TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: JUNE 24
0217 Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal destroy a Roman army under consul Gaius Flaminius in a battle at Lake Trasimene in central Italy.
1314 Scottish forces, led by Robert the Bruce, win an overwhelming victory against English King Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn.
1322 Jews are expelled from France
1497 John Cabot claims Eastern Canada for England (believes he has found Asia in Nova Scotia)
1509 Henry VIII is crowned King of England.
1647 Early American feminist Margaret Brent demanded a seat and vote in the Maryland Assembly, but was ejected from that body.
1664 The colony of New Jersey, named after the Isle of Jersey, is founded.
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
1853 US President Franklin Pierce signs the Gadsden Purchase, buying 29,670 square-miles (76,800 square km) from Mexico for $10 million (now southern Arizona and New Mexico)
1861 Tennessee becomes 11th (& last) state to secede from US
1931 The Soviet Union and Afghanistan sign a treaty of neutrality.
1948 The Soviet Union begins the Berlin Blockade, America responds with the Berlin Airlift.
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.
1977 IRS reveals Jimmy Carter paid no taxes in 1976
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.
2011 New York passes a law to allow same-sex marriage, becoming the largest state that allows gay and lesbian couples to marry.
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
