On This Day: 20 June

Dutch navigator William Barents dies in the Arctic		1597
James Scott, 1^st Duke of Monmouth, declares himself King of England		1685
Britain's first municipal fire brigade is founded in Beverley, East Yorkshire		1726
The Nawab of Bengal confines 147 employees of the British East India Company in the Black Hole of Calcutta; only 23 survive		1756
King Louis XVI captured while attempting to flee from revolutionary Paris		1791
Revolutionary mob invades the Tuileries, Paris		1792
SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, becoming the first steamship to cross the Atlantic		1819
William IV dies and is succeeded by his niece Victoria		1837
Samuel Morse is granted a patent for the telegraph		1840
Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario		1877
Tay Railway Bridge opens for public traffic		1887
Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother		1893
The Kiel Canal – the world's busiest artificial waterway – is officially opened		1895
Britain's first trolley–bus service opens in Leeds		1911
Publication of the first issue of the radical arts magazine Blast heralds the arrival of the modernist avant–garde		1914
Britain promises independence to Mesopotamia (Iraq)		1920
Revolutionary, Francisco (Pancho)Villa (Dorotao Arango) assassinated		1923
Greyhound racing begins at the White City, London		1927
The Battle of the Philippine Sea ends in a decisive victory for the US Navy		1944
The experimental German V–2 rocket MW 18014 reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man–made object to reach outer space		1944
The US Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to the US		1945
The Deutsche Mark is introduced in Western Allied–occupied Germany; four days later, the Soviet Union responds by imposing the Berlin Blockade		1948
'Gorgeous Gussie' Moran exposes lace–trimmed panties under her short skirt, at Wimbledon		1949
The Mali Federation (modern Mali and Senegal) gains independence from France		1960
Floyd Patterson (USA) KOs Ingmar Johannson (Sweden) to become the first boxer to regain the world heavyweight title		1960
USSR and USA agree to install a 'hot–line' between Kremlin and White House		1963
Police in Algiers break up demonstrations by hundreds of people who have taken to the streets in support of deposed President Ben Bella		1965
Sheila Scott lands at London to become first Briton to fly non–stop around the World		1966
Jaws is released in the USA, becoming the highest–grossing film up to that time		1975
Hundreds of Americans and Britons are moved from Beirut and taken to safety in Syria by the US military, following the murder of the US ambassador		1976
US TV reporter Bill Stewart is shot dead in cold blood by Nicaraguan National Guardsmen		1979
Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph announces that O–Level and CSE exams are to be abolished and replaced by the General Certificate for Secondary Education (GCSE), in autumn 1986 – the first pupils sitting the exam in 1988		1984
New Zealand beat France 29–9 in the final of Rugby Union's first World Cup in Auckland		1987
The Iranian cities of Manjil and Rudbar are devastated by an earthquake; between 35,000 and 50,000 lives are lost		1990
The asteroid Eureka – the first known Mars trojan – is discovered		1990
UK Chancellor John Major proposes a new European currency which would circulate alongside existing national currencies – as an alternative to European Commission President Jacques DeLors' more radical proposal for a single currency and European bank		1990
London Regional Transport announces the withdrawal of the Routemaster bus after 30 years' service		1990
Nelson Mandela receives a ticker–tape welcome in New York		1990
The German Bundestag votes to move seat of government from Bonn to Berlin		1991
Shell backs down under public pressure and abandons its plan to dump the Brent Spar oil rig in the Atlantic Ocean		1995
Harold 'Dickie' Bird umpires his 66^th and last Test match, at Lord's		1996
US tobacco companies agree to major regulatory concessions in return for limited liability for compensation to smokers		1997
The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida		2003

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On This Day: 20 June