What Happened in June?

Sweden National Day. Celebrates the election of King Gustav Vasa and the new constitutions of 1809 and 1974. The election of King Gustav Vasa was the de facto end of the Kalmar Union and has been seen as a formal declaration of independence.

The Imperial-Spanish army, led by Antonio de Leyva, decisively defeats the French army under François de Bourbon, Comte de Saint-Pol, at the Battle of Landriano on June 21, 1529, which effectively ended the War of the League of Cognac.

The first Book of Common Prayer is published during the reign of King Edward VI of England. It reflected the England's split from the Roman Catholic Church under the previous monarch Henry VIII and the English Reformation following the break with Rome. It was put together by a religious committee headed by Thomas Cranmer the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was the first time a book of service was written in English. It has been extensively revised a number of times, the last in 1662. It has remained in use as the official liturgical book of the Church of England and other Anglican churches. More

England declares war on France during the Italian War of 1551–1559.

English Privateer, Martin Frobisher leaves Plymouth on his third voyage to Frobisher Bay, Canada. The expedition consisted of 400 men aboard 15 ships was On 3 June 1578, the expedition left Plymouth in search of ore believed to contain gold which had been found in a previous trip while searching for the Northwest Passage. The ore turnout to be worthless "Fools Gold" which was eventually salvaged for road construction and to pave the streets of London resulting in the bankruptcy of the the expedition backers. Frobisher went on to participate in several other successful expeditions and to participate in the fight against the Spanish Armada. He was knighted for valor on 26 July 1588 by Lord Howard. More

Sir Francis Drake is believed to have landed on the coast of California in or near Drakes Bay on the Point Reyes Peninsula, Marin County, California. Drake claimed the land for England, naming it Nova Albion (New Albion). At the time, Drake was searching for a harbor to repair his ship, the Golden Hind which had developed a leak during his circumnavigation trip. More

After a mutiny by the crew of Henry Hudson's ship Discovery, Hudson and his son are set adrift along with some loyal crew members in a small boat. They were never seen again. Henry Hudson was best known for his explorations of parts of present-day Canada and Northeastern United States during his four voyages in search of a northern passage through the Arctic to the Far East. Expand +

The original Globe Theatre burns down. The theater, located on the south bank of the River Thames in London a landmark debut venue for most of William Shakespeare's plays. It  was built in 1599 by the playing company to which Shakespeare belonged. The Globe was known for its open-air, circular design and its ability to hold around 3,000 spectators. The fire occurred during a performance of All is True (known today as Henry VIII). It was rebuilt but later closed  and demolished in 1644.

Galileo Galilei is convicted of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church's Holy Office (the Inquisition)on June 22, 1633, and forced to publicly recant his scientific position that the Earth orbits the Sun.  Expand +

The oldest continuously maintained cemetery in Massachusetts, and according to the American Cemetery Association, in the United States, is the Myles Standish Burial Ground (or Old Burying Ground) in Duxbury. It was established around 1638 and It is the final resting place for many Pilgrims, including the Mayflower's first recorded burial, John Alden.  Expand +

The Puritan-led English Parliament during Oliver Cromwell's republican Commonwealth, passed an ordinance which declared the celebration of Christmas to be a punishable offence. Although many people continued to celebrate Christmas in private, Christmas effectively ceased to be celebrated in the great majority of churches overtime. It wasn't until the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 that Christmas Day celebrations were brought back. In Scotland Celebrating Christmas was still deeply frowned upon for centuries. In fact, the 25th December only became a public holiday in Scotland in 1958. More

The colonial territory of New Jersey was established on June 24, 1664, when King Charles II granted the land to his brother, the Duke of York, who gave it to his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. who became the Lords Proprietors of the new colony.

The first recorded victims of the Great Plague of London die. The Plague was a bubonic plague epidemic which killed approximately between 75,000 and 100,000 of its 460,000 inhabitants. This outbreak was the last major plague epidemic in England since the Black Death of 1348. More

The Royal Greenwich Observatory was established by King Charles II on June 22, 1675, by a royal warrant. The primary purpose for creating the observatory was to create a scientific institution to determine longitude at sea to improve the safety and efficiency of sea navigation. Expand +

The battle at Öland takes place in the Baltic Sea, off the east coast of Öland during the Scanian War, resulting in the defeat of the Swedish navy by the allied Danish-Dutch forces. More

Jamaica's Port Royal is consumed by an earthquake estimated to be a 7.4 magnitude, causing two thirds of the town to sink into the sea and destroying every building or other substantial  structure in the Island, A series of fires and hurricanes followed. The town was never restored to its former British Naval base glory and remains a small fishing village today.  Two thousand people died immediately and an additional 3000 died of injuries and disease shortly after. More

Bridget Bishop is hanged on Proctor's Ledge at Gallows Hill during the Salem Witch Trials in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was accused of witchcraft and found guilty by the Court of Oyer and Terminer (to Hear and to Decide). A total of 19 more individuals lost their life; five women on July 19, one woman and four men on  Expand +

Royal astronomer Edmond Halley publishes his groundbreaking paper "Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets", on the periodicity of comets appearance on earth. He correctly predicted that this periodic comet would return in 1758.  Expand +

Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite-in-a-thunderstorm experiment is said to have taken place on this day in 1752. More

James Hargreaves, an English weaver in Blackburn, Lancaster received a patent for his "Spinning Jenny," a hand-powered, multiple-spindle machine that revolutionized cotton spinning. A significant advancement over traditional spinning wheels that could only spin one thread at a time. significantly increasing yarn production, making it a key factor in the industrialization of the textile industry. The initial version had eight spindles, and later models could hold up to 120, showcasing its increasing capacity. Hargreaves faced challenges with his patent application and even a legal battle when his machines were being illegally copied. More