June 15th, 1215 In Runnymede, England, King John signs the Magna Carta, or Great Charter, granting liberties to his barons. The document shapes concepts of democracy and constitutional law around the world for centuries to come. 1904. In New York Cit...
June 14th, 1940During WWII, Paris falls into Nazi hands, as German troops enter France's capital. That same day, in German occupied Poland, the Nazis open a concentration camp, at Auschwitz. 1985,Shiite Muslim militants hijack TWA Flight 847 shortly...
June 13th, 1971The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers, a leaked, top-secret study of America's involvement in Vietnam. President Richard Nixon's administration tries to block further publication in court, citing national security. D...
June 12th, 1987In the then divided city of Berlin, President Ronald Reagan makes a Cold War challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall! More than two years later, the Berlin Wall falls, as communism collapses acr...
June 10th, 1967In the Mideast, the six-day war between Israel and its Arab neighbors ends with a ceasefire mediated by the United Nations. During the war, Israel seized the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and t...
June 9th, 1954On Capitol Hill, US Army counsel Joseph Welch confronts Senator Joseph McCarthy over his tactics in fighting Communist version during the Cold War. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?It's...
June 7th, 1998In Jasper, Texas, three white men chain a black man James Byrd, Junior to a pickup truck, then drag him to his death. Two of the men who dragged Byrd are later sentenced to death for the crime. The third receives life in prison. 1948The...
June 6th, 1944Allied forces storm the beaches of Normandy, France, in the D-Day invasion of WWII. Commanding the massive operation General Dwight Eisenhower who tells the troops: You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have st...
June 3rd, 1965Astronaut Edward White becomes the first American to walk in space during the Gemini IV mission. 1989Irans spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini dies in Tehran. Khomeinis rise to power in the Islamic Revolution led to the hostage...
June 2nd, 1997In Denver, a federal jury convicts Timothy McVeigh of murder and conspiracy in the Oklahoma City bombing. MK is the mother of one of the 168 people killed in the blast at Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The emotions have been buildin...
