On June 7, 1494, two rival powers sat down to sign a treaty that would shape North and South America for the centuries that followed. Following the reports of Christopher Columbus’s discoveries in the Americas, Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella went to the Vatican to help back Spanish…
Read MoreOn June 5, 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower faced one of the most crucial decisions of World War II. As the Supreme Allied Commander, he was responsible for launching Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. Despite unfavorable weather conditions, Eisenhower decided to…
Read MoreOn June 5, 1947, United States Secretary of State George C. Marshall delivered a speech at Harvard University that shaped the course of modern history. He proposed a comprehensive aid program to help Europe recover from the devastation of World War II. This address…
Read MoreJune 5, 1956, was a day that changed Rock and Roll forever. On the Milton Berle Show, a young musician named Elvis Presley scandalized the country on national television. Elvis’s performance included exaggerated gyrations that drove the girls in the audience wild, and enraged…
Read MoreOn June 3, 1937, the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, married Wallis Simpson, an American socialite. This event, held at the Château de Candé in Monts, France, changed the direction of the British monarchy forever. Edward VIII had…
Read MoreOn June 3, 1492, Martin Behaim, a German textile merchant and cartographer, presented to an audience in Nuremberg something that few had never seen before: a globe. Calling it The Erdapfel, which translates to “earth apple,” Behaim carefully managed the construction of the globe…
Read MoreOn June 2, 1953, the world watched intently as Queen Elizabeth II officially received her crown. Elizabeth’s coronation occurred while her country still had scars from World War II. NPR writes that “the start of the 25-year-old’s reign was widely seen as the dawn…
Read MoreOn June 1, 1495, John Cor changed the drinking world forever. That’s when the monk first recorded that he had begun whisky production in Scotland in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. The entry indicates that “eight bolls of malt” were allocated to “Friar John…
Read MoreOn May 31, 1859, the iconic clock tower now known as Big Ben began to keep time for the first time. Located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, the tower has since become one of the most recognizable symbols…
Read MoreOn May 29, 1913, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris witnessed one of the most legendary and tumultuous premieres in the history of classical music: the debut of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet “The Rite of Spring” (Le Sacre du Printemps). The event has since become…
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