On This Day in History

On June 3rd in 1965, astronaut Edward White became the first American to “walk” in space, during the flight of Gemini 4.

 

On June 5th in 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded just after claiming victory in California’s Democratic presidential primary. Gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was immediately arrested.

 

On June 6th in 1944, the D-Day invasion of Europe took place during World War II as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.

 

O June 7th in 1929, the sovereign state of Vatican City came into existence as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome.

 

On June 8th in 1969, authorities announced the capture in London of James Earl Ray, the suspected assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

 

On June 9th in 1954, Army counsel Joseph N. Welch confronted Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy during the Senate-Army Hearings over McCarthy’s attack on a member of Welch’s law firm, Frederick G. Fisher. Said Welch: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

 

On June 11th in 1942, the United States and the Soviet Union signed a lend lease agreement to aid the Soviet war effort in World War II.

 

On June 12th in 1987, President Reagan, during a visit to the divided German city of Berlin, publicly challenged Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”

 

On June 13th in 1966, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Miranda vs. Arizona decision, ruling that criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights prior to questioning by police.

 

On June 14th in 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.