On This Day: 21 June

Dulwich College is founded by Edward Alleyn		1619
Twenty–seven Czech protestants are executed on the Old Town Square in Prague, after the final defeat of the Protestant uprising of the Bohemian estates against the Catholic Habsburgs at the Battle of White Mountain		1621
The foundation stone of St. Paul's Cathedral is laid		1675
A slave known as Marie–Joseph Angélique is put to death in Montreal, having been convicted of setting the fire that destroyed much of the city		1734
The US constitution comes into force, as New Hampshire becomes the ninth of the thirteen states to ratify it		1788
King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family attempt to escape from Paris, but are arrested in the small town of Varennes (some 135 miles away)		1791
Scottish explorer Mungo Park reaches the River Niger		1796
The Irish rebellion ends in defeat by Lord Lake at Vinegar Hill outside Enniscorthy, County Wexford		1798
Wellington's victory at the Battle of Vittoria "seals the fate of the French in Spain"		1813
Royal College of Surgeons founded		1843
Midshipman Charles Lucas, mate of HMS Hecla, throws a live but unexploded Russian shell overboard – an act for which he was to be awarded the first VC three years later		1854
Wagner's Die Meistersinger is premiered in Munich		1868
Britain annexes Zululand		1887
Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee is celebrated in Britain		1887
During the Boxer Rebellion, China formally declares war on the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan, as an edict issued from the Empress Dowager Cixi		1900
20,000 suffragettes demonstrate in London		1908
Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet at Scapa Flow. The nine sailors killed are the last casualties of World War I		1919
British TV's first sporting outside broadcast – Wimbledon		1937
Rommel takes Tobruk		1942
After a long and bloody battle, the Japanese island of Okinawa falls to American forces		1945
Columbia Records issues the first long–playing records, made of vinylite		1948
Three civil rights workers are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, by members of the Ku Klux Klan		1964
The government–appointed Reorganisation Commission Marketing Board recommends that the Egg Marketing Board should be scrapped and a free market established		1968
Brazil wins the World Cup for the third time and retains the Jules Rimet Trophy		1970
Tony Jacklin becomes the second non–US golfer (and the first since Edward Ray in 1920) to win the US Open		1970
Evita opens in London		1978
One civilian and three IRA men lose their lives in an outbreak of shooting between Provisional IRA members and British security forces, at the Ballysillan post office depot in Belfast		1978
Prince William is born in St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington		1982
John Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted assassination of US President Ronald Reagan		1982
Burmese government imposes a curfew as student protests threaten the regime		1988
The US Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson that burning the American flag is a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment		1989
Over 25,000 die in an earthquake in North–West Iran		1990
The Labour Party condemns a 66% pay rise awarded to Robert Evans, chairman of British Gas – from £222,000 to £370,000 – as "sheer unbridled greed"		1991
German football fans run riot in Lens, leaving a gendarme in a coma		1998
Abdullah Qawasmeh, 43, leader of Hamas, shot dead outside a mosque in Hebron		2003
Two moons of Pluto, discovered the previous year, are officially named Nix and Hydra		2006
Greenland assumes self–government, following a vote in the previous year to transfer more power away from Denmark		2009

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On This Day: 21 June