Birthdays

King George III - June 4, 1738

King George ruled over the English Empire during the American Revolution.  It was King George who declared that the New England governments were 'in a state of rebellion", and that "blows must decide whether they are to be subject to this country or independent'.  A chronicle of the King's transgressions makes up a good portion of America's Declaration of Independence.  Here's just one example of his offenses as detailed in that historic document:   "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns and destroyed the lives of our people".  

Nathan Hale - June 6, 1755
During the battles for New York during the American Revolution, Nathan Hale volunteered to seek out intelligence behind enemy lines - in other words, to be a spy.  Some had warned that Hale looked to young, too polished to carry it off...and sadly they were right - Hale was captured almost immediately.   After Hale ad mitted to being an American officer, he was ordered to be hanged.  His dying words were reported as..."I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. " 

Donald Duck - June 9, 1934
It was on this day that this familiar cartoon character made his screen debut in a film called "The Wise Little Hen".  Donald's voice, one of the most identifiable voices in all of animation, was performed by voice actor Clarence "Ducky" Nash up to 1985. It was largely this semi-intelligible speech that would cement Donald's image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald's and Nash's rise to stardom.

Events

June 4, 1942 - Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle widely regarded as the most important of the Pacific Campaign of World War II.    It took place between 4-7 June, 1942 - six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  The Japanese plan was to lure the few remaining U.S. aircraft carriers into a trap and destroy them, and then occupy the Midway Islands.
American codebreakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U.S. Navy to set up an ambush of its own. Four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser were sunk in exchange for one American aircraft carrier and a destroyer. The heavy losses, particularly the four fleet carriers and their aircrews, permanently weakened the Imperial Japanese Navy.

June 5, 1968 - Robert F. Kennedy Assassination
The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, a United States Senator and brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, took place shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968 in Los Angeles, California. Robert F. Kennedy was killed during celebrations of his successful campaign in the Californian primary elections while seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. The perpetrator was a twenty-four year old Palestinian immigrant named Sirhan Sirhan, who remains incarcerated for this crime as of 2009.

 

László Bíró, a Hungarian newspaper editor, was frustrated by the amount of time that he wasted in filling up fountain pens and cleaning up smudged pages, and the sharp tip of his fountain pen often tore his pages of newsprint.   Bíró, with the help of his brother George, a chemist, began to work on designing new types of pens. Bíró fitted this pen with a tiny ball in its tip that was free to turn in a socket. As the pen moved along the paper, the ball rotated, picking up ink from the ink cartridge and leaving it on the paper.