June 17: The Cherokee Nation began the 1950-kilometer (1200-mile) forced march later known as the Trail of Tears.  (1838)

June 17: The Supreme Court struck down rules requiring the recitation of the Lord's Prayer or the reading of Bible verses in public schools as a violation of the 1st amendment’s prohibition on establishment of religion [Murray v. Curlett]. (1963)

June 17: In the early morning five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. (1972)

June 18: A United Nations commission approved and recommended to the General Assembly an International Declaration of Human Rights, recognizing that “the inherent dignity and . . . the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world . . . .” (1948)

June 19: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate. It guaranteed for the first time equal access to public accommodations “without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.”(1964)

June 20: Boxer Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston, Texas, of violating the Selective Service law by refusing induction into the U.S. Army (during the Vietnam War). The World Heavyweight Champion had claimed conscientious objector status on the basis that he was a Muslim minister. The conviction, for which Ali was sentenced to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, was later overturned by the Supreme Court. (1967)

June 21: James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, three young Freedom Summer workers, disappeared in Philadelphia, Mississippi, while registering negroes to vote. Their bodies were found six weeks later, having been shot and then buried in an earthen dam. (1964)

June 22: The First General Peace Convention opened in London, England, for"persons from different nations . . . to deliberate upon the best means, under the Divine blessing, to show the world the evil and inexpediency of the spirit and to promote permanent and universal peace." (1843)

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