On This Day……

On this day…

July 6: Independence Day in Malawi (1964) and in Comoros (1975); Statehood Day in Lithuania (1253); the festival of San Fermín begins in Pamplona, Spain

Sir Thomas More, by Hans Holbein the Younger

  • 1253 – Mindaugas, the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania, was crowned as King of Lithuania, the only person to ever hold that title.
  • 1535 – Thomas More (pictured), an opponent of the Protestant Reformation, was executed for treason for refusing to accept Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church of England.
  • 1892 – During a steelworkers’ strike in Homestead, Pennsylvania, US, a day-long battle between strikers and Pinkerton agents resulted in ten deaths and dozens of people wounded.
  • 1988 – An explosion and resulting fire destroyed Occidental Petroleum’s oil platform Piper Alpha in the North Sea, killing 168 people.
  • 2006 – Nathu La, a mountain pass in the Himalayas connecting India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opened for trade after more than 40 years.