June 21st

Greenland assumes self-rule. The island had been administered by Denmark (earlier Denmark-Norway) for centuries. The Self-Government Act grants Greenland full responsibility for its inner affairs, while Denmark retains control of foreign policy.

Michael Melvill pilots the first privately-developed spacecraft,SpaceShipOne, into space.

The WNBA made its debut.

English mathematician Andrew Wiles proves last theorem of Fermat.

7.7 Manjil-Rudbar Earthquake with hundreds of aftershocks hits Iran, killing about 50,000.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided that burning the U.S. flag was protected under the First Amendment.

The body of Josef Mengele is identified. An international team of scientists confirmed that the skeletal remains found in a cemetery in Embu, Brazil are those of the Nazi war criminal. Mengele was a physician in the Auschwitz concentration camp and conducted horrific experimtents on some of the inmates.

John Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted murder of President Ronald Reagan.

Three civil rights workers—James E. Chaney, 21, Andrew Goodman, 21 and Michael Schwerner, 24—disappeared in Philadelphia, Miss. In 2005, 41 years after the disappearance, Edgar Killen was convicted of their murders.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini becomes Pope Paul VI. The Italian pontiff is known for completing the Second Vatican Council, addressing the Roman Catholic Church's relationship with the modern world.

Lord Mountbatten resigns as Governor General of India (formerly the last Viceroy).

The Kiel Canal is opened by German Emperor Wilhelm II. The 98 km (61 mi) long canal in Northern Germany is one of the world's busiest artificial water ways. It connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea.

First Victoria Cross won during bombardment of Bomarsund in the Aland Islands (Crimean War).

Cyrus McCormick's mechanical reaper was patented.

The U.S. Constitution went into effect when New Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify it.

Italian statesman, diplomat, and author of “The Prince,” Niccolo Machiavelli died.