What Happened in June?

CNN, headquartered in Atlanta, debuts its 24-hour live news broadcasts. In 1991 it went on to gain worldwide attention for its around-the-clock coverage of the Persian Gulf War. More

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) the detection of a rare form of pneumonia in five homosexual men in Los Angeles. This edition of the MMWR marks the first official reporting of what will later become known as the AIDS epidemic (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). A few physicians and public health workers in coastal cities had noticed strange opportunistic infections in otherwise healthy gay men in the years prior, but the report served to put the phenomenon on record. More

Over a million people march and gather at New York City’s Central Park demanding nuclear disarmament and an end to the Cold War arms race: making it the largest disarmament rally in American history. The cold war and the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union had been going on since World War II, and the Cold War felt particularly dangerous in the early 1980s. especially since President Ronald Reagan, a staunch proponent of building up America’s nuclear arsenal and vehemently opposed the idea of disarmament treaties, appeared to prefer nuclear war to nuclear disarmament. More

The Falklands War ends as the Argentine garrison at Port Stanley surrenders to the British military. The Falkland Islands War was fought for the control of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and its dependencies, a territory long disputed by the warring nations. More

Astronaut Sally Ride makes history by becoming the first American woman to fly in space, She was part of the STS-7 Space Shuttle Challenger mission, which deployed communication satellites and conducted experiments. Ride's achievement broke a significant barrier in the US space program and inspired generations. More

Deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution passes without the necessary votes. While there isn't a 28th amendment officially published in the U.S. Constitution, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is widely considered by some as the 28th amendment. It aims to guarantee equal rights for all regardless of sex. However, its ratification is still debated primarily on the basis that some States ratified the amendment after the deadline. The amendment is still not officially published as part of the Constitution. President Joe Biden released a statement on January 17, 2025 regarding the ERA Amendment. More

British Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is reelected to a second term in office. Her reelection was reinforced by the victory in the Falkland Islands War and by deep divisions within the opposition Labor Party.

TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Mohammed Ali Hamadei and a second terrorist brandishing grenades and pistols during a routine flight from Athens to Rome. More

The iconic Route 66 is decertified, after 59 years of existence, by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and votes to remove all its highway signs. Route 66 stretched 2,200 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica in California More

Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, pleads guilty to espionage for selling top-secret U.S. military intelligence information to Israel. He was sentenced to life in prison, while his wife Anne received a five-year sentence for being an accessory. In 1995, while imprisoned, he was granted Israeli citizenship. Pollard was released from prison on November 20, 2015. Five years later, Pollard relocated to Israel with his second wife and settled in Jerusalem. More

In a speech in Berlin, President Reagan challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ― "Tear down this wall"  and open Eastern Europe to political and economic reform. More

Protests in Beijing's Tiananmen square The protests were precipitated by the death of pro-reform Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Hu Yaobang in April 1989 in the midst of rapid economic development and social change in post-Mao China. The protestors had constructed a 10-meter tall (33 Ft.) statue they called the "Goddess of Democracy " which the sculptors said was inspired by the work of Soviet sculptor Vera Mukhina. Reportedly up to one million people participated in the protests. The Statue was toppled by tanks when the Chinese government ordered Tiananmen square to be forcibly cleared two days later on June 4th. More

Chinese military cracks down on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, Beijing bringing the protests to a halt. More

George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a bilateral agreement on Destruction and Non-production of Chemical Weapons and on Measures to Facilitate the Multilateral Convention on Banning Chemical Weapons"  Expand +

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that it was unconstitutional for any state to require, without providing other options, for a minor to notify both parents before obtaining an abortion.

Day of Hungarian Freedom. Celebrates the restoration of Hungary's sovereignty after the withdrawal of Soviet troops in June 1991

Boris Yeltsin becomes the first democratically elected President of Russia, which still was part of the Soviet Union. He remained as President as Russia transitioned to an independent state. He resigned on December 31, 1999 at 12 am Moscow time. His resignation was announced on the main TV channels before the New Year's celebrations. Following his resignation, Vladimir Putin became the acting president and later won the presidential election in March 2000, securing a four-year term.

The Republics of Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia. Ethnic rivalries between Serbians and Croatians quickly erupted. About 200,000 went missing and presumed dead and over two million people became refugees.

The High Court of Australia's issues a decision in the Mabo case (Mabo v Queensland (No 2). It was a landmark judgment that recognized the land rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The case, brought by Eddie Koiki Mabo and others, established the existence of Native Title and challenged the legal fiction of terra nullius (land belonging to no one) at the time of British settlement. The following year the Parliament of Australia passed the Native Title Act 1993 to create a system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to make a native title claim over their lands. On January 21, 1992, nearly ten years after beginning their legal claim in the High Court of Australia, Eddie Koiki Mabo passed away from cancer at age fifty-six. More

Russia Day - Commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR).