Charles de Gaulle assumes power amid growing divisions within France's Fourth Republic. The National Assembly grants him six months of emergency powers. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
All year, we've been highlighting historical news events—and Foreign Affairs articles about those events—as part of our "This Day in History" series. Here are our collected selections for June.
An Egyptian court found the former leader Hosni Mubarak guilty of killing demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
He becomes Singapore's first prime minister even though the city-state was still part of the United Kingdom. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Marmaduque Grove and other Chilean military officers lead a coup establishing the short-lived Socialist Republic of Chile, which dissolved a month later on July 8. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
On behalf of the WWII allies, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States jointly assume "supreme authority" over Germany. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
On Jun 6, the day the Allied powers landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from the Nazis. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Italy ratifies the agreement with the Holy See, which reocgnizes Vatican City as a sovereign state. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
President Richard Nixon discusses the withdrawal of troops with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu at Midway Atoll in the North Pacific. His plan is to replace 25,000 U.S. troops by the end of August with South Vietnamese ones, in a process that came to be known as “Vietnamization.” Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
On the fifth day of the Six-Day War, Israel seized the Golan Heights in Syria and has occupied it to this day. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The Simon Commission, composed of a group of British parliamentarians, publishes recommendations for India's future. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Timothy McVeigh is put to death for carrying out the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, an attack that killed 168 people. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
At Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, President Ronald Reagan gives one of his most famous Cold War speeches, calling on Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung meets with Kim Jong-il of North Korea for the beginning of the first "North-South Leader Meeting" in Pyongyang. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
After 74 days of fighting, Argentine forces surrender to British troops on the Falkland Islands. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a 3,300-pound truck bomb on a main street in Manchester. It led to over a billion dollars in damage, but no fatalities because the IRA gave police enough warning to evacuate 75,000 people. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
It begins its occupation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Five men are arrested for burglarly at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office in Washington, D.C. One of them is a member of President Richard Nixon's re-election committee. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
He is selected as the third president of the People's Republic of China and holds the position until 1988. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The Wikileaks founder requested political asylum at Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden. He feared Sweden would then send him to the United States to face trial for having released thousands of classified U.S. military and diplomatic documents in 2010. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The U.S. operation, which began a day earlier, caused irreparable damage to the Imperial Japanese Navy. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Italy launches its unsuccessful offensive against France. It ends four days later as Italian troops are unable to breach the French line of defense. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
It provided funding for the construction of veterans’ hospitals, as well as veteran education and unemployment insurance, among other things. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Emboldened by Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union a day earlier, Lithuania declared its independence and formed a provisional government. Shortly after, the Germans put down the revolt and took control of the country. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
George was a Pinta Island tortoise. As the last of his subspecies, he became a symbol of conservation efforts worldwide. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
This move leads to an escalation of conflict in both countries and eventually, to the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
John F. Kennedy shows his support for West Berlin by stating, in a speech in the city, "Ich bin ein Berliner." Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
After 115 years of French rule, the landmass pronounces itself Africa's 49th nation. Djibouti had planned the announcement following a successful independence referendum a month earlier on May 8. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
Irish nationals ("pro-treaty") and republicans ("anti-treaty") clash over a recently brokered treaty with Great Britain, which republicans felt betrayed Irish sovereignty. The conflict ends in May 1923. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The Simon Commission, composed of a group of British parliamentarians, publishes recommendations for India's future. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
The United States' largest feminist organization is founded by 49 people, including Betty Friedan and Pauli Murray. Read more about it in the Foreign Affairs archive.
