On This Day, June 6: Allies invade Nazi-occupied Europe on D-Day

1 of 4 | On June 6, 1944, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops began crossing the English Channel in the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. It was the largest invasion in history. File Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.

On this date in history:

In 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association — YMCA — was founded in London.

In 1872, feminist Susan B. Anthony was fined for voting in an election in Rochester, N.Y. She refused to pay the fine and a judge allowed her to go free.

In 1933, the first drive-in movie theater opened — in Camden, N.J.

In 1944, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops began crossing the English Channel in the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. It was the largest invasion in history.

File Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army

In 1966, James Meredith, who in 1962 became the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi, was shot by a sniper during a civil rights “March Against Fear” walk in the South. Meredith was hospitalized and recovered from his wounds, later rejoining the long march, which he had originated.

In 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. attorney general, died the day after he was struck by an assassin’s bullets in California. He was 42.

In 1972, a coal mine explosion in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), trapped 464 miners underground. More than 425 people died.

In 1981, a train conductor braked too hard to avoid hitting a cow, causing several cars in his train to slip off the tracks in rainy weather. The cars slid off a bridge into a swollen river, drowning an estimated 600 people in India.

In 1982, thousands of Israeli forces pushed deep into Lebanon in an effort to defeat Palestinian guerrillas sheltering in the southern border region and near the capital of Beirut. Syria said its forces joined the fighting in a major escalation of the conflict.

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon displays a map of Israel and Lebanon as he appears on the CBS television show “Face the Nation” in Washington on August 29, 1982. Sharon said the Palestine Liberation Organization was very heavily damaged and he believes the new government of Lebanon will sign a peace treaty with Israel. File Photo by Mal Langsdon/UPI

In 1993, the Guatemalan legislature elected Ramiro de Leon Carpio as president to replace ousted leader Jorge Serrano.

In 2001, a man drove his pickup truck into a Muslim family of Pakistani heritage, killing four and injuring one in London, Ontario, Canada. The driver was charged with terroristic murder and accused of targeting the family because of their religion.

In 2023, Prince Harry became the first member of the British royal family to give testimony during a court proceeding since 1891. He sued Mirror Group Newspapers, accusing them of illegally hacking. In February 2024, Prince Harry won a “substantial” settlement in the case.