June 11th

Islamic State of Iraq forces seize control of government offices and other important buildings in the northern city of Mosul.

Rafael Nadal won his record seventh French Open title, defeating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

The FIFA World Cup opened in South Africa, the first time soccer's biggest tournament was held on that continent.

The World Health Organization declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic.

Rock musician Paul McCartney married Heather Mills in a remote Irish castle. (The couple divorced in 2008.).

Timothy McVeigh was executed by injection for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people who commit "hate crimes" motivated by bigotry may be sentenced to extra punishment.

The Supreme Court struck down a federal law prohibiting desecration of the American flag.

Margaret Thatcher is 1st British Prime Minister in 160 years to win a third consecutive term.

Seattle Slew won the Belmont Stakes, capturing the Triple Crown.

Gov. George Wallace confronted federal troops at the University of Alabama in an effort to defy a federal court order to allow two black students to enroll at the school.

Christopher Cockerell first presents the hovercraft. The amphibious air-cushion vehicle first crossed the English Channel just weeks after Cockerell first demonstrated his prototype, the SR.N1. The scheduled “flights” between Dover (U.K.) and Calais (France) were discontinued in 2000.

More than 80 people die in the Le Mans car race disaster. In one of history's worst car racing accidents, Pierre Levegh's Mercedes crashed into a crowd of spectators and burst into flames.

The United States and the Soviet Union signed a lend lease agreement to aid the Soviet war effort in World War II.

China launches the 1938 Yellow River flood. In what Steven Dutch, a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, called “the world's largest act of environmental warfare in history”, the Chinese government created the flood to halt invading Japanese forces.

Sir Barton became horse racing's first Triple Crown winner by winning the Belmont Stakes.

Football coach Vince Lombardi was born in New York City.

The first predecessor of the bicycle is demonstrated. Using his revolutionary Laufmaschine, also known as Draisine, a two-wheeler without pedals, German inventor Karl Drais completed a 14 km test run in less than an hour, presenting a viable alternative to transportation by horse.

Continental Congress creates committee (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston) to draft a Declaration of Independence.

Capt. James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef off Australia .

King Henry VIII married his first wife, Katharine of Aragon.

Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes.