June 30, 1997:
The Colonial Flag of Hong Kong is lowered for the last time prior to hand over to China.
June 29, 2022:
June 29th was the shortest day in history due to a ‘wobble’ in Earth’s spin — 1.59 milliseconds shorter than any other day.
June 28, 1928:
Irish physicist John Stewart Bell, Irish physicist – author of “Bell’s Theorem” was born.
June 27, 1831:
Charles Darwin embarks on his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle, which would later inspire his theory of evolution.
June 26, 1911:
Sir Frederic Williams, co-inventor of the Cathode Ray Tube (the “Williams-Kilburn tube” — CRT) was born. CRTs were extensively used in oscilloscopes, which are electronic test instruments used to observe and analyze electronic signals. The CRT provided a visual representation of waveforms and allowed engineers and technicians to study electrical signals and troubleshoot electronic systems.
June 25, 1981:
Microsoft is incorporated. Founded six years earlier by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft grew out of the friends’ development of BASIC for the MITS Altair home computer kit. With later successes in its Windows operating system and software such as Word and Excel, Microsoft has grown to dominance in the personal computer software industry and billions of dollars of revenue.
June 24, 1497:
John Cabot also known as Giovanni Caboto, was an Italian explorer who sailed under the English flag in the late 15th century. In his quest to find a western route to Asia, he ended up reaching the coast of North America. On this day he became the first European to set foot in North America since the Vikings.
June 23, 1926:
The first SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), originally known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, was administered on June 23, 1926. At that time, the test was administered to around 8,000 students across the United States. The SAT was developed by a group of educators led by Carl Brigham and was initially intended to assess students’ aptitude for college-level studies. Since its inception, the SAT has undergone several revisions in format and scoring, but it continues to be widely used as a standardized test for college admissions in the United States.
Born #OnThisDay in 1912 was Alan Turing FRS. Arrested for homosexuality in 1952 (then illegal in the UK), he made foundational contributions to artificial intelligence and theoretical biology. Watch our #PeopleOfScience film on his life: https://t.co/agjBoSwFGU #PrideMonth pic.twitter.com/1ddn8nfsAs
— The Royal Society (@royalsociety) June 23, 2023
June 22, 1792:
Born, James Beaumont Neilson, Scottish inventor who introduced the use of a hot-air blast instead of a cold-air blast for the smelting of iron, which he patented on 1 Oct 1828. His process reduced the amount of coal needed and increased efficiency to satisfy the demands of the rail and shipbuilding industries. While manager of the Glasgow Gas-works, he had experimented with the effect of heated air on the illuminating power of gas, by bringing up a stream of it in a tube so as to surround the gas burner. He found the combustion of the gas was more intense and brighter. Then, experimenting on a common smith’s fire, by blowing the fire with heated air, the effect was the same; the fire was much more brilliant, and accompanied by an unusually intense degree of heat.
June 21, 1859
Henry Ossawa Tanner, the African-American painter was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and is considered to be one of the most important artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tanner’s work often focused on religious themes, and he was known for his use of light and shadow to create dramatic effects in his paintings. “The Banjo Lesson” (1893)
June 21:
Stonehenge is estimated to have been built in several stages over a long period of time, with different elements added and modified over the centuries. The construction of Stonehenge began around 3000 BCE and continued for several centuries until approximately 1600 BCE. Stonehenge and Avebury, in Wiltshire, are among the most famous groups of megaliths in the world. The two sanctuaries consist of circles of menhirs arranged in a pattern whose astronomical significance is still being explored. These holy places and the nearby Neolithic sites are an incomparable testimony to prehistoric times.
June 20, 1840:
Samuel Morse was granted a patent for telegraphy signals. Morse code is based on a binary system, with dots representing short signals and dashes representing long signals. This binary nature made it relatively easy to learn and use. By combining dots and dashes, the system could represent all the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation marks. Morse code is designed to transmit information efficiently. Certain letters and symbols that occur more frequently in the English language were assigned shorter codes, allowing for faster transmission. This efficiency was particularly important in the early days of telegraphy when transmission rates were slower. Morse code became the de facto standard for communication across telegraph networks. It offered compatibility between different telegraph systems and operators, ensuring that messages could be understood universally.
June 19, 1865:
Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced General Order No. 3, which declared the freedom of enslaved people in Texas. This announcement came over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued by President Abraham Lincoln, and it occurred following the end of the United State Civil War.
June 18, 1812:
U.S. President James Madison signed a declaration of war against Great Britain, initiating the War of 1812, which arose chiefly from U.S. grievances over oppressive maritime practices during the Napoleonic Wars
June 17, 1930:
Following the stock market crash in 1929, President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot-Hawley Tariff bill which raised duties on imports to preserve the domestic market for American-made goods making it difficult if not nearly impossible for other countries to export goods into the U.S.A. . In retaliation large numbers of foreign nations retaliated by enacting their own hefty tariffs, as well as quotas on imports. Many economists at the time and today believe this made the problems for America even worse than they already were. More about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff
June 16, 1903:
The Ford Motor Company was founded by Henry Ford and 11 associate investors.
Student Fairlane Estate Tour 2023: Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Hydroplant
June 15, 1844:
Charles Goodyear received a patent for the process of rubber vulcanization. When electrical wiring needs to be installed in environments with exposure to chemicals, oils, or solvents, rubber-covered wire is chosen for its chemical resistance properties.
ASTM Electrical Insulating Material Standards
National Electrical Code: Chapter 3 Wiring Methods and Materials
June 15, 1244:
June 14, 1777:
National Flag Day is observed in the United States. The idea to set aside a day to honor the national flag came from Bernard J. Cigrand, a Wisconsin schoolteacher, in 1885 urged his students to observe June 14 as “Flag Birthday.”
The Diag flagpole was initially purchased at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 before being installed on campus in July 1898. The flagpole was moved to its current position in 1918. #FlagDay pic.twitter.com/512GV4Rt0s
— University of Michigan (@UMich) June 14, 2023
June 13, 1773:
Birthday of Thomas Young, the English polymath who demonstrated light behaved as if it was a wave.
The wave-like characteristics of light allow LEDs to achieve high energy efficiency. Unlike traditional incandescent bulbs, which emit light through the heating of a filament, LEDs directly convert electrical energy into light. This efficiency is possible because LEDs emit light in a narrow wavelength band, minimizing energy loss due to heat production.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association: Lighting Systems Division Standards
June 12, 1987:
Republican President Ronald Reagan challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall”
June 11, 1963:
Alabama Democrat Governor George Wallace, trying to ensure continued segregation, is forced to end his blockade of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and allows two African American students to enroll.
June 10, 1752:
Benjamin Franklin was said to have flown a kite during a thunderstorm to collect ambient electrical charge in a Leyden jar, enabling him to demonstrate the connection between lightning and electricity.
June 9, 2006:
The United States passes the COPE act, a major overhaul of telecommunications. Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Bill of 2006.
Student presentation on the parent legislation “Telecommunications Act of 1996”
June 8, 1949:
George Orwell’s novel of a dystopian future, 1984, is published on June 8, 1949. The novel’s all-seeing leader, known as “Big Brother,” becomes a universal symbol for intrusive government and oppressive bureaucracy.
June 7, 1939:
King George VI becomes the first reigning British monarch to visit the United States when he and his wife, Elizabeth, cross the Canadian-U.S. border to Niagara Falls, New York. The royal couple subsequently visited New York City and Washington, D.C., where they called for a greater U.S. role in resolving the crisis in Europe.
June 6, 1944:
Led by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, an Allied armada of ships, planes, and landing craft and some 156,000 troops began the invasion of northern France from England this day in 1944—the famous “D-Day” of World War II.
June 5, 1947:
In an address at Harvard University, U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall advanced the idea of the Marshall Plan, a European recovery program financed by the United States. The Plan facilitated educational exchanges, technical assistance, research collaboration, scholarly publications and cultural influences.
June 4, 1876:
A mere 83 hours after leaving New York City, the Transcontinental Express train arrives in San Francisco.
June 3, 1965:
University of Michigan graduate Edward H. White became the first American to “walk” in space during the flight of Gemini 4.
June 2, 1966:
George Boole (June 2, 1815 – December 8, 1864) was an English mathematician and logician who is best known for his work in Boolean algebra, which laid the foundations for modern digital computer logic.
The United States space probe Surveyor 1 landed on the moon and began transmitting detailed photographs of the lunar surface.
June 1, 2006:
Released: A report on the effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers admitted that faulty design specifications, incomplete sections and substandard construction of levee segments, contributed up to 2/3rd’s of damage done to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Much of what the original University of Michigan standards advocacy initiative — particularly the National Electrical Code section on Critical Operations Power Systems — was informed by the findings in this report.
