June 13, 1884. The worlds first roller coaster opened on thisday in 1884 at Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY. Built and later patented by LaMarcus Thompson, the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway boasted two parallel 600-foot tracks that descended from 50 feet. The cars traveled at six miles per hour. Riders paid five cents each for their rides. The roller coaster was a sensation, and soon amusement parks all over the US and the world featured them.
June 13, 1963. Civil rights leader Medgar Wiley Evers was active in seeking integration of schools and voter registration. He was assassinated by Byron de la Beckwith. The public outrage following his death was one of the factors that led President John F. Kennedy to propose a comprehensive civil rights law.
June 13, 1966. The US Supreme Court rendered a 5-4 decision inthe case of Miranda v Arizona, holding that the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution required warnings before valid statements could be taken by police. The decision has been described as providing basic legal protectionsto persons who might otherwise not be aware of their rights. Ernesto Miranda, the 23-year-old whose name became nationally known, was retried after the Miranda Decision, convicted and sent back to prison. Miranda was stabbed to death in a card game dispute at Phoenix, AZ, in 1976. A suspect in the killing was released by police after he had been read his Miranda rights. Police procedures now routinely require the reading of a prisoners constitutional (Miranda) rights before questioning.
A holiday in Australia (except for Western Australia), Belize, Cayman Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea on the second Monday in June. (In New Zealand and Tuvalu it is commemorated on the first Monday in June.)Celebrating Queen Elizabeth IIs official birthday, not the day she wasactually born (which is Apr 21).
Every summer, family reunions are so busy with games and activities that most of us forget the true purpose: to share the folklore, legends and myths that bind us together. Each participant should share at leastone good recollection (fact or fiction). Dont forget the hot dogs and lemonade.
Since 1916, June 14th has been designated as a day to honor the US flag. On June 14, 1777, John Adams introduced a resolution before the Continental Congress in Philadelphia outlining the format of the flag forthe United States.
June 14, 1904. Margaret Bourke was born at New York City. One of the original photojournalists, she developed her personal style while photographing the Krupp Iron Works in Germany and the Soviet Union during the first Five-Year Plan. Bourke-White was one of the four original staff photographers for Life magazine in 1936. The first woman attached to the US armed forces during WWII, she covered the Italian campaign, siege of Moscowand American soldiers crossing of the Rhine into Germany, and she shocked the world with her photographs of the concentration camps. Bourke-White photographed Mahatma Gandhi and covered the migration of millions of people after the Indian subcontinent was divided into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. She served as a war correspondent during the Korean War. Among her several books, the most famous was her collaboration with her second husband, novelist Erskine Caldwell, a study of rural poverty in the American South called You Have Seen Their Faces. She died Aug 27, 1971, at Stamford, CT.
Celebrate America’s native spirit on Bourbon Day.
On June 14, 1775, the United States Army was established by resolution of the Continental Congress.
June 15, 1969. Hee Haw has been described as a country-western version of Laugh-In, composed of fast-paced sketches, silly jokes and songs. Though critics didnt like it, it had popular appeal and did wellas a syndicated show. It was cohosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark, alternating with guest hosts. Regular performers included Louis M. Grandpa Jones, Junior Samples, Jeannine Riley, Lulu Roman, David Stringbean Akeman, Sheb Wooley, Marianne Gordon, Minnie Pearl and Gordie Tapp.
Arkansas was admitted as the 25th state in the Union on June 15, 1836.
Anniversary of King Johns sealing, in 1215, of the Magna Carta in the meadow called Ronimed between Windsor and Staines on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth year of our reign. This document is regarded as the first charter of English liberties and one of the most important documents in the history of political and human freedom. Four original copies of the 1215 charter survive.
On June 15, 1924, the US Congress passed legislation recognizing the citizenship of Native Americans.
Millions of filmgoers (and star Janet Leigh) avoided the showerafter this thrillers debut in 1960. Alfred Hitchcocks shocker, punctuated by shrieking violins and sudden knife attacks, juxtaposed the old-time horror of the dark gothic mansion with a new locus of fear: the isolated postwar roadside motel. Psycho led the way to the slasher films of the 1970s and later. Anthony Perkins starred as motel proprietor and bird lover Norman Bates.
June 16, 1904. Anniversary of events in Dublin recorded in James Joyces Ulysses, whose central character is Leopold Bloom.
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston on June 17, 1775.
the ballets The Firebird,Petrushka and The Rite of Spring; the choral work Symphony of Psalms; and Abraham and Isaac, A Sacred Ballet. Died at New York, NY, Apr 6, 1971.
On June 17, 1972, the arrests at the Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate Building in Washington, DC, took place.
June 18, 1815. Date of the decisive defeat of Emperor Napoleonand his army of 74,000 soldiers by a combined Anglo-Allied (68,000 troops) and Prussian army (70,000 troops) led by the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blcher. The bloody battle in a gentle valley near Waterloo a municipality then annexed to the French Republic, now part of French-speaking Belgium ended the French First Empire and the career of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest commanders and statesmen in history, and ushered in half a century of international peace and stability in Europe.
June 18, 1983. Dr. Sally Ride, 32-year-old physicist and pilot, functioned as a mission specialist and became the first American woman in space when she began a six-day mission aboard the space shuttle Challenger. The near-perfect mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, and landed June 24, 1983, at Edwards Air Force Base, CA.
Celebrate one of the original fast foods! Not only is sushi delicious, its also an art form meant to be appreciated and worthy of celebration. Once a means of preserving fish in Southeast Asia, sushi has now become a popular dish and experience enjoyed by people of all ages at restaurants around the world. Everyone from sushi connoisseurs to sushi novices are invited to dine on their favorite sushi items or perhaps try something new!
After much debate in Congress between hawks such as Henry Clay and John Calhoun and doves such as John Randolph, Congress issued a declaration of war on Great Britain. The action was prompted primarily by Britains violation of Americas rights on the high seas and British incitement of Indian warfare on the frontier. War was seen by some as a way to acquire Florida and Canada. The hostilities ended with the signing of the Treatyof Ghent on Dec 24, 1814, at Ghent, Belgium.
A day to recognize juggling as a sport and entertainment form.
World Wide Knit In Public Day started in 2005 as a way for knitters to come together.
Recognition of the third Sunday in June as Fathers Day occurred first at the request of Mrs John B. Dodd of Spokane, WA, on June 19, 1910. It was proclaimed for that date by the mayor of Spokane and recognizedby the governor of Washington. The idea was publicly supported by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924, but not presidentially proclaimed until 1966. It was assured of annual recognition by PL 92 278 of April 1972.
