May 31st - June 6th
Smoke billows from the carrier USS Yorktown before it sank during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. During the battle, which lasted from June 3-7, 1942, Japan lost nearly 300 planes, a cruiser and four aircraft carriers, which had been among the six used in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor a half-year earlier.
By Staff | Stars and Stripes May 31, 2020
May 31st, 1942 – World War II: Sydney, Australia is attacked by Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines.
June 4, 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway, a four-day sea-and-air battle fought between American and Japanese fleets, begins. The US victory helped turn the tide of the war.
June 5, 1959 – The first government of Singapore is sworn in. This marks a milestone in Singapore's achievement of internal self-rule.
June 5, 1989 – The Tank Man blocks a column of advancing tanks for over thirty minutes, one day after hundreds, possibly thousands, had been shot dead during the Tiananmen Square protests.