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1495 - Friar John Cor recorded the first known batch of Scotch whisky in Lindores Abbey, Fife.

1533 - Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's new queen, was crowned.

1779 – Benedict Arnold, a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, is court-martialed for malfeasance.

1831 - The magnetic North Pole was located by Sir James Clark Ross on his Arctic exploration expedition with Admiral Parry.

1935 - Britain introduced the compulsory wearing of 'L' plates for learner drivers.

1938 - The Bren gun was issued to the armed forces service. The name was derived from Brno, the Czech town where it was first made, and Enfield, where it was made in Britain.

1946 - Television licences were issued in Britain for the first time. They cost £2.

1968 - Britain and Iceland signed a formal end to the 'Cod War' over fishing rights in the North Sea.

1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine.

1977 - The maximum speed limits on Britain's roads was changed to 70mph

1990 – George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production.

2001 - The king, queen, and seven other members of Nepal's royal family were slain by Crown Prince Dipendra, who then shot himself, dying three days later.

2003 - The People's Republic of China begins filling the reservoir behind the Three Gorges Dam.

2009 – General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth largest United States bankruptcy in history.

1886 – U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House, becoming the only president to wed in the executive mansion.

1910 – Charles Rolls, co-founder of Rolls-Royce Limited, becomes the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane.

1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.

1924 - England spoke to Australia by wireless, the first time that a wireless conversation had been held between 2 countries or over so great a distance. The transmissions, by the Amalgamated Wireless Co. were between Poldhu in Cornwall and Vaucluse in Sydney.

1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised.

1966 – Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on another world.

1997 - Dr. Stephen Martin & David Mitchell became the first Britons to reach the North Pole without backup.

2003 – Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

2010 – Derrick Bird goes on a killing spree in Cumbria, killing 13 and injuring 11, see Cumbria shootings.

2012 - The start of 4 days of celebrations to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

(02-06-2012 13:05 )skully Wrote: [ -> ]1886 – U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House, becoming the only president to wed in the executive mansion.

Grover Cleveland was a batchelor when he entered the White House and his sister acted as "hostess" at official functions for his first two years in office.
At the age of 49 he married the 21 year old Frances Folsom, the daughter of a family friend.

This marriage was unusual because Cleveland was the executor of Oscar Folsom's estate and had supervised Frances' upbringing after her father's death, but the public did not take exception to the match. Frances Folsom Cleveland remains the youngest ever First Lady, and the public soon warmed to her beauty and warm personality. They had five children but the first wasn't born until five years into their marriage when Cleveland was 54 and the last in 1903 when he was 67.

However, the best known of Grover Cleveland's records was that he was also the only President to serve non-consecutive terms.

Having won the 1884 Presidential election (the first Democrat to do so since 1861) by a narrow margin Cleveland was expected to be re-elected in 1888. The economy was doing well and the country was at peace but despite winning the popular vote Cleveland lost on the Electoral College to Benjamin Harrison in a bad tempered campaign with allegations of fraud on both sides.

The crucial state was New York, ironically Cleveland's home state, which he lost by just 14,000 votes out of an electorate of more than 1 million. Winning New York would have given him victory.

The 1892 election was rather different. President Harrison's wife was terminally ill and out of respect for her both sides agreed not to indulge in the usual mud-slinging and the entire campaign was low-key. Cleveland's running mate was Adlai Stevenson, grandfather of the 1950's Presidential hopeful, and they romped home by a convincing margin. Cleveland was therefore both the 22nd and 24th Presidents of the United States.

However, no sooner had Cleveland resumed office when the country hit the worst economic crisis it had ever known to that point ("the panic of 93"), prompted by railroad bankruptcies and a severe period of recession began. To make matters worse, Cleveland was diagnosed with a tumour of the mouth, requiring an operation. The news was kept secret to prevent another run on the dollar and further stock market panic and the operation took place on a ship whilst Cleveland was supposedly on holiday. Emergency dental treatment was the cover story for the facial disfigurement and the truth wasn't revealed until 1917.

The Republicans won a landslide victory in the 1894 mid-term Congressional elections and the Democrats were consigned to opposition for another 20 years. Any thoughts of running for a third term in 1896 were a non-starter (due to the political climate, that is - the "two-term" limit for Presidents wasn't brought in until the 1940s) and the Republican McKinley romped home anyway. Cleveland quietly went into retirement, although he served as a trustee of Princeton University for a while.

Cleveland was generally regarded as a decent and honest man, but his "principled" stands sometimes crossed the line into stubborn and uncompromising behaviour. Critics complained that he showed little imagination and he seemed overwhelmed by the economic problems in his second term, but his reputation as a man of good character has meant that his historical legacy has been largely favourable, although not spectacular (he is ranked 19th out of 43 in the American Historical Society Presidential Ratings).

Although the operation for his mouth cancer had been a complete success his health deteriorated in later years (he had been a chain smoker of cigars) and he fell seriously ill in 1907. In 1908 he suffered a fatal heart attack and died at the age of 71.

1665 – James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England) defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.

1937 - The Duke of Windsor, (the abdicated King Edward VIII), married American divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson, privately in a château near Tours, France.

1940 - World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ended with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.

1968 - Pop artist Andy Warhol was shot and critically wounded in his New York film studio by Valerie Solanas, an actress and militant feminist.

1978 - The Guiness Book of Records entered the record books as the most-stolen book from British libraries.

1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.

1981 - Shergar won the Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths.

1989 - The Chinese government authorized its soldiers and tanks to reclaim Beijing's Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of protests for democratic reforms, killing 2000 protesters.

1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.

1992 – Aboriginal Land Rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (1988), a case brought by Eddie Mabo.

1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.

1783 – The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).

1805 - The first official Trooping The Colour took place at Horse Guards Parade in London.

1896 – Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.

1920 – Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.

1939 – Holocaust: The MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, United States, after already being turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.

1940 - World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation ended. British forces completed the evacuation of 300,000 troops from Dunkirk in France. To rally the morale of the country, Winston Churchill delivered his famous 'We shall fight on the beaches ... we shall never surrender' speech to the House of Commons.

1961 – In the Vienna summit, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sparks the Berlin Crisis by threatening to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany and ending American, British and French access to East Berlin.

1988 – Three cars on a train carrying hexogen to Kazakhstan explode in Arzamas, Gorky Oblast, USSR, killing 91 and injuring about 1,500.

1989 – The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army.

1998 - The five major nuclear powers (the United States, Russia, China, France and Great Britain) renewed their appeal for India and Pakistan to stop development of nuclear arms and offered to help the two antagonists resolve their conflict over the Kashmir region.

1832 - The June Rebellion, an anti monarchist uprising organised by students, breaks out in Paris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Rebellion

1944 - Rome liberated by Allied forces.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates...547329.stm

1968 - Senator Robert Kennedy, the younger brother of the assassinated John F Kennedy, is injured in a shooting after giving a speech at the California Primary. He died the following day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates...658877.stm

1972 - The Duke of Windsor was buried after a funeral service at the Royal Burial Ground, Windsor Castle.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates...496577.stm

2001 - Tropical Storm 'Allison' makes landfall in Texas. The reported $5.5 billion worth of damages makes it the costliest in US history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Allison

Today is World Environment Day. Run by the United Nations Environmental Programme, the event aims to promote global awareness to environmental issues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Environment_Day

1883 – The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.

1917 - About 10 million American men began registering for the draft in World War I.

1944 – World War II: More than 1000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.

1944 - World War II: A cafe in the French town of Benouville was the first place to be liberated from German occupation when British paratroopers seized control of a vital canal bridge in advance of the main Allied D-Day landings in Normandy the following morning on 6th June.

1956 – Elvis Presley introduces his new single, Hound Dog, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.

1963 - British Secretary of War John Profumo resigned his post following revelations that he had lied to the House of Commons about his sexual affair with Christine Keeler, an alleged prostitute.

1964 - Blue Streak became Britain's first rocket, taking us into the space age. The 69 ft rocket was launched at Woomera, Australia, it had originally been planned as Britain’s first nuclear weapon carrier but was scrapped due to costs.

1977 – The Apple II, one of the first personal computers, goes on sale.

1981 – The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five people in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, in what turns out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS.

2003 – A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50°C (122°F) in the region.

2003 - Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott flashed a V-sign at journalists as he went into a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street.

2007 - The new Olympics 2012 logo received a 'mauling' when it was unveiled to the public. The logo, which took a year to design was designed to 'engage with young people and excite sponsors' said the London 2012 chairman, Sebastian Coe.

2012 - The day was declared a Bank Holiday to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. It was the final day of 4 days of celebration to honour 60 years of the Queen as our monarch. It has been 115 years since the United Kingdom last celebrated a royal Diamond Jubilee (that was Queen Victoria's) and it may be another century or more before there is another.

1813 - As part of the War of 1812, British forces ambush an American encampment and capture two senior officers at Stoney Creek, Ontario.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stoney_Creek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

1844 - The YMCA was founded in London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YMCA

1859 - Queen Victoria signed letters patent, making the seperation of Australian states Queensland and New South Wales official.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_patent

1944 - The D-Day landings mark the start of Allied invasion of Europe in a major offensive against the occupying German forces.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates...499352.stm

1960 - Bing Crosby presented with a Platinum Disc to commemorate the sale of his 200 millionth record.

1962 - The Beatles record their first four tracks in a session at Abbey Road Studios. One of the tracks was "Love Me Do".
http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/upload/bea...o_5590.jpg

1982 - Tom Petty, Crosby Stills & Nash, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne are among the stars appearing at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California. The event was called Peace Sunday, We Have a Dream - an anti-nuclear war concert.
http://waddywachtelinfo.com/PeaceSundayConcert.html

1683 – The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum.

1752 – A devastating fire destroys one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes.

1844 - The Factory Act in Britain restricted female workers to a 12-hour day; children between eight and 13 years were limited to six-and-a-half hours.

1882 – More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbour.

1912 – The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.

1933 – The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey, United States.

1936 - Gatwick Airport opened in Surrey. Half a century later, it became Britain’s second biggest international airport, and one of the world’s busiest.

1944 – World War II: Battle of Normandy begins. D-Day, code named Operation Overlord, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.

1984 – Tetris, one of the best-selling video games of all-time, is released.

2002 – Eastern Mediterranean Event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at 10 meters diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The resulting explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.

2005 – The United States Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning cannabis, including medical marijuana, in Gonzales v. Raich.

1494 - Ferdinand II of Aragon and John II of Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing the Americas and Africa between their two countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tordesillas

1810 - Argentina's first newspaper, the Gazeta de Buenos Ayres, is published by journalist Mariano Moreno.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_Moreno
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazeta_de_Buenos_Ayres

1929 - The state of Vatican City is created when the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See sign the Lateran Treaty. This ended the dispute between the fascist Italian government and the Papacy, known as the Roman Question.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Question
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City

1977 - The Queen celebrates her Silver Jubilee.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates...562633.stm

1981 - Bjorn Borg defeats Ivan Lendl 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to claim his sixth French Open title, then a record, and was also the last grand slam title Borg won (11 in all). The only player ever to match the record of 6 French titles is Rafael Nadal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_French_Open

2012 - The transit of Venus takes place. It is the last one of this century and will not happen again until December 2117.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus