History of 7 June
1900 – Boxer rebels cut the rail links between Peking and Tientsin in China.
1903 – Professor Pierre Curie revealed the discovery of Polonium.
1909 – Mary Pickford made her motion picture debut in “The Violin Maker of Cremona.”
1929 – The sovereign state of Vatican City came into existence as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome.
1932 – Over 7,000 war veterans marched on Washington, DC, demanding their bonuses.
1935 – Pierre Laval received emergency powers to save the franc.
1937 – The cover of “LIFE” magazine showed the latest in campus fashions of the times, which included saddle shoes.
1939 – King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, arrived in the U.S. It was the first visit to the U.S. by a reigning British monarch.
1942 – The Battle of Midway ended. The sea and air battle lasted 4 days. Japan lost four carriers, a cruiser, and 292 aircraft, and suffered 2,500 casualties. The U.S. lost the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft, and suffered 307 casualties.
1942 – Japan landed troops on the islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutians. The U.S. invaded and recaptured the Aleutians one year later.
1944 – Off of the coast of Normandy, France, the Susan B. Anthony sank. All 2,689 people aboard survived.
1948 – The Communists completed their takeover of Czechoslovakia.
1955 – “The $64,000 Question” premiered.
1965 – In the U.S., the Gemini 4 mission was completed. The mission featured the first spacewalk by an American.
1968 – In Operation Swift Saber, U.S. Marines swept an area 10 miles northwest of Danang in South Vietnam.
1968 – Legoland Billund opened in Billund, Denmark. It was the original Legoland park.
1976 – “The NBC Nightly News”, with John Chancellor and David Brinkley, aired for the first time.
1981 – Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers destroyed Iraq’s only nuclear reactor.
1983 – The U.S. ordered Nicaragua to close all six of its consulates and informed 21 Nicaraguan consular officials that they could no longer remain in the U.S.
1994 – The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia declared the RMS Titanic, Inc. (RMST) salvor-in-possession of the wreck and the wreck site of the RMS Titanic.
2000 – U.S. Federal Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corporation.
2013 – A bus catches fire in the Chinese city of Xiamen, killing at least 47 people and injuring more than 34 others.
2013 – A gunman opens fire at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, after setting a house on fire nearby, killing six people, including the suspect.
2014 – At least 37 people are killed in an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s South Kivu province.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Stephen Bywater, English footballer
- 1981 – Anna Kournikova, a Russian tennis player
- 1981 – Kevin Kyle, Scottish footballer
- 1983 – Milan Jurcina, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1983 – Piotr Małachowski, Polish discus thrower
- 1984 – Ari Koivunen, Finnish singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Arkadiusz Piech, Polish footballer
- 1985 – Charlie Simpson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 – Richard Thompson, Trinidadian sprinter
- 1986 – Keegan Bradley, American golfer
- 1988 – Michael Cera, Canadian actor
- 1988 – Milan Lucic, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Iggy Azalea, Australian rapper
- 1990 – T. J. Brodie, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Allison Schmitt, American swimmer
- 1991 – Cenk Tosun, Turkish professional footballer
- 1991 – Fetty Wap, American rapper
- 1992 – Sara Niemietz, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1992 – Mathias Gehrt, Danish professional footballer
- 1992 – Alipio, Brazilian footballer
- 1993 – George Ezra, English singer-songwriter