Bulgaria’s military takes over the government in a coup d’état. The Bulgarian coup d’état of 1923, also known as the 9 June coup d’état, was…
8 June 1949
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four is published. George Orwell’s 46th birthday was less than a month off when his last novel was published in London…
7 June 1942
The Battle of Midway comes to an end in American victory. On June 7, 1942, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive U.S. victories…
6 June 1889
The Great Seattle Fire destroys almost all of downtown Seattle. The spring of 1889 in Seattle had been beautiful. There had been little rain, and…
5 June 1963
John Profumo, the British Secretary of State for War, resigns in a sex scandal known as the “Profumo affair”. On June 5, 1963, British Secretary…
4 June 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People’s Liberation Army. The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, commonly known in mainland China…
3 June 1940
The Luftwaffe bomb Paris. Unternehmen Paula Undertaking or Operation Paula is the German codename given for the Second World War Luftwaffe offensive operation to destroy…
2 June 1964
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed. At its first summit meeting in Cairo in 1964, the Arab League initiated the creation of an organization…
1 June 1980
CNN (Cable News Network) begins broadcasting. On this day in 1 June 1980, CNN Cable News Network, the world’s first 24-hour television news network, makes…
31 May 1859
The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament in which Big Ben is housed, starts keeping time. The famous tower clock known as Big Ben,…