1943 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schoolchildren could not be made to salute the U.S. flag if doing so conflicted with their religious beliefs.
1206 – Chinese southern Song dynasty officially declares war on the northern Jin dynasty
1381 – Richard II in England meets leaders of the Peasants’ Revolt on Blackheath. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance.
1642 – 1st compulsory education law in America passed by Massachusetts
1775 – The Continental Army was founded by the Second Continental Congress for purposes of common defense. This event is considered to be the birth of the United States Army. On June 15, George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief.
1777 – The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the “Stars and Stripes” as the national flag of the United States. The Flag Resolution stated “Resolved: that the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” On May 20, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed June 14 “Flag Day” as a commemoration of the “Stars and Stripes.”
1789 – Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty arrived in Timor in a small boat.
1798 – American captain Edmund Fanning discovered Kingman Reef between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa. In 1922, the United States annexed the uninhabited, triangle-shaped reef.
1807 – Emperor Napoleon I’s French Grande Armee defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Prussia (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending War of the Fourth Coalition
1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the 300 year old Sudanese kingdom to an end
1846 – A group of U.S. settlers in Sonoma proclaimed the Republic of California.
1872 – Trade unions are legalised in Canada.
1893 – Philadelphia observed the first Flag Day.
1900 – Having been annexed to the USA on 12 August 1898, Hawaii is constituted as an organised territory
1907 – Women in Norway won the right to vote
1913 – The South African Government pass the Immigration Act, which restricts the entry and free movement of Asians; it leads to widespread agitation and rioting by resident Indians, led by Gandhi
1927 – Nicaraguan President Adolfo Diaz signed a treaty with the U.S. allowing American intervention in his country.
1940 – Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp opens in Nazi controlled Poland with Polish POWs, later expanded to include civilian Jews and gypsies (approx. 3 million would die within its walls)
1943 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schoolchildren could not be made to salute the U.S. flag if doing so conflicted with their religious beliefs. https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/227/west-virginia-state-board-of-education-v-barnette
1949 – French-allied State of Vietnam is officially formed during the First Indochina War, Bảo Đại installed as Emperor
1949 – Albert II becomes the first monkey in space – The rhesus monkey was one of several animals used for testing purposes before sending humans into space. Albert II survived his ascent to 134 km (83 mi) altitude but died on his return to Earth due to a parachute failure.
1951 – “Univac I” was unveiled. It was a computer designed for the U.S. Census Bureau and billed as the world’s first commercial computer.
1953 – Eisenhower condemns McCarthy’s book burning proposal
1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an order adding the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
1954 – Americans took part in the first nation-wide civil defense test against atomic attack.
1967 – California Governor Ronald Reagan signs the Therapeutic Abortion Act, legalizing abortions in the state under certain circumstances, the second state after Colorado to do so
1967 – Mariner 5 was launched from Cape Kennedy, FL. The space probe’s flight took it past Venus.
1973 – US President Richard Nixon administration imposes 60-day economy-wide price freeze, superseding Special Rule No. 1 for oil companies
1982 – Argentina surrenders to Great Britain, ending the 74-day Falklands Islands conflict
1985 – Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists hijacked TWA Flight 847
1990 – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld police checkpoints that are used to examine drivers for signs of intoxication.
2002 – A large asteroid just misses the Earth – 2002 MN, a 73-meter lump, was three times closer to Earth than the Moon. It was first discovered three days after its closest approach.
2012 – The world’s first stem-cell assisted vein transplant is undertaken by Swedish doctors on a 10 year old girl
2013 – The US government charges NSA leaker Edward Snowden with violating the Espionage Act and theft of government property
2016 – First mammal made extinct by human-induced climate change announced – the Bramble Cay melomys from Torres Strait
2017 – Bernie Sanders supporter opens fire at Republican politicians practising baseball near Washington, D.C., injuring 4
2018 – US government confirms 1500 boys being held separated from their parents in Casa Padre, shelter facility for illegal immigrants in a former Walmart in Brownsville, Texas
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
