The biggest event to have happened on this day in history during my own lifetime, by far, was the massacre of the students protesting in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. I remember it well, being a young and idealistic (to the point of naïveté, admittedly) high school student who hardly actually took school seriously at all, but who was nonetheless intrigued by world events.
It felt like the beginning of a revolution in China. The regime had been regarded almost as an oddball case, even more ideologically based than the Soviet Union. So, when the young students began to protest, and that protest continued day after day, it really began to seem like something. They gained support (I remember specifically a story that construction workers began to be supportive of the student movement), and built a famous statue. It really seemed like they were on to something.
Then, came the official response: a crackdown. The government forcibly shut down the protests, killing a huge number of people, and showing little to no mercy in so doing. That started on June 3rd, and was completed on this day in history. The most famous and lasting image of that crackdown was one solitary and defiant student, standing before a huge and inhuman looking tank that was approaching him, with each matching the other's movements.
For millions of people watching from afar, including me, it was deflating. But I cannot even imagine what it must have been like for those poor students.
The protests were sparked by the death of Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang, who was a reformer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989
http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/asia/story/statue-built-reformer-whose-death-sparked-tiananmen-20130107
Of course, that was not the only important event to have taken place on this day in history. Nepotianus proclaimed himself emperor in Rome. During the First Crusade, Antioch, Turkey was taken after a five-day siege. Henry IV took over Rome, including St. Peter's Cathedral. De Soto proclaimed Florida for Spain. The oldest church to be built in French North America began to be constructed on this day. The US Army was created, replacing the Continental Army. John Adams became the first President to move to the White House in the still unfinished new capital, Washington. A peace treaty was signed to end hostilities between the United States and Tripoli. General Robert E. Lee won his last battle of the Civil War. The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, connecting coast to coast. King Leopold II of Belgium claimed the entirety of Congo as his personal possession. The US Supreme Court struck down child labor laws as unconstitutional. In Italy, Benito Mussolini (of all people) granted women the right to vote. The US Supreme Court continued to dismantle legalized racial segregation by declaring it unlawful on buses. Kennedy and Khruschev met in Vienna. The Rolling Stones began their first ever US tour. There was a Poor People's March in Washington. A Beatle collapsed during their peak of popularity in 1964. Ray Davies of the Kinks traveled round trip from New York to London in order to change one word in the song "Lola". Great song, but damn! the United States was given the oldest copy of the Magna Charta. There was a huge oil spill in Mexico. Pope John Paul II was released from the hospital following the assassination attempt on his life. In Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini died. Milosevic's government accepted a peace plan. All that, and obviously quite a bit more, occurred on this date. Here's more:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
June 3, 1989: Crackdown at Tiananmen begins
With protests for democratic reforms entering their seventh week, the Chinese government authorizes its soldiers and tanks to reclaim Beijing's Tiananmen Square at all costs. By nightfall on June 4, Chinese troops had forcibly cleared the square, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of demonstrators and suspected dissidents.
On April 15, the death of Hu Yaobang, a former Communist Party head who supported democratic reforms, roused some 100,000 students to gather at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate the leader and voice their discontent with China's authoritative government. On April 22, an official memorial service for Hu Yaobang was held in Tiananmen's Great Hall of the People, and student representatives carried a petition to the steps of the Great Hall, demanding to meet with Premier Li Peng. The Chinese government refused the meeting, leading to a general boycott of Chinese universities across the country and widespread calls for democratic reforms.
Ignoring government warnings of suppression of any mass demonstration, students from more than 40 universities began a march to Tiananmen on April 27. The students were joined by workers, intellectuals, and civil servants, and by mid-May more than a million people filled the square, the site of Mao Zedong's proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
On May 20, the government formally declared martial law in Beijing, and troops and tanks were called in to disperse the dissidents. However, large numbers of students and citizens blocked the army's advance, and by May 23 government forces had pulled back to the outskirts of Beijing. On June 3, with negotiations to end the protests stalled and calls for democratic reforms escalating, the troops received orders from the Chinese government to seize control of Tiananmen Square and the streets of Beijing. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested.
In the weeks after the government crackdown, an unknown number of dissidents were executed, and hard-liners in the government took firm control of the country. The international community was outraged by the incident, and economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries sent China's economy into decline. By late 1990, however, international trade had resumed, thanks in part to China's release of several hundred imprisoned dissidents.
350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
1083 - Henry IV of Germany storms Rome, capturing St Peter's Cathedral
1098 - After 5-month siege in First Crusade, the Crusaders seized Antioch, Turkey
1140 - French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.
1326 - Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.
1357 - Peace of Aat
1539 - Hernando De Soto claimed Florida for Spain
1540 - Hernando de Soto crosses Appalachian Mountain, first European to do so
1620 - Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
1621 - Dutch West India Company (WIC) received charter for The West Indies (included, The Americas, Caribbean and West Africa) It also specifically received a charter for New Netherlands (now known as New York).
1658 - Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France.
1665 - Duke of York defeats Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft
1748 - Amsterdam establishes municipal postal service
1752 - Moscow houses & churchs destroyed by fire
1770 - Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo founded in Calif
1781 - Jack Jouett rides to warn Jefferson of British attack
1784 - The U.S. Congress formally created the United States Army to replace the disbanded Continental Army. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress had created the Continental Army for purposes of common defense and this event is considered to be the birth of the United States Army.
1789 - Alex Mackenzie explores Mackenzie River (Canada)
1800 - John Adams moved to Washington, DC. He was the first President to live in what later became the capital of the United States.
1805 - A peace treaty between the U.S. and Tripoli was completed in the captain's cabin on board the USS Constitution.
1818 - Maratha Wars between British & Maratha Confederacy in India ends
1833 - Fourth national black convention meets (Philadelphia)
1851 - The New York Knickerbockers became the first baseball team to wear uniforms. They wear straw hat, white shirt & blue long trousers
1856 - Cullen Whipple patented the screw machine.
1860 - Comanche, Iowa completely destroyed by 1 of a series of tornadoes
1861 - First Civil War land battle-Union defeats Confederacy at Philippi, WV
1861 - Stephen Douglas, U.S. politician, died.
1864 - Gen Lee wins his last victory of Civil War at Battle of Cold Harbor
1871 - Jesse James and his gang robs Obocock Bank (Corydon Iowa), of $15,000
1875 - Alexander Graham Bell makes first voice transmission
1876 - Lacrosse introduced in Britain & Canada
1884 - John Lynch (R-MS) chosen 1st black major-party natl convention chair
1886 - 24 Christians burn to death in Namgongo Uganda
1888 - "Casey at the Bat" the poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer was first published. (SF Examiner)
1889 - The Canadian Pacific Railway is completed from coast to coast.
1899 - W G Grace's last day of Test cricket aged 50 yrs 320 days
1906 - Belgian King Leopold II calls Congo his private possession
1907 - Centro Escolar University is established by Librada Avelino and Carmen de Luna in Manila, Philippines.
1911 - "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" hits #1
1913 - Dutch First Chamber accepts Health laws
1916 - National Defense Act establishes ROTC
1918 - Supreme Court ruled child labor laws unconstitutional
1918 - The Finnish Parliament ratified its treaty with Germany.
1919 - Liberty Life Insurance Co (Chicago) organized by blacks
1921 - A sudden cloudburst kills 120 near Pikes Peak, Colorado
1923 - In Italy, Benito Mussolini granted women the right to vote.
1924 - Gila Wilderness Area established by Forest Service
1925 - Eddie Collins, is 6th to get 3,000 hits
1925 - Goodyear airship "Pilgrim" makes 1st flight (1st with enclosed cabin)
1925 - White Sox manager Eddie Collins gets 3,000 hit
1929 - First trade show at Atlantic City Convention Center (electric light)
1929 - Border dispute between Peru and Chile resolved
1929 - Chile, Peru and Bolivia sign accord about Tacna-Arica-area
1930 - Grover Cleveland Alexander is released by the Phillies
1932 - John McGraw, who came to NY in 1902, resigns as manager of Giants
1932 - Lou Gehrig set a major league baseball record when he hit four consecutive home runs, as the Yankees beat the A's 20-13
1932 - Von Hindenburg disbands German Parliament
1933 - A's score 11 runs in 2nd, Yanks score 10 in 5th & win 17-11
1933 - Pope Pius XI encyclical "On oppression of the Church in Spain"
1934 - Dr Frederick Banting co-discoverer of insulin, is knighted
1935 - French Normandie sets Atlantic crossing record of 1,077 hours
1935 - One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa, Ontario.
1937 - Josh Gibson HR's just 2 feet below rim of Yankee Stadium (580' drive)
1937 - The Duke of Windsor (formerly Edward VIII), who had abdicated the British throne, married Wallis Warfield Simpson.
1938 - The German Reich voted on the law on "Entartete Art", which legalizes art robbery and to confiscate so-called "degenerate art."
1939 - 71st Belmont: James Stout aboard Johnstown wins in 2:29.6
1939 - Beer Barrel Polka hits #1 on the pop singles chart by Will Glahe
1940 - Last British/French troop leave Dunkirk
1941 - Attack on telephone exchange in Schiphol
1941 - German occupiers stamp "J" on Jewish passports
1943 - United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation Administration formed
1943 - A mob of 60 from the Los Angeles Naval Reserve Armory beat up everyone perceived to be Hispanic, starting the week-long Zoot Suit Riots.
1944 - 76th Belmont: G L Smith aboard Bounding Home wins in 2:32.2
1944 - Generals Giraud & de Gaulle reach agreement on constitution
1944 - Nazis pull out of Rome
1946 - First bikini bathing suit displayed (Paris)
1946 - Intl Milt Tribunal opens in Tokyo against 28 Japanese war criminals
1946 - US Supreme court rules race separation on buses, unconstitutional
1947 - British viceroy of India lord Mountbatten visits Pakistan
1948 - "Sleepy Hallow" opens at St James Theater NYC for 12 performances
1948 - 200" (5.08 m) Hale telescope dedicated at Palomar Observatory
1948 - Korczak Ziolkowski begins sculpture of Crazy Horse near Mt Rushmore
1949 - 1st negro to graduate from US Naval Academy (Wesley Anthony Brown)
1949 - Dragnet is 1st broadcast on radio (KFI in Los Angeles)
1949 - GN Clark becomes first female US treasurer
1950 - French expedition reaches top of Himalayan peak of Annapurna in Nepal
1952 - Romanian premier Petru Groza chosen president
1952 - A rebellion by North Korean prisoners in the Koje prison camp in South Korea was put down by American troops.
1953 - Congress cites research of NYC librarian Robert Henderson in proving
1953 - KVOS TV channel 12 in Bellingham/Vancouver, WA (CBS) begins
1953 - Alexander Cartwright officially credited by U.S. Congress as founder of baseball
1955 - KLFY TV channel 10 in Lafayette, LA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 - Stan Musial hits his 300th HR
1956 - Third class travel on British Railways ends
1956 - KGUN TV channel 9 in Tucson, AZ (ABC) begins broadcasting
1957 - Howard Cosell's first TV show
1958 - Referendum allows city to sell Chavez Ravine to the Dodgers
1959 - First class graduates from Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo
1959 - Eisenhower routes Canadian premier Diefenbaker message off the Moon
1959 - Real Madrid wins 4th Europe Cup 1
1959 - Singapore adopts constitution
1961 - "Wildcat" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 172 performances
1961 - 93rd Belmont: Braulio Baeza aboard Sherluck wins in 2:29.2
1961 - JFK and Khrushchev meet in Vienna
1962 - Air France Boeing 707 crashes on takeoff from Paris, kills 130
1962 - Lee Harvey Oswald arrives by train in Oldenzaal Neth
1962 - WBKO TV channel 13 in Bowling Green, KY (ABC) begins broadcasting
1963 - A Northwest Airlines DC-7 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia, killing 101.
1964 - Ringo Starr collapses from tonsillitis & pharyngitis
1964 - Rolling Stones began first US tour (with Bobby Goldsboro & Bobby Vee)
1965 - Gemini 4 mission launched; 2nd US 2-man flight (McDivitt & White). Major Edward White became the first American astronaut to do a "space walk" when he left the Gemini 4 capsule.
1966 - European DX Council forms in Copenhagen (shortwave listeners)
1966 - Gemini 9 launched; 7th US 2-man flight (Stafford & Cernan)
1967 - 99th Belmont: Bill Shoemaker aboard Damascus wins in 2:28.8
1967 - Aretha Franklin's "Respect" reaches #1
1968 - Canada announces it will replace silver with nickel in coins
1968 - Poor Peoples March on Washington
1968 - Yanks turn 21st triple-play in their history lose 4-3 to Twins
1968 - Valerie Solanas, author of SCUM Manifesto, attempts to assassinate Andy Warhol by shooting him three times.
1969 - Last episode of Star Trek airs on NBC (Turnabout Intruder)
1970 - First artificial gene synthesized - Har Gobind Khorana and colleagues announced the first synthesis of a gene from chemical components.
1970 - Ray Davies of Kinks travels round trip NY-London to change 1 word in "Lola," (Coca-Cola to Cherry Cola) because of BBC coml reference ban
1971 - Chic Cub Ken Holtzman 2nd no-hitter beats Cin Reds, 1-0
1971 - Test Cricket debut of Imran Khan, v Engl at Edgbaston (5, 0-36, 0-19)
1972 - "Hot Rod Lincoln," by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen hits #9
1972 - First female US rabbi installed, Sally J Priesand at 25
1972 - Sally J Priesand becomes 1st female US rabbi
1972 - Yanks score 8 times in 13th beating White Sox 18-10
1973 - "Smith" closes at Eden Theater NYC after 17 performances
1973 - At Paris air show, Tupolev 144, a Soviet supersonic airliner, crashes
1973 - Tupolev 144 crashes at Paris, 15 killed
1974 - Yitzhak Rabin forms a new Israeli government
1976 - Queen's "Bhoemian Rhapsody" goes gold
1976 - Test Cricket debut of Mike Brearley v West Indies (0 & 17)
1976 - United States was presented with oldest known copy of Magna Carta
1977 - Balt Orioles pull their 6th triple play (9-6-4-6-6 vs KC Royals)
1977 - Belgium government of Tindemans forms
1977 - US and Cuba discuss the possibility of diplomatic relations
1978 - Phillies Dave Johnson is 1st to hit 2 pinch hit grand slams in a year
1979 - "Madwoman of Central Park West" opens on Broadway
1979 - 33rd Tony Awards: Elephant Man & Sweeny Todd win
1979 - Ex-president Idi Amin of Uganda flees to Libya
1979 - The world's worst oil spill occurred when an exploratory oil well, Ixtoc 1, blew out, spilling over 3 million barrels (140 million gallons) of oil into the Bay of Campeche off the coast of Mexico.
1979 - World's worst oil spillage occurred in the Gulf of Mexico
1980 - "It's So Nice to Be Civilized" opens at Martin Beck NYC for 8 perfs
1980 - Crew of Soyuz 36 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 35
1980 - ESPN begins televising college world series games
1980 - President Jimmy Carter secures enough delegates for renomination as the Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the 1980 election.
1980 - NY Mets draft Darryl Strawberry, 18, #1
1981 - Pope John Paul II released from hospital after assassination attempt
1982 - 55th National Spelling Bee: Molly Dieveney wins spelling psoriasis
1982 - Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov seriously wounded by Palestinians
1984 - "Wiz" closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 13 performances
1984 - 38th Tony Awards: Real Thing & La Cage Aux Folles win
1985 - Brewers draft B J Surhoff #1
1985 - Massive anti-ETA demonstration in Basques
1986 - Battles in Beirut; 53 killed
1987 - "Little Shop of Horrors," released in France
1987 - "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," released in France
1987 - Cubs & Astro tie Oriole & Ranger record of 3 grand slams in a game
1988 - "Big," premieres in US
1988 - Margo Adams sues Red Sox 3rd baseman Wade Boggs for palimony
1989 - Chinese army troops went to Beijing and positioned themselves to began a sweep of Beijing to crush student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.
1989 - Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini died.
1989 - Leaking pipe of Asha, USSR causes 2 trains to catch fire; 460 die
1989 - Nolan Ryan pitches his 2nd one-hitter this season & 11th overall
1990 - 3rd Children's Miracle Network Telethon raises $894,560
1990 - 44th Tony Awards: Grapes of Wrath & City of Angels win
1991 - Mount Unzen erupts in Japan, worst eruption in Japanese history
1991 - NY Yankees selected 19-year-old Brien Taylor, #1 in amateur draft
1991 - Thomas Hearns captures WBA light-heavyweight title
1992 - Joan Lunden ordered to pay her ex-husband $18,000 a month support
1992 - World's largest environmental summit opens (Rio De Janeiro Brazil)
1993 - 66th National Spelling Bee: Geoff Hooper wins spelling kamikaze
1994 - 5.9 earthquake/floods SE Java (150+ killed)
1994 - WIIZ (98.7) FM goes off the air
1995 - Expos pitcher Pedro Martinez perfect game is broken up in 10th inning as San Diego's Bip Roberts leads off with a double, Mont wins 1-0
1998 - Eschede train disaster: an ICE high speed train derails in Lower Saxony, Germany, causing 101 deaths.
1999 - Slobodan Milosevic's government accepted an international peace plan concerning Kosovo. NATO announced that airstrikes would continue until 40,000 Serb forces were withdrawn from Kosovo.
1999 - Dennis Muren received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2003 - Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs) broke a bat when he grounded out against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The bat he was using was a corked bat. (Illinois, Florida)
2003 - Toys "R" Us, Inc. announced that it had signed a multi-year agreement with Albertson to become the exclusive toy provider for all of all of Albertson's food and drug stores.
2006 - The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.
2007 - USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) engaged pirates after they boarded the Danish ship Danica White off the coast of Somalia. (details)
2012 - Suicide car bombing kills 15 and inures 42 people in Bauchi, Nigeria
2012 - Plane crash in Lagos, Nigeria, kills all 152 passengers and 40 people on the ground
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/jun03.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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