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7th June

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1942: Japan defeated at Midway


The Battle of Midway ends as the United States reverses the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy. A thousand miles northwest of Honolulu, the strategic island of Midway became a target for Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's Japanese fleet. As with Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto planned a surprise assault, but this time U.S. naval intelligence had decoded Japanese messages and the United States was prepared for the attack. An outnumbered squadron of American fighters repulsed a large force of Japanese aircraft attacking Midway, and two U.S. attack fleets surprised the Japanese fleet, destroying all four of Yamamoto's aircraft carriers and thus signaling the beginning of the end of Japanese hegemony in the Pacific.

1991

In Britain, Bill Morris becomes the first black trades union leader in the UK - being elected Secretary-General of the Transport and General Workers Union.

1977

In Britain, the official Silver Jubilee Day for Queen Elizabeth II who became Queen on the death of her father, George VI in 1952.

1967

Six Day War: Israeli troops driving into Egyptian territory, reach the banks of the Suez Canal.

1966

In America, the Republican Pary nominates former actor Ronald Reagan as their candidate for the Governorship of California.

1966

In America, the first coloured student to graduate from the University of Mississippi, James Meredith, is shot in the back and legs.

1945

Premiere of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes.

1942

World War II: End of the Battle of Midway in the Pacific with a victory for the United States against the Japanese.

1942

Publication of the first Superman comic.

1939

King George VI of England becomes the first British monarch to visit the United States of America.

1921

Opening of the first Parliament of Northern Ireland.

1906

In Glasgow, Cunard launches the Lusitania - the world's fastest and largest liner.

1905

Norwegian Parliament (Storting) decides to separate from Sweden.

1878

In Britain, the Wigan Pier disaster kills 200.

1862

Britain and the United States of America sign a treaty for the suppression of the slave trade.

1497

King Henry VII of England defeats the Cornish rebels led by Lord Audley at the Battle of Blackheath.

1940

Welsh-born singer Tom Jones.

1931

English actress Virginia McKenna.

1922

American boxer Rocky Graziano

1909

American actress Jessica Tandy.

1848

French painter Paul Gauguin.

1825

English author Richard Blackmore

1799

Russian writer Alexander Pushkin

1994

British writer Dennis Potter aged 59.

1980

American writer Henry Miller aged 88.

1631

Mumtax Mahal - wife of Shah Jahan of India who built the Taj Mahal as her tomb.