June 4th in History
1903: A new element, Polonium, discovered by Curie husband and wife team
1938: Sigmund Freud leaves Austria for refuge in London
1942: Japanese suffer heavy losses at Midway Island
1970: Tonga independence
June 4th birthdays
1738: King George III
1811: Harriet Beecher Stowe, American novelist
1910: Christopher Cockerell, Hovercraft inventor
1940: Dunkirk evacuation ends
On this day, the last Allied troops in Europe evacuate Dunkirk as the Germans arrive. After the capitulation of Belgium's King Leopold II and the fall of the Netherlands, the Allied defense of Western Europe became untenable. Hundreds of thousands of British and French troops raced to Dunkirk on the Belgium coast, where a massive naval evacuation was promptly improvised. All available boats, including small fishing vessels, were pressed into service. The 10-day evacuation, the largest of its kind in history, saved 338,000 Allied troops from capture by the Nazis. On June 4, 1940, the Germans closed in on Dunkirk, capturing 40,000 Allied troops who had arrived too late to reach the safety of the British isle.
1996
Europe's most powerful space rocket, the Ariane 5, which cost £500million to build, blows up just 45 seconds into its maiden flight.
1990
Mayor of Washington Marion Barry goes on trial for drug offences.
1989
An estimated 2,000 die in Tiananmen Square in Peking when Chinese troops open fire on unarmed student protestors who had occupied the area for several days.
1977
Scottish football fans cause at least £15,000 damage by breaking the goals and digging up the pitch at Wembley after Scotland beat England 2-1.
1970
The island Kingdom of Tonga, in the Pacific Ocean, becomes a member of the British Commonwealth
1944
World War II: Allied troops liberate the Italian capital, Rome.
1913
British suffragette Emily Wilding Davison is trampled to death at Tattenham Corner on the Epsom racecourse during the running of the 1913 Derby. She dies under the hooves of the King's horse, Anmer.
1805
In Britain, the first official Trooping The Colour takes place at Horse Guards Parade in London.
1647
Roundhead troops capture King Charles I of England - ending the English Civil War with the Royalists defeated. 
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