It happened today – this day in history – June 30
Email: [email protected]
1520: Spanish conquistadors are expelled from Tenochtitlan following an Aztec revolt against their rule under Hernan Cortes. Aztec emperor Montezuma II dies in the struggle.
1559: Henry II of France is seriously injured in a jousting match against Gabriel de Montgomery.
1596: English and Dutch fleet reach Cadiz.
1665: The number of deaths in London from the Great Plague during June is recorded as 6,137.
1685: Birth of poet and dramatist John Gay.
1734: The Russian army occupies Danzig.
1859: French acrobat Charles Blondin is the first to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1876: Serbia declares war on Turkey.
1893: The Excelsior diamond (blue-white 995 carats) then the world’s largest, is discovered in the Jagersfontein Mine, South Africa.
1894: Korea declares independence from China and asks for Japanese aid. On the same day, Tower Bridge opens across the River Thames in London.
1898: Winton Motor Carriage Company publishes the first known car ad in Scientific American using the headline “dispense with a horse.”
1899: Spin bowler Jack Hearne takes England cricket’s first Test hat-trick vs Australia at Headingley.
1902: Laurence Doherty wins his first Wimbledon singles title beating defending champion Arthur Gore 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.
1903: Laurence Doherty beats Frank Riseley 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 for his second consecutive Wimbledon men’s singles title.
1905: The crew of the Russian battleship “Georgei Pobiedonosets” mutinies in support of the “Potemkin”, which mutinied three days earlier.
1908: A giant fireball flattens 80 million trees near the Stony Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, in the largest impact event in recorded history.
1910: Russia absorbs Finland.
1911: Golfer Harry Vardon wins his fifth British Open
1914: Mahatma Gandhi’s first arrest after campaigning for Indian rights in South Africa.
1916: General Douglas Haig reports “The men are in splendid spirits” the day before the Battle of the Somme begins.
1924: J. B. M. Hertzog becomes head of a coalition government between the National and Labour Parties in South Africa.
1929: Bobby Jones wins his third US Open in a 36-hole playoff.
1933: 50,000 demonstrate against fascism in Antwerp.
1934: Adolf Hitler stages a bloody purge of the Nazi party in “The Night of the Long Knives”, a series of political executions to consolidate his power carried out mostly by the Gestapo and the SS.
1936: Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie asks the League of Nations for sanctions against Italy. On the same day, “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell is published.
1937: The world’s first emergency call telephone service is launched in London using the number 999.
1938: Superman first appears in DC’s Action Comic by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
1940: German troops begin the invasion of the undefended Channel Islands.
1944: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.
1948: Transistors as a substitute for valves announced by Bell Labs in New York.
1954: Millions of people turn to look at the darkening skies as a total eclipse of the sun spreads from America through Europe and on to Asia.
1960: Zaire declares independence from Belgium.
1962: Rwanda and Burundi become independent.
1967: Following a leader in The Times by editor William Rees-Mogg (father of Jacob) entitled “Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?” Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are released from jail and granted bail.
1971: Three Russian cosmonauts are found dead in their Soyuz 11 space capsule after it made what looked like a perfect landing in Kazakhstan.
1974: Soviet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defects to the west.
Singles chart:
- She – Charles Aznavour
- Kissin’ In The Back Row – The Drifters
- Always Yours – Gary Glitter
- Bangin’ Man – Slade
- Hey Rock And Roll – Showaddywaddy
- I’d Love You To Want Me – Lobo
- The Streak – Ray Stevens
- One Man Band – Leo Sayer
- Young Girl – Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
- Guilty – Pearls
Album chart:
- The Singles 1969-73 – The Carpenters
- Diamond Dogs – David Bowie
- Band On The Run – Wings
- Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfield
- Remember Me This Way – Gary Glitter
- Bad Co – Bad Company
- Kimono My House – Sparks
- The Way We Were – Andy Williams
- Between Today And Yesterday – Alan Price
- Journey To The Centre Of The Earth – Rick Wakeman
1975: Muhammad Ali retains his world heavyweight boxing crown, beating Joe Bugner by a unanimous points decision in a re-match in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On the same day, Cher marries Greg Allman four days after divorcing Sonny Bono.
1980: West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt visits Moscow.
1984: Cocaine growers stage a failed coup in Bolivia. On the same day, the last sixpence is minted in Britain.
1985: 39 Americans being held captive by the Shia Muslim Amal militia in Lebanon are released, after almost three weeks in captivity.
1990: East and West Germany merge their economies.
1992: Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher takes her place in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. On the same day, Nelson Mandela meets with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at Dakar.
1994: Pre-trial hearings open in LA against O J Simpson. On the same day, the US Ice Skating Federation bans Tonya Harding for life.
1995: Singer Phyllis Hyman commits suicide by overdosing on pentobarbital and secobarbital in her New York apartment aged 45.
1996: Germany beat the Czech Republic, 2-1 in extra time to win the European Championship at Wembley Stadium.
2000: Eight men are trampled to death during Pearl Jam’s performance at the Roskilde festival, near Copenhagen.
2001: Guitarist Chet Atkins dies in Nashville aged 77.
2002: Ronaldo scores twice as Brazil beat Germany, 2-0 to win the World Cup a record fifth time in Japan.
2004: The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies suffers a stroke and is paralysed down his right side. He learns how to play again with help from brother Ray.
2005: Spain legalizes same-sex marriage.
2007: A 4×4 crashes into Glasgow International Airport in an attempted terrorist attack.
2014: Entertainer Rolf Harris is convicted of indecent assault.
2016: Candidates announce their bids for the leadership of the Conservative party including Theresa May and Michael Gove after Boris Johnson rules himself out.
2018: Two members of the public are confirmed poisoned by Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury.
2019: Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea in a Korean Demilitarized Zone meeting with Kim Jong Un. On the same day, Kylie Minogue finally plays the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival 14 years after a cancer diagnosis forced her to cancel.
2020: China’s new national security legislation for Hong Kong comes into force.
BIRTHDAYS: Andy Scott, guitarist (Sweet), 73; Stanley Clarke, bassist, 71;Vincent D’Onofrio, actor, 63; Julianne Regan, singer (All About Eve) 60; Rupert Graves, actor, 59; Yngwie Malmsteen, guitarist, 59; Gary Pallister, footballer, 57; Mike Tyson, boxer, 56; Phil Anselmo, vocalist (Pantera), 54; James Martin, TV chef, 50; Ralf Schumacher, racing driver, 47; Ryan ten Doeschate, cricketer, 42; Tom Burke, actor, 41; Lizzy Caplan, actress, 40; Ashley Walters, actor/rapper, 40; Cheryl Cole, singer, 39; Katherine Ryan (Koostra), comedian, 39; Michael Phelps, swimmer, 37; Tom Davies, footballer, 24.
