1. June 12, 1839: Texas becomes a republic - The Congress of the Republic of Texas declared Texas an independent nation on March 2, 1836, but it wasn't until June 12, 1839, that Texas officially became a republic. President Mirabeau B. Lamar signed the Joint Resolution of Annexation, which granted Texas statehood and recognized it as the 28th state of the United States on December 29, 1845.

2. June 12, 1963: Medgar Evers assassination - Civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi, on June 12, 1963. Evers was a field secretary for the NAACP and had been an outspoken advocate for desegregation and voting rights. His death sparked outrage and protests throughout the country and helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.

3. June 12, 1987: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." - On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin, Germany, in which he famously declared, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." The speech was a call for the reunification of Germany and the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, which had been erected in 1961 to separate East and West Berlin.

4. June 12, 1994: Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murders - On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were brutally murdered outside Brown Simpson's Brentwood, California, home. Brown Simpson's ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, was later charged with the murders and famously acquitted in a highly publicized trial.

5. June 12, 2004: The Death of Ronald Reagan - On June 12, 2004, former President Ronald Reagan died at the age of 93 after battling Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. Reagan, a conservative icon, served as president from 1981 to 1989 and is remembered for his economic policies, his role in ending the Cold War, and his famous quips and one-liners. His death was widely mourned across the country and around the world.