What Happened in June?

Henry Flipper, at age 21, becomes the first African American graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Born into slavery, Henry O. Flipper fought his way through prejudice and isolation to become the first commissioned Black officer in the U.S. Army. More

The disassembled Statue of Liberty arrives in New York aboard the French steamer Isere . The statue, a gift from the people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated more than a year later on October 28, 1886 and has became known around the world as an enduring symbol of freedom and democracy. More

U.S. President Grover Cleveland age 49, marries Frances Folsom, age 21,i n the White House. Folsom became the youngest first lady in American history. Cleveland remains the only U.S. president to be married in a room of the White House. The wedding was highly publicized, though only close associates of the bride and groom were permitted to attend the ceremony. A reception was held as a public event one week later. More

The Great Seattle Fire, the most destructive fire in the history of Seattle, destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington and part of the Water Front. The fire was accidentally started by an overheated glue pot in a carpentry shop, lasted less than a day, burning through the afternoon and into the night. Seattle quickly reacted, wooden buildings were banned and rebuilt using brick buildings that sat 20 feet (6.1 m) above the original street level. Its population swelled during reconstruction, becoming the largest city in the newly admitted state of Washington. More

Mahatma Gandhi 's first act of civil disobedience took place in South Africa when he went there to work for an Indian company after studying to become a lawyer in England. When railroad officials made Gandhi sit in a third-class coach even though he had purchased a first-class ticket, Gandhi refused and police forced him off the train. This event changed his life. More

The Western Australian gold rush begins after significant gold discoveries around June 14, 1893 in Kalgoorlie. 

The first Ferris wheel (invented by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., a Pittsburgh-based engineer) made its debut, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. More

Guglielmo Marconi, Italian engineer and inventor, applies for a patent in the United Kingdom. The patent 12039, titled "Improvements in Transmitting Electrical impulses and Signals, and in Apparatus therefor" became the first patent for a communication system based on radio waves.  Expand +

Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company takes his first car for a spin on the city of Detroit. More

The Meiji Great Sanriku Tsunami hits the pacific coast of the north-eastern Japan, called as the Sanriku Region. The highest tsunami run-up height was 125 feet (38 m) at Ryori Shirahama in Iwate Prefecture. The death toll was 22,000. The economic damage amounted to about 10% of the then national budget. After this tsunami, several villages were relocated to higher ground. More

The Chinese government leases Hong Kong's New Territories to the United Kingdom for 99 years. The lease was signed as part of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, granting Britain control over the mainland area north of Kowloon and numerous islands, which now make up the majority of Hong Kong, including the Island of Hong Kong which had been under British control since 1841.  Expand +

 The Philippines declares its independence from Spain after being a Spanish colony since 1565. Later that year, the Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish-American War and Spain ceded the Philippines to the US, the islands were occupied by U.S. forces. and the Philippines became an American colony until after World War II. The Philippines officially attained complete Independence from the U.S on July 4, 1946, Which is celebrated in the Philippines as Republic Day. More

The Ford Motor Company was officially incorporated. Founder Henry Ford and 12 investors launched his venture in a converted factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. It was his third attempt at establishing an automotive business. At the time, the company could only produce a few cars a day. More

Barney Oldfield, American automobile-racing driver accomplished the first mile-a-minute performance in a car, at Indianapolis, Indiana. Oldfield became known as the “Speed King of the World.” and his name was synonymous with racing and with speed. He raced farm tractors and pitted cars against locomotives and airplanes. He drove the most famous cars of his day: Fiat, Mercer, Maxwell, Stutz, the Ford 999, a French Delage, and a Christie. More

Einstein publishes his Special Theory of Relativity, which describes his revolutionary ideas about light, time and energy. He revisited the theory in a 1912 manuscript when he was asked to write several book chapters. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 delayed publication, and when the project resumed, Einstein considered this manuscript outdated and it was never published. More

Norway’s national assembly (Storting) declares an end to the Norway Union and Independence from Sweden. The declaration followed Sweden's refusal for Norway to have its own national flag and consular service in order to promote its maritime commerce.
National Day, commemorating the Independence from Denmark and the Constitution of Norway is celebrated on May 17, 1814. A treaty of separation was signed on October 26, 1905. Norway chose Prince Charles of Denmark as its king, who assumed the name of Haakon VII and ruled until 1957.

The British Terra Nova Expedition led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, sails from Cardiff, Wales for Antarctica. Scott wanted to continue the scientific work that he had begun when leading the Discovery Expedition from 1901 to 1904, and wanted to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole. He and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, where they found that a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen had preceded them by 34 days. Scott's party of five died on the return journey from the pole. More

The first successful ascent of Denali - Mount McKinley takes place. Four Alaskan men became the first climbers to reach the 20,310' summit of the highest peak in North America, for the first time. The four climbers; Walter Harper, Harry Karstens, Hudson Stuck and Robert Tatum made history. More

Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Austria and his wife were assassinated at Sarajevo, touching off a conflict between the Austro-Hungarian government and Serbia that escalated into World War I. More

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs the National Defense Act which authorized an expanded Army of 175,000, and an enlarged National Guard of 450,000 and brought the states’ militias more under federal control and gave the president authority, in case of war or national emergency, to mobilize the National Guard for the duration of the emergency.