Today:
240 BCE – The Greek astronomer Eratosthenes calculates the circumference of the Earth.
325 – The First Council of Nicaea concludes, establishing the Nicene Creed.
1586 – English colonists leave Roanoke Island after failing to establish England’s first permanent settlement in North America.
1846 – The first officially recorded, organized baseball game is played in Hoboken, New Jersey.
1862 – The U.S. Congress prohibits slavery in United States territories, nullifying the Dred Scott decision.
1865 – Union General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston, Texas, and announces that the Civil War is over and all slaves are free, a day now celebrated as Juneteenth.
1910 – The first Father’s Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington.
1934 – The Communications Act of 1934 establishes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States.
1964 – The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after a lengthy filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
1987 – The Basque separatist group ETA plants a bomb at a Hipercor supermarket in Barcelona, killing 21 people and injuring 45.