• 1914 – Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by Bosnia Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I.

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand
  Archduke of Austria-Este
  Pretence	1875–1914
  Predecessor	Francis II
  Successor	Charles
  Spouse	Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg
  Issue	Princess Sophie of Hohenberg Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg Prince Ernst of Hohenberg
  House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
  Father	Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria
  Mother	Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
  Born	18 December 1863 Graz, Austrian Empire
  Died	28 June 1914 (aged 50) Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary
  Signature
  Religion	Roman Catholicism

  

  Archduke Franz Ferdinand with his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg and their three children (from left), Prince Ernst von Hohenberg, Princess Sophie, and Maximilian, Duke of Hohenburg in 1910

  Franz Ferdinand 

  (18 December1863 – 28 June 1914) was anArchduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince ofHungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

  His assassination in Sarajevoprecipitated Austria-Hungary'sdeclaration of war against Serbia. This caused the Central Powers(including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies of World War I (countries allied with Serbia or Serbia's allies) to declare war on each other, starting World War I.

  Assassination

  On Sunday, 28 June 1914, at approximately 10:45 am, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Gavrilo Princip, 19 at the time, a member of Young Bosnia and one of a group of assassins organized by the Black Hand. The event led to a chain of events that eventually triggered World War I.

  Earlier in the day, the couple had been attacked by Nedeljko Čabrinović, who had thrown a grenade at their car. However, the bomb detonated behind them, hurting the occupants in the following car. On arriving at the Governor's residence, Franz angrily shouted, "So this is how you welcome your guests — with bombs?!"

  After a short rest at the Governor's residence, the royal couple insisted on seeing all those who had been injured by the bomb at the local hospital. However, no one told the drivers that the itinerary had been changed. When the error was discovered, the drivers had to turn around. As the cars backed down the street and onto a side street, the line of cars stalled. At this same time, Princip was sitting at a cafe across the street. He instantly seized his opportunity and walked across the street and shot the royal couple. He first shot Sophie in the abdomen and then shot Franz Ferdinand in the neck. Franz leaned over his wife crying. He was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid. His dying words to Sophie were, 'Don't die darling, live for our children.' Princip's weapon was the pocket-sized FN model 1910 pistol chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge, a relatively low-power round,. The archduke's aides attempted to undo his coat but realized they needed scissors to cut it open. It was too late; he died within minutes. Sophie also died en route to the hospital.

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1658 June 25/27th. Jamaica.

• 1658 – Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Rio Nuevo during the Anglo-Spanish War.
• 1658 Battle of Rio Nuevo: June 25–27th. Anglo-Spanish War: A Spanish invasion force fails to recapture Jamaica from the English.The battle of Rio Nuevo occurred over two days on the island of Jamaica between Spanish forces under Don Cristóbal Arnaldo Isasi and English forces under governor Edward D'Oyley.In the battle the invading Spanish were routed. It is the largest battle to be fought on Jamaica.
  Background: In 1655, an English force led by Admiral Sir William Penn,and General Robert Venables seized the island, and successfully held it against Spanish attempts to retake it over the next few years the battle of Rio Nuevo was one of these attempts, the other being Ocho Rios the year before.The Spanish were hoping to take back the island for the Spanish crown. The former Spanish governor of Jamaica, Don Cristóbal Arnaldo Isasi, attempted to recapture the island with forces from Cuba in the summer of 1657, but the attack was repulsed by acting governor Colonel Edward Doyley.
  Invasion: May 20th. Don Cristóbal Arnaldo Isasi attempted this time with more men recruited from New Spain. The Tercios Mexicano(Mexican Regiment) and with him had four troop transports and a number of armed
   ships. In total the invasion force consisted of thirty one captains, thirty one ensigns,twenty eight sergeants and 468 soldiers.Two days whilst at anchor near the mouth of Rio Nuevo a trio of English coast guard vessels chances upon the Spanish but are chased away by gunfire.The English scouts however report back to Colonel Edward D'Oyley who musters all available militia and soldiers that are fit to fight who are all assembled within a month. Mean-time the Spanish having fortified the area are joined by around fifty tattered Spanish guerrillas.
  

  1658 June 25th. Battle: D'Oyley musters a total of 700 soldiers and militia and a total of ten ships with which to trans- port them. While they disembark near Rio Nuevo the Spanish transports are swiftly captured which as result sealing off any major escape for the invaders. The Spanish seeing this, attempt to make a stand and repel the English behind their newly fortified redoubt. The English attack and soon their firepower begins to have a telling effect.The Spanish are pulverized by canon and firelocks in a pitched battle lasting two days.Suffering nearly two thirds casualties, the Spanish attempt to break out however most of these are to be killed or captured. What's left of the invasion force flee into the hills and jungle.They had lost over 300 casualties of which mostly are killed, the English had captured 150 prisoners, eleven flags, six guns and most their arms and ammunition. English losses around sixty. Most of the wounded on both sides however did not survive the tropical diseases. Aftermath: The victorious English conveyed the Spanish artillery back to 'the Point' and Fort Cromwell installing it into their defences. Don Cristóbal Arnaldo Isassi tried to keep the struggle up until he was finally defeated in
  1660, finally having to escape Tower Isle and flee to Cuba by canoe with his remaining supporters. The battle of Rio Nuevo was the last time the Spanish attempted to recapture Jamaica.The island would eventually be ceded to England by Spain in full in 1670 at the Treaty of Madrid. 
  

1314 June 24th.

• 1314 – First War of Scottish Independence: the Battle of Bannockburn concludes with a decisive victory by Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce, though England did not recognize Scottish independence until 1328 with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton.
• For the song, see The Battle of Bannockburn (song).

  Battle of Bannockburn
  Part of the First War of Scottish Independence
  This depiction from the Scotichronicon (c.1440) is the earliest known image of the battle. King Robert wielding an axe and Edward II fleeing toward Stirling feature prominently, conflating incidents from the two days of battle.
  Date 23–24 June 1314 Location Bannockburn, south of Stirling, Scotland Result Decisive Scottish victory
  Belligerents
  Kingdom of Scotland	Kingdom of England
  Commanders and leaders
  Robert the Bruce	Edward II Humphrey de Bohun
  Strength
  5,000 -10,000	13,700 -25,000
  Casualties and losses
  400 – 4,000	700 cavalry 4,000 – 11,000 infantry

  The Battle of Bannockburn (Blàr Allt a' Bhonnaich in Scottish Gaelic) (24 June 1314) was a significant Scottish victory in theFirst War of Scottish Independence, and a landmark in Scottish history.

  Stirling Castle, a Scots royal fortress, occupied by the English, was under siege by the Scottish army. Edward II of Englandassembled a formidable force to relieve it. This attempt failed, and his army was defeated in a pitched battle by a smaller army commanded by Robert I of Scotland

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Battle of Lake Trasimene.

• 217 BC – The Romans, led by Gaius Flaminius, are ambushed and defeated by Hannibal at the Battle of Lake Trasimene.
• The Battle of Lake Trasimene (June 21, 217 BC, April on the Julian calendar) was a major battle in the Second Punic War. TheCarthaginians under Hannibal defeated theRomans under the consul Gaius Flaminius. The battle is one of the largest and most successful ambushes in military history.
  The Romans, greatly alarmed and dismayed by Tiberius Sempronius Longus’ defeat at Trebia, immediately made plans to counter the new threat from the north. Sempronius returned to Rome and the Roman Senate resolved to elect new consuls the following year in 217 BC. The new consuls were Gnaeus Servilius Geminus and Gaius Flaminius, the latter was under threat of recall from the Senate for leaving Rome without carrying out the proper rituals after being elected consul.  The Senate commissioned Servilius to replace Publius Cornelius Scipio and take command of his army, while Flaminius was appointed to lead what remained of Sempronius’s army. Since both armies had been weakened by the defeat at Trebia, four new legions were raised. These new forces, together with the remains of the former army, were divided between the two consuls. After the battles of Ticinus and Trebia, Flaminius' army turned south to prepare a defence near Rome itself. Hannibal immediately followed, but marched faster and soon passed the Roman army. Flaminius was forced to increase the speed of his march in order to bring Hannibal to battle before reaching the city. Another force under Servilius was due to join Flaminius.
  Hannibal, emerging from another brilliant victory, had successfully planned and executed the greatest ambush in history. News of the defeat caused a panic in Rome. Quintus Fabius Maximus was electeddictator by the Roman Assembly and adopted the"Fabian strategy" of avoiding pitched conflict, relying instead on low-level harassment to wear the invader down, until Rome could rebuild its military strength. Hannibal was left largely free to ravage Apulia for the next year, until the Romans ended the dictatorship and elected Paullus and Varro as consuls. The result would be the Battle of Cannae, the worst defeat the Romans would suffer throughout the Second Punic War.
  ^{As Hannibal passed Lake Trasimene, he came to a place very suitable for an ambush, and hearing that Flaminius had broken camp and was pursuing him, made preparations for the impending battle. To the north was a series of heavily forested hills where the Malpasso Road passed along the north side of Lake Trasimene. Along the hill-bordered skirts of the lake, Hannibal camped where he was in full view of anyone entering the northern defile, and spent the night arranging his troops for battle. Below the camp, he placed his heavy infantry (Iberians, Celts and Africans) upon a slight elevation. Here, they had ample ground from which they could charge down upon the head of the Roman column on the left flank, when it should reach the position. His cavalry and Gallic infantry were concealed in the hills in the depth of the wooded valley from which the Romans would first enter, so that they could quickly sally out and close the entrance, blocking the Roman route of retreat. Then he posted his light troops at intervals along the heights overlooking the plain, with orders to keep well hidden in the woods until signalled to attack. In addition, the night before the battle commenced, Hannibal ordered his men to light campfires on the hills of Tuoro, at a considerable distance, so as to convince the Romans that his forces were further away than they actually were.}
  ^{Before this could happen, Hannibal lured Gaius Flaminius' force into a pitched battle, by devastating the area Flaminius had been sent to protect. Polybius wrote that Hannibal calculated that he could draw out Flaminius into battle and that "no sooner had he left the neighbourhood of Faesulae, and, advancing a short way beyond the Roman camp, made a raid upon the neighbouring country, then Flaminius became excited, and enraged at the idea that he was despised by the enemy: and as the devastation of the country went on, and he saw from the smoke that rose in every direction that the work of destruction was proceeding, he could not patiently endure the sight." At the same time, Hannibal tried to sever the allegiance of Rome’s allies, by proving that the Republic was powerless to protect them. However, Flaminius remained passively encamped at Arretium. Unable to goad Flaminius into battle, Hannibal marched boldly around his opponent’s left flank and effectively cut Flaminius off from Rome (thereby executing the earliest recorded deliberate turning movement in military history). Still, Flaminius stubbornly kept his army in camp. Hannibal decided to march on Apulia, hoping that Flaminius might follow him to a battlefield of his own choosing.}
  ^{Flaminius, eager to exact revenge for the devastation of the countryside, and facing increasing political criticism from Rome, finally marched against Hannibal. Flaminius, like Sempronius, was impetuous, overconfident, and lacking in self-control.  His advisors suggested that he send only a cavalry detachment to harass the Carthaginians and prevent them from laying waste to any more of the country, while reserving his main force until the other consul, Servilius, arrived with his army. However, it proved impossible to argue with the rash Flaminius. Livy wrote that "Though every other person in the council advised safe rather than showy measures, urging that he should wait for his colleague, in order that joining their armies, they might carry on the war with united courage and counsels... Flaminius, in a fury... gave out the signal for marching for battle."}