1813 – Peninsular War: Wellington defeats Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria, a decisive victory that leads to the collapse of French power in Spain. 1942 – World War II: Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces, resulting in the capture of 33,000 Allied troops and a significant setback for the Allies in the North African campaign. 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Okinawa ends with a decisive Allied victory, resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians and paving the way for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands. 1964 – Civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, by members of the Ku Klux Klan, an event that galvanizes the civil rights movement and leads to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 2009 – Greenland assumes self-rule, marking a significant step towards independence from Denmark and the recognition of Greenlandic as an official language.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 21, 2024 17:17 UTC