Important Events From This day in History June 16th

 http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/june17th.html

1967 U.S.A. Monterey International Pop Music Festival

1967 : The Monterey International Pop Music Festival opens in Monterey, California, which will run for three days starts on June 16th and end on June 18th. Over 200,000 people attended, and it is often regarded as the precursor to Woodstock.

Performers at the festival included some truly great pop music legends including.

Jimi Hendrix

The Who

Ravi Shankar

Janis Joplin

Otis Redding

The Steve Miller Band

The Blues Project

The Mamas and the Papas

Simon & Garfunkel

The Byrds

The Animals

Jefferson Airplane

Grateful Dead

If you look at the list above it could easily be considered one of the great concerts of all times with so much great talent assembled in one place.

1978 U.S.A. Grease Opens

1978 : The Movie Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John opened.

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1884 First US Roller Coaster

1884 : The first American roller coaster (switchback railway) in America opens at Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York.

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1933 U.S.A. First Parts Of New Deal Legislation Signed

1933 : The first of the New Deal Initiatives for US recovery (bank, rail, and industry bills and initiating farm aid) are signed into law by President Roosevelt.

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1958 Hungary Uprising

1958 : The leader of the anti Soviet uprising in Hungary Imre Nagy against Soviet Rule is hung for treason after The Soviet Union took back control of the country in the preceding November after sending in 200,000 troops and 2,500 tanks to regain control.

1961 France Rudolf Nureyev Defects

1961 : Rudolf Nureyev, the world renowned dancer from the Soviet Union's Kirov Opera Ballet Company, defects during a stopover in Paris.

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1965 Vietnam US Troop Increase

1965 : A further 21,000 U.S. troops are to be sent to Vietnam as part of the continuing commitment of the United States support, the total of US military personnel exceeded 540,000 by 1969.

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1976 South Africa Soweto Violence

1976 : Violence has erupted in a number of South African townships including Soweto with violent clashes between black demonstrators. The violence is triggered by a march by 10,000 students carrying banners and slogans, saying "Down with Afrikaans" and "Viva Azania" (the name given to South Africa by black nationalists).

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1977 Soviet Union Brezhnev Elected

1977 : Leonid Ilich Brezhnev, first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party since 1964, is elected president of the Supreme Soviet, thereby becoming both head of party and head of state.

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1992 UK Diana: Her True Story Published

1992 : A controversial book has been published about Princess Diana entitled "Diana: Her True Story". The author Andrew Morton insists he has reliable sources for the the book including claims about her attempted suicide on several occasions over the last decade. But Buckingham Palace has said Princess Diana did not co-operate with the biography in any way whatsoever.

1999 Kashmir India and Pakistan Shelling

1999 : Increased artillery shelling and mortar fire between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control, in the disputed territory of Kashmir is creating an increased number of refugees who are fleeing the area.

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2003 UK Tony Blair Under Pressure

2003 : The British Prime Minister is coming under increasing pressure from his own party members and the opposition for deceiving the British public for the justifications to go war with Iraq. Claims include using intelligence to justify a policy which was already settled rather than using the intelligence to form the policy. After having taken control in Iraq no evidence has been found of weapons of mass destruction and the justification given for the war now by Tony Blair is the freedom of the Iraqi people.

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2006 Italy Son of Last Italian King Arrested

2006 : The son of the last Italian king, Prince Victor Emmanuel, was arrested on charges of corruption and recruiting prostitutes for a casino. Victor Emmanuel's return to Italy in 2003 marked the end of the fifty-six years of exile that the former royal family faced. Victor Emmanuel denied the charges and his family maintained his innocence, claiming the the arrested was a publicity stunt by the police.

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2007 Hostages Freed in Nigeria

2007 : Abductors freed ten Indian nationals that had been held hostage for two weeks. The release came a few days after a former militia leader was released on bail, and a week after several other hostages were set free.

2008 U.S.A. Honda FCX Clarity Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars

2008 : Honda delivers the first of 200 Honda FCX Clarity's which run on hydrogen and electricity, emitting only water vapor. They are only available on lease and in California where there are a few hydrogen fueling stations.

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2009 Sweden GM Sells Saab to Koenigsegg

2009 : The car manufacturer General Motors agreed to a deal to sell the Swedish brand Saab to Koenigsegg, a small car manufacturer that only sells eighteen cars in a year. The deal came as a part of GM's effort to reorganize and downsize their brands and increase their profitability.

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2011 Vancouver Fans Riot After Hockey Loss

2011 : Riots erupted on the streets of Vancouver, Canada after the city's hockey team was defeated by the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final. Rioters looted stores and set cars on fire and were confronted by riot police who held the mob to one part of the city. Several people were arrested and injured during the incident. Vancouver faced a similar situation in 1994 when riots erupted over the Vancouver Canucks' Stanley Cup loss to the New York Rangers.

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2012 China Sends First Woman to Space

2012 : China has launched its latest space mission that would include the country's first woman astronaut. Liu Yang, a 33 year old military pilot, was a part of the crew aboard the Shenzou-9 capsule that would spend a week at the Tiangong space lab to test systems and conduct experiments.