TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JUNE 7
1494 Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the New World between the two countries.
1546 The Peace of Ardes ends the war between France and England.
1654 Louis XIV is crowned king of France.
1712 The Pennsylvania Assembly bans the importation of slaves.
1767 Daniel Boone sights present-day Kentucky.
1775 The United Colonies change their name to the United States.
1892 Homer Plessy was arrested for his refusal to move from a whites-only seat on a train. This led to the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision.
1900 The Boxer rebels cut the rail links between Peking and Tientsin in China.
1903 Professor Pierre Curie reveals the discovery of Polonium.
1923 The Wisconsin Assembly is the first state to oppose absolute Prohibition when the Tucker Bill to repeal the state dry enforcement law is passed. Wisconsin had some of the largest breweries in the US in the Twenties and still is a major center for beer today.
1929 Vatican City becomes an independent state The Lateran Treaty, which was signed on February 11 of the same year, was ratified by Italy’s fascist government on this day. It guarantees the political and territorial sovereignty of Vatican City.
1932 Over 7,000 war veterans march on Washington, D.C., demanding their bonus pay for service in World War I.
1942 The Japanese invade Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands.
1942 After a three day sea battle the United States destroy large numbers of Japanese Navy ships with the damage to only one US ship The USS Yorktown. The Commander-in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Chester Nimitz, said two enemy aircraft carriers ten Japanese warships were also sunk or damaged.
1965 Following the anti-birth control law passed in Connecticut, the case of Griswold v. Connecticut goes to the Supreme Court who struck down the anti-birth control law deeming it not constitutional.
1981 Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers destroy Iraq’s only nuclear reactor.
1982 Graceland is opened to the public for the first time, almost five years after the death of Elvis Presley.
1994 The Organization of African Unity formally admits South Africa as its fifty-third member.
1998 James Byrd Jr, a 49-year-old African-American man accepts a ride from three drunk men Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russel Brewer, and John William King. Instead of taking him home, the three men beat up him behind a convenience store, tie him to their pickup truck with a chain and drag and kill him by dragging him for three miles.
2005 General Motors announced plans to cut twenty-five thousand jobs in the United States. The job cuts were aimed at saving billions of dollars in an attempt to stabilize the company’s financial matters. General Motors had previously announced plans to cut twelve thousand other jobs in its European plants.
2007 The US House of Representatives votes to ease restrictions on federal funds for stem-cell research. President George W Bush has vowed use his Veto for a second time because he believes stem cell legislation crosses a moral line. Scientists believe stem cell research will one day allow them to repair tissue affected by disease or injury and that the research could provide breakthroughs in the treatment of debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
2011 Anthony Weiner, an US Congressman for the state of New York, admitted to sending inappropriate photos and communications with women online. Weiner admitted this after he had accidentally posted a close-up picture of his clothed genitals to Twitter, when he meant to send it as a private message to a woman. Weiner apologized and indicated regret and shame for his actions in a televised news conference. Weiner eventually stepped down from his post later in the month.
2013 North Korea has announced it will reopen the Red Cross hotline between itself and South Korea, a key symbol of communication. The line had been shut down earlier in March of 2013.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
