June 26th 1945 — United Nations Charter signed. Fifty countries originally signed the charter and as of 2022 one hundred ninety-three countries are members. The charter became effective on October 24th, 1945. From enwikipedia.org: “The UN Charter mandates the UN and its member states to maintain international peace and security…

June 22nd 1611 — Henry Hudson set adrift. An intrepid explorer, Hudson was on his fourth expedition when his ship, the Discovery, was trapped in ice in what is now called the Hudson Bay. On his first voyage aboard the Half Moon, Hudson discovered and mapped parts of the New…

June 20th 1756 — Black Hole of Calcutta. An Indian ruler, Siraj ud-Daulah, ordered the French and British to stop construction work at Fort William in Calcutta. The French complied, the British didn’t. Armed conflict ensued and the British were forced to surrender. The captives were marched down to the…

1944 — USS Jason (AR-8) commissioned. A repair ship, the Jason serviced the fleet in the Pacific during WWII, and the Korean and Vietnam wars. She was also deployed to the Persian Gulf for the Gulf War. The Jason was decommissioned as a ship in the U.S. …

June 16th 1822 — The Rising. An alleged slave rebellion uncovered in Charleston, South Carolina. Led by freed slave, Denmark Vesey. About 1,000 slaves were involved in this plot to rise up and kill slave owners. The plot was too large and a slave loyal to his master revealed it…

June 15th 1920 — Three men lynched in Duluth. Local African-American workers had been hired when the John Robinson circus came to town. After the show on the night of June 14th a young white couple reported they were robbed and the woman raped. The Duluth police chief rounded up…

June 14th 1870 — Cincinnati Red Stockings lose. The Red Stockings are considered baseball’s first professional team. Their winning started in 1869 and they finished that season with a record of 57–0. The score of their first game was 45–9 and most of their wins were by lopsided scores. They…

June 13th 1777 — Marquis de Lafayette arrives in America. Landing near Charleston, SC, the wealthy, young aristocrat was immediately embraced by Congress. Lafayette had been taken with the American cause, romanticized it, and offered to serve without pay. Only nineteen years old he was given the rank of Major…

June 8th 1967 — USS Liberty attacked. The US communications ship was attacked by Israeli warplanes and torpedo boats. 34 Americans were killed and 171 wounded. The ship had been under surveillance by Israeli forces for nine hours before the attack. The attack took place during the Six-Day War and…