June 18
The War of 1812 begins in response to the British economic blockade of France, the induction of American seamen into the British Royal Navy against their will, and the British support of hostile Indian tribes along the Great Lakes frontier. – 1812.
At Waterloo in Belgium, Napoleon Bonaparte suffers defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington, which brings an end to the Napoleonic era of European history. – 1815.
From Cape Canaveral, Fla., the space shuttle Challenger is launched into space on its second mission. Aboard the shuttle is Dr. Sally Ride, who becomes the first American woman to travel into space. – 1983.
June 19
Eight-hour work day adopted for federal employees. – 1912.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, are executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, N.Y.. – 1953.
June 20
During the Civil War, West Virginia is admitted into the Union as the 35th U.S. state, or the 24th state if the secession of the 11 Southern states were taken into account. The same day, Arthur Boreman was inaugurated as West Virginia’s first state governor. – 1863.
Henry Ford recognizes the United Auto Workers, signs contract for workers at River Rouge plant. – 1941.
Oil begins moving through the Alaska pipeline. Seventy thousand persons worked on building the pipeline, history’s largest privately-financed construction project. – 1977.
June 21
New Hampshire becomes the ninth and last necessary state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, thereby making the document the law of the land. – 1788.
In Neshoba County in central Mississippi, three civil rights field workers disappear after investigating the burning of an African American church by the Ku Klux Klan. The disappearance of the three young men garnered National attention and led to a massive FBI investigation that was code-named MIBURN, for “Mississippi Burning.” – 1964.
An earthquake near the Caspian Sea in Iran kills more than 50,000 and injures another 135,000 persons on this day in 1990. The 7.7-magnitude tremor wrecked havoc on the simply-constructed houses in the Caspian Sea area. – 1990.
Some 100,000 unionists and other supporters march in solidarity with striking Detroit News and Detroit Free Press newspaper workers. – 1997.
June 22
U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill, an unprecedented act of legislation designed to compensate returning members of the Armed Services, known to thank G.I.s, for their efforts in World War II. – 1944.
During World War II, the U.S. 10th Army overcomes the last major pockets of Japanese resistance on Okinawa Island to end one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. The Japanese lost 120,000 troops in the defense of Okinawa, while the Americans suffered 12,500 dead and 35,000 wounded. – 1945.
June 23
U.S. president Richard Nixon signs into law the Higher Education Act, which includes the groundbreaking Title IX legislation. Title IX barred discrimination in higher education programs, including funds for sports, and other extracurricular activities. As a result, women’s participation in team sports, particularly in collegiate athletics, surged with the passage of this act. – 1972.
OSHA issues its standard on cotton dust to protect 600,000 workers from byssinosis, known as “brown lung.” – 1978.
Mafia boss John Gotti, who was nicknamed the “Teflon Don” after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on 14 accounts of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering. Moments after his sentence was read in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., hundreds of Gotti’s supporters storm the building and overturn and smash cars. – 1992.
A majority of the 5,000 textile workers at six Fieldcrest Cannon textile plants in Kannapolis, N.C., vote for union representation after an historic 25-year fight. – 1999.
June 24
U.S. Air Force officials release a 231-page report dismissing long-standing claims of an alien spacecraft crash in Roswell, N.M., almost exactly 50 years earlier. – 1997.