Milestones for June 22

1675 Greenwich, England

King Charles II founds the Royal Greenwich Observatory to answer the most pressing scientific question of the time: how to navigate ships on the high seas; the Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, is charged "to apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying of the tables of the motions of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting of the art of navigation." The RGO will be closed as a branch of the British government on Oct 31, 1998. On April 5, 1997 the Greenwich Meridian 2000 group marked the start of the 1000 Day Countdown to the Millennium Year at the Royal Observatory building, Greenwich, where the Accurist's Millennium Countdown Clock, which is precisely positioned on the Meridian Line in the Royal Observatory Courtyard, is reading the remaining hours, minutes, seconds and hundredths of seconds until 1st January 2000, the start of Millennium Year. It will then start counting up to 1 January 2001 to mark the start of the new Millennium itself.

1846 Brussels, Belgium

Adolphe Sax awarded a patent for his invention of a new musical instrument, the saxophone, which combined the single reed of the clarinet with the bore and fingering patterns of the oboe, producing the tonal qualities of neither, but blending well with brass and woodwind instruments; developed the instrument early in the decade, and then had 14 different saxophones - seven designed for orchestras and seven for bands. Today's saxophones are made in eight sizes and pitch levels, spanning the entire spectrum of wind-instrument pitches; the most common are the alto and tenor saxes. Berlioz was the first to use the instrument, in his Chant sacré of 1844. In 1857 Sax became the first saxophone teacher at the Paris Conservatory. His portrait is on Belgium's 200 franc banknote.

1874 Staten Island, New York

Game of lawn tennis introduced into the US by Mary Ewing Outerbridge, and was likely played on the grounds of the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club; invented in Bermuda a year earlier by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, a British army officer who claimed that he modeled the game, which he called Sphairistiké (Greek for "playing at ball") after an ancient Greek game. The first world amateur championships will be held at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, England in 1877 (for women, 1884). The game thrived because of a soft ball made of vulcanized india rubber, invented by Charles Goodyear in the 1850s.

1940 Compiegne, France

General Charles Huntziger of France signed the terms of surrender with Adolf Hitler and the German government at Compiègne; to humiliate the French, the signing took place in the same old railway carriage in which General Foch had received the German surrender in 1918.

1941 Poland

Adolf Hitler launches Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia, with over 150 German army attacking along a 3,000 km front from the Baltic to the Black Sea; the operation caught the Soviets completely by surprise; it was the largest military operation in history at the time.

1983 Space

NASA Shuttle astronauts retrieve a satellite from orbit for the first time; the German SPAS (Shuttle Pallet Satellite) satellite was a reusable free-flying vehicle which was deployed and then retrieved by the Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System Canadarm. Ten experiments mounted on SPAS-01 performed research in forming metal alloys in microgravity and using a remote sensing scanner.

Other Events

0431 06 22 Council of Ephesus (3rd ecumenical council) opens
0816 06 22 Pope Stephen IV, [V] elected to succeed Leo III
1342 06 22 Bilbo Baggins returns to his home at Bag End, (Shire Reconning)
1377 06 22 Richard II succeeds Edward III as king of England
1476 06 22 Battle at Morat/Murten: Charles the Stout invades Switzerland
1497 06 22 Antitax insurrection in Cornwall suppressed at Blackheath
1533 06 22 Ferdinand of Austria & Sultan Suleiman sign peace treaty
1559 06 22 Jewish quarter of Prague burned & looted
1596 06 22 Cornelis de Houtmans fleet reaches Banten Java
1611 06 22 Henry Hudson & son set adrift in Hudson Bay by mutineers
1633 06 22 Galileo Galilei forced to recant Earth orbits Sun by Pope (but on Oct 31, 1992, Vatican admits it was wrong)
1675 06 22 Royal Greenwich Observatory established in England by Charles II
1740 06 22 King Frederik II of Prussia ends torture & guarantees religion & freedom of the press
1745 06 22 Bonnie Prince Charles sails to Scotland
1772 06 22 Slavery outlawed in England
1774 06 22 English parliament accepts Quebec Act
1775 06 22 First Continental currency issued ($3,000,000)
1799 06 22 England & Russia decide to invade Bataafse Republic
1807 06 22 British board USS Chesapeake, a provocation leading to War of 1812
1808 06 22 Zebulon Pike reaches his peak
1812 06 22 Napoleon's Grand Army invades Russia
1814 06 22 First match at the present Lord's, MCC v Herefordshire
1815 06 22 2nd abdication of Napoleon (after Waterloo)
1832 06 22 John Howe patents pin manufacturing machine
1847 06 22 Doughnut created
1848 06 22 Barnburners (anti-slavery) party nominates Martin Van Buren for Pres
1849 06 22 Stephen C Massett opens courthouse using only piano in Calif
1851 06 22 Fire destroys part of SF
1864 06 22 Battle of Ream's Station, VA (Wilson's Raid)
1864 06 22 Skirmish at Culp's (Kulp's) House, Georgia
1865 06 22 First class cricket debut of Dr W G Grace
1868 06 22 Arkansas re-enters US
1870 06 22 First Boardwalk in America invented
1870 06 22 Congress creates Department of Justice
1873 06 22 Prince Edward Island joins Canada
1874 06 22 Dr Andrew T Sill, of Macon Missouri, finds science of osteopathy
1874 06 22 Game of lawn tennis introduced
1875 06 22 Garonne Flood: great damage in Verdun & Toulouse, kills about 1,000
1889 06 22 Louisville Colonels set ML baseball record with 26th consecutive loss
1893 06 22 British fleet under vice-admiral George Tryon leaves Beirut
1894 06 22 Harry Houdini marries Bessie Rahner
1906 06 22 Hakon VII crowned king of Norway
1910 06 22 First airship with passengers sets afloat-Zeppelin Deutscheland
1911 06 22 King George V of England crowned
1915 06 22 BMT, then Brooklyn Rapid Transit, begins subway service
1918 06 22 32nd US Womens Tennis: Molla Bjurstedt Mallory beats E E Goss (64 63)
1918 06 22 Circus train rammed by troop train kills 68 (Ivanhoe Illinois)
1921 06 22 Paavo Nurmi runs world record 10,000m (30:40.2)
1925 06 22 Spain & France fight Morocco
1926 06 22 Cardinals pick up 39-year-old Grover Alexander on waivers from Cubs
1929 06 22 Mel Ott (Giants) homers off Leo Sweetland (Phillies) in doubleheader
1930 06 22 Lou Gehrig hits 3 HRs in a game, Ruth hits 3 in doubleheader
1931 06 22 RVU, Radio-Volks-University, forms
1932 06 22 NL, finally approves players wearing numbers
1933 06 22 German social-democratic party (SPD) forbidden
1936 06 22 Harry Froboess dives 110 m from airship into Bodensee & survives
1936 06 22 Virgin Islands receives a constitution from US (Organic Act)
1937 06 22 Joe Louis KOs James J Braddock in 18 for heavyweight boxing title
1938 06 22 Joe Louis KOs Max Schmeling at 2:04 of first round at Yankee Stadium
1939 06 22 Future Queen Elizabeth of England meets future husband Philip
1940 06 22 France falls to Nazi Germany; armistice signed, France disarms
1940 06 22 SS rounds up 31 German/Polish/Dutch Jews in Roermond Neth
1941 06 22 Estonians starts armed resistance against Soviet occupation
1941 06 22 Finland invades Karelia
1941 06 22 Germany attacks the Soviet Union & occupies the Baltic states
1941 06 22 Germany, Italy & Romania declares war on Soviet Union during WW II
1941 06 22 Michael Gerasimov opens grave of Tamerlan Lenk
1941 06 22 President Roosevelt signs GI Bill of Rights
1942 06 22 Japanese submarine in mouth of Columbia River, Oregon
1942 06 22 Jewish Brigade attached by British Army in WW II, forms
1943 06 22 WEB DuBois becomes first Black member of National Institute of Letters
1944 06 22 British 14th army frees Imphal Assam
1944 06 22 FDR signs GI Bill of Rights (Servicemen's Readjustment Act)
1944 06 22 Longest shut out in Phillies history, Phils beat Braves 1-0 in 15 inn
1944 06 22 Boston Brave Jim Tobin 2nd no-hitter of yr beats Phils, 7-0 in 5 inn
1946 06 22 Alec Bedser takes 7-49 v India on first day of his first Test cricket
1946 06 22 Bill Veeck purchases Cleveland Indians
1947 06 22 12 rain in 42 mins (Holt, MO)
1947 06 22 Ewell Blackwell just misses pitching back-to-back no-hitters (9th inn)
1949 06 22 Ezzard Charles beats Jersey Joe Walcott in 15 for hw boxing title
1951 06 22 Gene Rayburn & Dee Finch show premieres on NBC radio
1954 06 22 Congress passes revised organic act for Virgin Islands
1955 06 22 Antonio Segni forms govt in Italy
1955 06 22 US air patrol plane shot down above Bering sea
1957 06 22 KC stops using streetcars in it's transit system
1958 06 22 Game in KC between A's & Red Sox delayed 29 minutes due to tornado
1958 06 22 Patty Berg wins LPGA Western Golf Open
1959 06 22 Along Came Jones by Coasters peaks at #9
1959 06 22 Class by Chubby Checker peaks at #38
1959 06 22 Eddie Lubanski bowls 2 consecutive perfect games
1959 06 22 Most Phillies strike out in a game (16 by Sandy Koufax)
1959 06 22 Shunryu Suzuki completes his historical Japan to SF voyage
1959 06 22 Vanguard SLV-6 launched for Earth orbit (failed)
1961 06 22 Mo‹se Tsjombe freed from prison in Congo
1961 06 22 Beatles record Aint She Sweet, Cry for a Shadow, When the Saints Go Marching In, Why, Nobody's Child & My Bonnie, in Hamburg
1962 06 22 First test flight of Hoovercraft
1962 06 22 French Boeing 707 crashes at Guadeloupe, 113 killed
1963 06 22 Little Stevie Wonder (13) releases Fingertips
1965 06 22 Freddie Trueman ends his Test cricket career, v NZ at Lord's
1966 06 22 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opens
1968 06 22 Here Come Da Judge by The Buena Vistas peaks at #88
1969 06 22 Aretha Franklin arrested in Detroit for creating a disturbance
1969 06 22 Cleveland's Cuyahgo River catches fire
1969 06 22 Susie Berning wins LPGA Pabst Ladies' Golf Classic
1970 06 22 Pres Nixon signs 26th amendment (voting age lowered to 18)
1970 06 22 Supreme Court ruled juries of less than 12 are constitutional
1970 06 22 WSWO TV channel 26 in Springfield, OH (ABC) suspends broadcasting
1972 06 22 Man of La Mancha opens at Beaumont Theater NYC for 140 performances
1973 06 22 Dutch High Council stops fluorine addition to drink water
1973 06 22 George Harrison releases Living in the Material World
1973 06 22 Skylab 2's astronauts land
1975 06 22 Betsy Cullen wins LPGA Hoosier Golf Classic
1976 06 22 Godspell opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 527 performances
1976 06 22 SD Padre pitcher Randy Jones ties record of 68 innings without a walk
1977 06 22 Former AG John Mitchell starts 19 months in Alabama prison
1977 06 22 Walt Disney's Rescuers released
1978 06 22 James Christy's discovery of Pluto's moon Charon announced
1978 06 22 Neo-Nazis call off plans to march in Jewish community of Skokie, Ill
1978 06 22 Pluto's satelite Charon, is discovered
1979 06 22 Larry Holmes TKOs Mike Weaver in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1979 06 22 Little Richard quits rock & roll for religious pursuit
1979 06 22 Pro Football Researchers Association forms (Canton Ohio)
1980 06 22 Jim King begins riding Miracle Strip Roller coaster 368 hours
1980 06 22 Joanne Carner wins LPGA Lady Keystone Golf Open
1981 06 22 2 Habash terrorists attack a travel agency in Greece killing 2
1981 06 22 Iran president Bani Sadr deposed
1981 06 22 John McEnroe exhibits a disgraceful act of misbehavior at Wimbledon
1981 06 22 Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing John Lennon
1982 06 22 Manhattan institutes bus-only lanes
1982 06 22 Pete Rose gets his 3,772nd hit, moves past Aaron into 2nd place
1982 06 22 Prince Chuck & Lady Di take Prince William home from hospital
1982 06 22 Susan Lea Hammett, of Miss, 18, crowned 25th America's Junior Miss
1983 06 22 Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, released in France
1983 06 22 First time a satellite is retrieved from orbit, by Space Shuttle
1983 06 22 NHL institutes a 5 minute sudden death overtime period
1984 06 22 Calvin Griffith signs letter of intent to sell ownership of Twins
1984 06 22 Carl Pohlad becomes CEO of Minn Twins
1984 06 22 Jolande van de Meer swims Dutch record 800 m freestyle (8:39.30)
1984 06 22 Joseph Luns resigns as secretary-general of NATO
1985 06 22 Grind closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 79 performances
1985 06 22 Smuggler's Blues by Glenn Frey peaks at #12
1986 06 22 Judy Dickinson wins LPGA Rochester Golf International
1986 06 22 Pirate Radio Euro Weekend (Holland) begins transmitting
1986 06 22 Spain's premier Gonzalez' Socialist Party wins elections
1987 06 22 Tom Seaver retires after 3rd try with NY Mets
1990 06 22 Billy Joel performs a concert at Yankee Stadium
1990 06 22 Braves replace manager Russ Nixon with GM Bobby Cox
1990 06 22 Florida passes a law prohibits wearing a throng bathing suit
1990 06 22 Longest game in Toronto, Yanks beat Blue Jays 8-7 in 15 inns
1991 06 22 I Hate Hamlet closes at Walter Kerr Theater NYC after 88 perfs
1991 06 22 Quebec Nordiques pick Eric Lindros #1 at NHL entry draft
1991 06 22 Underwater volcano, Mount Didicas, erupts in Philippines
1992 06 22 2 skeletons excavated in Yekaterinburg IDed as Czar Nicholas II & wife
1992 06 22 Supreme Court rules hate crime laws violated free-speech rights
1993 06 22 NY Met Anthony Young ties record of 23rd straight lose
1993 06 22 Wilson Pickett plead guilty to auto assault due to drunk driving
1994 06 22 48th NBA Championship: Houston Rockets beat NY Knicks, 4 games to 3
1994 06 22 Ken Griffey Jr breaks Ruth's record for most HRs by end of June (31)
1994 06 22 Mets reliever John Franco sets lefty save mark at 253
1994 06 22 US beats Colombia 2-1 in 1994 soccer world cup (first win since 1950)
1996 06 22 29th Curtis Cup: Great Britain & Ireland, 11«-6«
1996 06 22 Michael Moorer beats Axel Shultz in 11 for IBF heavywgt boxing title
1996 06 22 Saurav Ganguly scores 131 at Lord's on Test cricket debut
1997 06 22 Ernie Els wins golf's Buick Classic
1997 06 22 Nationwide Senior Golf Championship
1997 06 22 Penny Hammel wins LPGA Rochester International
1997 06 22 World Bowl: Barcelona Dragon beat Rhein Fire, 38-24

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