Today in History: Republic of Congo achieved independence from Belgium

The following are some of the major events to have occurred on June 30:

1934 – During Germany’s “Night of the Long Knives”, Hitler purged political rivals including stormtrooper leader Ernst Roehm and Kurt von Schleicher.

1936 – The American novelist Margaret Mitchell published “Gone With the Wind”.

1936 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia appeared before the League of Nations to appeal for help after Italy’s invasion of his country.

1960 – The Republic of Congo achieved independence from Belgium.

1974 – The Soviet ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defected to the West while touring Canada with the Bolshoi Ballet.

1985 – Thirty-nine Americans who had been held hostage on a TWA airliner for 17 days were released in Beirut.

1997 – Britain handed Hong Kong back to China at the stroke of midnight.

2001 – Chet Atkins, the legendary country guitarist who helped pioneer the “Nashville Sound” of pop-flavoured, string-laden country music, died aged 77.

2002 – Brazil’s national soccer team wins World Cup in Germany.

2004 – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft slipped through Saturn’s rings and into orbit as it settled in to make the most detailed study ever of the sixth planet from the sun.

2015 – Indonesian military transport plane crashes in North Sumatra city of Medan.

(Reuters)