Once Upon A Time – June 12 – 2015 – Zimbabwe Discards Own Currency, Offering An Exchange Of $1 For 35 Quadrillion Zimbabwean Dollars

1381 Peasants’ Revolt: in England, rebels arrive at Blackheath

1830 Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: 34,000 French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch

1864 The Battle of Trevilian Station, the bloodiest and largest all-cavalry battle of the American Civil War in Louisa County ends with Confederate tactical victory and Union successful retreat

1931 Al Capone is indicted on 5,000 counts of prohibition and perjury

1942 Anne Frank gets her diary as a birthday present in Amsterdam

1964 Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison in South Africa

1971 David Defiagbon, Nigerian-Canadian boxer (Olympic silver 1996), born in Sapele, Delta State, Nigeria (d. 2018)

1994 Moshood Abiola declares himself lawful President of Nigeria

2018 Singapore summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump – first time a North Korean leader and an incumbent US President have ever met

Historical Events Today Events in 2023

Today in Film & TV

1981 “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (the first Indiana Jones film) directed by Stephen Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford, with story by George Lucas premieres

Today in Music

1990 “Mariah Carey” debut album by Mariah Carey is released

Today in Sport

1880 Worcester Ruby Legs pitcher Lee Richmond throws first perfect game in MLB history in 1-0 win over Cleveland Blues at the Agricultural County Fair Grounds, Worcester

2010 “Toy Story 3”, directed by Lee Unkrich, starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, premieres at the Taormina Film Fest in Italy – 1st animated film to earn 1 billion

2015 Zimbabwe discards its own currency, offering an exchange of $1 for 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars

Famous Weddings

1733 King of Prussia Frederick the Great (21) weds duchess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (18) at Schloss Salzdahlum in Wolfenbüttel, Germany

1927 Inventor and electrical engineer Guglielmo Marconi (53) weds Maria Cristina Bezzi-Scali

1949 Religious leader Jim Jones (18) weds nurse Marceline Baldwin

Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment on this day and sent to Robben Island, seven miles off Cape Town. It caused international outrage – June 12, 1964