HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL~JUN 11

 

  1509  Henry VIII Marries First Wife

King Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon, the first of six wives he will have in his lifetime. When Catherine failed to produce a male heir, Henry divorced her against the will of the Roman Catholic Church, thus precipitating the Protestant Reformation in England.

Henry went on to have five more wives; two of whom--Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard--he executed for alleged adultery after he grew tired of them. His only surviving child by Catherine of Aragon, Mary, ascended to the throne upon the death of her half-brother, Edward VI, in 1553. In 1558, Mary was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth, the only surviving child of Henry VIII by Anne Boleyn. She was crowned Queen Elizabeth I.

 

 

 

1944  D-Day Landing Forces Converge

Five days after the D-Day landing, the five Allied landing groups, made up of some 330,000 troops, link up in Normandy to form a single solid front across northwestern France.

 

1955  Tragedy At Le Mans

On this day in 1955, a racing car in Le Mans, France, goes out of control and crashes into stands filled with spectators, killing 82 people.The tragedy in the famous 24-hour race leads to a ban on racing in several nations.

 

  1966  Janis Joplin Made Her First Onstage Appearance  at the Age of 23

 

She performed at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco with Big Brother and the Holding Company. The band was a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Piece of My Heart was the only hit to chart for the group (1968). At the end of 1968, Janis Joplin left Big Brother and the Holding Company (they disbanded in 1972). Her solo career that followed included hits such as Down on Me and Me and Bobby McGee. Janis ‘Pearl’ Joplin died of a heroin overdose in Hollywood in October 1970. The movie The Rose, starring Bette Midler, was inspired by the life of the rock star.

 

 

  1979  John Wayne Dies

On this day in 1979, John Wayne, an iconic American film actor famous for starring in countless westerns, dies at age 72 after battling cancer for more than a decade.

 

  1982  The movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Opened

Steven Spielberg directed this classic. It dazzled audiences with state-of-the-art special effects and a touching, humorous, story line, grossing over $100 million in its first 31 days of theatrical release.