671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock (clepsydra) called Rokoku. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu.
1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem.
1619 – Thirty Years’ War: Battle of Záblatí, a turning point in the Bohemian Revolt.
1692 – Salem witch trials: Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts, for “certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries”.
1793 – French Revolution: Following the arrests of Girondin leaders, the Jacobins gain control of the Committee of Public Safety installing the revolutionary dictatorship.
1871 – Sinmiyangyo: Captain McLane Tilton leads 109 US Marines in a naval attack on Han River forts on Kanghwa Island, Korea.
1898 – Spanish–American War: In the Battle of Guantánamo Bay, U.S. Marines begin the American invasion of Spanish-held Cuba.
1916 – The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire was declared by Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca.
1935 – Dr. Robert Smith takes his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio, United States, by him and Bill Wilson.
The Lidice massacre is perpetrated as a reprisal for the assassination of Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.
Six hundred forty-two men, women and children massacred at Oradour-sur-Glane, France.
1947 – Saab produces its first automobile.
1967 – The Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire.
1994 – China conducts a nuclear test for DF-31 warhead at Area C (Beishan), Lop Nur, its prominence being due to the Cox Report.
1997 – Before fleeing his northern stronghold, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen’s family members.
2002 – The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom.
2003 – The Spirit rover is launched, beginning NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission.
Wednesday, June 10th, 2020
A day after North Korea severed its hotlines with South Korea over defectors who sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the border, South Korea announces it is taking legal action against two organisations that conducted such operations, saying that they “have created tension between the two Koreas and caused danger to the border-area residents’ lives and safety”. (Reuters)
The Nepali parliament moves to approve a new map and revision of the national emblem which includes territory in India’s Uttarakhand state. (Times of India)
Sweden closes the case of the murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986 after 34 years of investigation. (CNN)
Several people, including Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, testify about police brutality and systemic racism before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. (NPR)
NASCAR announces that the display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all of its events and properties (ESPN)
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday projected the U.S. unemployment rate, after unexpectedly declining last month, will reach 9.3 percent by the end of the year. The Fed is anticipating a 9.3 percent unemployment rate by the end of 2020 and a 6.5 percent unemployment rate by the end of 2021. May’s jobs report showed the unemployment rate surprisingly declined to 13.3 percent from 14.7 percent as states reopened, despite economists expecting it would climb to nearly 20 percent. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted it “remains historically high,” however; the unemployment rate in February was at a near 50-year low of 3.5 percent before the pandemic. The Congressional Budget Office meanwhile projects that the unemployment rate won’t reach 9.3 percent until the end of 2021 and will be above 11 percent through the end of this year.Source: The New York Times
Pelosi calls for Confederate statues to come down as Trump opposes renaming forts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called for the removal of 11 Capitol Hill statues of Confederate leaders in a Wednesday letter amid America’s reckoning with racism after the killing of George Floyd. The Joint Committee on the Library, a congressional panel that manages the National Statuary Hall Collection, should start removing the statues “immediately,” Pelosi said. Democrats plan to introduce a bill to remove the statues as well. Pelosi’s move comes in contrast to President Trump, who declared Wednesday that he would not consider renaming forts named after Confederate generals. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said they’d support renaming the forts, but Trump disagreed, tweeting “our history as the greatest nation in the world will not be tampered with.” Source: ABC News
NASCAR bans display of Confederate flag from all events NASCAR just became the latest organization to prohibit the display of the Confederate flag from all events and properties, effective immediately. The auto racing organization released a statement on the matter Wednesday following nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice. The ban applies to fans, competitors, and anyone else involved in the industry. Prior to the announcement, driver Bubba Wallace, the first full-time African-American driver in the top-flight Cup series since 1971, had called for NASCAR to get the Confederate flag “out of here,” saying there is “no place” for it in the sport. Source: NASCAR
Tuesday, June 9th, 2020
The American reality TV program Cops is canceled after 31 years amid police brutality protests. (Washington Post)
The film Gone with the Wind is removed from the HBO Max streaming service. They say the 1939 film was “a product of its time” and depicted “ethnic & racial prejudices” that “were wrong then and are wrong today.” (BBC)
The End