On This Day - 30th June

1894 - Tower Bridge opens in London
1917 - Lena Horne born
1919 - Susan Hayward born
1927 - The first Ryder Cup golf tournement is held - the US win
1934 - Hitler purges Nazi party in the Night of the long knieves
1934 - Harry Blackstone born
1950 - Leonard Whiting born

1954 - Millions of people turn to look at the darkening skies as a total eclipse of the sun spreads from America through Europe and on to Asia.
1966 - Mike Tyson born
1969 - Four million people face starvation when the Nigerian government bans night flights of food by the Red Cross.

1971 - Three Russian cosmonauts are found dead in their Soyuz 11 space capsule after it made what looked like a perfect landing in Kazakhstan.
1975 - Ralf Schumacher born
1985 - All 39 Americans being held captive by the Shia Muslim Amal militia in Lebanon are released, after almost three weeks in captivity. Also Michael Phelps born
1992 - Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher takes her place in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.

On This Day - 29th June

1613 - The original Globe Theatre in London burnt down during a performance of Henry the Eighth.
1900 - Antoine de Saint-Exupery born
1919 - Slim Pickens born
1930 - Robert Evans born
1944 - Gary Busey born
1947 - Richard Lewis born
1948 - Fred Grandy born
1950 - The United States defeated Walter Winterbottom's England 1-0 in the World Cup finals in Brazil.
1956 - Arthur Miller marries Marilyn Monroe.
1958 - Brazil came from behind to defeat hosts Sweden 5-2 and claim their first World Cup.

1960 - The BBC's new Television Centre will be the "Hollywood" of the small screen, the corporation's director of TV announces, as it is opened in White City, West london.

1974 - Isabel Peron is sworn in as interim leader of the Argentine Republic after her husband falls ill.

1986 - Millionaire Richard Branson smashes the world record for the fastest powerboat crossing of the Atlantic.Also Diego Maradona captained Argentina to their second World Cup with a 3-2 victory over West Germany.
1995 - American and Russian spacecrafts successfully dock in orbit for the first time in 20 years.

2001 - The government announces a memorial in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, is to be built in London's Hyde Park.
2002 - Hakan Sukur scored the fastest goal in World Cup history, finding the net in just 11 seconds for Turkey against hosts South Korea.

On This Day - 28th June

1491 - Henry VIII born
1902 - Richard Rodgers born
1914 - Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne assassinated.
1919 – The Treaty of Versailles was signed in Paris, formally ending World War I.
1926 - Mel Brooks born
1933 - Pat Morita born
1946 - Gilda Radner born
1948 - Kathy Bates born
1958 - France orders the release of 30 political prisoners to win Muslim support for plans on Algeria's future.Also a 17-year-old Pele made his breakthrough on the international stage at Sweden '58, but the six goals he scored in the tournament were no match for France's Just Fontaine.

1960 - 45 men are killed in a gas explosion at a coal mine in Monmouthshire, Wales. Also John Elway born
1966 - John Cusack born
1970 - Steve Burton born
1976 - Three Britons and an American are sentenced to death by firing squad for their roles during the Angolan civil war.

1991 - Margaret Thatcher announces that she is to give up her seat in the House of Commons at the general election.
1994 - Oleg Salenko scored five times against an unsettled Cameroon side, setting the record for most goals scored in a single match at the World Cup.
1994 - On this day, at USA '94, all four teams in a group finished on equal points; the only time it has ever happened. Italy, Mexico, Norway and the Republic of Ireland finished on four points.
1997 – Mike Tyson was disqualified from a fight with Evander Holyfield after biting off a piece of his opponent's ear.
2004 - The US hands sovereignty back to Iraq in a low-key ceremony in Baghdad.

On This Day - 27th June

1844 - Mormon leader Joseph Smith is murdered by a mob
1880 - Helen Keller born
1927 - Bob "Captain Kangaroo" Keeshan born
1930 - H. Ross Perot born
1951 - Julia Duffy born
1957 - The link between smoking and lung cancer is one of 'direct cause and effect', a report by the Medical Research Council finds.

1963 - The US President John F Kennedy visits his ancestral homeland in County Wexford.
1975 - Tobey Maguire born
1977 - Home Secretary Merlyn Rees appeals for calm following two weeks of violent clashes outside the Grunwick factory in north London.

1986 - The International Court of Justice finds the United States guilty of violating international law by supporting rebels in Nicaragua.
1991 - Yugoslav tanks, troops and aircraft sweep into the small republic of Slovenia, 48 hours after it declared independence.
2011 - Former Manchester City captain Mike Doyle has died at the age of 64. Doyle was part of the City team which won the league title, FA Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup and the League Cup between 1968 and 1970, and skippered the side which won the League Cup again in 1976.

On This Day - 26th June

1483 – Richard III began a short-lasting reign as King of England.
1819 - Abner Doubleday born
1892 - Pearl S. Buck born
1904 - Peter Lorre born
1914 - Babe Didrikson Zaharias born
1922 - Eleanor Parker born
1954 - The highest scoring match in World Cup history takes place as Austria recorded a 7-5 quarter-final victory over host nation Switzerland.
1956 - Chris Isaak born

1959 - The Queen and President Eisenhower inaugurate the St Lawrence Seaway in Canada that connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic.
1961 - Greg LeMond born
1963 - President Kennedy inspires the people of West Germany with the morale-boosting 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech of defiance to the Soviet Union. Also Harriet Wheeler born

1970 - Riots break out in Londonderry after it is revealed Bernadette Devlin has been arrested. Also Chris O'Donnell born
1974 - The first scanning of a bar coded product (a packet of chewing gum). Also Derek Jeter born
1986 - Entrepreneur Richard Branson sets off on his second attempt to claim the transatlantic crossing record for Britain.

2000 - International inspectors say they have seen a large number of IRA weapons "safely and adequately stored" in bunkers.
2003 – Marc-Vivien Foé's tragic death shocked the football world. After collapsing on the field during Cameroon's Confederation Cup match with Colombia, efforts to revive the former Manchester City player were unsuccessful.

2006 - Four years ago, Switzerland made history by becoming the only team not to allow a goal at the World Cup finals.

On This Day - 25th June

1846 - In Britain the Corn Laws are repealled
1876 - The Battle of Little Big Horn in Montanna
1903 - George Orwell born
1924 - Sidney Lumet born
1925 - June Lockhart born
1945 - Carly Simon born
1947 - The Diary of Anne Frank was published for the first time.

1950 - North Korea invades South Korea at several points along the two countries' joint border.
1953 - John Christie is sentenced to hang for murdering his wife and then hiding her body under the floorboards of their Notting Hill home in London.
1963 - George Michael born
1970 - The United States launches its latest plan to end the current war of attrition between Israel and Egypt.
1978 - At Argentina '78, the Netherlands lose their second successive World Cup final, falling to the hosts 3-1 after extra-time.
1985 - Thirteen people are arrested in connection with a suspected IRA bombing campaign uncovered by police two days ago.
1991 - Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia.
2001 - The ring leaders of a weekend of racial clashes in Burnley, Lancashire, are hunted by the police as the clear up in the town begins.
2005 - Ultra-conservative Mahmoud Admadinejad wins surprise victory in presidential poll.

2009 - Pop Star Michael Jackson dies at the age of 50.

On This Day - 24th June

1842 - Ambrose Bierce born
1878 - The St John's Ambulance are formed.
1895 - Jack Dempsey born
1899 - Chief Dan George born
1916 – The Battle of the Somme begins during the First World War
1942 - Michele Lee and Mick Fleetwood born
1944 - Jeff Beck born
1956 - Joe Penny born
1968 - The country's rail network is thrown into disarray as the National Union of Railwaymen begins its work-to-rule and ban on overtime.

1974 - The Labour Government admits Britain exploded a nuclear device in the United States a few weeks ago.
1983 - America's first woman in space, Sally Ride, returns safely in the Challenger space shuttle after a six-day flight.

1986 - Hard-line unionist leader the Reverend Ian Paisley warns Northern Ireland is on the verge of civil war.
1993 - Northern Ireland Minister Michael Mates resigns over his links with fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir.