This Week In History
June 14, 1822
Charles Babbage proposed a mechanical engine to calculate and produce tables of polynomial functions, the forerunner of the modern computer 1995: Chechen gunmen occupied a hospital in southern Russia, taking some 2,000 patients and staff hostage
1998: Europe’s longest suspension bridge was opened in Denmark
2005: President Thabo Mbeki of South africa sacked his deputy, Jacob Zuma, who was implicated in a bribery scandal
2009: Europe recorded its first H1N1 swine flu death just days after the outbreak was labelled a global pandemic
June 15, 2019
Renowned Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, famed for his 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (above) and lavish opera productions, died aged 96
1215: The Magna Carta established the principle that everybody in england, including the king, was subject to the law
1860: Florence Nightingale founded her nursing school at St Thomas’s Hospital in London
1960: South Korea’s government promulgated a new constitution with a parliamentary system of government
1995: The prosecution at the trial of O.J. Simpson insisted he try on a pair of gloves found at the murder scene
June 16, 1880
The Salvation Army’s distinctive bonnet was first seen at the silver wedding anniversary celebration of co-founders William and Catherine Booth in London
2005: eu leaders abandoned their initial deadline for ratification of a constitution after France and the netherlands rejected a draft version
2005: Donald Tsang was declared the new chief executive of Hong Kong
2005: Indonesia confirmed its first human case of avian flu in a poultry worker from the island of Sulawesi
2010: The BP well in the Gulf of Mexico was reported to be leaking 60,000 barrels of oil a day
June 17, 2019
Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi, collapsed and died at his trial in Cairo. He was jailed after his overthrow in 2013
1885: The Statue of Liberty, agift from the people of France to the people of the united States, arrived in new york
1925: The Geneva Protocol, banning the use of poisonous gases in war, was signed by 29 countries
1950: The first kidney transplant was carried out in Chicago
1970: Edwin Land patented the first Polaroid camera, which used a self-developing film to create a print shortly after takin ga picture
June 18, 1815
Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo by British, Prussian and Dutch forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington and General Bluecher
1915: The Second Battle of artois ended in World War One with huge losses for both France and Germany
1953: The new Republic of Egypt was proclaimed
2000: ethiopia and eritrea signed an official ceasefire and agreed to work towards a final peace settlement
2000: Tiger Woods won the 100th US Open golf championship at Pebble Beach, California, by a record margin of 15 strokes
June 19, 2000
The world’s largest wildlife park was created when borders were removed between national parks in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique
1970: The Soviet Soyuz-9 spacecraft landed safely after a record 17 days in earth orbit
1985: Officials said the South Pole had moved slightly closer to Australia
2010: Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria married her former personal trainer, daniel Westling
2018 :C anada became the second country, after Uruguay, to legalise the recreational use of cannabis
June 20, 1895
The Kiel Canal, the world’s busiest artificial waterway, which links the North Sea to the Baltic Sea through northern Germany, was officially opened
1960: US. boxer Floyd Patterson became the first man to regain the world heavyweight crown
1975: Steven Spielberg’s film Jaws
was released in the US ,b ecoming the highest-grossing film at that time
2009: athens’ new acropolis Museum opened, housing artefacts from the Bronze age to Byzantine Greece
2010: Juan Manuel Santos secured a convincing victory in Colombia’s presidential election runoff