June 30th

On this day - June 30th 1859 - Charles Blondin crossed Niagara Falls on a tight rope 

Charles Blondin was an French Acrobat. He moved to the US in 1855 to tour with the  Ravel troup in New York City. However, he became famous do to his success in crossing the Canada-America border on the Niagara falls on a tight rope. His tightrope was 340m long and 8,3cm wide. It was stretched 49 meters over the water. His first walk over Niagara falls was on this day in 1859, but he repeated the walk several times later, some times even blindfolded.

June 29th

On this day - June 29th 2007 - The first iPhone was released 

Apple Inc released its first phone on this day in 2007. Nine generations of iPhones has since been released. Over 700 million iPhones has been sold.

June 28th

On this day - June 28th 1997 - Mike Tyson´s "The bite fight" 

Boxer Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield meet each other in their second match on this day in 1997. However, their fight has become a famous one due to the outcome. Mike Tyson was disqualified after biting Holyfield in both ears. Tyson was disqualified, lost the fight and even his boxing liscence for a short period due to his behaviour.

June 27th

On this day - June 27th 1991 - The ten-day war / Slovenian independence war

The ten day war was a war of independence by Slovenia. Slovenia had declared themselves independent on June 25th and was attacked by Yugoslavia on June 27th. The war lasted until July 7th when the Brioni accord was signed. Slovenia was recognized as independent by the other European countries in 1992 and joined the United Nation on May 22.

By Peter Božič - photo, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31225569

June 26th

On this day - June 26th 1963 - The "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech 

Ich bin ein Berliner is a famous quote from John F. Kennedys speech in Berlin in 1963. The reason behind the quote was to underline the US support for West- Germany after the building of the Berlin wall. 450.000 people had shown up to listen to the speech in Berlin.The speech is by many considered to be one of Kennedys best speeches and it has become known as a notable event during the Cold War. The speech is also well known because it has been claimed that that sentence "Ich bin ein Berliner" directly translated would mean that Kennedy was a Berliner. A Berliner is a Germany type of pastry. What Kennedy ment to say was that he was a citizen of Berlin, and the Berliner-cake translation have been disproved in recent time, much due to the fact that people in Berlin does not refer to the pastry as Berliner, but as Pfannkuchen.

June 25th

On this day - June 25th 1950 - The Korean War begun 

The Korean war begun when North Korea attacked South Korea on this day in 1950. North Korea was suported by Soviet union and China. United Nations, with USA as its leader got involved in the war with the aim of rescuing South Korea from the communist North. The war ended in 1953, when the border that divides the two countries today was agreed upon.

June 24th

On this day - June 24th 1973 - Arson attack on "UpStairs Lounge" Gay Bar 

"UpStairs" was a gay bar located in New Orleans in Louisiana, USA. 32 people died of smoke inhalation when the bar was set on fire on June 24th. No one has ever been charged for the crime, but the most likely suspect was a man that had been thrown out of the bar earlier the same evening. It was the deadliest known attack on a gay bar in the US until the recent shootings in Florida. Our thoughts goes to the families and friends who lost someone in both the attacks.

June 23

On this day - June 23 1894 - The International Olympic Committee was established 

The international Olympic Committee (IOC) was created during a conference organized by Pierre de Coubertin, who is today consider the father of the modern Olympics. IOC is a non-profit organization which organize the Winter and Summer Olympics. The firs IOC organized Olympic games was hold in Athens in 1896, which was unanimously voted to be the host for the first Olympic Games during the same conference as IOC was established at. Demetrius Vikelas was elected as IOC's first president. The next games were hosted in Paris in 1900.

The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well - Pierre de Coubertin

The first ever opening ceremony in Greece 1896

June 22nd

On this day - June 22 1941 - Germany invades USSR in "Operation Barbarossa

Unternehmen Barbarossa was the code name for the Nazi-Germany attack on the Soviet Union during world war 2. The background for the attack was Adolf Hitlers desire of conquer Soviet territory. The massive attack started as a success for Nazi Germany who initially won several important territories from the Soviet Union. However, the German attack was stopped and pushed back outside of Moscow, much due to weather and the limitations of the German supply line. The failure of Operation Barbarossa turned the tide in the war, but millions of lives were lost during the five months the operation lasted.

By Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1974-099-19 / Kempe / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, 

June 21st

On this day - June 21st 1900 - China declared war on US, UK, France and Japan

China declared war on US, UK, France and Japan in the so called Boxer rebellion in China. The rebellion was an anti-foreign and anti-christian uprising which took place in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. Empresses Cixi supported the rebellion and sent out a decree which declared war on the foreign powers in China on June 21st. An eight-nations alliance invaded China as a respons to the rebellion and crushed the boxer rebellion. Beijing was recaptured on August 14th. The Boer rebellion supporters were executed.

June 20th

On this day - June 20th 1975 - The Movie "Jaws" premiered.

Jaws was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a book written in 1975. The music is written by John Williams. The film had a troubled production, with going over both on costs and schedule. The film was promoted heavily and opened in over 450 screens, and the film was an instant success. The national film registry consider it culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is considered as one of the top movies of all time and it had a huge impact on how Hollywood organized and promoted their "Blockbuster" movies for the future. It won several awards, including Oscars for best music, sound and editing.

June 19th

On this day - June 19th 1846 - The first official organized Baseball game 

New York Nine won against New York Knickerbockers 23-1 in the first official organized Base ball game. The Game was played in Hoboken, New Jersey and followed the rules that the New York Knickerbockers had developed. Alexander Cartwright, also known as the father of baseball, was the umpire in this first baseball game. He was also the founder of the Knickerbockers team, which is considered one of the first baseball teams who played under rules similar to today.  The National Association of Baseball players were established 10 year later.

The team with Cartwright in the top middle

June 18th

On this day - June 18th 1971 - President Nixon started the war on drugs 

On this day in 1971 declared President Nixon Drug abuse to be "Public Enemy number one", which is considered the start on the american "war on drugs". Drug prohibition policies in the US had a history going back to 1914, but Nixons policies from 1970 and 1971 is by many considered the start of the "war on drug". It was also after his speech to the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control on June 18th that the term "War on drugs" became popularized.

American Propaganda Poster from year 2000

June 17th

On this day - June 17th 1994 - O.J Simpson was arrested for the murder of his wife 

O. J Simpson was a famous American football player and actor. He was arrested on this day in 1994 for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole and her friend, Ronald Goldman. He was acquitted for the murders in 1995, but a civil court awarded a 33.5 million dollar judgement against O. J. Simpson for the two peoples wrongful deaths. He was arrested in 2007 for armed robbery and is currently serving a 33 year long sentence.

June 16th

On this day - June 16th 1884 - The first purpose-built Roller Coaster opened
The first roller coaster to be built as an amusement ride was the "Switchback Railway" in Coney Island in the US. It cost 5 cent to ride and the top speed was 9.7 km an hour (6mph). For the first few years after the ride was created had the guests to climb a tower before they could get on the ride. An elevator was built, together with some changes to the roller coaster in 1885.

June 15th

On this day - June 15th 1667 - The first human blood transfusion (From sheep to Human)

The first human blood transfusion was done by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys who transferred blood from a sheep to a 15 year old boy, who survived the transfusion. He survived probably just because of the smal amount of blood that was transferred and the transfusion of blood was banned in 1668. Human -to human blood transfusion did not become common until the early 1900.

James Blundel - The first to transfer human blood

June 14th

On this day - June 14th 1900 - Hawaii became a United states territory 

The kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893 and just a few years later was the islands annexed by the US. The Republic of Hawaii ruled the period the overthrow and it annex by the US. The leaders in the republic consisted of people with strong relationships to the US who lobbied for the annexation. In 1900 was the establishment of Hawaii as a US territory made official. It would take several more years before Hawaii became a state in the US, which happened in 1959, making it the 50th US state. The background for the annexation was its strategic placement and an increased interest in the area by both the Japanese and the British.

June 13

On this day - June 13 1942 - Harrison Ford was born 

Harrison ford is an american actor. He was born in Chicago on this day in 1942. His dad, Christopher Ford had previous to his birth been an actor and his mum, Dorothy worked as a radio actress. Harrison Ford himself became fascinated with acting when he took an drama class in his senior year to get over his shyness. Ford got his first role as an actor in 1966 in the movie "Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-round". His first credited role was in "A Time for Killing" in 1967. Harrison Ford worked as a carpenter in this time to support his family, as he was not able to live of acting. In 1973 played Ford in his first George Lucas film, American Graffiti, and the relationship between the two became important for Ford's later acting carrier. Harrison Ford was originally hired to read lines for the actors auditioning for roles in the Star Wars movie, but Georg Lucas was so impressed with his reading that he offered him the role as Han Solo. He was supposedly payed US 10.000 for his first role as Han Solo and 16 million dollars for his last. With the role as "Indiana Jones" was Harrison Ford's status as an leading actor established and he went on to play in several other more or less successful movies.

June 12th

On this day - June 12th 1942 - Anne Frank received her diary as a birthday present 

Ann Franks diary, also known as "the Diary of a Young girl" which describes her life in hiding during World War 2 is probably one of the best known books in the world. The book is based on the diary 13-15 year old Anne Frank wrote as they were hiding during Germanys occupation of the Netherlands. She had received the diary on June 12th after showing it to her father in a shop window a few days earlier. The book was read and white with a small lock on the front. It was original an autograph book, but Anne Frank decided she wanted to use it as a diary and started writing immediately. The family moved into hiding on July 6th and stayed there until August 4th 1944 when the German Police stormed their hiding place. The family was deported to Auschwitz where Anne Frank and almost all of her family was murdered. Only Anne Franks dad, Otto Frank survived, and it was he who published her diary in 1947 after reading about her dreams of becoming a writer.

June 11th

On this day - June 11th 1962 - The Escape from Alcatraz 

Several of the prisoners in the american high security prison Alcatraz tried to escape during their stay, but very few succeeded. The only escape attempt which might have been a success was the one by Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin in 1962. The two Anglin brothers were at alcatraz for robberies and earlier escape-attempts while the exceptionally smart Morris was in prison for burglary and a short, but successful escape attempt. The escape had been planed since 1961 when the prisoners found some discarded saw blades. The three prisoners left Papier-mâché to resemble their heads in Alcatraz and escaped through an unused utility corridor and unto an home-made raft which they had spent months building. The prisoners were never again seen, and until this day no one knows if they succeeded or drowned during their escape. The escape attempt continues to fascinate people and several tv-shows, movies and documentaries about the escape attempt have been created. Myth busters proved the prisoners survival was plausible, so did the History channel documentary in 2015. The most famous is probably the "Escape from Alcatraz" movie from 1979 with Clint Eastwood in the lead role.

June 10th

On this day - June 10th 1977 - One of the first home computers, Apple II, was released

Apple II was one of the first successful mass produced micro computers for home use. It was introduced on  West Coast Computer fair and was Apples first consumer product. The computer was primarily designed by Steve Wozniak while Steve Jobs oversaw the development of the computer. The Apple II computer included 4 kB of RAM and an audio caset interface for loading programs and the retailer price was 1,298 USD. The computer went on sale on June 10th in 1977 and the production of Apple II products continued until November 1993.

Source. Wikipedia / RAMA

June 9th

On this day - June 9th 1934 -  Donald Duck made his debut 

Donald Duck, the famous Walt Disney cartoon figure, made is debut in "The Wise Little Hen", a 7 minute long movie. The story is about Donald Duck and his friend Peter Pig who tried to avoid work by faking stomach aches. The cartoon was published in the US on June 9th. Donald rose to his fame for the next two decades and the cartoon was a part of over 150 theatrical movies. He got his own film series in 1937 and it was in those films that Daisy Duck was introduced. The name Donald Duck might have come from the Australian cricket player "Donald Bradman" who were touring the US at the time Walt Disney created Donald Duck. Clarence Nash voiced Donald from the first movie and until his death in 1985. He has also voiced Tom in Tom & Jerry and convinced Walt Disney to pick him for Donald's voice after an audition. Donald Duck has been voiced by Tony Anselmo since Nash's death.

Copyright: Walt Disney Studios 

June 8th

On this day - June 8th 1949 - George Orwell's "1984" was published

1984 is a novel written by George Orwell. The novel is set in Airstrip One (former Great Britain) that is a province of Oceania. Oceania controls its citizens trough surveillance, public manipulations and an its all dictated by the political system English Socialism. The Inner Party that controls the political system persecutes individualism and independent thinking as thoughtcrime. The novel is categorised as political fiction and dystopian science fiction. Many of the concepts and terms used in the book has been adopted into the english language. The most known terms and concepts are "big brother", "double think", and "thought crime". The adjective Orwellian spawned from the book as a way to describe; official deception, secret surveillance and manipulation of recorded history by a totalitarian or authoritarian state. 

June 7th

On this day - June 7th 1958 - The singer Prince was born

Prince was an singer, songwriter, musician and actor born in Minneapolis in 1958 and one of the best selling artists of all time. His full name is Prince Rogers Nelson and he was named after his fathers stage name. Prince's father was a pianist and songwriter who played in a jazz-group called "Prince Rogers Trio". His mother was a jazz singer and Prince took an early interest in music. He wrote his first tune called "Funk Machine" when he was seven years old. He signed a contract with Warner Bros when he was 18 years old. His debut album "For you" was released in 1978.  Prince has won 7 Grammy awards, one golden globe and one Oscar. On April 27th 2016, at the age of 57, died Prince in his home in Minnesota. He will be missed by music-fans all over the world. 

Ticket to one of Prince' first concert from the Minesota Historical Museum 

June 6th

On this day - June 6th 1944 - Battle of Normandie (D-day)

The first day of the battle of Normandie, France, is often referred to as D-day. The allied countries invaded Normandie in an operation called "Operation Overload", and operation which had been planed since 1943. It was the biggest seaborne invasion in history. The invasion and battle was essential in the allies victory over Nazi Germany during the second world war because the allied gained a foothold in Europe which they could expand.

June 5th

On this day - June 5th 1975 - UK voted to stay a part of EU in a referendum 

As most people know, the UK is about to hold a referendum where the aim is to deiced if the country wants to continue to be a part of the EU (Brexit). On June 5th 1975 was a similar referendum held in the UK with the question of weather or not they should stay a part of what was known as EC, European Community at the time. UK had become a member in 1973 and two years later was a referendum held to gain support for the membership decision. EC later grew into the EU. 65 percent of the eligible population turned out to vote and 67 percent voted yes in the first nationwide referendum in the UK.

Good luck in the referendum on June 23, UK. As always, please remember to vote.

Thatcher played an important role in the debates before the referendum

June 4th

On this day - June 4th 1989 -  Tienanmen square massacre in Beijing

The Tienanmen Square protest in China was a student led protest which lasted for over one month. It is also known under the names "June 4th incident" or "'89 democracy movement". The protest was stopped on June 4th by military enforcement. Martial law was declared and as many as 300.000 troops were mobilized in Beijing. Troops with assault riffles and tanks started shooting the unarmed civilians who tried to block the army's entrance to Tienanmen square and somewhere between hundreds and thousands of civilians were killed. In the aftermath of the incident were hundreds of students arrested, foreign journalists expelled and the media controlled in China. Western countries repayed with arms embargo and economic sanctions. Discussion of the incident is still not legal in China.

this powerful picture became the image of the incident. By Published by The Associated Press, originally photographed by Jeff Widener, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=239713

June 3

On this day - June 3 1965 - The first american to do a Space Walk 

The first spacewalk ever was done in march 1965 by Alexey Leonov. Americans was not far behind, and Edward Higgins White became the first american to do a space walk on June 3 (Also known as Extravehicular activity). He was the pilot on the Germini 4 launch, and it was during this trip he did his first space walk. The space walk lasted for 21 minutts on a 7.6m tether. Edward Higgins White died only two years after his space walk in a pre-launch testing who failed for Apollo 1.

"I'm coming back in... and it's the saddest moment of my life." - E. H. White

June 2nd

On this day - June 2 2004 - Ken Jennings starts his Jeopardy run

Ken Jennings or Kenneth Wayne Jennings III is a American game show contestant and author. In his run he won 74 Jeopardy shows for a that won him over 2,500 000 USD. Jennings is the second all time money winner in tv gameshows with over 4,000 000 USD in winnings. The person who has earned most is Brad Rutter who beat Jennings in Jeopardy Battle of the Decades. In the battle of the Decades Brad won 1000 000 and Jennings won 100 000. Both contestants was part of the IBM Challenge where IBMs supercomputer Watson played against the Brad and Jennings. Watson was the next big challenge project for IBM after Deep Blue. Watson won that challenge and Jennings came 2nd. Jennings has published the book Brainiac: "Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs" 

June 1st

On this day - June 1st 1533 - Ann Boleyn was crowned Queen of England 

Ann Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII, king of England. Her sister had been the misstres of Henry VIII, but Ann refused to be the same. King Henry therefore broke with the catholic church so that he could annul his marriage to Queen Catherine and marry Ann. The two married in January 1533 and Ann gave birth to Queen Elizabeth I in september. Ann Boleyn was crowned the queen of England in on this day in 1533, but was only the queen for three years. Henry VIII had her investigated for high treason, sent to Tower of London and beheaded in May 1536. Ann Boleyn became a key figure in the English Reformation after hear death.