Today In History June 3
- June 3 1958 Singapore adopts a constitution
June 3, 1958 is a very important day for the citizens of Singapore. It was on this glorious day that Singapore got its independence from the British. The formulation of the self-governance of Singapore was done on this day. It took over the place of the Singapore Colony Order in Council 1955, more popularly known as the Rendel Constitution, which came into force on 8 February 1955.
The new constitution which was formulated was the work put in British Colonial Office and 13 members from the Singapore Legislative Assembly between the years 1956 to 1958. This constitution gave the country of Singapore full power over its internal and external affairs. The Government was to be formed after a free and fair election which elected a 51-seat Legislative Assembly. The Governor’s post was replaced by the of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara as the constitutional head of state.
- June 3 1956 3rd class travel on British Railways ends
There was nowhere in the world that defined class more eloquently than the British it. I t was seen in their jobs, churches, clothes. And of course it was quite prevalent in its Railway system AS WELL. The British Railway had three classes. The First Class was for the elite upper classes of society who usually travelled in style. The Second Class was for moderately rich people who were mostly middle class. The third class was for the working class who came from the lower strata of society.
The third class was the least comfortable but the cheapest as well. The tickets were tax free and were very affordable for most people. But in 1884 the concept for giving basic dignity to people travelling in the third class was discussed in the Parliament.
As the years went by, the 20th century saw the standards of the people increasing and so the Government decided to abolish the Third class on June 3 1956.
The change was gradual process. It started with the issuance of new tickets, repainting and reconstructing the third class trains to second class. The second class was now called the ‘standard class’ for righteous purposes.
Yet the class system continued to haunt the railways, and in 1987, British Railways (now called British Rail) renamed second class as the more egalitarian “standard class”.
There were many speculations of the Third class returning to Britain after a document regarding the same was leaked. But the Government out rightly denied it.
- June 3 1784 US army officially established by Congress of the Confederation
The creation of the USA’s military forces was astonishingly slow and prolonged for being such a big and powerful country.
After the American Revolution, the Continental was done away with due to the maintenance costs and because the Congress at that time felt that it was unnecessary. But as the borders kept growing wider and as threats kept increasing, the Congress was forced to establish n army, to protect its borders, people and other interests. The states that were chosen for eh recruitment of the army were Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut where a total of 700 men were recruited. This included eight infantry and two artillery companies to join the regiment.
As the state of Pennsylvania had the highest allotment of troops to fill they had the added advantage of choosing the regimental commander from amongst them. Josiah Harmar with recommendation of the President of the Congress at that time, Thomas Mifflin was made the lieutenant colonel commandant.
