Bismarcks rudder was damaged by the torpedo strike from the Swordfish. After Bismarck was hot in the battle against Hood and Prince of Wales, it was decided it would return to Brest for repairs. Enroute it was struck by Swordfish from HMS Ark Royal and had its rudder jammed so it could no longer maneuver, just turn in a slow circle and its fate was sealed.

Here's an interesting article about Americans involvement with the hunt for Bismarck.
https://www.avalanchepress.com/Americans-Bismarck.php

Since we're on a Bismarck trip.

1703 Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg. Then it's Leningrad. And now it's Saint Petersburg again.
1863 American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson. By the time it's over, the Yankees will lose 5000 killed and wounded and another 5000 to disease.
1905 Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins. One word to describe the Russian fleet in the aftermath: Annihilation.
1919 The US Navy NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight.
1927 The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A. Neither of them had Bluetooth.
1935 New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).

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Speaking to aides of Roosevelt, Justice Louis Brandeis remarked that, "This is the end of this business of centralization, and I want you to go back and tell the president that we're not going to let this government centralize everything."

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1941 World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men. There is epic sacrifice and bravery on both sides of the battle.

Beat me to it. In my opinion the fate of the Bismarcks crew is worse than that of the Hood, as most of the Bismarck's crew get over the side but are left when a U-Boat is sighted (still up for debate) leaving most of the men on the water to freeze to death or drown.

1453 - Constantinople falls to the Ottomans after a 55 day siege.

• 1862 The United States and the United Kingdom agree in the LyonsSeward Treaty to suppress the African slave trade.
• 1863 During the French intervention in Mexico, Mexico City is captured by French troops.
• 1892 Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to leave his seat in the "whites-only" car of a train; he would lose the resulting court case, Plessy v. Ferguson.
• 1899 American Temperance crusader Carrie Nation begins her campaign of vandalizing alcohol-serving establishments by destroying the inventory in a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas.
• 1917 World War I: Passchendaele, Battle of Messines Allied ammonal mines underneath German trenches in Mesen Ridge are detonated, killing 10,000 German troops. 500 tons of explosives, and 10,000 deaths is a drop in the bucket. Passchendaele lists over 850 THOUSAND killed, missing and wounded from both sides. Adolf Hitler is a survivor of Passchendaele.
• 1940 King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav and the Norwegian government leave Troms and goes into exile in London. They return exactly five years later. Unlike Charles de Gaulle, they don't act like they single-handedly ran the Germans out of Norway, partially due to Norwegians being to smart too believe crap like the French do.
• 1948 Edvard Bene resigns as President of Czechoslovakia rather than signing the Ninth-of-May Constitution, making his nation a Communist state.
• 1967 Six-Day War: Israeli soldiers enter Jerusalem.

1099 - The Siege of Jerusalem begins via the Crusaders of the first Crusade. They would win about 5 weeks later and commence the killing of many of the Jewish and Muslim inhabitants.

June 9th: Nero commits suicide.

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On June 9th, 68 AD, Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar better known as Emperor Nero died by his own hand after being declared an enemy of the state by the Roman senate. It was an ignominious death for the last of the original imperial dynasty, the Julio-Claudians. Deserted and reviled, Nero had fled Rome in disguise to the villa of one of his freedmen. Once there, the man who had killed his wife, mother and adopted brother without compunction and was rumored to have started the Great Fire of Rome spent the last few hours of his life attempting to avoid the inevitability of his death.

Nero was so terrified of dying that he begged one of his servants to kill themselves to serve as an example to him- before a troop of armed soldiers forced his hand. Even then he needed help to drive the dagger home. However, within months of his death, rumors began that Nero still lived and would return in glory to reclaim his empire. Over the next twenty years, as many as three "false Neros" came forward claiming to be the notorious emperor and seize the imperial purple. All were out-ed as fakes and foreign pawns. But why did so many cling to the idea that the former emperor lived? And why would anyone believe that someone impersonating someone as reviled as Nero could help them seize power in Rome?

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Nero's Decline- and Death
Before he left Rome, Nero tried to bribe the officers of the Praetorian guards to help him. Their reply was not encouraging. "Is it so terrible a thing to die?" one reputedly asked the emperor. Following this rejection, the desperate Nero considered his options. One was to flee to Parthia while another was to wait and throw himself on the mercy of the advancing Galba. Nero even toyed with the idea of publicly petitioning the Roman people for the Prefecture of Egypt but gave the idea up when he realized he was likely to be torn apart.

The night of June 8th must have passed uneasily for Nero. However, the next day was far worse. The ex-emperor awoke to discover his bodyguard had left him. So, gathering his remaining four servants one of which was a gladiator named Sporus and fled Rome barefoot and in disguise for the villa of his freedman Phaon, just four miles outside Rome. Nero then passed the next few hours vacillating over his death. When his servants begged him to avoid ignominious execution by committing suicide, appeared decided and ordered them to dig him a grave. However, while they did so, he wandering around bewailing his fate and muttering "Dead! And so great an artist!'"

Then a letter arrived, and Nero learned the Senate had declared him a public enemy. The letter also stated that the Senate had decreed the ex-emperor should be captured and brought to Rome for execution "ancient style." This meant that Nero was to be stripped naked and, with his head secured in a wooden fork, publicly flogged to death. The news sent Nero into a frenzied panic. He snatched up two daggers and tried the points as if to kill himself only to throw down again, protesting the time of his death had not yet come.

Nero then changed his mind again and asked Sporus to mourn him. He then begged for one of his remaining servants to set him an example by killing themselves first. The next moment, increasingly erratic emperor was berating himself for his cowardice. Suetonius records how witnesses stated he bewailed "How ugly and vulgar my life has become," before turning on himself, saying "Come pull yourself together."

Hooves from a troop of cavalry approaching the villa to arrest Nero finally decided the matter. Rather than face execution, the cornered Nero chose to end his own life. He made his companions promise to bury him respectably. Then he took up the dagger. However, Nero couldn't quite summon the courage to plunge the knife home himself his secretary Epaphroditus had to help him stab himself in the throat. The arresting centurion arrived just in time to catch the emperor's last breath, but despite his outlaw status, respected Nero's last wishes. Galba's freedman Icelus cremated the emperor in the gold-embroidered robes he had last worn in Greece. His ashes, however, were placed amongst those of his father's family the Domitii on the Pincian Hill rather than amongst the other Julio-Claudians.

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June 13, 1777:
The Marquis de Lafayette, only 19 years old, arrives in the American Colonies to fight alongside the Patriots

And, the 18th.

🧵 The Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815): A Turning Point in History

Let’s dive into the epic battle that ended Napoleon’s reign, reshaped Europe, and changed the course of history. From the lead-up to the aftermath, here’s what you need to know. #History #Waterloo pic.twitter.com/vdcwG0V8bL

— Manifest History (@ManifestHistory) June 18, 2025

June 18, 1812:
James Madison signs a declaration of war against Britain, formally beginning the War of 1812

Radio speech by Charles de Gaulle 18-06-1940 (June 18, 1940)

Text of the speech:


The chiefs who have commanded the French armed forces for many years have formed a government. This government, which is responsible for the defeat of our troops, has made contact with the enemy to end hostilities.

Indeed, the mechanical might of the enemy, his ground and air forces, have overwhelmed us.

Far more than to their numbers, we had to yield to their tanks, their aircraft, and the German tactics. Tanks, aircraft, and German tactics surprised the leaders of our armies and led them to where they now stand.

But has the last word been said with this? Must hope disappear? Is this defeat definite? No, it is not!

Believe me, I who speak to you with professional knowledge, and I say to you that nothing is lost for France. The same means which we have been conquered with will bring us victory one day.

Because France is not alone. She is not alone. She is not alone. She has a vast empire behind her. She may form an alliance with the British Empire, that rules the sea and continues the struggle. She may, just like Great Britain, make unlimited use of the immense industrial might of the United States.

This war is not limited to to the unlucky territory of our country. This war is not limited by the battle for France.

This war is a global war. All mistakes, all delays, and all the suffering in the world will not prevent us from crushing our enemies one day with all means available. Conquered today by mechanical forces, we will gain victory in the future by a superior mechanical force. The fate of the world lies in our hands.

I, Gnral de Gaulle, presently in London, I call upon the officers and French soldiers who are on British soil today or who will arrive here with or without their weapons, I call upon the engineers and the specialised workers of the armament industry who are on British soil today or who will arrive here, to contact me.

Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not be extinghuished and shall not be extinguished.

Tomorrow, like today, I will talk to you again on Radio London.

June 19, 1944:
The Battle of the Philippine Sea begins. This was the largest carrier battle in the history of the world, a decisive American victory that crippled Japan's naval air power.

The Marksman said:

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June 19, 1944:
The Battle of the Philippine Sea begins. This was the largest carrier battle in the history of the world, a decisive American victory that crippled Japan's naval air power.

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Otherwise known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" - USN 346, IJN 30 in terms of aircraft shot down

June 19, 1865, 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay announcing that the enslaved were free. I have posted about this before, so I will not repost the same information.

June 19, 1939, a young miss Opal Lee and her family had their home of less than a month burned down by. Mob of 500 people who didn't like a black family moving into a mostly white neighborhood. After a career as an educator and counselor, she retired and became an activist trying to get Juneteenth a federal holiday, which she succeeded in 2021. She is now known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opal_Lee

June 21, 1788:
The United States Constitution is ratified

June 22, 1945

Battle of Okinawa comes to an end. Longest and bloodiest campaign of the Pacific War.

Heard my grandfather tell many stories from this battle.

June 22, 1941 Operation Barbarossa: Nazi Germany and its allies invade the Soviet Union during World War II, the largest military operation in history.

On this day in 1865, Confederate Brig Gen. Stand Watie signed a cease-fire agreement becoming the last confederate general in the field to surrender. The surrender took place 2 1/2 months after Lee surrendered at Appomattox and well over a month after the last land battle at Palmito Ranch east of Brownsville, Tx.

1812 Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's Grande Arme crosses the Neman River beginning his invasion of Russia.
Related to your post:
1916 World War I: The Battle of the Somme begins with a week long artillery bombardment on the German Line. By the time it ends in mid-November, 650,000 French and British and 450,000 Germans are dead, wounded or captured. It is during this battle that the tank makes its battlefield debut. The Guns of August is still my favorite, interesting to note both books were written by women.
1945 The Moscow Victory Parade takes place. Part of the display is the captured German Army's standards:
BTW, Confederate, Brigadier General Stand Watie referenced as the last surrendering general from the civil war on 23 June, was full-blooded Cherokee. Just interesting trivia.

June 24, 1497:
John Cabot is the first European since the Vikings in the 11th century to set foot in North America

June 25, 1942:
Dwight D. Eisenhower formally takes command of U.S. forces in Europe following his arrival in London a few days prior. Eisenhower would go on to be named Supreme Allied Commander and would lead Operation Torch(Allied invasion of North Africa), Operation Avalanche(Allied invasion of Italy), and Operation Overlord(Allied invasion of Western Europe, including the Normandy landings). Eisenhower liberated many of the Nazi death camps, correctly predicting that the Holocaust would later be denied and thus demanding careful documentation of the Nazi atrocities.

June 25, 1950:
North Korea invades South Korea, starting the Korean war.

June 25, 2009:
Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, dies at the age of 50 in Los Angeles.

1862 the Seven Days Battle begins with McClellan actually making an attack at Goldings Farm.

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June 25, 1950: North Korea invades South Korea, starting the Korean War.

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Seventy-five years ago, Congress abdicated its power to declare war. Here's how it happened.

• 1942 The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat. It is the platform that shot down the most enemy aircraft in the war.
• 1944 World War II: The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, one of the largest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance forces, ends with the defeat of the latter. The Soviets nearby offered no help as the Germans killed off the types of Poles that might have opposed the oncoming Communist era in Eastern Europe.
• 1945 The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco. Yes, really, in San Francisco.

June 26, 1483:
Richard III, the last Plantagenet king, ascends to the throne of England.

June 26, 1541:
Francisco Pizzaro, the Spanish governor of Peru who toppled the Inca Empire, is assassinated.

June 26, 1917:
The first American soldiers arrive in France to fight in World War I. 14,000 Doughboys land in Saint-Nazaire to great fanfare from the locals. The entry of fresh American troops into the war was a major turning point.

June 26, 1948:
The U.S. and British begin the Berlin Airlift after the communist blockade of the city.

June 26, 1979:
Muhummad Ali retires from boxing.

June 26, 1997:
The first book in the Harry Potter series is released.

1862 Lee kicks off his Seven Days offensive at Beaver Dam Creek. Doesn't go so well, thanks to a late Jackson and impatient AP Hill. Still General Chicken Little backs away.

June 27, 1930:
Ross Perot is born in Texarkana

June 27, 1941:
British codebreakers crack the Nazi Enigma codes used on the Eastern front of the war

June 27, 1950:
President Truman orders U.S. forces to Korea