Today:
1. 1913: Emily Davison, a British suffragette, was trampled by King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby; she died four days later from her injuries.
2. 1940: The Dunkirk evacuation ended during World War II, with over 338,000 Allied troops evacuated from France.
3. 1942: The Battle of Midway began during World War II, a pivotal naval battle between the United States and Japan.
4. 1961: President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev met in Vienna to discuss Cold War tensions.
5. 1975: The first edition of the Angolan national currency, the kwanza, was issued.
6. 1989: The Tiananmen Square Massacre occurred in Beijing, China, where the Chinese government violently suppressed pro-democracy protesters.
7. 1998: Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
8. 2001: Gyanendra, the king of Nepal, took the throne after the assassination of his brother, King Birendra.
9. 2004: Marvin Heemeyer, in a bulldozer modified to be an armored vehicle, caused extensive damage to the town of Granby, Colorado, in an event known as the “Killdozer incident.”
10. 2010: Falcon 9, the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit, was launched by SpaceX.