TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JUNE 24
1314 Scottish forces, led by Robert the Bruce, win an overwhelming victory against English King Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn.
1497 Explorer John Cabot lands in North America in present-day Canada.
1664 The colony of New Jersey, named after the Isle of Jersey, is founded.
1647 Margaret Brent, demands a voice and a vote for herself in the Maryland colonial assembly.
1675 King Philip’s War, the most devastating war between the colonists and Indians, began with Indians attacking the Swansea (Mass.) settlement.
1717 The world’s first Masonic Grand Lodge is established Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that has counted among its members a large number of known intellectuals. Due to its secretive nature, many myths about their underground activities have emerged through the ages. A Grand Lodge is the governing body for a certain geographic area.
1862 U.S. intervention saves the British and French at the Dagu Forts in China.
1896 Booker T. Washington becomes the first African American to receive an honorary MA degree from Harvard University.
1910 The Japanese army invades Korea.
1931 The Soviet Union and Afghanistan sign a treaty of neutrality.
1941 President Franklin Roosevelt pledges all possible support to the Soviet Union.
1948 The Soviet Union began a blockade of Berlin. Allied forces responded with what would be known as the Berlin Airlift flying in more than 2 million tons of supplies over the next year.
1957 The United States Supreme Court ruled that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees free speech and freedom of the press.
1964 The Federal Trade Commission announces that, starting in 1965, cigarette makers must include warning labels about the harmful effects of smoking.
1968 “Resurrection City,” a shantytown constructed as part of the Poor People’s March on Washington D.C., was closed down by authorities.
1982 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that no president could be sued for damages connected with actions taken while serving as President of the United States.
1997 The U.S. Air Force released The Roswell Report, closing the case on the 1947 Roswell, N.M. incident concerning UFOs and alien bodies.
2002 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, must make the decision to give a convicted killer the death penalty.
2002 Africa’s worst ever train disaster kills 281 The crash occurred near Msagali, Tanzania, when a passenger train with some 1200 passengers rolled back down Igandu hill after its brakes had failed.
2011 New York passes a law to allow same-sex marriage, becoming the largest state that allows gay and lesbian couples to marry.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
