Events in the U.S. and around the world in June, while we were at sea.
Seventy-four U.S. sailors were killed June 3 when their ship, USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754), was accidentally rammed and sliced in two by the Australian aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne. Three of the dead were brothers from Niobrara, Neb. The ships had been conducting exercises in the South China Sea. (The Biddle had a close encounter with the ill-fated Evans a little later in the month.)
Blind Faith made its debut June 7 in London’s Hyde Park in front of 100,000. The latest “supergroup” combined Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. Blind Faith released their only album and played their final concert in August.
President Nixon announced June 8 that 25,000 U.S. troops would be withdrawn by the end of September.
Hee Haw aired on CBS for the first time June 15. The show was in the same time slot as the canceled Smothers Brothers Show. Popular with viewers but panned by critics, the show, hosted by Roy Clark and Buck Owens, would run for two years, and then another 22 years in syndication.
The Cuyahoga River, which runs through Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire June 22 when an oil slick on its surface ignited.
Actress and singer Judy Garland was found dead in her London home June 22 of a drug overdose.
The Stonewall Riots, a milestone in the U.S. gay rights movement, took place June 28 in New York City when angry bystanders threw bottles and rocks at policemen making a routine raid on the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.