On This Day: June 26th

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, returns to Australia after pleading guilty to one charge of espionage in a Saipan court and subsequently being released by the United States Department of Justice.

Five different terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria occur on what was dubbed Bloody Friday by international media. Upwards of 750 people are either killed or injured in these uncoordinated attacks.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Riots in China's Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injure 21 others.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Waldo Canyon fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people.

A suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi policeman detonates an explosive vest, killing 25 people.

Pope Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes.

Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that sex-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.