Important Events From This day in History June 14th

 http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/june15th.html

1954 U.S.A. Cold War Civil Defense Drill

1954 : As the continuing Cold War jitters hit America in the 1950s a large scale nationwide civil defense drill is held where the simulation of over 12 million Americans die in a mock nuclear attack. The event stood as a stark reminder that the United States and the world was now living under a nuclear shadow. This in turn did help to get the leaders of the worlds 2 largest nuclear powers to work together to stop the spread of nuclear proliferation and eventually to agree to dismantle many nuclear weapons . At that time many believed that any nuclear war would end in both countries being destroyed with no winner only losers.

1929 U.S.A. Population 120 Million

1929 : The population in the US continues to grow at a rate of 1.4 million a year with current census estimates predicting 120,000,000 next year.

1939 U.S.A.transatlantic commercial service

1939 : A second transatlantic commercial service is planned using the latest in flying boats.

1939 U.S.A. Electricity Prices Decreasing

1939 : As the use of electricity increases the cost has come down an example below:

In 1921 the cost to light a 100 watt lamp for two hours was 1 1/2 cents

In 1939 the cost to light a 100 watt lamp for two hours was 3/4 cent

1940 German Tanks Arrive In Paris

1940 : German tanks rolled into Paris and took control of the city and the German Gestapo went to work with arrests and interrogations as a gigantic swastika flew beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

1942 Holland Anne Frank Diary

1942 : Anne Frank began her diary after she receives it for her 13th birthday, the diary details her life in hiding from the Nazis in hidden rooms in her father Otto Frank's office building and has become one of the world's most widely read books. She died while held in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp of typhus in March 1945.

1943 U.S.A. Salute The Flag

1943 : In the case of West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, the United States Supreme Court decided that schoolchildren cannot be forced to give a salute to the United States flag.

1954 U.S.A. Pledge of Allegiance

1954 : President Eisenhower signed a bill to add the words "under God" to the United States Pledge of Allegiance.

1961 UK Zebra Crossings

1961 : Following increasing numbers of accidents at uncontrolled zebra crossings a new type of road crossing with push button controls which will allow pedestrians to stop traffic with flashing lights is to be introduced next year.

1967 U.S.A. Mariner 5 Spacecraft

1967 : The Mariner 5 spacecraft raced a heavier Soviet probe toward Venus to penetrate with electronic fingers the planet's mysterious veil of clouds and help scientists see if Venus is a fit place to live, In the end the glory did go the Soviet Probe which did reach Venus 1 day ahead of Mariner 5.

1972 U.S.A. Pilots Organize Worldwide Strike

1972 : Following a series of plane hijackings The International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) has called a 24-hour stoppage for June 19th and accused governments of failing to take action to halt air piracy.

1973 U.S.A. Dr. Benjamin Spock

1973 : Dr. Benjamin Spock (famous author of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care) and three others, including Yale University Chaplain William Sloane Coffin, Jr., are convicted of conspiring to aid, abet, and counsel draft registrants to violate the Selective Service Act.

1977 U.S.A. 65% Non Smoking Seats

1977 : Non-Smokers win court battle with Eastern Airlines which required Eastern to have at least 65% non smoking seats, this was a landmark case in many ways and the forerunner to smoking being banned on all flights.

1982 Falkland Islands Argentina Surrenders

1982 : The Falkland Islands War ends when Argentina surrenders to Great Britain after a war 

lasting 6 weeks.

1985 Greece TWA Flight 847 Hijack

1985 : TWA Flight 847 from Athens to Rome is hijacked by Shiite Hezbollah terrorists 2 of the 

Lebanese terrorists, armed with grenades and a 9-mm. pistol, then forced the plane to land in 

Beirut, Lebanon.

1995 U.S.A. Susan B Anthony Dollar

1995 : Discussions are again centering on replacing the dollar bill with a dollar coin by 

treasury officials and the latest design is smaller than the original famous Susan B Anthony 

Dollar.

1998 Yugoslavia Kosovo

1998 : In a combined show of strength NATO Defense Forces from a number of countries are 

gathering close to the Serbian province of Kosovo in Albania and Macedonia. At the same time 

Russian President Boris Yeltsin is meeting with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic hoping 

to convince him to end his assault on Kosovo and end the bloodshed. The G8 nations which 

includes Russia, United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy have issued a list of 

demands to President Milosevic, which include an end to action against civilians and for 

refugees to be allowed to return to their homes. Meanwhile as thousands of refugees have 

fled to Albania from Kosovo an airlift carrying urgent aid including food, medicine, blankets 

and makeshift shelters are being flown to temporary Refugee camps in Albania.

1999 UK Asda / Walmart

1999 : The world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart and the UK supermarket chain ASDA have 

agreed to a £6.72bn ($10.8bn) for supermarket group Asda beating out the offer from the 

Kingfisher group.

2001 Sweden The Gothenburg Summit

2001 : The Gothenburg Summit ends having focused on the European Union's enlargement 

which will bring the number of members up from 15 to 27 over the next decade. The other 

major discussion area was pressing ahead with implementation of the 1997 Kyoto protocol 

on global warming. Much of the summit was dominated by violent clashes between 

anti-globalization protesters and police. During the visit by US President Bush negotiations 

broke down over the implementation of the "Kyoto treaty". Mr Bush described the Kyoto 

treaty as "unrealistic and not based on science".

2005 Prisoner Treatment Defended By US Vice-President Dick Cheney

2005 : Following on from criticism from around the world and senators from his own Republican 

party, The US Vice-President Dick Cheney has defended all means used at Guantanamo Bay 

prison as justified to prevent further attacks on the US. A recent report published in Time 

magazine and authenticated by the Pentagon describes the treatment of one prisoner 

Mohammed al-Qahtani which includes: Forced to bark like a dog, Stand for prolonged 

periods, Had his facial hair shaved off, Pictures of scantily clad women hung round his 

neck, Forcibly injected with fluids after refusing food and water, "invasion of space by a 

female" in which he was straddled by a woman soldier.

2005 Earthquake Hits California

2005 : A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Northern California. The earthquake 

was followed by a tsunami warning which forced the evacuation of thousands of residents of 

Crescent City and other surrounding coastal communities. There were no major injuries and 

very little damage that occurred, and the tsunami never happened.

2007 Chinese Slaves Rescued

2007 : Over two hundred people, twenty-nine of them children, were rescued by police after 

being held as slave workers brick kilns in China. Over thirty-five thousand police were sent 

to the central province of Henan to 7,500 different brick kilns in the area after the media 

reported of child slavery inn brick kilns in a neighboring province.

2008 Brazilian Samba Singer Dies

2008 : Famed Brazilian samba singer, Jamelao, died at the age of ninety-five. The singer's 

full name was Jose Bispo Clementino dos Santos and he had a five decade singing career 

and recorded over twenty records.

2011 US Republican Presidential Hopefuls Debate

2011 : Seven of the Republican presidential nomination hopefuls staged their first debate for 

the 2012 election campaign. The candidates focused their barbs not at each other but against 

President Obama and his healthcare reform. The debate took place at Saint Anselm College 

in New Hampshire and featured such possible candidates as Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, 

Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich.

2012 Coca Cola To Return to Burma After Sixty Years Away

2012 : After a decision by the United States to suspend investment sanctions against Burma, 

Coca Cola has stated that it would resume business operations in Burma once the US started 

issuing licenses to start investment in the country. Coca Cola had not operated in Burma for 

sixty years and the country was only one of three that the company had not been doing 

business with, the other two countries were Cuba and North Korea.

2013 US Will Give Syrian Rebels Aid

2013 : The US government announced it would give military aid to the Syrian rebels. 

The US made the decision after they concluded that Syrian President Bashar al Assad 

had used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. The Syrian government responded 

that the United States was lying.