Month In History

Discover the global events and personal stories of June

President John F. Kennedy greets spectators as he travels in his motorcade in Patrick Street, Cork, Ireland. 28 June 1963.  Robert Knudsen.
June 1, 1963

Kennedy on His Ireland Trip: “Couldn’t Have Been Better. We Loved It”

President Kennedy’s trip to Ireland was notable, publicly, in that it marked the first visit of an Irish-American President, the first of a Catholic President, and the first of a sitting President. It was notable, privately, in that no one traveling with him – including all his staff of Irish descent, two of his sisters, and his sister-in-law – had ever seen him happier.

General View of Jerusalem ca.1890-1900. Source: Library of Congress.
June 1, 1838

American Travelers to the Holy Land in the 19th Century

The vision of the Holy Land in 19th-century America was shaped by religious and cultural sentiment, and influenced by the experiences of those groups who traveled there: missionaries, pilgrims and tourists, explorers, settlers, and consular officers, all of whom had different motives for their journey and reports.

June 1, 1865

Father’s Day

However much Tad vexed others, Lincoln was entirely at his service, day or night.

June 1, 1912

Presidential Enmity and Amity

Theodore Roosevelt hated William Howard Taft; Taft hated Roosevelt; Roosevelt hated Woodrow Wilson. Wilson hated…

June 1, 1867

Map of Mark Twain’s “Great Pleasure Excursion” to Europe and the Holy Land

Map of Mark Twain’s “Great Pleasure Excursion” itinerary to Europe and the Holy Land.

June 2, 1880

1880 Republican National Convention

James A. Garfield didn’t want the job, and his arguments from the convention floor to that effect were so eloquent and moving, he was nominated forthwith.

June 5, 1967

The Anniversary of the Six-Day War

Ben-Gurion, writing as the Six-Day War begins, predicts victory.

June 12, 1987

Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” Speech

The Cold War may have began the day the Second World War ended, but its greatest battle did not start until the morning of August 13, 1961, when Berliners from both the Western and Soviet sectors awoke to find their city divided by a barbed wire barrier – soon to become a concrete wall 16 feet high and some 96 miles long – which, for the next 28 years would virtually imprison those unlucky enough to be on the Eastern side of the divide.

June 17, 1972

Nixon on Watergate: He Took One for the Team

When the House Judiciary Committee passed Articles of Impeachment, and a tape recording revealed him ordering a cover-up, Nixon had to go – and so left, speaking vaguely of “wrong judgments” but never, his role in Watergate itself.

June 18, 1860

Lincoln in Indiana: A Rare Mention of His Childhood There

It was his harsh life in the wilderness of Spencer County, Indiana, that shaped Lincoln’s character and beliefs.

June 21, 1915

Theodore Roosevelt’s Damning Charge: Wilson’s Weakness Made the Sinking of the Lusitania Possible

Wilson wanted to ascertain all the facts; he wanted to reach a determination; he wanted, then and only then, to write the Imperial German government, a sharp letter. He was still gathering information when, on May 7th, another German U-Boat torpedoed and sank the British luxury ocean liner RMS Luisitania, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. This time Wilson did voice a protest – but that was all. “Americans must have a consciousness different from the consciousness of every other nation in the world,” he declared. “There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.” Roosevelt was apoplectic.

The_Custer_Fight_Charles_Marion_Russell_1903_Library_of_Congress
June 25, 1876

Custer’s Last Stand – June 25, 1876

Days Before Leaving to Drive Out the “Indians” from the Bighorn Country, Custer Predicts Mining Fortunes To Be Made There

June 25, 1876

The Battle of the Little Bighorn

The Custers, of whom there were five in the 7th Cavalry, lived as a clan, fought as a clique, and died in their matching white buckskins at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on the same afternoon.



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