Unix Timestamp: 1088035200
Thursday, June 24. 2004, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Harriet Harman becomes Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, replacing Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. She is not expected to follow Prescott as Deputy Prime Minister, and won the Labour deputy leadership election with 50.43%, narrowly beating Alan Johnson. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6234692.stm (BBC)

The Igandu train disaster in Dodoma Region, Tanzania, kills 281 people in the worst rail accident in African history.

U.S. Air Force pilot Bud Holland crashes a B-52 at Fairchild Air Force Base, as a result of pilot error. It's unclear if the event of four days previous (above) was a contributing factor.

Kathleen Young and Irene Templeton are ordained as priests in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, becoming the first female Anglican priests in the United Kingdom.

Jiang Zemin becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.

The Dominican Republic recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

STS-51-G: Space Shuttle Discovery completes its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.

British Airways Flight 9 suffers a temporary 4-engine flameout and damage to the exterior of the plane, after flying through the otherwise undetected ash plume from Indonesia's Mount Galunggung.

Six young people in Yugoslavia first saw what they believed to be an apparition of The Virgin Mary.

Bologna: founding of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, an international opinion tribunal, at the initiative of Senator Lelio Basso.

Watergate scandal: Former White House counsel John Dean begins his testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee.

Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)

Erskine Hamilton Childers is elected the 4th President of Ireland.

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev addresses the American people on television, the first to do so.

The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

The United Kingdom and Rhodesia sever diplomatic ties.

Giorgio Rosa declares the independence of his Republic of Rose Island, an artificial island off Rimini, Italy. Italian troops demolish it not long after.

Italian Somaliland gains its independence from Italy, 5 days after British Somaliland, with which it unites to form the Somali Republic.

The Malagasy Republic, now Madagascar, becomes independent from France

The Belgian Congo receives its independence from Belgium as the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). A civil war followed closely on the heels of this.

Ghana becomes a republic and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President.

British Somaliland receives its independence from the United Kingdom. Five days later, it unites with Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland) to create the Somalia.

Cold War: A Soviet Air Force MiG-19 fighter plane flying north of Murmansk, Russia, over the Barents Sea shoots down a six-man RB-47 Stratojet reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force. Four of the U.S. Air Force officers are killed, and the two survivors are held prisoner in the Soviet Union

Joseph Kasavubu is elected as the first President of the independent Congo.

Public demonstrations by democratic and left forces, against Italian government support of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement, are heavily suppressed by police.

Apartheid: The "South African Citizenship Act" suspends the granting of citizenship to British Commonwealth immigrants after 5 years and imposes a ban on mixed marriages.

The first television western, "Hopalong Cassidy", airs on NBC.

Dock workers strike in the UK.

Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely-reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.

WWII: A victory parade is held in Red Square in Moscow.

Founding of RIA Novosti.

The government of Siam changes its name to Thailand, which means 'Free Land'.Thailand ( Siam ) History (overview), CS Mngt, 2005, "CSMngt.com" webpage: //www.csmngt.com/thailand_history.htm CSMngt-Thai.

A above the earth near Chicora, Pennsylvania.

Carlos Gardel, the legendary Franco-Argentine Father of Tango, dies in a plane crash in Medellín, Colombia.

A Swedish aeroplane rescues part of the Italian North Pole expedition, including Umberto Nobile. The Soviet icebreaker "Krasin" saves the rest July 12.

Weimar Republic foreign minister Walter Rathenau is assassinated the murderers are captured July 17.

In Manchester, NH, a downtown fire causes $400,000 damage and injures 19 firemen.

Joseph Cook becomes the 6th Prime Minister of Australia.

Sadi Carnot, president of France, is assassinated.

Randolph Churchill becomes Secretary of State for India.

First published review of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, in a British magazine the book's first edition had appeared earlier in June in England. (The book was published in the U.S. in December 1876.)

Battle of Solferino: The Kingdom of Sardinia and the armies of Napoleon III of France defeat Franz Josef I of Austria in northern Italy the battle inspires Henri Dunant to found the Red Cross.

Battle of Carabobo: Simón Bolívar wins Venezuela's independence from Spain.

Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Niemen River and invades Russia (see French invasion of Russia).

A total solar eclipse takes place across parts of USA from Texas to Virginia.

Battle of Wilhelmsthal: The Anglo-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French forces in Westphalia. The British commander Lord Granby distinguishes himself.

October 14 ndash The English ships "Dobbs" galley and "California", under Captains William Moore and Francis Smith, explore Hudson Bay, discovering there is no Northwest Passage by this route.

The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the 'Modern' and first Free-Masonic Grand Lodge (which later merges with the Ancient Grand Lodge of England in 1813 to form the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England.

September ndash The first known Druid revival ceremony is held by John Toland at Primrose Hill, in London, at the Autumnal Equinox, to found the Mother Grove, what is later to become the Ancient Order of Druids (AOD).

The Act of Settlement 1701 is passed by the Parliament of England to exclude the Catholic Stuarts from the British monarchy. Under its terms, King William III, childless, would be succeeded by Queen Mary II's sister Princess Anne and her descendants. If Anne should have no descendants, she would be succeeded by Sophia of Hanover and her descendants (hence the Hanoverian Succession in 1714).

King Philip's War breaks out as the Wanoags attack Swansea.

Huguenot rebellions: Saint-Jean-d'Angély is taken after a 26 day siege by Royal forces.

Huguenot rebellions: Saint-Jean-d'Angély is taken after a 26 day siege by Royal forces.

July ndash "The Isle of Dogs" (a play now lost) is written by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson, and performed at the Swan Theatre.

The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java).

Cornelis de Houtman arrives in Banten, the first Dutch sailor to reach Indonesia.

July 1 ndash Action of San Mateo Bay: English privateer Richard Hawkins in the "Dainty" is attacked and captured by a Spanish squadron off Esmeraldas, Ecuador.

William I of Orange marries Charlotte of Bourbon.

Cristobal de Onate founds San Juan Bautista del Teul.

Münster Rebellion: The Anabaptist state of Münster is conquered and disbanded.

The city of San Juan del Río, Mexico is founded.

King Henry VIII of England and Queen Consort Catherine of Aragon are crowned.

John Cabot lands in North America (near present day Bonavista, Newfoundland).

The Isle of Man holds the first known Tynwald Day the annual meeting of its parliament (Tynwald) which has continued every year until the present.

The illness dancing mania begins in Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), possibly due to ergotism.

The Black Death outbreak goes into full swing in Melcombe Regis (modern-day Weymouth, Dorset in England).

July ndash Edward III orders closing of English ports to stop information reaching France.ref name = crecy/

The leaders of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres agree to support Edward III.ref name = crecy/

The Battle of Sluys is fought between the naval fleets of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France. The former is under the command of Edward III of England and the latter under that of Admiral Hugues Quiéret and treasurer Nicholas Béhuchet assisted by Genoese mercenary galleys under Egidio Bocanegra. The French fleet is virtually destroyed and both commanders are killed.

Jews are expelled from France for third time

Battle of Bannockburn: Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce defeat Edward II of England, regaining Scotland's independence.

Battle of São Mamede: King Afonso I of Portugal (then Count of Portugal) defeats his mother, Teresa of León, and gains control of the county, which thus becomes "de facto" independent.

The Danish king Harald Klak accepts Christianity.

Glycerius is exiled to Dalmatia (Balkans) and becomes bishop of Salona. The Senate nor the Gallo-Roman aristocracy decide to resist and Nepos accepts the "imperial purple".

Julius Nepos arrives at Portus and marches on Ravenna. He forces Glycerius to abdicate the throne and proclaims himself emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

Pliny the Younger is legate to Bithynia.

The Christian Church proclaims itself to be universal (catholic).

The Aqua Traiana is inaugurated by emperor Trajan, the aqueduct channels water from Lake Bracciano, north-west of Rome.

Osroes I of Parthia succeeds his brother Pacorus II and rules over the western Parthian Empire.