HISTORY AT A GLANCE
TODAY is Thursday, June 15, the 166th day of 2017. There are 199 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date:
1940 – World War II: Operation Ariel begins: Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany’s takeover of Paris and most of the nation. 1944 – World War II: Battle of Saipan: The United States
invade Japanese-occupied Saipan. 1944 – In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government in North America. 1954 – UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) is
formed in Basel, Switzerland. 1970 – Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate
murders. 1972 – Red Army Faction co-founder Ulrike Meinhof is
captured by police in Langenhagen. 1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby,
who takes the name Queen Noor. 1985 – Rembrandt’s painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife. 1991 – In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th Century. In the end, over 800 people die. 1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries. 1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic
relations. 1996 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes a large bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, United Kingdom. 2001 – Leaders of the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. 2012 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to successfully
tightrope walk over Niagara Falls. 2012 – Hurricane Carlotta makes landfall on the coast of
Mexico, causing over $12.4 million in damages. 2013 – A bomb explodes on a bus in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 25 people and wounding 22 others. 2014 – Pakistan formally launches military operation against
the insurgents in North Waziristan.