On June 6th:

1944-The D-Day invasion begins as thousands of Allied forces storm the beaches at Normandy while Allied paratroopers and paragliders fill the skies over the Normandy region.

On June 7th:

1776-Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposes a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence declaring independence from Great Britain to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On June 8th:

1995-United States Marines rescue Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady, whose F-16C fighter jet had been shot down by Bosnian Serbs over Northern Bosnia six days earlier.

On June 9th:

1973-Secretariat wins horse racing's Triple Crown with a victory at the Belmont Stakes. 

On June 10th:

1940-Italy declares war on France and England while Canada declares war on Italy during World War II.

On June 11th:

1979-American acting legend John Wayne, star of such classic films as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Sands of Iwo Jima, dies of stomach cancer at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

On June 12th:

1987-During a visit to Berlin, Germany, President Ronald Reagan issues a public challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" in reference to the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Berlin.