General Westmoreland gives farewell press conference in Saigon

In Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Bridget Bishop, the first colonist to be tried in the Salem witch trials, is hanged after being found guilty of the practice of witchcraft. Trouble in the small Puritan community began in February 1692, when nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams, the daughter and niece, respectively, […]

In an incident that some regard as the first naval engagement of the American Revolution, colonists board the HMS Gaspee, a British vessel that ran aground off the coast of Rhode Island, and set it aflame. The Gaspee was pursuing the Hanna, an American smuggling ship, when it ran aground off Namquit Point in Providence’s […]

On June 10, 1881, Count Leo Tolstoy sets off on a pilgrimage to a monastery disguised as a peasant. Tolstoy had already produced his two greatest masterpieces War and Peace (1865-1869) and Anna Karenina (1875-1877). The Russian nobleman was engaged in a spiritual struggle and felt torn between his responsibility as a wealthy landlord to […]

In Akron, Ohio, Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith, two recovering alcoholics, found Alcoholics Anonymous, also known as “A.A.,” a 12-step rehabilitation program that eventually helps countless people cope with alcoholism. Based on psychological techniques that have long been used in suppressing certain personality traits, members of the strictly anonymous organization control their disease through […]

After two months of desperate resistance, the last surviving Norwegian and British defenders of Norway are overwhelmed by the Germans, and the country is forced to capitulate to the Nazis. Two months earlier, on April 9, Nazi Germany launched its invasion of Norway, capturing several strategic points along the Norwegian coast. During the preliminary phase […]

On June 10, 1942, Nazi troops obliterate the village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia after killing all adult males and deporting most of the surviving women and children to concentration camps. The brutal action came as part of a retaliation for the assassination of Nazi SS leader Reinhard Heydrich, known as Heydrich the Hangman—despite there being no […]

In a forceful speech, President Dwight D. Eisenhower strikes back at critics of his Cold War foreign policy. He insisted that the United States was committed to the worldwide battle against communism and that he would maintain a strong U.S. defense. Just a few months into his presidency, and with the Korean War still raging, […]

In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) publishes a statement by Nelson Mandela, the long imprisoned leader of the anti-apartheid movement. The message, which Mandela had written in response to the 1976 Soweto uprising, had been smuggled out of Robben Island prison years later under great risk. It ends with the rallying cry: “UNITE! […]

Almost 12 million people tune in for the series finale of HBO’s critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning mob-family drama The Sopranos on June 10, 2007. The mastermind behind The Sopranos was David Chase, a longtime writer, producer and director for TV series such as The Rockford Files, I’ll Fly Away and Northern Exposure. Chase drew inspiration for […]