POPnews - June 6th

[The glittering skyline of Brisbane is just one of Queensland's many treasures...]

1513 - During the War of the League of Cambrai, at the Battle of Novara, Swiss troops defeated King Louis XII's French army under Louis de la Tremoille, forcing them to abandon Milan, whereupon Duke Massimiliano Sforza was restored to his throne.

1523 - Gustav Vasa was elected King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union.

1654 - Charles X succeeded to the throne of Sweden left vacant by his cousin, the famed Queen Christina, who'd abdicated in order to become Catholic.

1674 - Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire, was crowned at the hilltop fortress of Raigad.

1752 - A devastating fire destroyed one-third of Moscow, including some 18,000 homes.

1808 - Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte, was crowned King of Spain.

1809 - Sweden promulgated a new Constitution, which restored political power to the Riksdag of the Estates after 20 years of Enlightened absolutism.

1813 - During the War of 1812's Battle of Stoney Creek a British force of 700 under John Vincent defeated an American one three times its size under William Winder and John Chandler.

1857 - Sophia of Nassau married the future King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway.

1859 - Queensland was established as a separate colony from New South Wales, a day still celebrated in that Australian state as Queensland Day.

1889 - The Great Seattle Fire destroyed the entirety of downtown Seattle, Washington.

1906 - Paris Métro Line 5 was inaugurated, with its first section connecting Place d'Italie to the Gare d'Orléans (now known as Gare d'Austerlitz).

1912 - The eruption of Alaska's Novarupta began; it would become the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, the largest being Mt. Pinatubo.

1933 - The world's first drive-in theater opened, in Camden, New Jersey.

1944 - Alaska Airlines commenced operations.

1968 - Presidential candidate Senator Robert F. Kennedy died of gunshot wounds received from Sirhan Sirhan during an assassination attempt the previous evening at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

1971 - Soyuz 11 was launched as part of the Soviet Union's Soyuz program.

1974 - A new Instrument of Government was promulgated, making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.

1985 - The grave of one 'Wolfgang Gerhard' was exhumed in the Brazilian city of Embu... The remains found there were later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, the so-called 'Angel of Death' who was best known for conducting macabre experiments on the inmates of Auschwitz; Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February 1979.
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