LGBT Pride Month is observed in June; on June 28, 1969, the clientele of a gay bar at New York City rioted after the club was raided bythe police.
June 1, 1926. American actress and sex symbol of the 50s, born at Los Angeles as Norma Jean Mortensen or Baker. She had an unstable childhood in a series of orphanages and foster homes. Her film career came to epitomize Hollywood glamour. In 1954 she wed New York Yankee legend Jolting Joe DiMaggio, but the marriage didnt last. Monroe remained fragile andinsecure, tormented by the pressures of Hollywood life. Her death from a drug overdose Aug 5, 1962, at Los Angeles, CA, shocked the world. Amongher films: The Seven Year Itch, Bus Stop, Some Like It Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Misfits.
On June 1, 1638, the first recorded and described earthquake in North America took place at 2:00 pm local time on June 1, 1638.
The comic book Superman debuted on June 1, 1938 in Action Comics #1.
On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was coronated at Westminster Abbey.
June 2, 1944. Composer and conductor of film and Broadway scores, born at New York, NY. A child prodigy accepted to Julliard at age seven, Hamlisch composed his first hit song before he turned 21. Famous film scores include The Sting (1973) and The Way We Were (1973), and his best-known Broadway work includes A Chorus Line (1975) and Theyre Playing Our Song (1979). Winner of multiple Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards, as well as the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Chorus Line, he died at Los Angeles, CA, Aug 6, 2012.
June 2, 1692. As the village of Salem was gripped by terror ofwitches, Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor Sir William Phips ordered a special court created on May 27, 1692, to expedite judgment of the more than 150 people accused of witchcraft. Unpopular resident Bridget Bishop, originally accused in April, was the first of the jailed brought to trial on June 2. At her April examination her accusersteenaged girls had collapsedin fits as she appeared, but Bishop adamantly denied the charges: I am no witch I know not what a witch is. She was convicted June 2 and hanged June 10.
June 3, 1937. The Duke of Windsor who, as King Edward VIII, had abdicated the British throne on Dec 11, 1936, was married to Mrs Wallis Warfield Simpson of Baltimore, MD, at Monts, France. The couple made their home in France after their marriage and had little contact with the royal family. The Duke died at Paris on May 28, 1972, and was buried near Windsor Castle in England. The Duchess died Apr 24, 1986.
June 3, 1906. The sensation of 1920s Paris, Baker was born into poverty at St. Louis, MO. She began working as a dancer at age 16 and went to Paris in 1925, where her semi-nude danse sauvage became a hit. She was the first American-born woman to be awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor for her Red Cross work during WWII. Baker performed up until her death on Apr 12, 1975, at Paris, France.
Founded in 1938 by the Salvation Army for fundraising during the Great Depression, National Donut Day is now an annual tradition. During WWI, doughnuts were served to doughboys by the Salvation Army. Later, symbolic paper donuts were given to charitable contributors. This day now celebrates the doughnut itself. Annually, the first Friday in June.
June 3, 1931. Restaurant entrepreneur, born at Denver, CO. Lauded as the most influential person in the restaurant industry by Nations Restaurant News. Innovator of casual-dining concept of full-service for middle-class customers. Mainstreamed the salad bar. Created Steak & Ale (1966), conceived Bennigans (1978) and grew Chilis from 28 restaurants to 1,000-location chain from 1984 2001 under Brinker International, which also includes Maggianos Little Italy and On the Border Mexican Grill. Initial funder and board member of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, created by wife and named for her sister in 1982. Died June 9, 2009, at Colorado Springs, CO.
June 3 8, 1943. In Los Angeles, CA, simmering racial uneaseexploded as 200 white sailors stormed into East LA and began beating Hispanics in response to an earlier altercation between a few sailors and some street kids. The sailors targeted Zoot Suiters youths outfitted in the defiant, exaggerated suit of their community (long jackets, wide trousers andankle-length watch chains). The rioting grew as police either stood by or arrested the victims. The media, antagonistic to the Hispanic community, spurred on the violence with sensational headlines. Finally, military brass declared Los Angeles off-limits to its personnel and the LA City Council banned zoot suits. There were no deaths, but the injuries and mayhem were such that a special state committee was convened and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her newspaper column that the riots were symptomatic of a problem with deep roots.
June 4 6, 1942. A Japanese task force attempted to capture Midway Island in the Central Pacific, but American bombers from Midway and from two nearby aircraft carriers sent the Japanese into retreat. The Japanese lost four carriers, two large cruisers and three destroyers. Midway wasone of the most decisive naval battles of WWII. Japan never regained its margin in carrier strength, and the Central Pacific was made safe for American troops.
June 411. The public is encouraged to save energy by hanging clothes to dry instead of using their electric dryers. Annually, the week beginning the first Saturday in June, Saturday to Saturday.
June 4, 1989. After almost a month and a half of student demonstrations for democracy, the Chinese government ordered its troops to openfire on the unarmed protestors at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Under the cover of darkness, early June 4, troops opened fire on the assembled crowds and armored personnel carriers rolled into the square crushing many of the students as they lay sleeping in their tents. Although the government claimed that few died in the attack, estimates range from several hundred to several thousand casualties. In the following months thousands of demonstrators were rounded up and jailed.
June 5, 1981. The Centers for Disease Control first described a new illness striking gay men in a newsletter on June 5, 1981. On July 27, 1982, the CDC adopted Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome as the official name for the new disease. The virus that causes AIDS was identified in 1983 and in May 1985 was named Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) by the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses. The first person killed bythis disease in the developed world died in 1959. More than 617,000 Americans have died of AIDS. Worldwide, more than 30 million people have died of AIDS. About 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS.
June 5, 1977. The Apple II computer, with 4K of memory, wenton sale for $ 1,298. Its predecessor, the Apple I, was sold largely to electronic hobbyists the previous year. Apple released the Macintosh computer Jan 24, 1984.
June 5, 1919. Author and illustrator of childrens books born at Boston, MA. Two widely known books of the more than 250 authored by Scarry are Richard Scarrys Best Word Book Ever (1965) and Richard Scarrys Please & Thank You (1973). The pages are crowded with small animal charactersthat live like humans. More than 100 million copies of his books have soldworldwide. Died Apr 30, 1994, at Gstaad, Switzerland.
Senator Robert F. Kennedy, campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, was killed on June 5, 1968 in Los Angeles, California
In the early morning hours Allied forces landed in Normandy on the north coast of France. In an operation that took months of planning, afleet of 2,727 ships of every description converged from British ports from Wales to the North Sea. Operation Overlord involved 2,000,000 tons of war materials, including more than 50,000 tanks, armored cars, jeeps, trucks and half-tracks. The US alone sent 1,700,000 fighting men. The Germans believed the invasion would not take place under the adverse weather conditions of this early June day. But as the sun came up, the village of Saint Mre Eglise was liberated by American parachutists, and by nightfall the landing of 155,000 Allies attested to the success of D-Day. The long-awaited second front had at last materialized.
June 6, 1933. Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr, opened Americas first drive-in movie theater in Camden, NJ, on this date. At the height of their popularity in 1958, there were more than 4,000 drive-ins across America. Today there are fewer than 600 open.
June 6 July 5. Begins on Islamic lunar calendar date Ramadan 1, 1437. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is holy because it was during this month that the Holy Quran (Koran) was revealed. All adults of sound body and mind fast from dawn (before sunrise) until sunset to achieve spiritual and physical purification and self-discipline, abstaining from food, drink and intimate relations. It is a time for feeling a common bond with people who are poor and needy, a time of piety and prayer. Different methods for anticipating the visibility of the new moon crescent at Mecca are used by different Muslim groups.
Each year on June 7, the Kentucky Historical Society celebrates the anniversary of the day in 1767 when Daniel Boone, Americas most famous frontiersman, reportedly first sighted the land that would become Kentucky. The June 7 date is taken from the book The Discovery, Settlement andPresent State of Kentucky, by John Filson, published in 1784, with an appendix titled The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone. The information inthe appendix supposedly originated with Boone, although Filson is the actual author. The work is not considered completely reliable by historians.
June 7, 1975. The Sony Corporation released its videocassette recorder, the Betamax, which sold for $ 995. Eventually, another VCR format, VHS, proved more successful and Sony stopped making the Betamax.
June 7, 1909. Dr. Apgar developed the simple assessment methodthat permits doctors and nurses to evaluate newborns while they are still in the delivery room to identify those in need of immediate medical care. The Apgar score was first published in 1953, and the Perinatal Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics is named for Dr. Apgar. Born at Westfield, NJ, Apgar died Aug 7, 1974, at New York, NY.
