Today is Saturday, June 30, the 182nd day of 2012. There are 184 days left in the year.
1859 ― Charles Blondin is first to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope
1894 ― Korea declares independence from China, asks for Japanese aid
1914 ― Mahatma Gandhi's first arrest, campaigning for Indian rights in S Africa
1934 ― ``Night of the Long Knives," Hitler stages bloody purge of Nazi party
1936 ― ``Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, published
1936 ― 40 hour work week law approved
1948 ― Transistor as a substitute for Radio tubes announced (Bell Labs)
1950 ― President Truman orders U.S. troops into Korea
1972 ― First leap second day; also 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985
1981 ― China's Communist Party condemns the late Mao Zedong's policy