Today in History - June 24 | Julia Gillard becomes Australia's first female prime minister
June 24, 2010
On this day, Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia's first female prime minister.
After months of speculation and increasing pressure on then-prime minister Kevin Rudd, Gillard made a move for the leadership on June 23.
Despite speculation he would take on the challenge from his then-deputy, Rudd quit as leader of the Labor Party, leaving Gillard to assume the top job unopposed.
The next day, on June 24, she was sworn in as prime minister by Quentin Bryce, who was governor-general at the time.
Newly appointed prime minister Julia Gillard signs off the paperwork at Government House on June 24, 2010, in Canberra.
Despite their differences, Gillard kept Rudd on her front bench, and Labor went on to form government despite a hung parliament.
Photo: Alex Ellinghausen/Fairfax
June 24, 2022
On this day, the US Supreme Court made a decision that ended the constitutional rights of Americans to have abortions.
The sudden decision came in the case Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organisation, which upheld a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
The ruling eliminated nearly 50 years of federal protection for abortion rights, established by Roe v Wade in 1973.
The move sparked mass protests across the US, and widespread debate about women's rights that are still happening across America and the world.
June 24, 1948
On this day in 1948, the Soviet Union began the "Berlin Blockade" in the aftermath of World War II.
The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. This was done in retaliation to currency reform in Western Germany.
Western Allies launched the Berlin airlift to transport supplies to the blocked area. In Germany, the planes became known as "raisin bombers" or "candy bombers", which are pictured here.
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