On this day: 11 June

Marcomannic Wars: The Roman army in Moravia is encircled by the Quadi, who have broken the peace treaty (171). In a violent thunderstorm, emperor Marcus Aurelius defeats and subdues them in the so-called "miracle of the rain".

Arab–Byzantine wars: The Abbasid army departed Raqqa in northern Syria to begin an invasion of Byzantine-controlled Asia Minor.

Vladimir the Great consolidates the Kievan realm from Ukraine to the Baltic Sea. He is proclaimed ruler (knyaz) of all Kievan Rus'.

Lombard Revolt: Greek citizens of Bari rise up against the Lombard rebels led by Melus and deliver the city to Basil Mesardonites, Byzantine governor (catepan) of the Catepanate of Italy.

Empress Zoe Porphyrogenita marries Constantine Monomachos, who is crowned the following day as Byzantine Emperor.

Roger of Salerno, Prince of Antioch, captures Azaz from the Seljuk Turks.

Albert I of Brandenburg, also called The Bear (Ger: Albrecht der Bär), becomes the founder of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, Germany and the first margrave.

Hundred Years' War: Start of the Battle of Jargeau.

Don Tristan de Luna y Arellano sails for Florida with a party of 1,500, intending to settle on the gulf coast (Vera Cruz, Mexico).

Philip II of Spain recognized the sovereign rights of the principalía, local Philippine nobles and chieftains who had converted to Catholicism.

Anglo-Dutch forces skirmish with French forces before the walls of Nijmegen and prevent its fall.

J. S. Bach led his cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, in Leipzig on the first Sunday after Trinity, beginning his chorale cantata cycle.

Denmark adopts the characteristic Nordic Cross flag later taken up by all other Scandinavian countries.

The Battle of Machias, the first naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War, commenced in and around the port of Machias in what is now eastern Maine.

The Coronation of Louis XVI in Reims, the last coronation before the French Revolution.

American Revolution: The Second Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.

Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.

A fire consumes large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.

The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.

The Naval Battle of the Riachuelo is fought on the rivulet Riachuelo (Argentina), between the Paraguayan Navy on one side and the Brazilian Navy on the other. The Brazilian victory was crucial for the later success of the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina) in the Paraguayan War.

The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.

Paris–Bordeaux–Paris, sometimes called the first automobile race in history or the "first motor race", takes place.

The Hundred Days' Reform, a planned movement to reform social, political, and educational institutions in China, is started by the Guangxu Emperor, but is suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. (The failed reform led to the abolition of the Imperial examination in 1905.)

Alexander (pictured) was crowned King of Greece, succeeding his father Constantine I, who had abdicated.

Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown.

During their national convention in Chicago, Republican Party leaders gathered in negotiations at The Blackstone Hotel (pictured) to select their presidential candidate, leading to the phrase "smoke-filled room".

Inventor Edwin Armstrong demonstrates FM broadcasting to an audience of engineers at the FCC in Washington, DC.

Great Purge: The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin executes eight army leaders.

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.

World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.

Free French Forces retreat from Bir Hakeim after having successfully delayed the Axis advance.

USS Missouri, the last battleship built by the United States Navy and future site of the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, is commissioned.

John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.

The University of Alabama was desegregated as Governor George Wallace stepped aside after defiantly blocking the entrance to an auditorium (pictured).

Lloyd J. Old identifies the first cell surface antigens that could differentiate among different cell types.

After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army general officers, becoming the first women to do so.

The U.S. Government forcibly removes the last holdouts to the Native American Occupation of Alcatraz, ending 19 months of control.

Compaq Computer pays US$9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.

Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.

Cassini–Huygens makes its closest flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe.

Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper apologised to the First Nations for past governments' policies of forced assimilation.

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is launched into orbit.

The first FIFA World Cup held on African soil kicks off in South Africa.

Greece's public broadcaster ERT is shut down by then-prime minister Antonis Samaras. It would be opened exactly two years later by then-prime minister Alexis Tsipras.