des Principia de Newton par Émilie du Châtelet". Bibnum. Textes Fondateurs de la Science (in French). doi:10.4000/bibnum.722. S2CID 164354455. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021. translate.google.co.uk : "améliorée" Archived 9 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ J. M. Steele, University of Toronto, (review online from Canadian Association of Physicists) Archived 1 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine of N. Guicciardini's "Reading the Principia: The Debate on Newton's Mathematical Methods for Natural Philosophy from 1687 to 1736" (Cambridge UP, 1999), a book which also states (summary before title page) that the "Principia" "is considered one of the masterpieces in the history of science".
8. ^ Berlinski, David (1995). A Tour of the Calculus (1st ed.). New York: Pantheon Books. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-679-42645-5.
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference geomcalc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Cite error: The named reference gschol-hnf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Read More

 

6 July 1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.

AK-47

Soviet 7.62×39mm assault rifle

This article is about the weapon. For the AK family, see Kalashnikov rifle. For other uses, see AK-47 (disambiguation).

The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (Russian: Автомат Калашникова, lit. 'Kalashnikov's automatic'; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, it is the originating firearm of the Kalashnikov (or "AK") family of rifles. After more than seven decades since its creation, the AK-47 model and its variants remain one of the most popular and widely used firearms in the world.

Design work on the AK-47 began in 1945. It was presented for official military trials in 1947, and, in 1948, the fixed-stock version was introduced into active service for selected units of the Soviet Army. In early 1949, the AK was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces^[10] and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact.

The model and its variants owe their global popularity to their reliability under harsh conditions, low production cost (compared to contemporary weapons), availability in virtually every geographic region, and ease of use. The AK has been manufactured in many countries and has seen service with armed forces as well as irregular forces and insurgencies throughout the world. As of 2004^[update], "of the estimated 500 million firearms worldwide, approximately 100 million belong to the Kalashnikov family, three-quarters of which are AK-47s".^[5] The model is the basis for the development of many other types of individual, crew-served, and specialized firearms.

1. ^ "AK47 assault rifle designer Kalashnikov dies at 94". BBC News. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
2. ^ "Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK-47, dies at 94". CNN. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
3. ^ Ezell, Edward Clinton (1986). The AK47 Story, Evolution of the Kalashnikov Weapons. Stackpole Books. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-811-70916-3.
4. ^ Joe, Poyer (2004). The AK-47 and AK-74 Kalashnikov Rifles and Their Variations. North Cape Publications Inc. p. 8. ISBN 1-882391-33-0.
5. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference k3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ "100 Million Guns: This Might Be the Most Powerful Military Weapon Ever". The National Interest. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
7. ^ ^{a b} НСД. 7,62-мм автомат АК 1967, pp. 161–162.
8. ^ ^{a b} НСД. 7,62-мм автомат АКМ (АКМС) 1983, pp. 149–150.
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Cite error: The named reference izhmash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Monetchikov 2005, p. 67; Bolotin 1995, p. 129.

Read More

 

7 July 1980 – Institution of sharia law in Iran.

Sharia

Islamic law

"Islamic law" redirects here. For other uses, see Islamic law (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Saria, Shara, Shariyah, or Shahriyar.

Sharia (/ʃəˈriːə/; Arabic: ‏شَرِيعَة‎, romanized: šarīʿa, lit. 'path [to water]', IPA: [ʃaˈriːʕa]), also transliterated as Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah, is a body of religious law that form the Islamic tradition^[1][2][3] based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an^[4] and hadith.^[1] In Islamic terminology sharīʿah refers to immutable, intangible divine law, in contrast to fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), which refers to its interpretations by Islamic scholars.^[5][6][7] Sharia, or fiqh as traditionally known, has always been used alongside customary law from the very beginning in Islamic history;^[8][9] it has been elaborated and developed over the centuries by legal opinions issued by qualified jurists – reflecting the tendencies of different schools – and integrated with various economic, penal and administrative laws issued by Muslim rulers; and implemented for centuries by judges in the courts^[5][7] until recent times, when secularism was widely adopted in Islamic societies.

Traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four sources for al-sharia: the Qur'an, sunnah (or authentic ahadith), ijma (lit. consensus) (may be understood as ijma al-ummah (Arabic: إجماع الأمة) – a whole Islamic community consensus, or ijma al-aimmah (Arabic: إجماع الائـمـة) – a consensus by religious authorities),^[10] and analogical reasoning.^{[note 1][13]} It distinguishes two principal branches of law, rituals (Ibadah) and social dealings (Muamalat); subsections family law, relationships (commercial, political / administrative) and criminal law, in a wide range of topics^[5][7] assigning actions – capable of settling into different categories according to different understandings – to categories (ahkam) mainly as: mandatory, recommended, neutral, abhorred, and prohibited.^[5][6][7] Beyond legal norms, Sharia also enters many areas that are considered private practices today, such as belief, worshipping, ethics,^[14][15] clothing and lifestyle, and gives to those in command duties to intervene and regulate them.

Over time with the necessities brought by sociological changes, on the basis of interpretative studies legal schools have emerged, reflecting the preferences of particular societies and governments, as well as Islamic scholars or imams on theoretical and practical applications of laws and regulations. Legal schools of Sunni Islam – Hanafi, Maliki, Shafiʽi, Hanbali, etc. – developed methodologies for deriving rulings from scriptural sources using a process known as ijtihad,^[5][6] a concept adopted by Shiism in much later periods meaning mental effort.^[16] Although Sharia is presented in addition to its other aspects by the contemporary Islamist understanding, as a form of governance^[17] some researchers approach traditional sīrah narratives with skepticism, seeing the early history of Islam not as a period when Sharia was dominant, but a kind of "secular Arabic expansion" and dating the formation of Islamic identity to a much later period.^[18][19]

Approaches to Sharia in the 21st century vary widely, and the role and mutability of Sharia^[20] in a changing world has become an increasingly debated topic in Islam.^[6] Beyond sectarian differences, fundamentalists advocate the complete and uncompromising implementation of "exact/pure sharia" without modifications,^[2][21] while modernists argue that it can/should be brought into line with human rights and other contemporary issues such as democracy, minority rights, freedom of thought, women's rights and banking by new jurisprudences.^{[22][23][24][25]} In fact, several practices of Sharia have been deemed incompatible with human rights, gender equality and freedom of speech and expression.^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]} In Muslim majority countries, traditional laws have been widely used with^[6][32] or changed by European models. Judicial procedures and legal education have been brought in line with European practice likewise.^[6] While the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to Sharia, its rules are largely retained only in family law^[6] and penalties in some. The Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought calls by Islamic movements for full implementation of Sharia, including hudud corporal punishments, such as stoning.^[6][33]

1. ^ ^{a b} Bassiouni, M. Cherif (2014) [2013]. "The Sharīa, Sunni Islamic Law (Fiqh), and Legal Methods (Ilm Uṣūl al-Fiqh)". In Bassiouni, M. Cherif (ed.). The Shari'a and Islamic Criminal Justice in Time of War and Peace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 18–87. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139629249.003. ISBN 9781139629249. LCCN 2013019592. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
2. ^ ^{a b} "British & World English: sharia". Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
3. ^ Dahlén 2003, chpt. 2a.
4. ^ "Al-Qur'an (Arabic-English)" (PDF). www.quran.gov.bd.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} John L. Esposito, ed. (2014). "Islamic Law". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Vikør 2014.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Calder 2009.
8. ^ "Customary law has also been an important part of Islamic law. It was used to resolve disputes that were not covered by sharia, and it also helped to adapt sharia to the needs of men in different societies and cultures." Islamic Law: An Introduction by John Esposito (2019) Esposito, John. Islamic Law: An Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2019. Page 31
9. ^ "Another key principle that the early Islamic jurists developed was the concept of urf, or customary law. Urf is the customary practices of a particular community. The early jurists recognized that urf could be used to supplement or complement Islamic law. For example, if there was no clear ruling on a particular issue in the Quran or hadith, the jurists could look to urf for guidance." The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Law; Emon, Anver M., and Rumee Ahmed, editors. The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Law. Oxford University Press, 2018. p. 25.
10. ^ Corinna Standke (30 August 2008). Sharia – The Islamic Law. GRIN Verlag. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-3-640-14967-4. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
11. ^ Dahlén 2003, chpt. 4c.
12. ^ Schneider 2014.
13. ^ John L. Esposito, Natana J. DeLong-Bas (2001), Women in Muslim family law Archived 19 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, p. 2. Syracuse University Press, ISBN 978-0815629085. Quote: "... by the ninth century, the classical theory of law fixed the sources of Islamic law at four: the Quran, the Sunnah of the Prophet, qiyas (analogical reasoning), and ijma (consensus)."
14. ^ Coulson & El Shamsy 2019.
15. ^ Hallaq 2010, p. 145.
16. ^ Mohammad Farzaneh, Mateo (2015). The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-8156-3388-4.
17. ^ "The System of Rule in Islam". 20 June 2010. Archived from the original on 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
18. ^ Robert G. Hoyland: In God's Path. The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire (2015)
19. ^ Patricia Crone / Martin Hinds: God's Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam (1986)
20. ^ Mehmet Erdoğan. "Islamic Law and Change: Constants and Variables". Archived from the original on 30 November 2024.
21. ^ Amanat 2009: "Muslim fundamentalists [...] claim that Shari'a and its sources [...] constitute a divine law that regulates all aspects of Muslim life, as well as Muslim societies and Muslim states [...]. Muslim modernists, [...] on the other hand, criticize the old approaches to Shari'a by traditional Muslim jurists as obsolete and instead advocate innovative approaches to Shari'a that accommodate more pluralist and relativist views within a democratic framework."
22. ^ Russo, Maria Sole (15 October 2019). "Clash between Sharia law and human rights in light of PACE Resolution 2253 - Ius In Itinere". Ius In Itinere (in Italian). Archived from the original on 25 February 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
23. ^ An-Na'im, Abdullahi A (1996). "Islamic Foundations of Religious Human Rights". In Witte, John; van der Vyver, Johan D. (eds.). Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives. BRILL. pp. 337–59. ISBN 978-9041101792.
24. ^ Hajjar, Lisa (2004). "Religion, State Power, and Domestic Violence in Muslim Societies: A Framework for Comparative Analysis". Law & Social Inquiry. 29 (1): 1–38. doi:10.1111/j.1747-4469.2004.tb00329.x. ISSN 0897-6546. JSTOR 4092696. S2CID 145681085.
25. ^ Al-Suwaidi, J. (1995). Arab and western conceptions of democracy; in Democracy, war, and peace in the Middle East (Editors: David Garnham, Mark A. Tessler), Indiana University Press, see Chapters 5 and 6; ISBN 978-0253209399^{[page needed]}
26. ^ Russo, Maria Sole (15 October 2019). "Clash between Sharia law and human rights in light of PACE Resolution 2253 - Ius In Itinere". Ius In Itinere (in Italian). Archived from the original on 25 February 2025. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
27. ^ Mölzer, Andreas. "Interrogazione parlamentare | Limitazione dei diritti umani conseguente alla sharia | E-001463/2011 | Parlamento Europeo". www.europarl.europa.eu (in Italian). Retrieved 18 May 2025.
28. ^ "L'Europa deve bandire la Sharia" (in Italian). 7 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
29. ^ "La Sharia è già in Italia. Va messa al bando con una legge. E' contro la Costituzione e il diritto italiano. – Il blog di Carlo Franza". blog.ilgiornale.it. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
30. ^ "Council of Europe: Can Sharia Law Prevail Human Rights?". European Centre for Law and Justice. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
31. ^ Hirsch, Afua (23 October 2008). "Sharia law incompatible with human rights legislation, Lords say". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
32. ^ Otto 2008, p. 19.
33. ^ Mayer 2009.

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

Read More

 

8 July 1889 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published.

The Wall Street Journal

American business-focused daily newspaper

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

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), commonly known as the Journal, is an American newspaper based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance, and operates on a subscription model that requires readers to pay for access to most articles and other content. The Journal is published six days a week by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp.

As of 2025, The Wall Street Journal is the largest newspaper in the United States by print circulation, with about 412,000 print subscribers. It has more than four million digital subscribers, the second-most in the nation after The New York Times.^[1] The newspaper is one of the United States' newspapers of record.^[2][3] The first issue of the newspaper was published on July 8, 1889.^[4] The editorial page of the Journal is typically center-right in its positions, while its news reporting is more centrist.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} The newspaper has won 39 Pulitzer Prizes.^[10][11][12]

1. ^ ^{a b} "News Corporation 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. August 6, 2025. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
2. ^ Caulfield, Mike (January 8, 2017), "National Newspapers of Record", Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers, Self-published, archived from the original on October 2, 2020, retrieved July 20, 2020
3. ^ Corey Frost; Karen Weingarten; Doug Babington; Don LePan; Maureen Okun (May 30, 2017). The Broadview Guide to Writing: A Handbook for Students (6th ed.). Broadview Press. pp. 27–. ISBN 978-1-55481-313-1. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
4. ^ "The Wall Street Journal Strengthens Its International Editions; Repositions To Better Serve Global Business Leaders and Advertisers". Business Wire (Press release). May 8, 2005. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
5. ^ Yochai Benkler; Robert Faris; Hal Roberts (2018). Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics. Oxford University Press. pp. 353–354. ISBN 978-0-19-092364-8. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023. One of our clearest and starkest findings is the near disappearance of center-right media. There is the Wall Street Journal, with its conservative editorial page but continued commitment to journalistic standards in its reporting; and to some extent The Hill plays a center-right role. Both sites appear in the center of the partisan landscape according to our data because readers on the right did not pay attention to these sites any more than readers on the left did.
6. ^ Ember, Sydney (March 22, 2017). "Wall Street Journal Editorial Harshly Rebukes Trump". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017.
7. ^ Bowden, John (January 11, 2019). "Wall Street Journal editorial: Conservatives 'could live to regret' Trump emergency declaration". The Hill. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vernon 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
9. ^ Desai, Shevon. "Research Guides: "Fake News," Lies, and Misinformation: Where do news sources fall on the political bias spectrum?". guides.lib.umich.edu. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
10. ^ "The Wall Street Journal". dowjones. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
11. ^ "National Reporting". The Pulitzer Prizes. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2022. 2019 – Staff of The Wall Street Journal: For uncovering President Trump's secret payoffs to two women during his campaign who claimed to have had affairs with him, and the web of supporters who facilitated the transactions, triggering criminal inquiries, and calls for impeachment.
12. ^ "2023 Pulitzer Prizes Winners & Finalists". www.pulitzer.org. Archived from the original on May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.

Read More

 

9 July 1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins.

Wimbledon Championships

Annual tennis tournament held in London

The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon,^[c] is a tennis tournament organised annually by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the third of the four Grand Slam tennis events each year, held after the Australian Open and the French Open and before the US Open. It is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Wimbledon has been held since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts; it is the only tennis major still played on grass, the traditional surface. It is also the only major that retains a night-time curfew for logistical reasons, with matches continuing until 23:00 BST under floodlighting since 2009.^[6]

The tournament traditionally takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, starting either on the last Monday in June or the first Monday in July and culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Finals, scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday at the end of the second week. Five major events are held each year, with additional junior and invitational competitions also taking place. The tournament was not held during World War II, and was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID–19 pandemic. Line judges were replaced by electronic calling systems in 2025.

Wimbledon traditions include a strict all-white dress code for competitors, and royal patronage. Strawberries and cream are traditionally consumed at the tournament,^[7] in latter years accompanied by champagne.^[8] Unlike other tournaments, advertising is minimal and low-key from official suppliers such as Slazenger and Rolex. The relationship with Slazenger is the world's longest-running sporting sponsorship, providing balls for the tournament since 1902.^[9]

The 2026 Wimbledon Championships will run from 29 June to 12 July.

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. ^ Clarey, Christopher (7 May 2008). "Traditional Final: It's Nadal and Federer". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2008. Federer said[:] 'I love playing with him, especially here at Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament we have.'
2. ^ Will Kaufman & Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson, ed. (2005). "Tennis". Britain and the Americas. Vol. 1 : Culture, Politics, and History. ABC-CLIO. p. 958. ISBN 1-85109-431-8. this first tennis championship, which later evolved into the Wimbledon Tournament ... continues as the world's most prestigious event.
3. ^ "Djokovic describes Wimbledon as "the most prestigious event"". BBC News. 26 June 2009. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
4. ^ Ryan Rudnansky (24 June 2013). "Wimbledon Tennis 2013: Why Historic Tournament Is Most Prestigious Grand GMR Slam". bleacherreport. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
5. ^ Monte Burke (30 May 2012). "What Is The Most Prestigious Grand Slam Tennis Tournament?". Forbes. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013. It seems pretty clear that of the four tennis Grand Slam events—Wimbledon and the French, Australian and U.S. Opens—the former is by far the most prestigious one.
6. ^ Rathborn, Jack (30 June 2025). "What time is the Wimbledon curfew?". The Independent. ISSN 1741-9743. Archived from the original on 2 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
7. ^ "Wimbledon's strawberries and cream has Tudor roots". BBC. 9 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
8. ^ "Please Don't Pop a Champagne Cork During a Tennis Match". Food & Wine. Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
9. ^ "A 115-year-old tale of sport's surviving sponsorships". Inside Sport. 15 October 2017. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2022.

Read More

 

10 July 1553 – Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England.

Lady Jane Grey

Disputed Queen of England and Ireland in 1553

"Jane Grey" redirects here. For other uses, see Jane Grey (disambiguation).

Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen",^[7] was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned until she was deposed by the Privy Council of England, which proclaimed her cousin, Mary I, as the new Queen on 19 July. Jane was later beheaded for high treason.

Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII (through his youngest surviving daughter, Mary Tudor), the grandniece of Henry VIII, and the first cousin once removed of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. Under the will of Henry VIII, Jane was in line to the throne after her cousins. She had a humanist education and a reputation as one of the most learned young women of her day. In May 1553, she was married to Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of Edward VI's chief minister, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. In June, the dying Edward VI wrote his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Catholic, whereas Jane was a committed Protestant and would support the reformed Church of England, whose foundation Edward laid. The will removed both of his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the line of succession because of their illegitimacy, subverting their lawful claims under the Third Succession Act. Through the Duke of Northumberland, Edward's letters patent in favour of Jane were signed by the entire privy council, bishops, and other notables.

After Edward's death, Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553 and awaited coronation in the Tower of London. Support for Mary grew rapidly, and most of Jane's supporters abandoned her. The Privy Council suddenly changed sides and proclaimed Mary as queen on 19 July, deposing Jane. Her primary supporter, her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, was accused of treason and executed less than a month later. Jane was held prisoner in the Tower, and in November 1553, she was also convicted of treason, which carried a sentence of death.

Mary initially spared her life, but Jane soon became viewed as a threat to the Crown when her father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, became involved with Wyatt's rebellion against Mary's intention to marry Philip of Spain. Jane and her husband were both executed by beheading on 12 February 1554 at the Tower of London. At the time of her execution, Jane was either 16 or 17 years old.

1. ^ Williamson, David (2010). Kings & Queens. National Portrait Gallery Publications. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-85514-432-3
2. ^ Ives 2009, p. 36.
3. ^ Florio 1607, p. 68.
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ODNB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ "Lady Jane Grey". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
6. ^ Potter 2014, pp. 83–94.
7. ^ Ives 2009, p. 2.

Read More

 

11 July 1804 – A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.

Burr–Hamilton duel

1804 duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton

The Burr–Hamilton duel took place in Weehawken, New Jersey, between Aaron Burr, the U.S. vice president at the time, and Alexander Hamilton, the first and former Secretary of the Treasury, at dawn on July 11, 1804. The duel was the culmination of a bitter rivalry that had developed over years between both men, who were high-profile politicians in the newly-established United States, founded following the victorious American Revolution and its associated Revolutionary War. It is one of the most famous duels in American history.

In the duel, Burr shot Hamilton in the abdomen. Hamilton's shot hit a tree branch above and behind Burr's head. Hamilton was transported across the Hudson River for treatment in present-day Greenwich Village in New York City, where he died the following day, on July 12.^[1]

Hamilton's death permanently weakened the Federalist Party, which he had founded in 1789 and was one of the nation's two major parties at the time. It also ended Burr's political career, as he was vilified for shooting Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton was shot close to the spot where his son Philip Hamilton had been fatally wounded in a duel with George I. Eacker three years prior.

1. ^ "Today in History: July 11". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 23, 2007.

Read More

 

12 July 1971 – The Australian Aboriginal flag is flown for the first time.

Australian Aboriginal flag

Official flag representing Aboriginal Australians

The Australian Aboriginal flag is an official flag of Australia that represents Aboriginal Australians. It was granted official status in 1995 under the Flags Act 1953, together with the Torres Strait Islander flag, in order to advance reconciliation and in recognition of the importance and acceptance of the flag by the Australian community.^[1] The two flags are often flown together with the Australian national flag.

The Australian Aboriginal flag was designed by Aboriginal artist Harold Thomas in 1971, and it was first flown in Adelaide in July of that year. Thomas held the intellectual property rights to the flag's design until January 2022, when he transferred the copyright to the Commonwealth government. The flag was designed for the land rights movement and became a symbol of Aboriginal people of Australia.

The flag is horizontally and equally divided into a black region (above) and a red region (below); a yellow disc is superimposed over the centre of the flag.^[2] The overall proportions of the flag, as proclaimed and in its original design, are 2:3; however, the flag is often reproduced in the proportions 1:2 as with the Australian national flag.^[3]

1. ^ "The Aboriginal flag". Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
2. ^ "Australian Aboriginal Flag" (PDF). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Australian Government. 15 May 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
3. ^ The proclamations and the Flags Act (for the Australian National Flag and the Australian Red Ensign) do not specify overall proportions but show the flags as images.

Read More

 

13 July 1814 – The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established.

Carabinieri

Italian gendarmerie

For other uses, see Carabinieri (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Carabinier or Carbonari.

Law enforcement agency

The Carabinieri^[a] are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign policing duties. It is one of Italy's main law enforcement agencies, alongside the Polizia di Stato and the Guardia di Finanza. As with the Guardia di Finanza but in contrast to the Polizia di Stato, the Carabinieri are a military force. As the fourth branch of the Italian Armed Forces, they come under the authority of the Ministry of Defence; for activities related to inland public order and security, they functionally depend on the Ministry of the Interior. In practice, there is a significant overlap between the jurisdiction of the Polizia di Stato and Carabinieri, and both of them are contactable through 112, the European Union's Single Emergency number.^[7] Unlike the Polizia di Stato, the Carabinieri have responsibility for policing the military, and a number of members regularly participate in military missions abroad.

They were originally founded as the police force of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the forerunner of the Kingdom of Italy. During the process of Italian unification, the Carabinieri were appointed as the "First Force" of the new national military organization. Although the Carabinieri assisted in the suppression of opposition during the rule of Benito Mussolini, they were also responsible for his downfall and many units were disbanded during World War II by Nazi Germany, which resulted in large numbers of Carabinieri joining the Italian resistance movement.

In 2000, they were separated from the Army to become a separate branch of the Italian Armed Forces. Carabinieri have policing powers that can be exercised at any time and in any part of the country, and they are always permitted to carry their assigned weapon as personal equipment (Beretta 92FS pistols).

The Carabinieri are often referred to as La Benemerita (The Reputable or The Meritorious) as they are a trusted and prestigious law enforcement institution in Italy. The first official account of the use of this term to refer to the Carabinieri dates back to 24 June 1864.^[8]

1. ^ "carabiniere" (US) and "carabiniere". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
2. ^ "carabiniere". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
3. ^ Paoletti, Ciro (2008). A Military History of Italy. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-98505-9.
4. ^ Stone, Peter G; Bajjaly, Joanne Farchakh (2008). The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-84383-384-0.
5. ^ Wrightson, Richard Heber (2005). A History of Modern Italy, from the First French Revolution to the Year 1850. Elibron.com.
6. ^ A new survey of universal knowledge. Vol. 4. Encyclopædia Britannica. 1952.
7. ^ "The Service". NUE 112 Numero di emergenza Unico Europeo. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
8. ^ "Benemerita". www.carabinieri.it.

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).

Read More