In 2006 Serbia and Montenegro is dissolved with the declaration of Independence from Montenegro.
In 1991 the Republic of Yugoslavia began to break up with various states gaining independence and by 1992 only Serbia and Montenegro remained. They formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the 28th of April 1992 which became the Sate Union of Serbia and Montenegro on the 4th of February 2003. Despite this close union the two countries remained separate in many areas with each state using a different currency and having separate economic policies. On the 21st of May 2006, Montenegro held a referendum over the issue of independence with 55.5% voting for independence. On this day Montenegro formally declared independence from the Union and Serbia announcing its own independence two days later on the 5th of June, thus dissolving the Union.
In 1983 Pioneer 10 passed the orbit of the most distant planet.
On the 2nd of March 1972 the United States launched Pioneer 10, the first probe to travel to an outer planet. The outer planets are those beyond the asteroid belt which sits past Mars. Its main mission was to gather information about Jupiter and in December 1973 it successfully started sending back images of the gas giant. on the 22nd of January 2003 it sent back its last contact with earth as it is now too far away for the signal to reach us. This is not the end for the probe though, in 34,600 A.D. it will pass within 3 light years of a star called Ross 246. On the side of the probe is a plaque designed by astronomer Carl Sagan and intended for any intelligent life it may encounter. The plaque contains an image of a man and a woman, a star map with our Sun marked on it and another map showing the flight path of the probe.
In 1940, during the Battle of France (10th of May – 22nd of June 1940), the Luftwaffe bomb Paris killing 254 people, mainly civilians.
Despite France all but conquered by Germany, with the British expeditionary forces sent to help in the defence making a strategic retreat at Dunkirk, the Luftwaffe bomb Paris to drive home the defeat of France and put fear into the hearts of French civilians. Of the 254 dead, 195 were civilians and the remaining 195 were French soldiers. In addition a total of 652 were injured with 545 of these civilians and 107 soldiers.
In retaliation Allied war planes bombed Munich, Frankfort-on-Main and Ruhr the following day but with much less casualties reported by the Germans.
