Unix Timestamp: 1214611200
Saturday, June 28. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

The Supreme Court of Honduras orders the arrest and exile of President Manuel Zelaya, claiming he was violating the nation's constitution by holding a referendum to stay in power. and multiple nations around the world.

It is announced that people will be asked to commit to a 7-point pledge on global warming during the July 7 Live Earth concerts. //liveearth.org/?p=101 (Live Earth)

An Italian man is arrested in Spain on suspicion of bribery in connection with the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann. //news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1272677,00.html (Sky)

In the aftermath of Greece's worst heatwave in a century, at least 11 people are reported dead from heatstroke, approximately 200 wildfires break out nationwide, and the country's electricity grid nearly collapses due to record breaking demand.

UNESCO designates 22 new World Heritage Sites, including the Sydney Opera House Canada's Rideau Canal Japan's Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine Turkmenistan's Parthian Fortresses of Nisa India's Red Fort complexes the Lope-Okanda Landscape of Gabon the Richtersveld desert of South Africa the rock carvings of Twyfelfontein in Namibia the fortified tower houses of Guangdong Province in the People's Republic of China Teide National Park in the Canary Islands, Spain the ancient beech forests of Central Europe Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina Bordeaux and the Port de la Lune in France the Old Town of Corfu in Greece and the Palace of Galerius in Gamzigrad-Romuliana in Serbia. //www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070628.wunesco0628/BNStory/Front (The Globe and Mail) //whc.unesco.org/en/news/365 UNESCO press-release

Record high temperatures in Greece lead to nine deaths through heat stroke outbreaks of wildfires, killing two people and extensive power cuts. //www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/28/AR2007062801226.html (AP via the Washington Post)

Members of the militant wing of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, claim they have launched a chemical-tipped missile at the Israeli town of Sderot. The same group has recently claimed to possess about 20 biological warheads for Qassam rockets fired daily at Israeli towns. The Israeli Army says they have not detected a launch of any such rocket, nor received reports of such a weapon hitting Israel. At least four Qassam rockets are launched against Israeli towns on Wednesday. //today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNewsstoryid=2006-06-29T013909Z_01_L29258645_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST-ROCKET.xmlsrc=rssrpc=22 (Reuters), //www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/732408.html (Haaretz)

Israel launches an offensive into the southern Gaza Strip, following aerial strikes on bridges and electric power installations. Meanwhile, four Israeli war planes fly over the palace of Syria's president Bashar Assad in Latakia, reportedly while he was at the palace. //www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/731555.html (Haaretz), //www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/28/israel.soldier/index.html (CNN), //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5123262.stm (BBC), //go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNewsstoryID=12666001src=rss/topNews (Reuters)

Operation Summer Rains: Israel launches an offensive against militants in Gaza.

29 ndash The 2004 Istanbul Summit is held.

The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq transfers sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government.

Canadian federal election, 2004: The Liberal Party, led by Paul Martin, is reduced to a minority government, after holding a majority since November 1993.

Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains collide in a rural area outside of San Antonio, Texas 40 cars are derailed, including one chlorine car. Three people die, another 50 people are hospitalized because of exposure to the gas.

The FBI finishes its investigation of a pond in Frederick, Maryland, for clues in the 2001 anthrax attacks. Items found in the pond include a bicycle, some logs, a street sign, coins, fishing lures, and a handgun. The FBI took soil sles from the bottom of the pond for testing.

Elian Gonzalez returns to Cuba with his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, ending a protracted custody battle.

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić reliquishes power to his deputy, Biljana Plavšić.

A new government is formed in Turkey, with Necmettin Erbakan of Refah Partisi becoming prime minister of the coalition government, and deputy and foreign minister Tansu Çiller of the True Path Party succeeding him after two years.

July

The Prince\'s Trust concert is held in Hyde Park, London, and is attended by 150,000 people. The Who headlines the event in their first performance since 1989.

Iraq disarmament crisis: U.N. Inspector Scott Ritter attempts to conduct surprise inspections on the Republican Guard facility at the airport, but is blocked by Iraqi officials.

An explosion in a firecrackers factory in Sichuan Province, China kills at least 36 people and injures another 52.

Costas Simitis is elected President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Greece.

The Prague Manifesto declares the principles of the Esperanto movement.

Germany defeats the Czech Republic 2-1 after extra time in the final of the European Chionships.

Confrontations occur in Northern Ireland between police and Orange Order protestors at Drumcree Church (see Drumcree conflict).

Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult execute the first sarin gas attack at Matsumoto, Japan, killing 7 and injuring 660.

COMECON is dissolved.

Four workers are asphyxiated at a metal-plating plant in Auburn, Indiana, in the worst confined-space industrial accident in U.S. history. (A fifth victim dies two days later).

Richard Ramírez, aka the Night Stalker, murders his first confirmed victim.

Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.

U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam.

After a successful mission aboard "Salyut 1", the world's first manned space station, the crew of the "Soyuz 11" spacecraft are killed when their air supply leaks out through a faulty valve.

July ndash Nordic Council secretariat inaugurated.

"New York Times Co. v. United States": The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Pentagon Papers may be published, rejecting government injunctions as unconstitutional prior restraint.

Assassin Jerome A. Johnson shoots Joe Colombo in the head in a middle of an Italian-American rally, putting him in a coma.

U.S. ground troops withdraw from Cambodia.

The Stonewall riots in New York City mark the start of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S.

Israel declares the annexation of East Jerusalem.

July ndash Gangster Charlie Richardson is arrested by police and sentenced to 25 years in prison in the following year for his part in the Torture Gang assaults.

In Argentina, a junta deposes president Arturo Umberto Illia in a coup, and appoints General Juan Carlos Onganía to lead.

Vietnam War: U.S. planes begin bombing Hanoi and Haiphong.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded in Washington, DC.

France formally leaves NATO.

A sailors' strike, organised by the National Union of Seamen, ends in the United Kingdom.

The United Lutheran Church in America, Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, American Evangelical Lutheran Church, and Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church merge to form the Lutheran Church in America.

Korean War: North Korean forces capture Seoul.

Korean War: Hangang Bridge bombing.

Korean War: Seoul National University Hospital Massacre.

WWII: Albania declares war on the Soviet Union.

July ndash The British Army's Special Air Service is formed.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration is placed under the Department of Commerce.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is placed under the Department of the Interior.

WWII: German forces land in Guernsey, marking the start of the 5-year Occupation of the Channel Islands.

General Charles de Gaulle is officially recognized by Britain as the Leader of all Free Frenchmen, wherever they may be.

Federal government of the United States reorganisation:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is placed under the Federal Security Agency.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established in the United States, superseding the Emergency Conservation Work program.

Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappear after taking off from New Guinea during Earhart's attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.

First alleged sighting of the White River Monster.

In a referendum the people of the Irish Free State accept the new Constitution by 685,105 votes to 527,945.

June/July ndash The Dáil Éireann debates and passes the draft new Constitution of Ireland, which is then submitted for public approval by plebiscite.

A guard takes his place at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Washington, DC continuous guard has been maintained there ever since.

The Gestapo arrests pastor Martin Niemöller.

June ndash Picasso completes his painting "Guernica".

The Hays Office censorship code for motion pictures goes into full effect in the United States.

Division of Grazing created within the Department of the Interior.

Bureau of Air Commerce under Department of Commerce.

The world famous Brookfield Zoo opens in Brookfield, Illinois.

The Nazi SA c Oranienburg becomes a national c, taken over by the SS.

Night of the Long Knives: Nazis purge the SA.

The International Railway (New York – Ontario) switches to one-man crews for its trolleys in Canada.

A tornado touches down in Lorain, Ohio and kills 78 people.

The Irish Civil War begins.

Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinates Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Duchess Sophie, in Sarajevo.

Austria-Hungary: The Secretary of the Legation at Belgrade sends a dispatch to Vienna suggesting Serbian complicity in the crime of Sarajevo. Anti-Serb riots erupt in Sarajevo and throughout Bosnia generally.

Chionya Gusyeva attempts and fails to assassinate Grigori Rasputin at his home town in Siberia.

June 28 ndash The original icon of Our Lady of Kazan was stolen and subsequently destroyed in Russia.

The Danish ocean liner "SS Norge" runs aground and sinks close to Rockall, killing 635, including 225 Norwegian emigrants.

An explosion in the Newton Coal Company's Twin Shaft Mine in Pittston City, Pennsylvania results in a massive cave-in that killed 58 miners.//www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=10470 HMDB.org//query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B00EEDF1638E033A2575AC2A9609C94679ED7CF Query.nytimes.com//www.gendisasters.com/data1/pa/mines/pittston-minecavein1896.htm Gendisasters.com

Minot, North Dakota is incorporated as a city.

In Milan, Italy the first central European electricity power station is inaugurated.

Anglo-French Convention of 1882 signed marking territorial boundaries between Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The Sigma Chi Fraternity is founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

The Saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.

July ndash Scottish missionary David Livingstone arrives at Kuruman in the Northern Cape, his first posting in Africa.

Ballet "Giselle" first presented by the Ballet du Théâtre de l\'Académie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris, France.

Coronation of Queen Victoria takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.ref name=Pocket On This Day

Mary Robinson writes the poem "January, 1795".

French troops recapture St. Lucia.

The French government announces that the heir to the French throne has died of illness (many doubt the statement).

British forces land off Quiberon to aid the revolt in Brittany.

Princess Wilhelmina of Orange, sister of Frederick, the king of Prussia, is captured by patriots and taken to Goejanverwellesluis, and not allowed to travel to the Hague.

American Revolutionary War ndash Battle of Monmouth: George Washington's Continental Army battles the British general Sir Henry Clinton's army to a draw near Monmouth, New Jersey.

A massive earthquake occurs on the same day in Komárom in Hungary, in Komárno in Slovakia and in Zsámbék in Hungary.

Catherine the Great is received into the Russian Orthodox Church.

Battle of Fehrbellin: Brandenburg defeats the Swedes.

30 ndash Battle of Berestechko in the Ukraine: The army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth defeats the Zaporozhian Cossacks in one of the biggest land battles of the century, with some 205,000 troops in the field.

English Civil War: The Royalists lose Carlisle.

Battle of Nagashino: Oda Nobunaga defeats Takeda Katsuyori in Japan's first 'modern' battle.

Charles I of Spain becomes Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (rules until 1556).

Battle of Seminara: Córdoba and Ferdinand are defeated by a French army under Bernard Stewart, Lord of Aubigny.

Edward, Richard of York's son, is crowned as Edward IV, King of England (reigns until 1483).

July ndash Byzantine general Graitzas Palaiologos honourably surrenders Salmeniko Castle, last garrison of the Despotate of the Morea, to invading forces of the Ottoman Empire after a year-long siege.

Charles VIII of Sweden is publicly hailed as king at Mora Stones.

Stefan III succeeds his father as ruler of Serbia.

Beyazid I (1389–1402) succeeds his father Murad I (1359–1389) as Ottoman Emperor.

Battle of Kosovo between Serbs and their Christian allies against Ottoman Turks: Both Emperor Murad I and the Serbian Prince Lazar are killed in battle.

The city of Tournai emits its first recorded life annuity, thus confirming a trend of consolidation of public debts started ten years earlier in Rheims.

First evidence of the use of the knights Templar as cashiers by the king of England to transfer safely important sums to the continent using letters of exchange. This shows that large transfers could take place across Europe even before the emergence of important networks of Italian merchant-bankers.

The Transylvanian town of Reghin is first mentioned in a charter of Andrew II of Hungary.

Spain: King James I of Aragon launches a major offensive against the Muslims in Majorca. The same year, in Murcia, confronted to increasing Christian pressure, the cadi (soon to be called emir), Ibn Hud al-Yamadi, denounces the Almohads and acknowledges the Abbasids as legitimate caliphs, in effect declaring independence.ref name=linehan1999

The Sixth Crusade is launched from Brindisi by Emperor Frederick II, after delays due to sickness and an excommunication from Pope Gregory IX.

Baldwin II becomes emperor of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, with John of Brienne as regent.

Battle of Ager Sanguinis: Ilghazi, the ruler of Aleppo, wipes out a Crusader army from the Principality of Antioch.