Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!
Jun 5, 1967: Six-Day War begins
Israel responds to an ominous build-up of Arab forces along its borders by launching simultaneous attacks against Egypt and Syria. Jordan subsequently entered the fray, but the Arab coalition was no match for Israel's proficient armed forces. In six days of fighting, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, and the West Bank and Arab sector of East Jerusalem, both previously under Jordanian rule. By the time the United Nations cease-fire took effect on June 11, Israel had more than doubled its size. The true fruits of victory came in claiming the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan. Many wept while bent in prayer at the Western Wall of the Second Temple.
The U.N. Security Council called for a withdrawal from all the occupied regions, but Israel declined, permanently annexing East Jerusalem and setting up military administrations in the occupied territories. Israel let it be known that Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai would be returned in exchange for Arab recognition of the right of Israel to exist and guarantees against future attack. Arab leaders, stinging from their defeat, met in August to discuss the future of the Middle East. They decided upon a policy of no peace, no negotiations, and no recognition of Israel, and made plans to defend zealously the rights of Palestinian Arabs in the occupied territories.
Egypt, however, would eventually negotiate and make peace with Israel, and in 1982 the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in exchange for full diplomatic recognition of Israel. Egypt and Jordan later gave up their respective claims to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to the Palestinians, who opened "land for peace" talks with Israel beginning in the 1990s. A permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement remains elusive, as does an agreement with Syria to return the Golan Heights.
Jun 5, 1968: Bobby Kennedy is assassinated
Senator Robert Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California presidential primary. Immediately after he announced to his cheering supporters that the country was ready to end its fractious divisions, Kennedy was shot several times by the 22-year-old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan. He died a day later.
The summer of 1968 was a tempestuous time in American history. Both the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement were peaking. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated in the spring, igniting riots across the country. In the face of this unrest, President Lyndon B. Johnson decided not to seek a second term in the upcoming presidential election. Robert Kennedy, John's younger brother and former U.S. Attorney General, stepped into this breach and experienced a groundswell of support.
Kennedy was perceived by many to be the only person in American politics capable of uniting the people. He was beloved by the minority community for his integrity and devotion to the civil rights cause. After winning California's primary, Kennedy was in the position to receive the Democratic nomination and face off against Richard Nixon in the general election.
As star athletes Rafer Johnson and Roosevelt Grier accompanied Kennedy out a rear exit of the Ambassador Hotel, Sirhan Sirhan stepped forward with a rolled up campaign poster, hiding his .22 revolver. He was only a foot away when he fired several shots at Kennedy. Grier and Johnson wrestled Sirhan to the ground, but not before five bystanders were wounded. Grier was distraught afterward and blamed himself for allowing Kennedy to be shot.
Sirhan, who was born in Palestine, confessed to the crime at his trial and received a death sentence on March 3, 1969. However, since the California State Supreme Court invalidated all death penalty sentences in 1972, Sirhan has spent the rest of his life in prison. According to the New York Times, he has since said that he believed Kennedy was "instrumental" in the oppression of Palestinians. Hubert Humphrey ended up running for the Democrats in 1968, but lost by a small margin to Nixon.
Jun 5, 1944: Allies prepare for D-Day
On this day in 1944, more than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries placed at the Normandy assault area, while 3,000 Allied ships cross the English Channel in preparation for the invasion of Normandy—D-Day.
The day of the invasion of occupied France had been postponed repeatedly since May, mostly because of bad weather and the enormous tactical obstacles involved. Finally, despite less than ideal weather conditions—or perhaps because of them—General Eisenhower decided on June 5 to set the next day as D-Day, the launch of the largest amphibious operation in history. Ike knew that the Germans would be expecting postponements beyond the sixth, precisely because weather conditions were still poor.
Among those Germans confident that an Allied invasion could not be pulled off on the sixth was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who was still debating tactics with Field Marshal Karl Rundstedt. Runstedt was convinced that the Allies would come in at the narrowest point of the Channel, between Calais and Dieppe; Rommel, following Hitler's intuition, believed it would be Normandy. Rommel's greatest fear was that German air inferiority would prevent an adequate defense on the ground; it was his plan to meet the Allies on the coast—before the Allies had a chance to come ashore. Rommel began constructing underwater obstacles and minefields, and set off for Germany to demand from Hitler personally more panzer divisions in the area.
Bad weather and an order to conserve fuel grounded much of the German air force on June 5; consequently, its reconnaissance flights were spotty. That night, more than 1,000 British bombers unleashed a massive assault on German gun batteries on the coast. At the same time, an Allied armada headed for the Normandy beaches in Operation Neptune, an attempt to capture the port at Cherbourg. But that was not all. In order to deceive the Germans, phony operations were run; dummy parachutists and radar-jamming devices were dropped into strategically key areas so as to make German radar screens believe there was an Allied convoy already on the move. One dummy parachute drop succeeded in drawing an entire German infantry regiment away from its position just six miles from the actual Normandy landing beaches. All this effort was to scatter the German defenses and make way for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy.
Jun 5, 1870: Constantinople burns
A huge section of the city of Constantinople, Turkey, is set ablaze on this day in 1870. When the smoke finally cleared, 3,000 homes were destroyed and 900 people were dead.
The fire began at a home in the Armenian section of the Valide Tchesme district. A young girl was carrying a hot piece of charcoal to her family's kitchen in an iron pan when she tripped, sending the charcoal out the window and onto the roof of an adjacent home. The fire quickly spread down Feridje Street, one of Constantinople's main thoroughfares.
The Christian area of the city was quickly engulfed. There was a high degree of cooperation among the various ethnic groups who called the city home, but even this was no match for the high winds that drove the rapidly spreading fire. An entire square mile of the city near the Bosporus Strait was devastated. Only stone structures, mostly churches and hospitals, survived the conflagration.
In 1887, Edmondo de Amicis published perhaps the best account of this disaster in a book called Constantinople.
Jun 5, 1933: FDR takes United States off gold standard
On June 5, 1933, the United States went off the gold standard, a monetary system in which currency is backed by gold, when Congress enacted a joint resolution nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold. The United States had been on a gold standard since 1879, except for an embargo on gold exports during World War I, but bank failures during the Great Depression of the 1930s frightened the public into hoarding gold, making the policy untenable.
Soon after taking office in March 1933, Roosevelt declared a nationwide bank moratorium in order to prevent a run on the banks by consumers lacking confidence in the economy. He also forbade banks to pay out gold or to export it. According to Keynesian economic theory, one of the best ways to fight off an economic downturn is to inflate the money supply. And increasing the amount of gold held by the Federal Reserve would in turn increase its power to inflate the money supply. Facing similar pressures, Britain had dropped the gold standard in 1931, and Roosevelt had taken note.
On April 5, 1933, Roosevelt ordered all gold coins and gold certificates in denominations of more than $100 turned in for other money. It required all persons to deliver all gold coin, gold bullion and gold certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve by May 1 for the set price of $20.67 per ounce. By May 10, the government had taken in $300 million of gold coin and $470 million of gold certificates. Two months later, a joint resolution of Congress abrogated the gold clauses in many public and private obligations that required the debtor to repay the creditor in gold dollars of the same weight and fineness as those borrowed. In 1934, the government price of gold was increased to $35 per ounce, effectively increasing the gold on the Federal Reserve's balance sheets by 69 percent. This increase in assets allowed the Federal Reserve to further inflate the money supply.
The government held the $35 per ounce price until August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, thus completely abandoning the gold standard. In 1974, President Gerald Ford signed legislation that permitted Americans again to own gold bullion.
On this day in 70, Titus & his Roman legions breached the middle wall of Jerusalem. Kraków, Poland, received city rights on this day in 1257. On this day in 1661, Isaac Newton was admitted as a student into Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1940 on this day during World War II, French General Charles De Gaulle became the junior Minister of Defense. At 12:16AM PST on this day in 1968, Sirhan Sirhan shot American Democratic Presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy (RFK), brother of John F. Kennedy. RFK would ultimately succomb to the wounds and die the next day. On this day in 1990 Nelson Mandela, then only recently released from prison, set out on a trip to visit various parts of the world. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev received the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize on this day in 1991.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
• On this day in 70, Titus & his Roman legions breached the middle wall of Jerusalem.
754 - Friezen murders bishop Boniface & over 50 companions
Gate of the Wawel in Kraków, Poland
• Kraków, Poland, received city rights on this day in 1257.
1288 - Battle of Woeringen: Reinald I vs Jan I
1305 - Bordeaux's Archbishop Bertrand the Got elected Pope Clement V
1507 - England & Netherlands sign trade agreement
1625 - Spanish troops under Spinola conquer Breda
1632 - Prince Frederik Henry conquerors Roermond
• On this day in 1661, Isaac Newton was admitted as a student into Trinity College, Cambridge.
1716 - England & Emperor Karel VI signs military treaty
1752 - Prince William of Orange becomes Knight of Garter
1783 - Joseph & Jacques Montgolfier make 1st public balloon flight
1794 - US Congress prohibits citizens from serving in foreign armed forces
1798 - The Battle of New Ross: The attempt to spread United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated.
1805 - 1st recorded tornado in "Tornado Alley" (Southern Illinois)
1806 - 1st trotter to break 3 minute mile (Yankee)
1806 - Batavian Republic becomes Kingdom of Holland
1808 - -6] Battle at Wagram: French army beats Austrians
1827 - Turks capture the Acropolis & take Athens during Greek War of Independence
Physicist & Mathematician Isaac NewtonPhysicist & Mathematician Isaac Newton 1829 - HMS Pickle captures the armed slave ship Voladora off the coast of Cuba.
1833 - Ada Lovelace (future 1st computer programmer) meets Charles Babbage
1846 - Telegraph line opens between Phila & Balt
1848 - Statue of prince Willem the Silent unveiled
1849 - Danish National Day-Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy
1855 - Anti-foreign anti-Roman Catholic Know-Nothing Party's 1st convention
1857 - Walter Woodbury & James Page open photo studio in Batavia (Djakarta)
1861 - Federal marshals seize arms & gunpower at Du Pont works DE
1863 - Battle of Franklin's Crossing, VA (Deep Run)
1863 - CSS "Alabama" captures "Tailsman" in Mid Atlantic
1864 - Battle of Piedmont, VA (Augusta City)
1869 - 3rd Belmont: C Miller aboard Fenian wins in 3:04.25
1870 - Constantinople fire; 900 die
1872 - Republican National Convention meets (Phila)
1873 - Sultan Bargash closes slave market of Zanzibar
Inventor Charles BabbageInventor Charles Babbage
1875 - Pacific Stock Exchange formally opens
1876 - Bananas become popular in US, at Centennial Exposition in Phila
1879 - 13th Belmont: George Evans riding Spendthrift wins in 2:42.75
1882 - Storm & floods hits Bombay; about 100,000 die
1884 - William Sherman refuses Republican presidential nomination saying "I will not accept if nominated & will not serve if elected"
1886 - 20th Belmont: Jim McLaughlin aboard Inspector B wins in 2:41
1888 - Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland for president
1888 - The Rio de la Plata Earthquake takes place.
1899 - Alfred Dreyfus acquitted
1900 - Lord Roberts' army occupies Pretoria
1907 - Automatic washer & dryer are introduced
1911 - Red Sox Joe Wood strikes out 3 pinch hitters in 9th for 5-4 win
1912 - US marines invade Cuba (3nd time)
1913 - Dutch Disability laws go into effect
1915 - 47th Belmont: George Byrne aboard The Finn wins in 2:18.6
US President Grover ClevelandUS President Grover Cleveland 1915 - Denmark amends its constitution to allow women's suffrage.
1917 - 10 million US men begin registering for draft in WW I
1920 - 1st rivet driven on Bank of Italy headquarters at 1 Powell
1920 - A's VP Thomas Shibe denies charges that baseballs are livelier
1925 - 29th US Golf Open: Willie Macfarlane shoots a 291 at Worcester CC Mass
1926 - Indians triple-play Yankees & win 15-3
1927 - 3rd French Mens Tennis: R Lacoste beats B Tilden (6-4 4-6 5-7 6-3 11-9)
1927 - Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard & 200-yard free-style swim record
1929 - Ramsey MacDonald forms minority Labour government in Britain
1931 - Jules Renkin becomes premier of Belgium
1931 - 66th British Golf Open: Tommy Armour shoots a 296 at Carnoustie Golf Links
1933 - Gold standard abolished
1934 - 1st formal meeting of Baker Street Irregulars (NYC)
1937 - 69th Belmont: Charley Kurtsinger aboard War Admiral wins in 2:28.6
1937 - Henry Ford initiates 32 hour work week
Ford Motor Company Founder Henry FordFord Motor Company Founder Henry Ford 1940 - 1st synthetic rubber tire exhibited Akron Oh
1940 - American Negro Theater organizes
1940 - Battle of France begins in WW II
1940 - Gen Von Bock starts German offensive in Somme
French President Charles De Gaulle
• In 1940 on this day during World War II, French General Charles De Gaulle became the junior Minister of Defense.
1940 - Gov of Suriname & Neth Antilles refuse entry to Jewish refugees
1940 - Netherlands rations petroleum
1940 - Synthetic rubber tire unveiled
1941 - Sandor Szabo beats B Nagurski in St Louis, to become wrestling champ
1942 - British offensive in North Africa under general Ritchie
1942 - Elwood Ordnance Plant near Joliet Illinois kills 54
1942 - USA declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary & Romania
1943 - 75th Belmont: Johnny Longden aboard Count Fleet wins in 2:28.2
1943 - German occupiers arrest Louvain University's chancellor
1944 - 1st B-29 bombing raid; 1 plane lost due to engine failure
1944 - 1st British gliders touched down on French soil for D-Day
1944 - Allies march into Rome
German WWII Field Marshal Erwin RommelGerman WWII Field Marshal Erwin Rommel 1944 - Field Marshal Erwin Rommel goes on vacation
1944 - General Eisenhower decides invasion set for June 6
1944 - King Victor Emmanuel abdicates the throne for his son Umberto
1945 - Benjamin Britten's opera "Peter Grimes" premieres in London
1945 - USA, UK, USSR, France declare supreme authority over Germany
1946 - Fire at LaSalle Hotel cocktail lounge kills 61 (Chicago Ill)
1947 - Sec of State George C Marshall outlines "Marshall Plan"
1948 - Phillies Richie Ashburn sets NL rookie consecut hitting streak at 23
1950 - US Supreme Court undermines legal foundations of segregation
1952 - 1st sporting event televised nationally-Walcott vs Charles boxing
1952 - Test Cricket debut of Freddie Trueman v India at Headingley
1952 - Jersey Joe Walcott beats Ezzard Charles in 15 for heavy weight boxing title
1953 - Denmark adopts a new constitution
1953 - US Senate rejects China PR membership to UN
1954 - "Your Show Of Shows," last airs on NBC-TV
Military Leader George MarshallMilitary Leader George Marshall 1954 - Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Ecclesiae fastos
1955 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Eastern Golf Open
1955 - NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hits 550' HR off Chicago Billy Pierce
1956 - "Milton Berle Show" last airs on NBC-TV
1956 - Fed court rules racial segregation on Montgomery buses anti-Const
1957 - NY narcotics investigator, Dr Herbert Berger, urges AMA to investigate use of stimulating drugs by athletes
1959 - Bob Dylan graduates from Hibbing High School in Minnesota
1959 - The first government of the State of Singapore is sworn in.
1960 - "George Gobel Show" last airs on CBS-TV
1960 - Joyce Ziske wins LPGA Wolverine Golf Open
1963 - Princess Marijke changes her name to Christina
1963 - State of siege proclaimed in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini arrested
1964 - Davie Jones & King Bees debut "I Can't Help Thinking About Me"; group disbands but Davie Jones goes on to success as David Bowie
1965 - "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & Pharaohs hits #2
1965 - 97th Belmont: John Sellers aboard Hail to All wins in 2:28.6
1965 - Lopez Arellano becomes president of Honduras
1966 - Cin Red Leo Cardenas hits 4 HRs in a doubleheader
1966 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Clayton Federal Golf Invitational
1967 - 6 day war between Israel & Arab neighbors begin
1967 - Murderer Richard Speck sentenced to death in electric chair
1967 - WSBE TV channel 36 in Providence, RI (PBS) begins broadcasting
1967 - Royal Canadian Mint ordered to start converting 10 cent & 25 cent coins to pure nickel as soon as possible
Bust of Robert F. Kennedy
• At 12:16AM PST on this day in 1968, Sirhan Sirhan shot American Democratic Presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy (RFK), brother of John F. Kennedy. RFK would ultimately succumb to the wounds and die the next day.
1969 - Dutch Antilles government of Kroon resigns
1969 - Race riot in Hartford Connecticut
1969 - The International communist conference begins in Moscow.
1970 - KPAX TV channel 8 in Missoula, MT (CBS) begins broadcasting
1970 - Chile becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
1971 - 103rd Belmont: Walter Blum aboard Pass Catcher wins in 2:30.6
1972 - "If You Had Wings" opens
1972 - UN Conference on Human Environment opens in Stockholm
1972 - Yugoslav president Tito visits USSR
1973 - 43rd French Mens Tennis: Ilse Nastase beats Nikki Pilic (63 63 60)
1974 - A's Reggie Jackson & Bill North engage in clubhouse fight at Detroit
1975 - 48th National Spelling Bee: Hugh Tosteson wins spelling incisor
1975 - British population agrees to European Common Market membership
1975 - Egypt president Sadat reopens Suez Canal (closed since 1967)
1976 - "Bigfoot" by Bro Smith hits #57
1976 - 108th Belmont: Angel Cordero Jr aboard Bold Forbes wins in 2:29
1976 - Teton Dam in Idaho burst causing $1 billion damage (14 die)
1977 - 31st NBA Championship: Port Trailblazers beat Phila 76er, 4 games to 2
1977 - 31st Tony Awards: Shadow Box & Annie win
1977 - Coup in Seychelles (National Day)
1979 - Seychelles adopts constitution
1980 - Soyuz T-2 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station
1981 - Astro's Nolan Ryan passes Early Wynn as all-time walk leader (1,777)
1981 - Aid Epidemic officially begins when US Centers of Disease Control reports on pneumonia affecting 5 homosexual men
Singer-Songwriter George HarrisonSinger-Songwriter George Harrison 1981 - George Harrison releases "Somewhere in England"
1981 - TODAY/PC runs for 1st time
1982 - "Murphy's Law" by Cheri hits #39
1982 - 114th Belmont: Laffit Pincay Jr aboard Conquistador Cielo wins in 2:28
1982 - 52nd French Womens Tennis: M Navratilova beats Andrea Jaeger (76 61)
1982 - Waterfront streetcar begins operating in Seattle
1983 - 37th Tony Awards: Torch Song Trilogy & Cats win
1983 - 53rd French Mens Tennis: Yannick Noah beats Mats Wilander (62 75 76)
1983 - Alice Miller wins West Virginia LPGA Golf Classic
1984 - Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" becomes #1
1984 - Indira Gandhi orders attack on Sikh's holiest site (Golden Temple)
1986 - SD Padre Steve Garvey ejected for 1st time
1987 - "Nightline" presents its 1st "Town Meeting" the subject is AIDS & the show runs until 3:47 AM
1987 - Dwight Gooden returns from drug rehabilitation & allows wins game
1988 - 1st Children's Miracle Network Telethon raises $590,000
1988 - 58th French Mens Tennis: Mats Wilander beats Henri Leconte (75 62 61)
1988 - Kay Cottee sails into Sydney as 1st woman to circle globe alone
1988 - Laura Davies wins LPGA Jamie Farr Toledo Golf Classic
1988 - Longest champagne cork flight is 177'9 in NY
1988 - Russian orthodox church celebrates 1,000th anniversary
1989 - 23rd Music City News Country Awards: R Van Shelton & Randy Travis
1989 - Billy Smith, last original NY Islander, retires
Musician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartneyMusician & member of the Beatles Paul McCartney 1989 - Paul McCartney releases "Flowers in the Dirt"
1989 - Toronto Blue Jays Skydome stadium opens, Milwaukee Brewers win 5-3
Statue of Nelson Mandela in the gardens in front of the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa
• On this day in 1990 Nelson Mandela, then only recently released from prison, set out on a trip to visit various parts of the world.
1990 - South African troops plunder Mandela's dwelling
1991 - Lesbian priest Elizabeth Carl ordained in Episcopal Church Washington DC
• Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev received the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize on this day in 1991.
1991 - Space Shuttle STS 40 (Columbia 12) launched
1993 - "Livin' On The Edge" by Aerosmith hits #18
1993 - 125th Belmont: Julie Krone aboard Colonial Affair wins in 2:29.8
1993 - 63rd French Womens Tennis Open: Steffi Graf beats M J Fernandez (4-6 6-2 6-4)
1993 - Liberian Charles Taylors rebellion kills 550 fugitives
1993 - Somali warlord Aidids murders 23 Pakistani
1994 - "Gray's Anatomy" opens at Beaumont Theater NYC for 8 performances
1994 - 64th French Mens Tennis: S Bruguera beats A Berasategui (63 75 26 61)
1994 - 64th French Womens Tennis: A Sanchez Vicario beats M Pierce (64 64)
1994 - 7th Children's Miracle Network Telethon
Tennis Player Steffi GrafTennis Player Steffi Graf 1994 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Oldsmobile Golf Classic
1995 - 29th Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson & Reba McEntire
1995 - The Bose-Einstein condensate is first created.
1996 - Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Memphis TN on WMFS 92.9 FM
1998 - A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants (the strike lasted seven weeks).
1999 - 131st Belmont: Jose Santos aboard Lemon Drop Kid wins in 2:27.88
2001 - U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords leaves the Republican Party, an act which shifts control of the United States Senate from the Republicans to the Democratic Party.
2001 - Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm caused $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.
2003 - A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50°C (122°F) in the region.
2004 - 136th Belmont: Edgar Prado aboard Birdstone wins in 2:27.50
2005 - 59th Tony Awards: Monty Python's Spamalot & Doubt win
2006 - Serbia declares independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
2010 - 142nd Belmont: Mike Smith aboard Drosselmeyer wins in 2:31.57
2013 - 44 people are killed by a lightning storm in Bihar, India
2013 - Nawaz Sharif is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan
2013 - 47th Country Music Association Award: George Strait, Miranda Lambert & Blake Shelton wins
1595 - Henry IV's army defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Fontaine-Francaise. 1752 - Benjamin Franklin flew a kite for the first time to demonstrate that lightning was a form of electricity. 1783 - A hot-air balloon was demonstrated by Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier. It reached a height of 1,500 feet. 1794 - The U.S. Congress prohibited citizens from serving in any foreign armed forces. 1827 - Athens fell to the Ottomans. 1851 - Harriet Beecher Stow published the first installment of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in "The National Era." 1865 - The first safe deposit vault was opened in New York. The charge was $1.50 a year for every $1,000 that was stored. 1884 - U.S. Civil War General William T. Sherman refused the Republican presidential nomination, saying, "I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected." 1917 - American men began registering for the World War I draft. 1924 - Ernst F. W. Alexanderson transmitted the first facsimile message across the Atlantic Ocean. 1927 - Johnny Weissmuller set two world records in swimming events. Weissmuller set marks in the 100-yard, and 200-yard, free-style swimming competition. 1933 - President Roosevelt signed the bill that took the U.S. off of the gold standard. 1940 - During World War II, the Battle of France began when Germany began an offensive in Southern France. 1942 - In France, Pierre Laval congratulated French volunteers that were fighting in the U.S.S.R. with Germans. 1944 - The first B-29 bombing raid hit the Japanese rail line in Bangkok, Thailand. 1946 - The first medical sponges were first offered for sale in Detroit, MI. 1947 - U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall gave a speech at Harvard University in which he outlined the Marshall Plan. 1956 - Premier Nikita Khrushchev denounced Josef Stalin to the Soviet Communist Party Congress. 1967 - The National Hockey League (NHL) awarded three new franchises. The Minnesota North Stars (later the Dallas Stars), the California Golden Seals (no longer in existence) and the Los Angeles Kings. 1967 - The Six Day War between Israel and Egypt, Syria and Jordan began. 1973 - The first hole-in-one in the British Amateur golf championship was made by Jim Crowford. 1975 - Egypt reopened the Suez Canal to international shipping, eight years after it was closed because of the 1967 war with Israel. 1981 - In the U.S., the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that five men in Los Angeles were suffering from a rare pneumonia found in patients with weakened immune systems. They were the first recognized cases of what came to be known as AIDS. 1986 - A federal jury in Baltimore convicted Ronald W. Pelton of selling secrets to the Soviet Union. Pelton was sentenced to three life prison terms plus 10 years. 1987 - Ted Koppel and guests discussed the topic of AIDS for four hours on ABC-TV’s "Nightline". 1998 - A strike began at a General Motors Corp. parts factory near Detroit, MI, that closed five assembly plants and idled workers across the U.S. for seven weeks. 1998 - Volkswagen AG won approval to buy Rolls-Royce Motor Cars for $700 million, outbidding BMW's $554 million offer. 1998 - C-Span reported that Bob Hope had died. The report was false and had begun with an inaccurate obituary on the Associated Press website. 1998 - A strike at a General Motors parts factory began. It lasted for seven weeks. 2001 - Amazon.com announced that it would begin selling personal computers later in the year. 2004 - The U.S.S. Jimmy Carter was christened in the U.S. Navy in Groton, CT.
1783 Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier gave the first successful balloon flight demonstration. 1884 Civil War hero Gen. William T. Sherman refused the Republican nomination for president with the words, “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.” 1933 The United States went off the gold standard. 1947 Sen. George Marshall proposed a plan (Marshall Plan) to help Europe recover financially from the effects of World War II. 1967 The Arab-Israeli Six-Day War began. 1968 Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot by an assassin and died the next day. 1981 The Centers for Disease Control published the first report about the disease that would later become known as AIDS. 2002 Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home. 2004 Former president Ronald Reagan died.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jun05.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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