Raymond Leane (1878–1962) was an Australian Army brigadier general. Twice decorated for gallantry, he was wounded three times during the Gallipoli campaign of World War I, and temporarily commanded the 11th Battalion there before the Australian force was withdrawn to Egypt. Leane led the 48th Battalion in fighting on the Western Front from 1916 to 1918 before commanding the 12th Brigade during the last part of the war. He was described by the Australian Official War Historian, Charles Bean, as "the foremost fighting leader" in the Australian Imperial Force. Leane was also called "the head of the most famous family of soldiers in Australian history", as four of his brothers and six of his nephews served in World War I, with two of each being killed. After the war, he served as Commissioner of the South Australia Police from 1920 to 1944, for which he was knighted in 1945. (Full article...)

Lion of Menecrates

• ... that the Lion of Menecrates (pictured) is thought to have been part of the Tomb of Menecrates in Corfu, Greece, built for an ancient Korkyrean ambassador who was lost at sea?
• ... that publisher Ping Hsin-tao launched the careers of two of Taiwan's most popular writers, one of whom became his wife?
• ... that cut branches of the small tree Erythrina berteroana are used to make living fence posts?
• ... that when the state of Oregon created Deschutes County in 1916, Harvey H. DeArmond was appointed as the county's first district attorney?
• ... that after Christian bakers refused to decorate a cake in support of gay marriage, the UK Supreme Court ruled that no one could be forced to promote a message with which they disagree?
• ... that Peter Hirsch conducted the premiere of the revised and complete version of Luigi Nono's Prometeo at La Scala in 1985?
• ... that the card game of Pollack is named after a bonus for holding the three top cards – the ten, nine, and ace – of one suit?
• ... that Monique Scheier-Schneider, general secretary of the Luxembourg Ice Hockey Federation since 1992, has managed her country's men's under-18, men's junior, and men's national ice hockey teams?

Se'are Mekonnen

• Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, in Italy, are chosen as the joint host cities of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games.
• In the Amhara Region of Ethiopia, regional president Ambachew Mekonnen and national-military chief of staff Se'are Mekonnen (pictured) are assassinated.
• At least 184 people are killed by a heat wave in India.
• Former President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi dies during his trial, at the age of 67.

June 25: Statehood Day in Croatia and Slovenia

Michael Jackson in 1993

• 1658 – Anglo-Spanish War: the three-day Battle of Rio Nuevo began, the largest ever fought on the island of Jamaica, in which English colonial forces repelled a Spanish attack.
• 1678 – Venetian mathematician Elena Cornaro Piscopia became the first woman to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree.
• 1940 – World War II: The evacuation of nearly 200,000 Allied soldiers from French ports was completed.
• 1950 – The Korean War began with North Korean forces launching a pre-dawn raid over the 38th parallel into South Korea.
• 2009 – Singer Michael Jackson (pictured) died as a result of the combination of drugs in his body.

Giovanni Battista Riccioli (d. 1671) · Ebenezer Pemberton (d. 1835) · Margaret Anstee (b. 1926)