Orient Express
On June 5, 1883, the Orient Express made its first trip from Paris to Vienna. It quickly earned a reputation as the world’s most luxurious train.
This Day in History
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The Miracle of Dunkirk
On June 4, 1940, over 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk after being cut off and surrounded there for weeks.
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Aleutian Islands Campaign
On June 3, 1942, Japanese forces kicked of the 14-month Aleutian Islands Campaign. The campaign’s two Japanese invasions were the only ones on US soil during the war.
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Only Presidential White House Wedding
On June 2, 1886, President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom in the White House, making him the only US president to be married in the executive mansion.
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Kentucky Becomes 15th State
On June 1, 1792, Kentucky became America’s 15th state and the first state west of the Appalachian Mountains. Its admission marked a new stage in the nation’s growth, as settlers pushed through mountain passes into a region long valued for its rivers, forests, wildlife, and rich farmland.
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Start of the Battle of Cold Harbor
On May 31, 1864, forces assembled in Virginia for the bloody Battle of Cold Harbor. The clash became one of the final major battles of Grant’s Overland Campaign against Robert E. Lee.
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Birth of Benny Goodman
Bandleader Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois. Also a renowned clarinetist, he’s considered the “King of Swing.”
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Rhode Island Becomes 13th State
On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island became the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the US Constitution. The vote was close, but it brought the smallest state into the new nation as the 13th state.
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Founding of the Sierra Club
On May 28, 1892, John Muir and a small group of California conservationists founded the Sierra Club in San Francisco. Their goal was practical as well as poetic: bring people into the mountains, then organize them to protect the wild places they had come to love.
