June 10th Through History

Explanation: The Oradour-sur-Glane massacre remains the largest massacre of civilians committed in France by the German army during World War II. The village was deliberately destroyed and its inhabitants murdered, notably in supposed reprisal for Resistance activities in the region. The ruins of the village have been preserved as a memorial.

Explanation: Simone Veil, a major political figure of 20th-century France, is best known for getting the law legalizing abortion passed in 1975. Her election as president of the European Parliament in 1979 was another strongly symbolic milestone in her career. She was the first woman to hold this position.

Explanation: The Muséum national d'histoire naturelle grew out of the transformation of the Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants, founded in the 17th century. Its founding in 1793 fits into the revolutionary context of democratizing and promoting the natural sciences. Today it houses one of the most important natural history collections in the world.

Explanation: The Lidice massacre, in occupied Czechoslovakia, was carried out by the SS in reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a senior Nazi figure nicknamed "the Butcher of Prague". Heydrich had been fatally wounded on 27 May 1942 during an operation led by Czechoslovak paratroopers trained in Great Britain. Lidice was entirely razed after the massacre.

Explanation: The Battle of Pelekanon marked a decisive turning point in the history of Anatolia. The Byzantine defeat at the hands of the Ottomans led by Orhan sealed the fate of the last Byzantine cities in Asia Minor, which were gradually absorbed by the Ottoman Empire over the following decades, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe.

Explanation: Pink Floyd performed this concert as part of their "A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour", tied to the album of the same name released in 1987. This tour marked the band's return to the stage after several years of silence, but without its founder Syd Barrett or its other emblematic member Roger Waters, who had left the band in 1985.

Explanation: The League of Prizren is considered the first organized Albanian national movement. It was founded in the city of Prizren, today in Kosovo, then under Ottoman rule. Its creation coincided with the Congress of Berlin (1878) which was redrawing the borders of the Balkans after the Russo-Turkish War, and Albanians feared that their territories would be divided up among their neighbors.

Explanation: Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec, to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, before growing up in Chicago. He is considered one of the major figures of 20th-century American literature. His most famous works include "The Adventures of Augie March" and "Herzog", often exploring the condition of the American Jewish intellectual.

Explanation: The Myall Creek massacre, in which 28 Aboriginal people were killed by white settlers in New South Wales, set a judicial precedent without equivalent in colonial Australia. Despite social pressure and the prejudices of the time, seven white murderers were executed, which sparked heated controversy in the colony. This event remains a painful symbol of colonial violence against Australia's Indigenous peoples.

Explanation: The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) is one of the most devastating conflicts in European history, causing millions of deaths, notably through the epidemics and famines it triggered. It ended with the Treaties of Westphalia (1648), which laid the foundations of the modern nation-state system and enshrined a new principle of territorial sovereignty in Europe.