This Week In History
June 3, 1844
The Great Auk, a large, flightless seabird, became extinct when the last pair of breeding adults were killed by hunters on Eldey island, off the coast of Iceland 1950: A French expedition made the first successful ascent of the Himalayan peak of Annapurna 1992: The largest ever environmental summit opened in Rio de Janeiro, with 178 nations taking part 2014: Syria’s presidential election gave President Bashar al-Assad a third seven-year term in office 2014: Scientists announced the discovery of a new type of potentially habitable planet June 4, 1993 The UN agreed to send troops to Bosnia to protect six “safe havens” including Srebrenica, where 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were later murdered in 1995
2003: Liberian President Charles Taylor was indicted by a war crimes tribunal in connection with the war in Sierra Leone 2008: A historic obelisk from Ethiopia’s ancient city of Axum was reassembled after its return from Italy
2015: The data of at least four million US federal employees was breached by computer hackers traced to China 2017: Eight people died in a terror attack in Britain when a van ploughed into pedestrians on London Bridge June 5, 1968 US Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated at a hotel in Los Angeles during his presidential campaign. Gunman Sirhan Sirhan opposed his support for Israel 1988: Kay Cottee sailed into Sydney Harbour, becoming the first yachtswoman to circle the globe alone 2003: The SARS epidemic peaked, by which time the death toll had reached 775 worldwide
2005: Reports emerged that Taiwan had successfully test-fired a cruise missile capable of reaching China 2017: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Yemen and Egypt
June 6, 1933
The first drive-in cinema opened in the US, with space for 500 cars. Their popularity peaked in the 1950s and 60s, with 4,000 drive-ins across the country 1988: New Yorker David Stern blew the world’s biggest bubble, measuring 15.24 metres in length 2003: Volkswagen announced that production of the original, classic Beetle car would cease later that year
2008: The Caribbean Monk Seal was declared officially extinct due to overhunting by humans 2013: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila were divorced after 30 years of marriage
June 7, 1973
Willy Brandt became the first leader of West Germany to visit Israel. The two countries had re-established diplomatic relations in 1965
1893: Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of passive resistance began after he was thrown off a segregated train in South Africa 1933: The ballet The Seven
Deadly Sins was first performed in Paris 1993: Woody Allen lost custody of his children following a bitter court battle with ex-partner Mia Farrow 2015: The number of illegal migrants arriving in Italy from Africa since the start of the year passed 50,000 June 8, 1968 James Earl Ray, wanted for the assassination of Martin Luther King, was arrested in London. He was later convicted in Memphis and jailed for 99 years
1973: General Franco appointed Luis Carrero Blanco as prime minister of Spain after ruling alone for 34 years 2004: Observers were able to witness the Transit of Venus
across the sun for the first time since 1882
2016: Tennis star Maria Sharapova was suspended after testing positive for meldonium, banned at the start of 2016 2017: British prime minister Theresa May’s snap election gamble resulted in a humiliating hung parliament June 9, 1928 Australian aviators Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm completed the first flight across the Pacific Ocean, from California to Brisbane
1993: The US admitted that Gulf War veterans were suffering from a chronic multi-symptom illness 1993: Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan married businesswoman Masako Owada
2009: Royal Dutch Shell agreed to pay US$15.5mil in a settlement over alleged complicity in the execution of several Nigerian environmental activists 2009: A book of Picasso’s sketches was stolen from a Paris museum