This Day in History
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12th June 1962
George Lucas in near-fatal car wreck
On this day in 1962, teenager George Lucas survives a nearly fatal wreck after racing his car at top speed just two days before his high school graduation. An aspiring racecar driver before the accident, Lucas shifted his ambitions to filmmaking afterward. 12th June 1898
Philippine independence declared
During the Spanish-American War, Filipino rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo proclaim the independence of the Philippines after 300 years of Spanish rule. By mid-August, Filipino rebels and U.S. troops had ousted the Spanish, but Aguinaldo's hopes for independence were dashed when the United States formally annexed the Philippines as part of its peace treaty with Spain. -
13th June 1977
Singapore's first double decker bus
28 years old today, Singapore Bus Service (SBS) launches its first double decker bus, service 86, which goes from Tampines to Shenton Way. The new service is launched by Senior Minister of State Ong Teng Cheong. 323 B.C.
Alexander the Great dies
Alexander the Great, the young Macedonian military genius who forged an empire stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to India, dies in Babylon, in present-day Iraq, at the age of 33. -
14th June 1993
Warner Bros. pays Crichton $3.5 million
On this day in 1993, Warner Bros. strikes a deal with novelist Michael Crichton for film rights to his next novel, as yet unpublished but rumored to deal with sexual harassment. The deal was reported to be worth $3.5 million. The movie, Disclosure, was released in 1994. -
15th June 1963
Helen Hunt born
Actress Helen Hunt is born this day in 1963. Hunt started acting as a child, appearing on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Swiss Family Robinson. From 1992 to 1999, she co-starred with comedian Paul Reiser in the hit TV series Mad About You. She also appeared in several films in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, and won a Best Actress Oscar for her role opposite Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets. -
16th June 1963
First women in space
On June 16, 1963, aboard Vostok 6, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space. After 48 orbits and 71 hours, she returned to earth, having spent more time in space than all U.S. astronauts combined to that date. -
17th June 1994
O.J. Simpson arrested after flight from justice
After a dramatic flight from justice witnessed by millions on live television, former football star and actor O.J. Simpson surrenders outside his Rockingham estate to Los Angeles police. The police charged him with the June 12 double-murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald L. Goldman. -
18th June 1815
Napoleon defeated at Waterloo
At Waterloo in Belgium, Napoleon Bonaparte suffers defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington, bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of European history. 18th June
Paul McCartney born
On this day in 1942, recording artist Paul McCartney is born in Liverpool, England. The son of a jazz-band leader, McCartney began playing guitar after his mother died of cancer in 1956. The following year, he met another young Liverpool musician, John Lennon, and joined Lennon's band, the Quarrymen. Later that year, he persuaded Lennon to add his friend, guitar player George Harrison, to the group. The three played together under several different names, and with assorted members, until 1960, when they adopted the name the Beatles. -
19th June 1885
Statue of Liberty arrives
The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States, arrives in New York City's harbor.
Originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World," the statue was proposed by French historian Edouard Laboulaye to commemorate the Franco-American alliance during the American Revolution. -
20th June 1977
Oil flows in Alaska
With a flip of a switch in Prudhoe Bay, crude oil from the nation's largest oil field begins flowing south down the trans-Alaska pipeline to the ice-free port of Valdez, Alaska. The steel pipeline, 48 inches in diameter, winds through 799 miles of Alaskan wilderness, crossing three Arctic mountain ranges and hundreds of rivers and streams.
Environmentalists fought to prevent its construction, saying it would destroy a pristine ecosystem, but they were ultimately overruled by Congress, who saw it as a way of lessening America's dependence on foreign oil. The trans-Alaska pipeline was the world's largest privately funded construction project to that date, costing $8 billion and taking three years to build. -
21th June 1813
French defeated in Spain
At Vitoria, Spain, a massive allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish force under British General Arthur Wellesley routs the French, effectively ending the Peninsula War. -
22th June 1945
Battle of Okinawa ends
During World War II, the U.S. 10th Army overcomes the last major pockets of Japanese resistance on Okinawa Island, ending one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. The same day, Japanese Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, the commander of Okinawa's defense, committed suicide with a number of Japanese officers and troops rather than surrender. -
23th June 1984
John Lennon auction raises $430,000
On this day in 1984, an auction of John Lennon's possessions raises $430,000. A guitar he played during his years with the Beatles sold for $19,000. -
24th June 1901
Picasso exhibited in Paris
On June 24, 1901, the first major exhibition of Pablo Picasso's artwork opens at a gallery on Paris' rue Lafitte, a street known for its prestigious art galleries. The precocious 19-year-old Spaniard was at the time a relative unknown outside Barcelona, but he had already produced hundreds of paintings. The 75 works displayed at Picasso's first Paris exhibition offered moody, representational paintings by a young artist with obvious talent. -
25th June 1950
Korean War begins
Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War. The United States, acting under the auspices of the United Nations, quickly sprang to the defense of South Korea and fought a bloody and frustrating war for the next three years. -
26th June 1993
Clinton punishes Iraq for plot to kill Bush
In retaliation for an Iraqi plot to assassinate former U.S. President George Bush during his April visit to Kuwait, President Bill Clinton orders U.S. warships to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iraqi intelligence headquarters in downtown Baghdad. -
27th June 1950
U.N. approves armed force to repel North Korea
Just two days after communist North Korean forces invaded South Korea, the United Nations Security Council approves a resolution put forward by the United States calling for armed force to repel the North Korean invaders. The action provided the pretext for U.S. intervention in the conflict and was the first time the Security Council had ever approved the use of military force. -
Opening of causeway
28th June 1924
The causeway linking Singapore to johor Baru is officially opened by Governor Sir Laurence Guillemard. The bridge took two years to build. -
29th June 1944
Lim Bo Seng dies
Towards the end of 1941, the Japanese advanced into Malaya. This prompted men such as Lim Bo Seng to come forward to mobilise people for the war effort
Just before Singapore fell to the Japanese in early 1942, Lim escaped and joined Force 136. This was a special operations force formed by the British and Chinese governments to support resistance groups and co-ordinate guerrilla operations.
On March 1944, Lim was captured and tortured by the Kempeitai (Japanese Military Police) who wanted information about Force 136 and its activities. Despite being tortured, Lim refused to reveal names of fellow guerrillas or about Force 136. After months of imprisonment and torture, he died in Batu Gajah jail on 29 June 1944. -
30th June 1934
Night of the Long Knives
In Germany, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future. The leadership of the Nazi Storm Troopers (SA), whose four million members had helped bring Hitler to power in the early 1930s, was especially targeted. Hitler feared that some of his followers had taken his early "National Socialism" propaganda too seriously and thus might compromise his plan to suppress workers' rights in exchange for German industry making the country war-ready. -
1st Juky 1973
SBS Formed
Singapore's three bus companies, Amalgameted Bus Company, Associated Bus Services and United Bus Company, merge to form Singapore Bus Services to eliminate unnecessary competition. 1st July 1997
Hong Kong handover
At midnight on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese rule in a ceremony attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The chief executive under the new Hong Kong government, Tung Chee Hwa, formulated a policy based on the concept of "one country, two systems," thus preserving Hong Kong's role as a principal capitalist center in Asia.
In 1841, China ceded the island to the British with the signing of the Convention of Chuenpi, and in 1842 the Treaty of Nanking was signed, formally ending the First Opium War. -
2nd July 1900
Zeppelin demonstrates airship
In the sky over Germany's Lake Constance, Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, a retired Prussian army officer, successfully demonstrates the world's first rigid airship. The 420-foot, cigar-shaped craft was lifted by hydrogen gas and powered by a 16-horsepower engine. -
3rd July 1775
Washington assumes command
On Cambridge common in Massachusetts, George Washington rides out in front of the American troops gathered there, draws his sword, and formally takes command of the Continental Army. Washington, a prominent Virginia planter and veteran of the French and Indian War, was appointed commander in chief by the Continental Congress two weeks before. In serving the American colonies in their war for independence, he declined to accept payment for his services beyond reimbursement of future expenses. -
4th Juky 1776
U.S. declares independence
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king. -
5th July 1946
Bikini introduced
On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed "bikini," inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week. -
6th July 1935
Dalai Lama is born
On this day, an infant named Tenzin Gyatso, future leader of Tibet and bestselling author, is born to a peasant family in Takster, Tibet. At age two, he will be declared the Dalai Lama.