This Week in American History

Here is what happened this week in American History.

• June 23. On this day in 1929, singer-songwriter, musician and actress Valerie June Carter is born in Maces Spring, Virginia. She began singing with her family at age 10 and enjoyed an incredible career, though she is best known as June Carter Cash, having married Johnny Cash. She died in 2003 from complications involving heart-valve replacement.

• June 24. Today in 1938, a meteor estimated to weigh over 450 tons strikes the Earth’s atmosphere. It explodes while still about 12 miles above the planet’s surface. Four pieces are found near Chicora, Pennsylvania. The site of main mass impact has never been found.

• June 25. In 1960, William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell left the US to vacation in Mexico. In actuality, they were defecting to the Soviet Union. It is extraordinarily import as both men were cryptographers for the National Security Agency. The men claimed to be concerned with the US spying on the Soviet Union though not equally concerned with the Soviet Union spying on the US. It is a major setback for US intelligence services. Martin would later call his defection “foolhardy” and sought to return to the US, but that was not allowed. He did return to Mexico where he died in 1987. Mitchell would also regret his action. He became an alcoholic and died in Russia in 2001.

• June 26. On this day in 1924, American occupation of the Dominican Republic ends after eight years. The occupation began after Desiderio Arias, who was serving as the Dominican Republic’s Secretary of War, seized power from President Juan Isidro Jimenes. US Marines were initially providing protection for the US Legation and Consulate, and occupied Fort San Geronimo. As fighting ensued, and the Marines proved more than a match for the Dominican Republic military, Arias fled the country. The US then imposed a military government.

• June 27. Today in 1957, Hurricane Audrey, a Category 3 hurricane, slams ashore near the Louisiana-Texas border. The storm surge is reported to have gone 20 miles inland. Coastal communities were destroyed and over 400 people were killed. The hurricane also produced 18 tornadoes across Alabama and Mississippi.

• June 28. In 1997, it is the second fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Holyfield had won the first fight though the Tyson camp had issues with the officiating. It would be during the third round of the second fight that Tyson, who appeared to be trailing in the fight, bit off a piece of Holyfield’s right ear. Tyson would bite the other ear a bit later and was disqualified.

• June 29. On this day in 2012, a derecho strikes the eastern US resulting in the deaths of 22 people and lives millions without power. A derecho is a widespread, straight-line wind storm that can last for a long time. They are generally associated with a fast moving group of severe thunderstorms in the Midwestern US.

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