What Happened in June?

Lightning hits a fortress in Luxembourg being used as an armory during the occupation by Napoleon’s French forces, igniting the gunpowder stored inside resulting in a massive explosion that destroyed two city blocks with an estimated 300 or more fatalities and widespread fires and devastation.  Expand +

French forces under Marshal Moncey attack the Spanish city of Valencia during the Peninsular War on June 26, 1808 but are repulsed by Spanish defenders and retreat to Madrid. Their failure  highlighted the fierce Spanish resistance during the Peninsular War. Expand +

President James Madison signs into law a resolution passed by Congress declaring war with Great Britain, marking the beginning of the War of 1812.The War of 1812 ended December 24, 1814 when the two nations met in Belgium and signed the Treaty of Ghent. ending the war and restoring the previously recognized boundaries between the United States and British territory in North America. The Senate unanimously ratified the Treaty of Ghent on February 16, 1815. More

President James Madison, signed the declaration of war against Great Britain on June 18, 1812, initiating the War of 1812. The Senate had approved the resolution passed by the House on June 17, 1812. More

Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Army invades Russia with an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 troops. The invasion was a major turning point in Napoleon's career. The devastating losses suffered by his army in the face of Russian resistance and the harsh Russian winter led to Napoleon's downfall. 

The Congress of Vienna ends on June 9, 1815, after 18 moths of work having made decisions designed to reshape the political map of Europe and the establishment of a new political and legal order after more than two decades of turmoil and war following the French Revolution. Expand +

Napoleon Bonaparte is defeated at the Battle of Waterloo near Waterloo, Belgium bringing about Napoleon second abdication and the end of the Napoleonic Wars. His French army was defeated by the armies of the Seventh Coalition which included the United Kingdom, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, and several German states. More

Napoleon abdicates as French emperor for the second time after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, bringing an end to France’s domination of Europe. He was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena, in the southern Atlantic Ocean, where he lived out the rest of his life. He died on May 5, 1821 at the age of 52.

The French colonization of Algeria begins as 34,000 French soldiers land at Sidi Ferruch, some 27 kilometers west of Algiers. This landing, part of a larger military expedition, aimed to overthrow the Regency of Algiers which was captured after a three-week campaign, and the dey (local ruler) fled into exile. Although Algeria was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. It is estimated that by 1875, approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians were killed. Various scholars describe the French conquest as genocide. French rule lasted until the end of the Algerian War, an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France on July 5, 1962. More

Arkansas was admitted to the U.S and becomes the 25th State. View list of Admission

Queen Victoria ascends to the British throne at the age of 18, following the death of her uncle, King William IV. This event marked the beginning of her long and impactful reign, which lasted until her death in 1901. While she became queen in June 1837, according to English Tradition and Heritage, her formal coronation took place later, on June 28, 1838, . More

The US Patent Office grants Samuel F. B. Morse U.S. Patent No. 1,647 on June 20, 1840, for his electric telegraph. This invention, which utilized a single wire was a significant development which later led to the creation of the Morse Code and became known as the Morse telegraph. Expand +

Sir George Williams founded the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in London on June 6, 1844. He, along with a group of eleven other young men, established the first YMCA in the living quarters of Hitchcock & Rogers, a drapers shop in St Paul’s Churchyard. Expand +

Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and his brother Hyrum were killed in Carthage, Illinois by a mob of 150-200 men who stormed the Carthage Jail where the Smith brothers were awaiting trial on charges of treason.  Expand +

The capture of Retired Mexican General Vallejo at his home in Sonoma by ragtag group of about 30 armed Americans, marks the start of the short lived, California Republic or Bear Flag Republic, an unrecognized breakaway from Mexico, that for 25 days militarily controlled an area in and around what is now Sonoma County in California, north of San Francisco. Three weeks later, on July 5, 1846, the Republic's military of 100 to 200 men was subsumed into the California Battalion commanded by Captain John C. Frémont, who had encouraged the revolt. The battalion officially became the U.S. Army’s California Battalion, and went on to fight — this time officially, in the battle for California. More

The Oregon Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C. by Representatives of Great Britain and the United States, establishing the U.S.-Canadian border at the 49th parallel and settling a long-standing dispute with Britain over who controlled the Oregon territory.  Expand +

Denmark transitioned into a constitutional monarchy on June 5, 1849, when King Frederik VII signs the first democratic constitution (Grundloven), which had been approved by the Constitutional Assembly on May 25, 1849. Expand +

500 Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (LDS) depart from Iowa City, Iowa, on June 9,1856 traveling westward to Salt Lake City, Utah where in 1847, Brigham Young, the secular and relig,ious leader of the group, had established the center of a new Utah sanctuary for the Mormon community.  Expand +

Abraham Lincoln delivers his "House Divided Speech" while accepting the Illinois Republican Party's nomination for US Senate. In this speech, he paraphrase a passage from the New Testament: “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” to describe the United States' deep division over the issue of slavery. Lincoln believed that the nation could not long endure with the fundamental contradiction of being half slave and half free.  Expand +

West Virginia is admitted into the Union as the 35th State. It was created during the Civil War when western counties of Virginia, which opposed secession from the Union, formed their own State and it was formalized with West Virginia's admission to the Union in 1863. The statehood was a direct result of the political and social divisions within Virginia regarding secession. View list of Admission