Important Events From This day in History June 11th

 http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/june12th.html

1959 USA Naval Dirigible

1959 : A new form of transport which is a cross between an aircraft, a boat and a land vehicle, propelled on a cushion of air created by its own fan power the "Hovercraft", has it's official launch at the Solent on the South Coast of England. The Hovercraft (SRN1) which is still at the experimental level is just 29 ft long, but developers believe the technology will allow the production of full scale Hovercraft capable of speeds 50 knots and up to 300 ft long. The SRN1 Hovercraft was designed by Sir Christopher Cockerell.

1927 USA Rum Runners

1927 : The continued crackdown on Rum Runners has resulted in arrests throughout the country with many of those caught implicating local politicians and local police. During the last week alone over 20,000 cases of liquor have been seized.

1937 Unions Call for Protests

1937 : Union Men from the United Automobile Workers of America wanting to join the Pickets at steel mills in Michigan were turned back today by deputies using tear gas, the Union has now called for mass protests by all members of the Union at Monroe, Michigan.

1944 France D-Day Landings

1944 : Five days after the D-Day landing on June 6th, the five Allied landing groups, made up of some 330,000 troops, converge in Normandy.

1955 France 24 Hours Le Mans

1955 : During the 24 Hours Le Mans race a car looses control and crashes into stands filled with spectators, killing 82 people.

2009 World H1N1 influenza strain

2009 : The World Health Organization declares H1N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as "swine flu", as a global pandemic. Due to it's highly contagious nature spreading from human to human. Most people infected suffer a mild symptoms, but the small minority who suffer more severe symptoms (less than 0.04% )are hospitalized and end up in an intensive-care unit suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome, which kills in half of all cases. Specific vaccines are developed and released in North America in late October.

1963 Alabama Governor Attempts to Stop Enrollment

1963 : Alabama 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.

1967 Middle East Six Day War Ends

1967 : Israel and Syria agree to observe the UN mediated cease-fire ending six days of Israeli fighting against Egypt, Jordan and Syrian forces.

1979 USA John Wayne

1979 : Film star John Wayne, also known as the "Duke," died of cancer.

1987 USA Earthquake Midwest

1987 : A rare earthquake hit 14 states in the Midwest and parts of Canada stretching down to the South. The quake measured 5.0 on the Richter scale and damaged some highway overpasses, also many thousands lost telephone services. The quake lasted between 3 to 15 seconds at 6:49 PM.

1987 UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

1987 : Margaret Thatcher celebrates her third general election win after another landslide victory over the Labour Party.

1998 Sudan Famine

1998 : The United Nations World Food Program has declared an official famine Southern Sudan with estimates that over 1 million people could die from starvation due to extreme food shortages.

1998 UK Minimum Wage

1998 : The Low Pay Commission has recommended the new minimum wage of £3.60 an hour for people over 20.

2001 USA Timothy McVeigh

2001 : Timothy McVeigh was executed by lethal injection for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

2003 Ethiopia Oldest Known Human Fossils Found

2003 : Scientists have found the oldest known human fossilized skulls dated around 160,000 years old in the Afar region of Ethiopia.

2005 United Kingdom G8 Reaches Debt Deal

2005 : The G8 finance ministers reached a debt deal on behalf of their respective countries at a meeting in London. The deal made by the world's eight richest countries would allow eighteen of the poorest countries to completely write off their debt. In an effort to lessen worldwide poverty, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and African Development Bank would completely forgive the debt of those eighteen countries totaling forty billion dollars, and another twenty countries could be eligible for the debt forgiveness if they were to meet certain governmental standards.

2007 First Cuban Female Bishop Ordained

2007 : The Episcopal Church of Cuba ordained its first female bishop. Reverend Nerva Cot became only the eighteenth female bishop in the world, and the first female bishop in the developing world. In the consecration ceremony Cot was surrounded by high ranking church officials from Cuba as well as officials from Haiti, Panama, and Miami.

2008 Pakistan US Relations Worsen

2008 : A US air strike by Afghanistan-based US forces against Taliban militants in Pakistan territory causes the death of 11 Pakistan troops has been condemned in Pakistan as an act of aggression by US forces and has caused anger in Pakistan as this attack and others are widely seen as a violation of its sovereignty.

2008 Twister at Boy Scout Camp kills 4

2008 : The continued period of strong storms many with tornadoes in the Midwest causes one of the most deadly tornado's so far when a twister strikes a Boy Scout camp in Little Sioux, Iowa. leaving 4 dead and 40 injured.

2009 US Holocaust Museum Guard Killed

2009 : Stephen Tyrone Johns, a guard at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. was shot and killed by an eighty-eight year old man. The man opened fire on a crowd inside the museum before he was shot by police and taken into custody. The attacker was reported to be James von Brunn, a white supremacist who had been convicted of prior violent crimes and served time in prison.

2011 Blasts in Pakistani Market

2011 : Ninety people were wounded and at least another thirty-four people were killed when explosions blasted through a market in Peshawar, Pakistan. The bomb had been placed in a garbage pile and exploded in the middle of the night in an area that was home to army and political offices. There had been a small explosion followed by a much larger explosion which caused the majority of injuries and damage.

2012 United States Jerry Sandusky Trial Begins

2012 : Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse trial began after he was charged with fifty-two counts of abusing ten boys over fifteen years while he was an assistant football coach at Penn State. The scandal shook up the Penn State community after late coach Joe Paterno was accused of improperly handling accusations against Sandusky.

2013 France Air Traffic Controllers Strike

2013 : Half of the flights in France's larger cities were cancelled as air traffic controllers in Europe started a strike against the European Union's plans to make all of Europe a single airspace. Proponents of the plan say it would centralize air traffic controllers and would help reduce costs and maximize airspace efficiency in the area.