Specimen at World Museum, Liverpool

The white swamphen (Porphyrio albus) was a rail found on Lord Howe Island, east of the Australian mainland. All contemporary accounts and illustrations were produced between 1788 and 1790, when the bird was first encountered by British ship crews. Today, two specimens exist: one in World Museum (pictured) in Liverpool, England, and the holotype in the Natural History Museum of Vienna. It is thought to have been most similar to the Australasian swamphen. The white swamphen was 36 to 55 cm (14 to 22 in) long. Contemporary accounts indicate that individual bird plumage was white, blue, or mixed blue-and-white. The bird's bill, frontal shield and legs were red, and it had a claw (or spur) on its wing. It was probably either flightless or a poor flier; this and its docility made the bird easy prey for visiting humans, who killed it with sticks. Reportedly once common, the species may have been hunted to extinction before 1834, when Lord Howe Island was settled. (Full article...)

Garden Gate, Bulandshahr

• ... that Bulandshahr's ornate Garden Gate (pictured) was built on the site of a "filthy" drainage ravine?
• ... that Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Britain Covey played quarterback in high school and led his team to 26 consecutive wins?
• ... that the temptation of Christ has been associated with Jebel Quruntul in the West Bank since at least the 4th century?
• ... that Luigi Gaggero conducted the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra in Germany in April 2022, restoring Lyatoshynsky's Symphony No. 3 to its 1951 version, with the last movement themed "Peace will conquer war"?
• ... that the Louis M. Martini Winery began selling wine on December 5, 1933 – the day on which Prohibition in the United States was repealed?
• ... that a former member of the French Senate ended up being exiled to the northern Central African Republic by the future emperor?
• ... that the documentary comedy films Being Canadian and When Jews Were Funny explore the filmmakers' cultural identity through interviews with dozens of comedians?
• ... that copies of the underground anti-war publication Liberated Barracks were found on ships carrying US troops to Vietnam?

Elizabeth II

• In Nigeria, at least 50 people are killed in an attack at a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State.
• A fire and explosions at a storage depot in Sitakunda, Bangladesh, kill at least 41 people and injure more than 450 others.
• The Common­wealth of Nations celebrates the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II (pictured).
• Denmark votes to eliminate its opt-out of the European Union's Common Security and Defence Policy.

June 8

Margaret Bondfield

• 218 – Led by the inexperienced Gannys, Elagabalus's legions defeated the forces of Roman emperor Macrinus at the Battle of Antioch.
• 1826 – In York, Upper Canada, members of the Family Compact destroyed William Lyon Mackenzie's printing press in the Types Riot after Mackenzie accused them of corruption.
• 1929 – Margaret Bondfield (pictured) became the first female member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom when she was named Minister of Labour by Ramsay MacDonald.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: Associated Press photographer Nick Ut took a Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph of a naked nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc fleeing after being burned by napalm.
• 1982 – Falklands War: The Argentine Air Force attacked British transport ships while unloading supplies off Bluff Cove in the Falkland Islands, killing 56 British servicemen and wounding 150 others.