June 28
Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand
1914: Having learned that Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, would pay an official visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia, six revolutionaries awaited his procession on this day in 1914. Among the six were Gavrilo Princip and his associate Nedjelko Cabrinovic. Cabrinovic threw a bomb that bounced off the archduke's car and exploded beneath the next vehicle. A short time later, while driving to a hospital to visit an officer wounded by the bomb, Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, duchess von Hohenberg, were shot to death by Princip. Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible and declared war July 28, precipitating the cataclysm of World War I.
1919: The Treaty of Versailles was signed at the Palace of Versailles in France, signifying the end of World War I.
1902: Notorious American bank robber John Dillinger was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1894: Congress declared the first Monday of September as Labor Day, a holiday to honour the American worker.
1838: Victoria was crowned queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1778: Molly Pitcher earned her nickname by carrying water to her husband's regiment during the Battle of Monmouth Court House.
1712: French philosopher, writer, and political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva.
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