Jun 30

The Tunguska Event, or Tunguska explosion, was a massive explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia on June 30, 1908. The explosion was most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of five to ten kilometers above Earth’s surface. Different studies have yielded varying estimates for the object’s size, with general agreement that it was a few tens of meters across.

Although, the meteor or comet burst in the air rather than directly hitting the surface, this event is still referred to as an impact. Estimates of the energy of the blast range are from five megatons to as high as 30 megatons or TNT, with 10-15 megatons the most likely – about 1000 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan and about one third the power of Tsar Bomba.

The explosion knocked over an estimated 80 million trees over 2,150 square kilometers. It is estimated that the earthquake from the blast would have measured 5.0 on the Richter scale. The Tunguska Event is believed to be the largest impact event on land in Earth’s recent history.

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Jun 29

Born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford Connecticut, Katharine Hepburn was an iconic American actress of film, television and stage. She was educated at the Kingswood-Oxford School before going onto to attend Bryn Mawr College. She received a degree in history and philosophy in 1928, the same year she had her debut on Broadway after landing a big part in Night Hostess.

Hepburn got her start in small speaking parts on Broadway and participated in summer stock companies until she received good notices for her performance in The Warrior’s Husband. She became the talk of New York City and began to get noticed in Hollywood. An RKO scout was so impressed with her physicality in the role that he asked her to do a screen test. Her film career was launched alongside legendary actor John Barrymore and director George Cukor.

In 1933, Hepburn won her first of four Academy Awards for Best Actress in Morning Glory and in the same year appeared in a screen adaptation of Little Women, which broke box office records. By 1938, she was a bona fide star and appeared in critically acclaimed comedies Bringing Up Baby and Stage Door. In 1940, she had one of her biggest hits, The Philadelphia Story, directed by Cukor and co-starring Cary Grant and James Stewart. On June 29, 2003, Hepburn died of natural causes in old Saybrook, Connecticut. She was 96 years old.

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Jun 28

The Battle of Berestechko was fought between rebellious Zaporozhian Cossack, Ukrainian peasant forces, and their Crimean Tatar allies led by Hetman Bohdan Kmhelnytsky, and a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army under King John II casimir. It took place in Volhynia and lasted from June 28 to June 30, 1651. The number of Polish troops is uncertain. One of the Polish commanders wrote that the Polish army had 80,000 soldiers. Modern historians estimate their numbers to be 60,000 to 63,000 soldiers. It was the biggest battle in the 17th century.

The Cossacks had around 100,000 plus 40,000 Crimean Tatar cavalry and a few thousand Turks and Vlachs. Fighting was close with the core of Cossack infantry making up for the weakness of their cavalry. Much of the decisive fighting was by the infantry and dismounted dragoons of each side. On the first day of the battle, 2000 Polish cavalry supported by six pancerni cavalry companies and winged hussars repulsed the Tatars, who suffered heavy losses. On the second day, the Poles, encouraged by their victory, deployed all available cavalry but with no support from the infantry or artillery. The Tatar cavalry won. On the third and final day, 18 Polish cavalry companies attacked the Cossack-Tatar Army with the help of the artillery and were victorious.

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Jun 27

Raul Gonzalez Blanco was born in Madrid, Spain and is a Spanish professional football forward. He has been playing for Read Madrid at the senior level since 1994 and has been the team captain since 2003. He was also a member of the Spanish national team and is its all-time leading scorer with 44 goals. He represented Spain in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2004, and 2006 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

With Read Madrid, Raul has won the UEFA Champions League three times and is the all-time leading scorer of that competition with 61 goals. He is currently the seventh highest scorer in the history of Spain’s top flight with 205 goals in 483 games. All of these goals were with Read Madrid, making him the club’s second highest goal scorer of all time.

Raul is also called The Seven, Madrid’s Angel and The Captain by fans and pundits. When playing, he wears the number 7 jersey for both club and country. His current contract with Real Madrid runs until 2011 and will be extended for a year each as long as he plays at least 30 official games in his last year of a contract. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest Spanish footballers of all time.