1594 – Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paved way to the stabilization of the rule of the Principalía (an elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).

1748 – Denmark adopts the characteristic Nordic Cross flag later taken up by all other Scandinavian countries.

1770 – British explorer Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

1892 – The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.

1895 – Paris–Bordeaux–Paris, sometimes called the first automobile race in history or the "first motor race", takes place.

1920 – During the U.S. Republican National Convention in Chicago, U.S. Republican Party leaders gathered in a room at the Blackstone Hotel to come to a consensus on their candidate for the U.S. presidential election, leading the Associated Press to coin the political phrase "smoke-filled room".

1935 – Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States at Alpine, New Jersey.

1936 – The London International Surrealist Exhibition opens.

1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.

1963 – American Civil Rights Movement: Governor of Alabama George Wallace defiantly stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school. Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they are able to register.

1963 – Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.

1963 – John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.

1971 – The U.S. Government forcibly removes the last holdouts to the Native American Occupation of Alcatraz, ending 19 months of control.

1987 – Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant are elected as the first black MPs in Great Britain.

1998 – Compaq Computer pays US$9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.

2001 – Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

2008 – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes a historic official apology to Canada's First Nations in regard to abuses at a Canadian Indian residential school.

2010 – The first African FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa.

2013 – Greece's public broadcaster ERT is shut down by then-prime minister Antonis Samaras.

2015 – Greece's public broadcaster ERT is reopened by then-prime minister Alexis Tsipras.

2018 – United States President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea held the first meeting between leaders of their two countries in Singapore.

2018 – 3 World Trade Center officially opens.

…and if today is your birthday, Happy Birthday To You! You share this day with…

1572 – Ben Jonson, English poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1637)

1864 – Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)

1876 – Alfred L. Kroeber, American-French anthropologist and ethnologist (d. 1960)

1880 – Jeannette Rankin, American social worker and politician (d. 1973)

1888 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian-American anarchist and convicted criminal (d. 1927)

1895 – Nikolai Bulganin, Soviet politician (d. 1975)

1910 – Jacques Cousteau, French biologist, author, and inventor, co-developed the aqua-lung (d. 1997)

1913 – Vince Lombardi, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 1970)

1932 – Athol Fugard, South African-American actor, director, and playwright

1933 – Gene Wilder, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2016)

1939 – Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver and sportscaster

1945 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress

1956 – Joe Montana, American football player and sportscaster

1959 – Hugh Laurie, English actor and screenwriter

1960 – Mehmet Oz, American surgeon, author, and television host

1969 – Peter Dinklage, American actor and producer

1986 – Shia LaBeouf, American actor

Almanac - Thursday 6/11/20

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