A midshipman is an officer cadet or a commissioned officer of the junior-most rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. In the 17th century, a midshipman was a rating for an experienced seaman, and the word derives from the area aboard a ship, amidships, where he worked or was berthed. Beginning in the 18th century, a commissioned officer candidate was rated as a midshipman, and the seaman rating began to slowly die out. By the Napoleonic era (1793 1815), a midshipman (pictured) was an apprentice officer who had previously served at least three years as a volunteer, officer's servant or able seaman, and was roughly equivalent to a present day petty officer in rank and responsibilities. After serving at least three years as a midshipman, he was eligible to take the examination for lieutenant. Midshipmen in the US Navy were trained and served similarly to those in the Royal Navy, although a midshipman was a warrant officer rank until 1912. During the 19th century, changes in naval officer training in the Royal Navy and the US Navy replaced apprenticeship aboard ships with schooling in a naval college, and "midshipman" began to mean an officer cadet. (Full article...)

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• Czech Prime Minister Petr Ne as (pictured) resigns amidst accusations of corruption.
• Hassan Rouhani is elected President of Iran.
• The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules that naturally occurring DNA sequences cannot be patented.
• Scientists discover Dua's layer, a previously unknown part of the human cornea.
• Japanese supercentenarian Jiroemon Kimura dies at the age of 116 years, 54 days, the longest verified lifespan of any man in history.
• Greece announces the closure of its public broadcasting corporation, ERT.
• China launches Shenzhou 10, the fifth manned mission of the Chinese space program.

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June 18: Autistic Pride Day

• 618 Li Yuan became Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of the Tang Dynasty in China.
• 1053 Humphrey of Hauteville led the armies of the Normans in the Battle of Civitate against the combined forces of Pope Leo IX and the Holy Roman Empire.
• 1858 Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which prompted Darwin to publish his theory of evolution.
• 1983 Aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Sally Ride (pictured) became the first American woman in space.
• 1994 The Troubles: Members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force attacked a crowded bar in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland, with assault rifles, killing six.
• 2012 Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was appointed crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

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