June 7th Through History

Explanation: The Treaty of Tordesillas set a line of demarcation 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. It was negotiated under the arbitration of Pope Alexander VI and gave Spain the lands to the west, and Portugal those to the east, which notably explains why Brazil is Lusophone today.

Explanation: The Lateran agreements, signed between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy represented by Mussolini, ended the 'Roman Question' open since 1870. Vatican City, with its 44 hectares, thus became the smallest sovereign state in the world internationally recognized.

Explanation: The Matignon agreements, signed after an unprecedented wave of strikes, notably established two weeks of paid leave, the 40-hour week and the right to collective bargaining. They are considered one of the most important social achievements in France's history.

Explanation: Leonhard Euler, an 18th-century Swiss mathematician, is one of the most prolific in the history of science. The Goldbach conjecture, which states that every even integer greater than 2 is the sum of two prime numbers, remains to this day one of the most famous unsolved problems in mathematics.

Explanation: The Osirak reactor, built by France near Baghdad, was almost operational. Israel feared that it would be used to produce nuclear weapons. This preemptive strike, although diplomatically controversial, inspired the concept of the 'Begin doctrine', according to which Israel would not allow any hostile state to possess the atomic weapon.

Explanation: The First Crusade, launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II, resulted in the capture of Jerusalem on 15 July 1099. The siege lasted about six weeks. The city fell after the Crusaders built siege towers and stormed it. The capture was followed by a violent massacre of the Muslim and Jewish population of the city.

Explanation: Paul Gauguin left France in 1891 for French Polynesia, settling first in Tahiti and then in the Marquesas Islands, where he died in 1903. His paintings inspired by Polynesian life, with their vivid colors and expressive forms, are among the most recognizable in post-impressionist painting.

Explanation: The union between Sweden and Norway, established in 1814, ended peacefully in 1905 after a Norwegian referendum almost unanimous in favor of dissolution. Norway became an independent constitutional monarchy under the reign of Haakon VII. It was one of the rare national separations of the 20th century to take place without armed conflict.

Explanation: The papacy, and notably Alexander VI, played a central role in legitimizing the colonial division of the world. This type of papal arbitration between great Catholic powers was characteristic of the Church's power at the end of the Middle Ages. The Treaty of Zaragoza of 1529 would later complete this division by defining a line of demarcation in the Pacific.

Explanation: Prince Rogers Nelson was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This city inspired in him a unique musical scene, often called the 'Minneapolis Sound', mixing funk, pop, rock and R&B. His label Paisley Park, located in the suburbs of Minneapolis, became a cult location for his fans around the world.