EVENTS
- 1812 – After much debate, the U.S. Senate voted 19 to 13 in favor of a declaration of war against Great Britain, prompted by Britain’s violation of America’s rights on the high seas and British incitement of Indian warfare on the Western frontier. The next day, President James Madison officially proclaimed the U.S. to be in a state of war. The War of 1812 lasted over two years and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium on December 24, 1814.
- 1815 – Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo.
- 1928 – Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly in an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean.
Amelia Earhart - 1940 – A speech by Charles de Gaulle sparks the French Resistance to German occupation. The Appeal of June 18, transmitted by radio from de Gaulle’s exile in the United Kingdom, was pivotal in mobilizing the French after Germany had declared more than half of the country an occupied zone. On August 25, French and Allied troops liberated Paris.
- 1940 – Winston Churchill gives his famous Finest Hour speech.
- 1948 – The LP record is introduced. The 33⅓ rpm microgroove vinyl Long Playing record developed by Columbia Records soon became the music industry’s standard medium. It allowed for a total playing time of 20 minutes per side.
- 1972 – 118 die in the Staines Air Disaster. The Hawker Siddeley Trident aircraft entered a deep stall and plummeted to the ground shortly after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport.
- 1979 – Leonid Brezhnev and Jimmy Carter sign SALT II. The second “Strategic Arms Limitation Talks” (SALT) agreement was a ground-breaking arms reduction treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States.
- 1983 – Sally Ride is the first American woman in outer space.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1886 – British explorer George Mallory (1886-1924) was born in Mobberley, Cheshire, England
- 1929 – Jürgen Habermas (German sociologist, philosopher)
- 1942 – Paul McCartney (Singer)
- 1942 – Thabo Mbeki (South African politician, 23rd President of South Africa)
- 1942 – Rober Ebert (Film Critic)
- 1952 – Isabella Rossellini (Actress)
Isabella Rossellini - 1966 – Kurt Browning (Figure Skater)
- 1980 – Antonio Gates (NFL Football player)
- 1986 – Richard Gasquet (French tennis player)
DEATHS
- 1928 – Roald Amundsen (Norwegian explorer)
Roald Amundsen - 1974 – Georgy Zhukov (Russian general)
- 1989 – I. F. Stone (American journalist, author)
- 2003 – Larry Doby (American baseball player)
- 2010 – José Saramago (Portuguese author, Nobel Prize laureate)
