June 13, 1777: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, lands near Charleston, S.C., intending to join the Continental Army and serve the Patriot cause.
Thank you for getting the title right! A longtime pet peeve of mine.
June 14,1891: The Munchenstein Train Disaster kills 73 and injures 171. This is Switzerland’s deadliest rail accident. A crowded passenger train falls into the Birs River when a girder bridge collapses.
June 14, 1777: By resolution, the Second Continental Congress officially approves the design of the United States flag: “Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
June 15, 1896: The Great Sanriku Tsunami in Japan kills at least 26,000.
June 16, 1883: The Victoria Hall Disaster in Sunderland, England.
About 1100 children were in Victoria Hall for a variety/magic show. At the end of the performance it was announced there would be free toys available for the kids. There were few adults to control the crowd and the children surging forward for their gifts resulted in a human crush. 183 children, all ages 14 or under, were killed.
June 15, 1961: In Quezon City, in the Philippines, to parents of Filipino and Russian ancestry, SDMB user Bullitt was born. His parents, being quite wise, did not give him that name.
June 17, 1850: The SS G.P. Griffith catches fire on Lake Erie about 3 miles off the Ohio shoreline. The captain tries to steer the ship toward land, but it becomes stuck on a sandbar about 600 yards from shore. Somewhere between 241 and 289 are killed, either by drowning or burning. Less than 40 survive. At the time this was the deadliest accident ever on the Great Lakes.
June 16, 1988: In San Francisco CA, to parents of Filipino and Russian and European ancestry, SDMB user Bullitt’s daughter was born.
June 17, 2012: Rodney King dies at age 47. Involved in alleged police brutality situation with the LAPD on 03 Mar 1991. Cause of death: Drowning, precipitated by cardiac arrhythmia, drug use and alcohol intoxication.
June 17, 1972-Frank Wills became the unsung hero of U.S. history when he discovered the burglary in progress at the Watergate Complex in Washington, DC, leading to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. Wills later portrayed himself in the movie All the President’s Men. He was portrayed more recently by JaQwan J. Kelly in the movie The Post.
June 18, 1953: The Tachikawa Air Disaster occurs in Japan when a U.S. Air Force plane crashes three minutes after takeoff. 129 aboard are killed. At the time this was the deadliest single plane crash in history and the first to kill over 100 people.
June 19, 1938: The Custer Creek Train Wreck kills at least 47 in Montana. Over 75 are injured.
Custer Creek usually is dry, but heavy flash flooding earlier that evening had produced a tremendous runoff. The rush of water caused a bridge to collapse just after midnight as the* Olympian Flyer *passed over. The train’s engine and seven cars fell into the raging creek. Bodies were found as far as 50 miles away in the Yellowstone River.
A belated Happy birhtday Bullitt and a HBD to the Bullette!
June 20, 1956: Venezuelan Flight 253 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey. All 74 aboard are killed. At the time this was the world’s deadliest crash of a scheduled commercial flight.
June 21, 1788: New Hampshire ratifies the United States Constitution, becoming the 9th State to do so.
June 21, 1942: A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at Fort Stevens in one of only a handful of attacks by Japan against the United States mainland.
June 21, 1973: In handing down the decision in Miller v. California 413 US 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller test for obscenity in U.S. law.
June 21, 1989: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson that American flag-burning was a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment.
Big day for pointless naval maneuvers and free speech.
**June 22, 1918 **: The Hegenbeck-Wallace Circus Train Disaster
Near Hammond, Indiana, the engineer of an empty troop train fell asleep after being awake for over 24 hours straight. Because of this he failed to see warnings of a non-moving circus train ahead. That train, full with the over 400 performers from the Hegenbeck-Wallace Circus, had stopped for maintenance. The resulting collision killed 86 and injured another 127. The accident led to new regulations regarding mandatory rest for train crews
**June 23, 1985 **: Air India Flight 182 is destroyed by a bomb in Irish air space over the Atlantic Ocean. 329 die. The flight had originated in Toronto, stopped over in Montreal, and was flying to London when it was blown from the sky. 268 on board were Canadians, making this Canada’s deadliest terror attack.
**June 24, 2002 **: The Igandu Train Collision in Tanzania kills 281 and injures another 600. This is Africa’s deadliest rail disaster.
June 24, 1963: The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government.