Journalist Veronica Guerin was shot and killed 20 years ago today by a drug gang in Dublin, Ireland.

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” … [T]o save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind; to regain faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small; to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained; to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom …”—The Charter of the United Nations

Fifty of the first 51 member-states of the United Nations signed the United Nations Charter on this date in 1945. A typo that states “June 27” is scratched out of the official document with June 26 handwritten over. It is a treaty and all members are bound by all of its articles.

A recording of Sir Laurence Olivier reading the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations, with music by Aaron Copland (after the jump):
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A war with many names started on this date in 1950. Most know it as the Korean War; in South Korea it is called the “6-2-5 Upheaval,” in North Korea it is called the “Fatherland Liberation War,” and in China it is called the “War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.”

On June 25, 1950, forces in North Korea invaded South Korea; the North was aided by the USSR and China, and the South was defended by the United Nations, with most forces supplied by the United States. Three years and one month later, an armistice was declared that kept the border between the two countries in place and tensions high to this day. A combined two and a half million civilians on both sides of the border were killed or wounded in the conflict.
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Whatever it was that pilot Kenneth Arnold saw out the window of his CallAir A-2 two-seat plane near Mt. Rainier in Washington on this date in 1947, he did not keep his mystification private. He told the staff and management at the Yakima airport what he thought he saw upon landing.

Word got out. He was interviewed about what he saw by a reporter for the East Oregonian newspaper the next day. By June 26, it was a national story, and he was starting to regret telling anyone, but he also felt that what he saw was too important to be kept secret.
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