June 12 - This Day in History

June 12 : General Interest
1987: Reagan challenges Gorbachev

On this day in 1987, in one of his most famous Cold War speeches, President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the repressive Communist era in a divided Germany... read more


American Revolution
1776 : Virginia adopts George Mason's Declaration of Rights
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/virginia-adopts-george-masons-declaration-of-rights


Automotive
1940 : Edsel Ford agrees to manufacture Rolls-Royce engines for war effort
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/edsel-ford-agrees-to-manufacture-rolls-royce-engines-for-war-effort


Civil War
1862 : J.E.B. Stuart rides around the Union army
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jeb-stuart-rides-around-the-union-army

1864 : Grant pulls out of Cold Harbor
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/grant-pulls-out-of-cold-harbor


Cold War
1987 : Reagan challenges Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/reagan-challenges-gorbachev-to-tear-down-the-berlin-wall


Crime
1994 : Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murdered
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nicole-brown-simpson-and-ron-goldman-murdered


Disaster
1897 : Deadly quake hits India
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/deadly-quake-hits-india


General Interest
1898 : Philippine independence declared
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/philippine-independence-declared

1963 : Medgar Evers assassinated
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/medgar-evers-assassinated

1975 : Indira Gandhi convicted of election fraud
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/indira-gandhi-convicted-of-election-fraud


Hollywood
2003 : Gregory Peck dies
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gregory-peck-dies


Literary
1942 : Anne Frank receives a diary
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/anne-frank-receives-a-diary


Music
1971 : Honey Cone earns a #1 hit with "Want Ads"
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/honey-cone-earns-a-1-hit-with-quotwant-adsquot


Old West
1876 : Journalist headed for Little Big Horn files dispatch
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/journalist-headed-for-little-big-horn-files-dispatch


Presidential
1924 : George Herbert Walker Bush is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/george-herbert-walker-bush-is-born

1944 : John F. Kennedy receives medals
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-f-kennedy-receives-medals


Sports
1920 : Big Red sets record at Belmont Stakes
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/big-red-sets-record-at-belmont-stakes


Vietnam War
1965 : South Vietnamese premier resigns
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/south-vietnamese-premier-resigns

1972 : Lavelle testifies before Congress
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lavelle-testifies-before-congress


World War I
1917 : King Constantine of Greece abdicates
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/king-constantine-of-greece-abdicates


World War II
1940 : Paris on the verge of invasion
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paris-on-the-verge-of-invasion