TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JUNE 4
780 -BC- 1st total solar eclipse reliably recorded by Chinese
1615 The fortress at Osaka, Japan, falls to Shogun Leyasu after a six-month siege.
1717 The Freemasons are founded in London.
1760 Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians
1783 The Montgolfier brothers demonstrate the first hot air balloon
1805 Tripoli is forced to conclude peace with the United States after a conflict over tribute.
1892 The Sierra Club, led by John Muir, was incorporated in San Francisco.
1896 Henry Ford took his first car out for a test drive.
1911 Gold is discovered in Alaska’s Indian Creek.
1919 The U.S. Senate passes the Women’s Suffrage bill.
1929 George Eastman demonstrates 1st technicolor movie (Rochester NY)
1940 British complete the “Miracle of Dunkirk” by evacuating 338,226 allied troops from France via a flotilla of over 800 vessels including Royal Navy destroyers, merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft and even lifeboats
1942 The Battle of Midway, a decisive Allied victory in World War II, began.
1945 US, Soviet Union, Britain and France agree to divide up occupied Germany
1947 The House of Representatives approved the Taft-Hartley Act. The legislation allowed the President of the United States to intervene in labor disputes.
1956 Speech by Khrushchev blasting Stalin made public
1960 The Taiwan island of Quemoy was hit by 500 artillery shells fired from the coast of Communist China.
1974 The Cleveland Indians had “Ten Cent Beer Night”. Due to the drunken and unruly fans the Indians forfeited to the Texas Rangers.
1984 Bruce Springsteen releases Born in the U.S.A.
The album was Springsteen’s most successful. It featured hits like “Born in the U.S.A.”, “Dancing in the Dark”, and “I’m on Fire”.
1985 The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling striking down an Alabama law that provided for a daily minute of silence in public schools.
1989 Eastern Europe’s 1st partial free elections in 40 years held in Poland, Solidarity Party comes to power
1989 People’s Army of China opened fire on crowds of prodemocracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, killing thousands.
1991 Following the easing of tensions as the cold war between east and west ends, the UK joins other NATO countries in announcing cuts in spending on Britain’s Military forces. The British Defense Secretary Tom King has announced that more than one third of infantry in the Army is to go.
2001 King Dipendra of Nepal died, three days after shooting most of his family and himself.
2003 Martha Stewart was indicted on charges of insider trading.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
