ON THIS DAY
On this day in history June 25-July 1
June 25, 2017 - July 1, 2017 - This week features the invention of barbed wire, the first Harry Potter book, America’s iconic Route 66, tigers in the The state of Madhya Pradesh in central India, the first woman to be democratically elected as head of state in Europe, the return of Hong Kong to China after 156 years UK sovereignty, and the formation of Canada.
June 25, 1867: The first barbed wire was patented in the U.S. state of Ohio as a way of keeping cattle away from crops on the prairies where fencing materials were scarce
June 26, 1997: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first of seven phenomenally successful books by J.K. Rowling about a schoolboy wizard, was published
June 27, 1985: America’s iconic Route 66, which stretched some 2,200 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles, was decertified and all its highway signs were removed
June 28, 1995: The state of Madhya Pradesh in central India was designated a “tiger state” to protect the threatened animal from poachers and settlers
June 29, 1980: Vigdis Finnbogadottir was elected president of Iceland, the first woman to be democratically elected as head of state of European country
June 30, 1997: The ceremonial handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China marked the official transfer of sovereignty after 156 years of British colonial rule
July 1, 1867: The British colonies of Canada (comprising Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united as the self-governing Dominion of Canada