Browse Historical Events by Month:
Deaths, raids, and battles. Examine landmark historical events that took place in June. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
Note: Sources for the historical content shown, include research and reviews of relevant Online History Resources or printed material. When possible, we show a link to a source which provides additional or unique perspective about the event.
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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
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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
CC BY-SA 4.0
Attribution: Photo by Jiří Tondl (Blow up), CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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"
The historic treaty, signed in Washington D.C. during a Submit Meeting, called for an 80 percent reduction of chemical weapon stockpiles under the oversight of inspectors from both countries. The agreement was intended to be the first step towards a global ban. By 1993, 150 other nations had joined the superpowers to sign a comprehensive treaty banning chemical weapons.
Presidents George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign United States/Soviet Union agreements in the East Room of the White House. June 1, 1990 -
Photo Credit: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
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
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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).
President Clinton orders missile attack against Iraq in retaliation for alleged plot to assassinate former President Bush.
After 49 years, the Soviet military occupation of East Germany ended. At one time there had been 337,800 Soviet troops stationed in Germany. Over 300,000 Russians died during World War II in the Battle for Berlin.
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Two days after launch, U.S. Space shuttle Atlantis, docks at Mir’s Kristall module as the two spacecraft flew 250 miles above the Lake Baikal region of eastern Russia, forming the world’s heaviest spacecraft up to that time – nearly half a million pounds. More
A tanker truck loaded with 25,000 pounds of explosives bomb is detonated near the Khobar Tower housing complex in Dhahran during the night, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 Airmen and injuring more than 400 U.S. and international military members and civilians. The towers housed coalition forces supporting Operation Southern Watch, a no-fly zone operation in Southern Iraq. More
Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in American history. He was executed on June 11, 2001 for his crimes. More
The European Central Bank is established, leading to the introduction of the euro currency. The first President of the Bank was Wim Duisenberg, the former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute.
Timothy McVeigh, responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, is executed by lethal injection. More
The Mars Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission. Spirit, landed on Mars on January 4, 2004. Its twin, rover Opportunity, launched on July 7, 2003 lands on Mars 21 days after Spirit on January 24, 2004. Spirit remained active until March 22, 2010. NASA was not able to regain contact with Spirit and officially concluded its recovery efforts May 25, 2011.
