Today:
1783: The Montgolfier brothers demonstrate the first hot air balloon to the public.
1849: Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy, as King Frederik VII signs a new constitution.
1883: The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs from Paris.
1915: Denmark amends its constitution to allow women’s suffrage.
1944: Over 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
1947: U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall calls for economic aid to war-torn Europe in a speech at Harvard University, laying the groundwork for the Marshall Plan.
1956: Elvis Presley makes a controversial appearance on “The Milton Berle Show,” performing “Hound Dog” with suggestive hip movements.
1967: The Six-Day War begins with Israel launching a preemptive air strike against Egypt.
1968: U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot and mortally wounded at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic primary.
1981: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publish an article describing five cases of a rare lung infection in young, otherwise healthy gay men in Los Angeles, which would later be identified as the first reported cases of AIDS.