◆ On this day

June 20

4 sourced moments from June 20 in history: The Tennis Court Oath launched the French Revolution (1789); The first steamship crossed the Atlantic (1819); Queen Victoria was proclaimed 'Alexandrina Victoria' in 1837, plus 1 more.

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4 things happened on June 20

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1840 Technology · Inventions

Samuel Morse patented the electric telegraph

On June 20, 1840, U.S. Patent 1,647 went to Samuel Morse for the telegraph that would collapse distance into a stream of dots and dashes.

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1837 History · Modern

Queen Victoria was proclaimed 'Alexandrina Victoria' in 1837

Woken at 6 a.m. on 20 June 1837, the 18-year-old became queen under a first name she quickly dropped, and waited a year to be crowned.

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1819 Technology · Transportation

The first steamship crossed the Atlantic

On June 20, 1819, the SS Savannah reached Liverpool — the first steam-powered vessel to cross the Atlantic, even if it mostly sailed.

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1789 History · Modern

The Tennis Court Oath launched the French Revolution

Locked out of their hall, France's commoner deputies crowded into a tennis court and refused to leave until they had a constitution.

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