On this day: June 30

June 30: Independence Day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1960)

• 1559 – During a jousting match, Gabriel Montgomery of the Garde Écossaise mortally wounded King Henry II of France (pictured), piercing him in the eye with his lance.
• 1859 – French acrobat Charles Blondin crossed Niagara Gorge on a tightrope, turning him into one of the world's most famous tightrope walkers.
• 1894 – London's Tower Bridge, a combined bascule and suspension bridge over the River Thames, opened.
• 1960 - The Belgian Congo received its independence from colonial rule, beginning a period of instability that ended with the installation of a dictatorship under Joseph-Désiré Mobutu in 1965.
• 1987 – The Royal Canadian Mint introduced the Canadian one-dollar coin, commonly known as the Loonie.

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