18th June to 24th June

18th June
1429   Battle of Patay, French forces under Joan of Arc defeat unprepared English
1812   USA declares war on Great Britain
1815   Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon defeated for the final time
1940   Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives his 'Finest Hour' speech

19th June
1306   Battle of Methven, English troops defeat Robert Bruce
1864   USS Kearsarge sinks CSS Alabama outside Cherbourg, France
1944   Battle of the Philippine Sea commences between US and Japanese fleets

20th June
1631   Sack of Baltimore, Ireland, by Algerian pirates. 108 Irish taken as slaves
1756   British PoWs held overnight in the Black Hole of Calcutta
1944   Battle of the Philippine Sea ends a decisive US victory

21st June
1813   Battle of Vitoria, Wellington leads allied victory over French forces in Spain
1940   France surrenders to Nazi Germany
1942   Tobruk falls to the German Afrika Korps

22nd June
168BC Battle of Pydna, Romans defeat Macedonian army
1893   British battleship HMS Camperdown rams and sinks another, HMS Victoria 
1941   Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of Russia, starts

23rd June
1757   Battle of Plassey, British East India company defeats the Nawab of Bengal
1812   Napoleon launches his invasion of Russia

24th June
1314   Battle of Bannockburn, Robert Bruce defeats English army
1340   Battle of Sluys, English defeat French in shipboard battle
1916   Battle of the Somme, the week long artillery bombardment starts