From June to History Trivia Quiz

The "Magna Carta Libertatum" commonly called "Magna Carta" was a charter of rights signed by King John of England at Runnymede in June 1215. At this time kings had unlimited power, not only over the country but over the barons and the clergy. In an attempt to avoid a civil war in June, 1215, the royal seal was placed on a document known as the "Articles of the Barons".

From this document, the final version of the Magna Carta was drawn up which, on June 19, was accepted by the king and the barons. This letter, which was re-edited in 1216, 1217 and 1225, established that the sovereign was subject to the rule of law, protection of the rights of the church and the barons, and contained clauses that provided for reforms in judicial and local administration.

The letter has historical importance for establishing that rulers are not above the law. It provided the foundations of Anglo-American jurisprudence.

Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812 - June 9, 1870), was the second of eight children of John Dickens and Elizabeth Barrow. He was educated by his mother, who taught him English and Latin, and spent much of his time reading. After his father was imprisoned for debt, Charles, at the age of 12, began working in a shoe blacking factory, where he could observe the poor working conditions and the characteristics of the English working class, which were later depicted in his work. When he left his job at the factory he went back to studying and working in an office, becoming a lawyer.

He left the office and began working as a newspaper columnist. In 1836 he was invited to write a comic serial narrative with illustrations, called "The Pickwick Papers", which soon became a success. Dickens left his job at the newspaper and began editing the monthly magazine, in which he published "Oliver Twist", (1837-39). He wrote numerous stories about Christmas, the most popular being "A Christmas Carol". Dickens wrote 15 major novels and countless short stories and articles. In his work, he reported on the problems of the society in which he lived and he created characters based on people who were part of his life.

In addition to writing and editing, Dickens toured as a dramatic reader. He died of a stroke on June 9, 1870, at the age of 58, and is buried in Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey.

Jeannette Pickering Rankin was born on June 11, 1880, in Montana Territory (nine years before Montana became a state), and died on May 18, 1973. She was the first woman to hold a federal office in the United States. She was elected to the House of Representatives from Montana in 1916 and in 1940. As of 2024, she remains the only woman ever elected to Congress for Montana. Rankin stood out as a pacifist and as a defender of women's rights.

Rankin lobbied in several states for more women-friendly legislation. While in Congress she proposed legislation, which eventually became the 19th Constitutional Amendment granting women the right to vote, and throughout a career spanning more than 60 years she always fought for civil and women's rights. She also distinguished herself as a pacifist. Her two terms as a congresswoman coincided with the beginning of two world wars. She was one of 50 House members who opposed declaring war on Germany in 1917, and was the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In an interview given in 1972, Rankin, who is widely remembered as a pacifist, declared: "I want to be remembered as the only woman who ever voted to give the woman the right to vote".

Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863 - 1914), was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria. His life was drastically changed when his cousin, Crown Prince Rudolf, committed suicide in 1889, leaving his father as the first in line to the Austria-Hungarian throne. However, in 1896, Karl Ludwig died of typhoid fever, which made Franz Ferdinand the heir to the throne.

In 1894, Franz Ferdinand met Countess Sophie Chotek. They fell in love, but there was an obstacle as Sophie did not belong to any ruling or formerly reigning family in Europe, an essential condition to be eligible to marry a member of the Imperial House of Habsburg. In 1898, Emperor Franz Joseph permitted the marriage, with the condition that the marriage would be morganatic. It is worth remembering that this type of marriage, which usually occurs between a royal person and a person of lower rank, prevents the passage of the husband's title and privileges to the wife and any children from the marriage.

On a trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been annexed to Austria-Hungary, the Archduke and his wife stopped in Sarajevo to inaugurate a new museum. After a series of incidents and a change of route, the delegation was attacked by Gavrilo Princip, who shot the Archduke and his wife. Princip was a member of the secret society, Black Hand, inspired by Serbian ultra-nationalism. The incident provoked a series of consequences, and it is certain that the murder was the trigger to the First World War.

Prince Edward of York (1894-1972) was the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary. He served in the British Army during the First World War, and represented his father on numerous occasions on international missions. He was very charismatic and popular, but his various affairs worried his family and members of the government. When his father died, Edward assumed the throne and title of Edward VIII.

Edward did not accept several court protocols, which generated some discontent. When he proposed marriage to American Wallis Simpson (1896 - 1986), who was in the process of divorcing her second husband, an institutional crisis ensued. The prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominion opposed the marriage, arguing that a queen consort with two living ex-husbands would be unacceptable. This marriage would also create a conflict with the Church of England, where Edward was the titular head. Edward raised the possibility of a morganatic marriage (he would remain king but Simpson would not become Queen consort), but this proposal was not accepted.

Edward VIII abdicated when it became clear that he could not marry Wallis Simpson and remain on the throne. He remained on the throne from 20 January 1936 until 11 December 1936, when he explained his decision in a worldwide BBC broadcast. After his abdication, he became Duke of Windsor. He needed to wait a few months to marry Wallis, who was in the process of getting divorced. The Duke married Wallis (at this time Wallis Warfield) on 3 June 1937 in a private ceremony at Château de Candé, France. No member of the English royal family attended the ceremony, as George VI prohibited it. They had no children and remained married until Edward's death in 1972.

In 1910, the Japanese Empire annexed Korea as a colony and remained so until Japan surrendered at the end of World War II on August 15, 1945. On this occasion, the United States and the Soviet Union divided Korea into two areas of occupation along the 38th parallel. The Americans administered the southern zone and the Soviets administered the northern zone. In 1948 the occupied zone became two sovereign states: the communist state Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the north and the capitalist state The Republic of Korea. However, the two states began to consider that there was only one country in all of Korea, and neither accepted the border at the 38th parallel. Several battles took place between the two states and on June 25, 1950, Soviet tanks crossed the 38th parallel and made an invasion of South Korea.

During the war North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union and South Korea was supported by the United States and the United Nations. The war ended on July 25, 1953, when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. It was the largest conflict to occur during the Cold War period, with around 3 million war fatalities. Once hostilities ceased, the Korean Demilitarized Zone was created, as the new border between the two countries.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (1926-2022), known as Elizabeth II was born in London during the reign of King George V, the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York. Her father was not the heir to the throne, but with the abdication of Edward VIII, he became King George VI and Elizabeth became the heir presumptive. Elizabeth was educated at home, and during the Second World War, she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten and they had four children.

With her father's premature death on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth became queen. Although she acceded to the throne immediately, the coronation was held more than one year later. This delay was expected, as there was mourning for the former monarch and there was also the need for time to prepare for the ceremony.

She was crowned on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey, as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The ceremony was the first British coronation to be fully televised.

The Russian engineer Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (1937-) was the first woman to travel to space. Valentina was a textile factory worker and amateur skydiver when she was selected for the cosmonaut program. Under Nikita Khrushchev's direction, four women were selected and trained for a special woman-in-space program, including Valentina, who was the only one who completed a space mission.

On June 16, 1963, Valentina was launched aboard Vostok 6 in a solo mission. Her flight lasted 70.8 hours, doing 48 orbits of Earth, and she became the first woman to fly in space. As of 2024 she is the only woman to have been on a solo space mission. She later graduated in engineering and re-qualified for space flight, but did not participate in other missions, becoming a spokesperson for the Soviet Union.

Valentina Tereshkova, Sally Ride (the first American woman to travel into space), and Mae Jemison (the first African American woman to become an astronaut) helped to pave the way for new missions in space.

Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968), was the seventh child of the Rose and Joseph Kennedy family. During the Second World War, he served in the Navy and later received degrees in government and law. In 1952, he began his political career as manager of his brother John's campaign for the US Senate and the presidency. After Kennedy's election, he was appointed Attorney General in the President's Cabinet, to whom he was the closest advisor and confidant. After his brother's death, Robert was elected New York's Senator, a position he held from 1965 to 1968.

In March 1968, Robert Kennedy announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. On June 5, 1968, Robert was at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, where the Democratic party primaries took place. Shortly after claiming his victory and concluding his speech, when he was leaving the ballroom, he was fatally shot by Sirhan Sirhan (1944-) who opened fire with a .22-caliber revolver. Despite the efforts made by medical staff he was pronounced dead on June 6, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

Julia Eileen Gillard (1961-) was born in Wales, but her family moved to Australia, joining the wave of post-World War II emigration from Britain to Australia in 1966. Her family settled in Adelaide where she grew up and attended university. In 1983 she moved to Melbourne where she continued her studies and graduated with a degree in law and arts.

Her political career began in the late 1970s. She is affiliated with the Australian Labor Party, and assumed the role of Prime Minister on June 24, 2010, remaining in the role until June 26, 2013. She was the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, the first woman and the first born outside Australia to hold this office.