The Battle of Solferino takes place between the Austrian Empire and an allied force of the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. The battle is notable for two reasons: it is the last major battle in world history in which all the armies were personally led by their respective monarchs, and secondly the horrible aftermath of the bloodshed was witnessed by Jean-Henri Dunant who would be inspired to establish the International Red Cross and start the process that led to the Geneva Conventions.

France signs the Armistice of 22 June, essentially surrendering to the Nazis. The armistice is signed in the same railroad car in the same forest in which Germany surrendered in 1918, because the history of Franco-German relations is nothing if not extremely petty.

Longest day of the year. Spend it wisely, fools.

Not only is today the anniversary of freeing of the slaves in Galveston in 1865, it is also the anniversary, 99 years later in 1964, of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after a filibuster that started nearly three months earlier.