1994: Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia
Two decades after being expelled from the
USSR, Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia in an emotional homecoming. In 1945, Solzhenitsyn was sentenced to eight years of hard labor for criticizing Stalin in a
letter to a friend. His prison experiences formed the basis for One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, his famous first novel. In 1970, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and began work on The Gulag Archipelago, his vast history of the Soviet totalitarian system, from Lenin's ascension to the denunciation of Stalin. Foreign publication of this work led to his expulsion from the USSR in 1974, and he settled in the United States. Soviet officials dropped charges of
treason against Solzhenitsyn in 1990, and four years later he returned home. He has continued writing and often publicly criticizes the post-Soviet Russian government.
1999
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is indicted for war crimes including the murder of 340 ethnic Albanians and the
deportation of more than 740,000 Kosovars.
1998
18 year old Michael Owen becomes the youngest ever England international goalscorer with the only goal in 1-0 friendly against
Morocco in Casablanca.
1997
NATO and Russia announce a joint treaty on European Security. Russian President Boris Yeltsin says Moscow will disarm all nuclear missiles targeting
NATO countries.
1994
Dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia after 20 years in exile.1986
Irish-born singer Bob Geldof, is made an honorary Knight of the Realm by Queen
Elizabeth II for his efforts to raise money for the starving of Africa.
1963
Jomo Kenyatta is elected the first Prime Minister of a self-governing
Kenya. He becomes President when Kenya gains independence from
Britain in 1964.
1943
Ballpoint pens, invented by
Hungarian Laszlo Biro, are patented in America.
1942
World War II:
Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich is shot in Prague - dying of his wounds on June 4th. His death prompts savage
reprisals. 1940
World War II: the start of Operation Dynamo - the
evacuation of British and French troops from the beaches of Dunkirk.
1937
Opening of the 4,200ft Golden Gate Bridge spanning San Francisco harbour. The
bridge had taken almost 4 and a half years to build.
1936
Britain's 80,733 tonne liner
Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York with more than 1800 passengers.
1905
Russo-Japanese War: the Battle of Tsushima. The
Japanese Fleet sinks over half of the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and
Japan. 1864
Over-arm bowling is made legal in cricket.1860
Giuseppe Garibaldi takes Palermo in Sicily during his struggle to unite
Italy. 1829
The rowing of the first University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge on the River Thames in London.1703
Tsar Peter the Great founds St Petersburg and proclaims it to be the new capital of Russia.1679
Britain passes the Habeas Corpus Act which makes it illegal to hold anyone in prison without a trial. 1967
England international footballer Paul Gascoigne.1965
Australian tennis player Pat Cash.1956
British world light-heavy weight champion John Conteh, born in Liverpool.1943
English singer and entertainer Cilla Black - born Pricilla
White in Liverpool.
1922
American actress and singer Judy Garland born at at Grand Rapids, Minnesota.1912
American golfer Sam Snead - three times winner of the US Masters1878
Flamboyant American dancer Isadora Duncan.1837
American frontiersman 'Wild Bill' Hickok.1818
Women's rights campaigner Amelia Jenks Bloomer, born in New York. She causes a sensation by inventing and wearing knee-length trousers which become known as 'bloomers'.
