Anniversaries

To illustrate the depth one can access in our collections, we have compiled relevant archival imagery to frame a diverse cultural, political and chronological retrospective of noteworthy anniversaries. Be sure to bookmark this section as the calendar is a work in progress and will continue to expand.

JuneYearAnniversaryEvent
11812198thPres. Madison declares war on the British, triggering the War of 1812
11862148thBattle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) concludes
2191298thUniversal Studios founded in California
3193773rdOver his mother's objections, England's King Edward VIII marries an American after abdicating the throne
41717293rdSociety of Freemasons founded in London
41862148thGen. Beauregard evacuates Fort Pillow, built by Confederate Gen. Pillow, leaving it to Gen. Halleck
41892118thThe Sierra Club incorporated in San Francisco
4191793rdThe first Pulitzer Prizes for journalism are awarded
51862148thUnion troops find Fort Pillow empty, abandoned by the Confederate Army
5191793rdU.S. men begin to register for the draft in World War I
5192288thDiscoverer of Klondike Gold in Yukon, Robert Carmack, dies
5194763rdSecretary of State George Marshall outlines an aid program for Europe, which becomes "The Marshall Plan"
61862148thAt the Battle of Memphis, Charles Ellet Jr. sinks 4 Confederate ships and captures Memphis before being killed
71892118thHomer Plessy arrested for refusing to give up a train seat for whites, triggering the Plessy v. Ferguson case
81862148thStonewall Jackson and Richard Ewell triumph brilliantly over Generals Banks and Fremont at the Battle of Cross Keys
81867143rdFrank Lloyd Wright, brilliant U.S. architect, born
91877133rdCrazy Horse's surrender makes front page news in New York
101692318thFirst hanging of a Salem witch during the Salem Witch Trials
101861149thGen. Winfield Scott, newly retired commander in chief of the U.S. Army, is photographed at West Point by Charles Fredricks
10194268thEntire male population of Lidice, a Czech village, massacred by Nazis
11192783rdCharles Lindbergh awarded the first Distinguished Flying Cross
11193773rdJoseph Stalin's Soviet "Purge" ends
121862148thConfederate cavalryman JEB Stuart's first "Ride around McClellan" begins
12195258thFirst Chevrolet chassis completed
12196743rdU.S. Supreme Court strikes down state laws forbidding interracial marriage
12198723rdReagan challenges Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall
131777233rdThe Marquis de Lafayette arrives in South Carolina to help the colonists revolt against Britain
131802208thHarriet Martineau, British essayist and writer, born
131807203rdThomas Jefferson subpoenaed during Aaron Burr's trial
13192783rdTicker tape parade for Charles Lindbergh in New York City
13196743rdThurgood Marshall, U.S. Solicitor-General, becomes first African-American appointed to U. S. Supreme Court
141642368thMassachusetts is the first colony to pass a compulsory education law (for white males)
141777233rdThe American flag adopted by the Continental Congress on June 14, which will become Flag Day
14192288thWarren Harding is first president broadcast on radio, as he dedicates Frances Scott Key Memorial at Fort McHenry
151752258thBenjamin Franklin flies a kite with a key tied to its string to show that lightning contains electricity
151862148thConfederate JEB Stuart completes his first "Ride around McClellan," encircling the Union Army of the Potomac
151877133rdHenry Flipper becomes first African American to graduate West Point Military Academy
15191793rdThe U. S. Congress passes the Espionage Act
161567443rdMary Queen of Scots imprisoned in Lochleven Castle, in Scotland, by Queen Elizabeth
161862148thCivil War Battle of Secessionville a disaster for the Union Army
161897113rdU.S. government annexes Hawaii
161902108thThe "Wizard of Oz" musical opens at Chicago's Grand Opera House
16197733rdSoviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev is also elected President of the Supreme Soviet
171862148thSteam drum of the USS Mound City, hit by shell, explodes: 80 men scalded to death, 40 men drowned
17197238thPres. Nixon's employees arrested for burglary inside Watergate, the Democratic headquarters
181812198thThe War of 1812 begins when the U.S. declares war against Britain
181877133rdThe creator of Uncle Sam poster illustrations, artist James Montgomery Flagg, born on this day
191862148thPres. Lincoln first outlines his "Emancipation Proclamation"
19191793rdGeorge V changes British royal family's name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor, veiling its German origins
19193773rd"Peter Pan" author, Englishman James Barrie, dies
19194763rdEuropean representatives meet to design the Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe
19197733rdElvis Presley makes his last concert recordings
201782228thU. S. Congress approves the Great Seal of the U.S.
201837173rdVictoria becomes Queen of England upon the death of her uncle, William IV
20199713rdThe U.S. tobacco industry agrees to a massive settlement to avoid further lawsuits
211832178thJoseph Rainey, first African American in the U.S. House of Representatives, is born a slave on this day
211877133rdTen "Molly Maguires," Irish-American militants for mining reforms, are hanged for murder
211887123rdGolden Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign celebrated in Great Britain
21194268thThe day before strict gas rationing begins during WWII, U.S. drivers go to the pumps
21198921stA jury finds John Hinckley, Jr. innocent by reason of insanity in the shooting of Pres. Reagan and three others
22197733rdFormer Attorney General John Mitchell goes to prison for his part in Watergate cover-up
22199218thU.S. Supreme Court rules hate-crime laws that ban cross-burnings violate the right to free speech
231862148thRobert E. Lee and his generals plot an attack on McClellan's army before the Seven Days' Battles
23194763rdU.S. Senate and House override Pres. Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act
23197238thPresident Nixon signs the Higher Education Act
241812198thEmperor Napoleon Bonaparte orders his army of 500,000, the largest European army in history, to Russia
241862148thLincoln consults Winfield Scott, former Army Commander in Chief, about McClellan's stalemate with Lee
24192288thThe American Professional Football Association becomes the National Football League
25194268thMajor General Dwight Eisenhower takes command of U.S. forces in Europe during World War II
25196248thU. S. Supreme Court rules that prayer in public schools violates 1st Amendment separation of church and state
261862148thRobert E. Lee stuns Union Gen. McClellan at the Battle of Mechanicsville, first of the Seven Days' Battles
26191793rdFirst American Expeditionary Force troops arrive in France during World War I
271847163rdNew York and Boston are linked by telegraph wires
271862148thMay Irwin, actress, comedienne, and music-hall artist, born
271862148thGaines' Mill attacked by Lee, who drives back the Union Army, in the Third of the Seven Days' Battles
281577433rdPeter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter, born
281862148thConfederate Capt. Hollins captures the "St. Nicholas," when one of his sailors pretends to be a Frenchwoman
281862148thUnion headquarters at Savage's Station, including a field hospital, accept wounded from Gaines's Mill
28197238thNixon announces that no more draftees will go to Vietnam, unless they volunteer
291652358thMassachusetts declares itself an independent commonwealth
291767243rdBritain passes the Townshend Revenue Act, levying taxes on the American colonies
291862148thRobert E. Lee assaults Savage's Station as the Union Army retreats, in the Fifth of the Seven Days' Battles
29197238thU.S. Supreme Court strikes down death penalty as "cruel and unusual"
301812198thPres. Madison demands that more officers be commissioned to fight the British in the War of 1812
301817193rdSir Joseph Hooker, British botanist, born.
301862148thAt Glendale (White Oak Swamp), 6th of the Seven Days' Battles, Lee fails in his attack on the Union Army
30195753rdU.S. government eliminates the Reconstruction Finance Corp. created by Hoover in 1932 and enlarged by FDR