June 13

Roman co-emperors Constantine and Licinius issue the Edict of Milan, granting religious tolerance and freedom of worship throughout the Roman Empire.

Roman co-emperors Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, a landmark proclamation establishing religious tolerance throughout the Roman Empire and specifically ending the persecution of Christians, a policy shift that paved the way for Christianity's eventual transformation from a persecuted minority faith into the empire's dominant religion.

English rebels set fire to the Savoy Palace in London during the Peasants' Revolt.

During the widespread Peasants' Revolt against oppressive taxation and feudal restrictions, English rebels stormed and set fire to the lavish Savoy Palace in London, the residence of the powerful and widely resented John of Gaunt, in one of the uprising's most dramatic and destructive episodes of targeted violence against symbols of aristocratic wealth.

The Henry Grace a Dieu, then the world's largest warship, is dedicated at Woolwich Dockyard in England.

The Henry Grace a Dieu, an enormous English warship commissioned by King Henry VIII and briefly the largest warship in the world at the time, was formally dedicated at Woolwich Dockyard, reflecting Henry's ambitious efforts to build a powerful modern navy capable of projecting English power across European waters.

King Charles I of England marries the Catholic French princess Henrietta Maria at Canterbury.

King Charles I of England married the young Catholic French princess Henrietta Maria at Canterbury Cathedral in a politically fraught union that stirred significant unease among Charles's Protestant subjects, tensions over the queen's religion and influence that later contributed to the deepening political conflicts preceding the English Civil War.

The Marquis de Lafayette lands in South Carolina to volunteer his services to the American Revolutionary cause.

The young Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat inspired by American revolutionary ideals, landed in South Carolina to volunteer his military services to the Continental Congress, beginning a partnership that made him one of General George Washington's most trusted commanders and a lasting symbol of Franco-American friendship.

Emile Levassor wins the world's first major automobile race, completing the 732-mile Paris-to-Bordeaux route in under 49 hours.

French mechanic and racing driver Emile Levassor won the world's first major automobile race, completing the grueling 732-mile round-trip route between Paris and Bordeaux in under 49 hours despite driving through the night largely alone, a feat that dramatically demonstrated the emerging automobile's practical long-distance capabilities.

German aircraft carry out their deadliest bombing raid on London during World War I, killing over 160 people.

German Gotha bombers carried out the deadliest air raid on London during World War I, dropping bombs on the city in broad daylight and killing over 160 people, including many children at a school that suffered a direct hit, an attack that shocked British civilians and spurred the development of dedicated home air defenses.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in "Miranda v. Arizona" that police must inform criminal suspects of their constitutional rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Miranda v. Arizona" that police must inform criminal suspects of their constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent and to legal counsel, before conducting a custodial interrogation, establishing the now-familiar "Miranda warning" as a fundamental safeguard in American criminal procedure.

The New York Times begins publishing the leaked Pentagon Papers, exposing government deception about the Vietnam War.

The New York Times began publishing excerpts from the leaked Pentagon Papers, a classified Defense Department study revealing that successive U.S. administrations had misled the public about the scope and prospects of the Vietnam War, triggering a landmark First Amendment legal battle over press freedom and government secrecy.

Pop star Michael Jackson is acquitted on all charges in his highly publicized child sexual abuse trial.

Pop star Michael Jackson was acquitted on all ten counts, including charges of child sexual abuse, following a highly publicized months-long criminal trial in California, a verdict that concluded one of the most closely watched celebrity trials in American legal history.