
June 19- 1829: Sir Robert Peel introduces the Metropolitan Police Act in Parliament. It will establish England’s first modern police force (“Bobbies.”) 1865: Newly-appointed Texas Governor Andrew Hamilton declares the state slavery-free, establishing “Juneteenth” as the official end of slavery in the United States.

1917: In the face of rising anti-Germany sentiment, British King George V announces the Royal family name will henceforth be “Windsor,” abandoning “Saxe-Coberg Gotha.” 1944: US Naval forces defeat Japanese fleet at the Battle of the Philippine Sea during World War II.
June 20- 1819: The SS Savannah arrives in Cork, Ireland, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic (or any) Ocean. 1840: Samuel F. B. Morse patents the telegraph. 1895: Caroline Baldwin graduates from Cornell with a PhD. in Physics, the first woman to receive a doctorate degree from an American university. 2020: The temperature reaches a balmy 100°F (39°C) in Verkhoyansk, Siberia, the highest temperature ever recorded inside the Arctic Circle. (There were no reports of increased demand for air conditioning units in eastern Russia).
June 21- 1788: New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the new US Constitution, officially making it the “Law of the Land.” 1834: Cyrus McCormick receives a patent for his new reaping machine. 1879: Frank Woolworth opens “Woolworth’s Great 5¢ Store” in Lancaster, PA. 1990: A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake devastates Iran in areas along the Caspian Sea, killing upwards of 50,000 and injuring more than twice as many. While grudgingly accepting relief aid from the United States, the Iranian government refused help from Israel and South Africa.
June 22- 1865: The CSS Shenendoah fires the last shot of the US Civil War, signaling its surrender in the Bering Strait. 1934: Notorious bank robber John Dillinger becomes the first “Public Enemy #1” on the FBI’s ten most wanted list, ironically on his 31st birthday. He would be gunned down in an FBI ambush one month later. 1941: German troops invade the Soviet Union in World War II. 1944: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill, which provided, among other benefits, access to funds for education for returning troops. In 1939, 160,000 students graduated from American institutions of higher learning; by 1950, the number would climb to nearly 500,000!
June 23- 1868: Christopher Sholes patents the “QWERTY” typewriter/keyboard. 1981: The Pawtucket Red Sox finally defeat the Rochester Red Wings 3-2 in 33 innings, the longest professional baseball game in history. The teams began play on April 18, and completed the marathon contest June 23. 1992: John Gotti, allegedly the leader of the Gambino crime family in New York City and popularly nicknamed “The Teflon Don,” is sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of a long list of crimes. 2016: Voters in Great Britain approve “Brexit,” leading to Britain’s exit from the European Union.
June 24- 1853: President Franklin Pierce signs the “Gadsden Purchase,” purchasing about 30 thousand miles² of desert south of New Mexico and Arizona, completing the “Lower 48” territory of the United States. 1948: The Soviet Union begins the blockade of West Berlin, preventing all products and supplies from entering the city by land or water. 2010: American tennis player John Isner finally defeats Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in their first round match at Wimbledon, after 11 hours and five minutes of play over three days, the longest professional tennis match in history. Whew! 2022: The US Supreme Court overturns its historic 1972 decision in Roe vs. Wade.
June 25- 1630: Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop introduces the fork to dining tables in the New World. 1876: At the Battle of Little Bighorn, General George Custer’s troops are overwhelmed by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, led respectively by tribal chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. 1929: President Herbert Hoover approves construction of the Boulder Dam which would eventually bear his name (1947). 1978: The first “Rainbow Flag,” designed by Gilbert Baker, makes its debut at a Gay Pride march in San Francisco, CA.
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