On This Day — 14 June

2017

The Grenfell Tower fire, a catastrophic fire in a high-rise apartment building in North Kensington, London, UK, leaves 72 people dead and another 74 injured.

Grenfell Tower fire

2017

Republican U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and three others, are shot and wounded while practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game.

Steve Scalise

2014

A Ukraine military Ilyushin Il-76 airlifter is shot down, killing all 49 people on board.

2014 Ukrainian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 shootdown

2002

Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Near-Earth object

1994

The 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot occurs after the New York Rangers defeat the Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup, causing an estimated C$1.1 million, leading to 200 arrests and injuries.

1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot

1986

The Mindbender derails, killing three riders and severely injuring one at the Fantasyland (known today as Galaxyland) indoor amusement park at West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta.

Mindbender (Galaxyland)

1985

Five member nations of the European Economic Community sign the Schengen Agreement establishing a free travel zone with no border controls.

European Economic Community

1982

Falklands War: Argentine forces in the capital Stanley conditionally surrender to British forces.

Falklands War

1972

Japan Air Lines Flight 471 crashes on approach to Palam International Airport (now Indira Gandhi International Airport) in New Delhi, India, killing 82 of the 87 people on board and four more people on the ground.

Japan Air Lines Flight 471

1967

Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched towards Venus.

Mariner program

1966

The Vatican announces the abolition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("index of prohibited books"), which was originally instituted in 1557.

Roman Curia

1962

The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris – later becoming the European Space Agency.

European Space Research Organisation

1959

Disneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.

Disneyland Monorail

1955

Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

Chile

1954

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words "under God" into the United States Pledge of Allegiance.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1951

UNIVAC I is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.

UNIVAC I

1950

An Air France Douglas DC-4 crashes near Bahrain International Airport, killing 40 people. This came two days after another Air France DC-4 crashed in the same location.

1950 Bahrain Air France Douglas DC-4 crashes

1949

Albert II, a rhesus monkey, rides a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 134 km (83 mi), thereby becoming the first mammal and first monkey in space.

Albert II (monkey)

1945

World War II: Filipino troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army liberate the captured in Ilocos Sur and start the Battle of Bessang Pass in Northern Luzon.

Philippine Army

1944

World War II: After several failed attempts, the British Army abandons Operation Perch, its plan to capture the German-occupied town of Caen.

Operation Perch

1941

June deportation: The first major wave of Soviet mass deportations of Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians from the occupied Baltic states begins.

June deportation

1940

World War II: The German occupation of Paris begins.

World War II

1940

Seven hundred and twenty-eight Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first inmates of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Tarnów

1937

Pennsylvania becomes the first (and only) state of the United States to celebrate Flag Day officially as a state holiday.

Pennsylvania

1937

U.S. House of Representatives passes the Marihuana Tax Act.

Marihuana Tax Act of 1937

1934

The landmark Australian Eastern Mission returns from its three-month tour of East and South-East Asia.

Australian Eastern Mission

1926

Brazil leaves the League of Nations.

Brazil

1919

John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown depart from St. John's, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.

Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown

1907

The National Association for Women's Suffrage succeeds in getting Norwegian women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

National Association for Women's Suffrage (Norway)

1900

Hawaii becomes a United States territory.

Territory of Hawaii

1900

The second German Naval Law calls for the Imperial German Navy to be doubled in size, resulting in an Anglo-German naval arms race.

German Naval Laws

1888

The White Rajahs territories become the British protectorate of Sarawak.

White Rajahs

1872

Trade unions are legalized in Canada.

Trade union

1863

American Civil War: Second Battle of Winchester: A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.

American Civil War

1863

Second Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson during the American Civil War.

Siege of Port Hudson

1846

Bear Flag Revolt begins: Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.

California Republic

1839

Henley Royal Regatta: the village of Henley-on-Thames, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, stages its first regatta.

Henley Royal Regatta

1830

Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: Thirty-four thousand French soldiers begin their invasion of Algiers, landing 27 kilometers west at Sidi Fredj.

French Algeria

1822

Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society.

Charles Babbage

1821

Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the 300 year old Sudanese kingdom to an end.

Badi VII

1807

Emperor Napoleon's French Grande Armée defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Poland (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.

Napoleon

1800

The French Army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy and re-conquers Italy.

Napoleon

1789

Mutiny on the Bounty: HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an open boat.

Mutiny on the Bounty

1777

The Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777 adopting the Stars and Stripes as the Flag of the United States.

Second Continental Congress

1775

American Revolutionary War: the Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Armed Forces.

American Revolutionary War

1690

King William III of England (William of Orange) lands in Ireland to confront the former King James II.

William III of England

1658

Franco-Spanish War: Turenne and the French army win a decisive victory over the Spanish at the battle of the Dunes.

Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

1645

English Civil War: Battle of Naseby: Twelve thousand Royalist forces are beaten by fifteen thousand Parliamentarian soldiers.

English Civil War

1618

Joris Veseler prints the first Dutch newspaper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. in Amsterdam (approximate date).

Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c.

1404

Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr, having declared himself Prince of Wales, allies himself with the French against King Henry IV of England.

Owain Glyndŵr

1381

Richard II of England meets leaders of the Peasants' Revolt at Mile End. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance.

Richard II of England

1287

Kublai Khan defeats the force of Nayan and other traditionalist Borjigin princes in East Mongolia and Manchuria.

Kublai Khan

1285

Second Mongol invasion of Vietnam: Forces led by Prince Trần Quang Khải of the Trần dynasty destroy most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong Duong.

Mongol invasions of Vietnam

1276

While in exile in Fuzhou, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Song dynasty court hold the coronation ceremony for Emperor Duanzong.

Fuzhou

1216

First Barons' War: Prince Louis of France takes the city of Winchester, abandoned by John, King of England, and soon conquers over half of the kingdom.

First Barons' War

1158

The city of Munich is founded by Henry the Lion on the banks of the river Isar.

Munich