A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on June 30th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On June 30, 1559, King Henry II of France engaged in a jousting tournament when his opponent’s lance pierced the face guard of Henry’s helmet, sending splinters into his face, eye, and brain. On June 30, 1882, the assassin of President Garfield, Charles J. Guiteau, was executed by hanging in Washington, D.C. On June 30, 1908, the Tunguska region of Siberia, Russia was rocked by an incredible…

A Brief History On June 30, 1908, the Tunguska region of Siberia, Russia was rocked by an incredible explosion that stunned people hundreds of miles away.  Perhaps 80 million trees in the Taiga Forest were flattened, and as many as three people died.  Luckily, the event occurred in an unpopulated area. Digging Deeper Covering an area of 830 square miles, the event was caused by an above ground explosion, three to six miles high, of an asteroid, probably 160 to 200 feet in diameter.  The airburst left no crater on the ground and initially puzzled investigators.  The asteroid is believed…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on June 29th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On June 29, 1971, the first human space travelers to die while in space perished when their Soyuz 11 space capsule depressurized after leaving the Soviet space station, Salyut 1. On June 29, 1972, the Supreme Court of the United States stunned the nation by ruling in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty violated the 8th and 14th Amendments. On June…

A Brief History On June 29, 1971, the first human space travelers to die while in space perished when their Soyuz 11 space capsule depressurized after leaving the Soviet space station, Salyut 1. Digging Deeper Salyut 1 was the first space station launched into orbit around the Earth in April of 1971, and despite its then groundbreaking technology, only lasted less than 6 months, of which humans occupied it for a total of 24 days. Soviet cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev had become the first ever spacemen to occupy a space station, from June 7th to June…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on June 28th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On June 28, 1651, and lasting through June 30, 1651, the Battle of Berestechko was fought in the area between what is now modern Poland, modern Belarus and the modern Ukraine, between the army of Poland and the upstart Ukrainian Cossacks and Tatars. On June 28, 1776, an incident that may have escaped your elementary school education occurred when one of General…