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June 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On this day the Summer solstice may occur in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Winter solstice may occur in the Southern Hemisphere.

June 22 in History

217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.
168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat Macedonian King Perseus who surrenders after the battle, ending the Third Macedonian War.
813 – Battle of Versinikia: The Bulgars led by Krum defeat the Byzantine army near Edirne. Emperor Michael I is forced to abdicate in favor of Leo V the Armenian.
910 – The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army near the Rednitz River, killing its leader Gebhard, Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine).
1527 – Fatahillah expels Portuguese forces from Sunda Kelapa, now regarded as the foundation of Jakarta.
1593 – Battle of Sisak: Allied Christian troops defeat the Ottomans.
1633 – The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe in the form he presented it in, after heated controversy.
1774 – The British pass the Quebec Act, setting out rules of governance for the colony of Quebec in British North America.
1783 – A poisonous cloud caused by the eruption of the Laki volcano in Iceland reaches Le Havre in France.
1807 – In the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair, the British warship HMS Leopard attacks and boards the American frigate USS Chesapeake.
1813 – War of 1812: After learning of American plans for a surprise attack on Beaver Dams in Ontario, Laura Secord sets out on a 30 kilometer journey on foot to warn Lieutenant James FitzGibbon.
1839 – Cherokee leaders Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot are assassinated for signing the Treaty of New Echota, which had resulted in the Trail of Tears.
1870 – The United States Department of Justice is created by the U.S. Congress.
1893 – The Royal Navy battleship HMS Camperdown accidentally rams the British Mediterranean Fleet flagship HMS Victoria which sinks taking 358 crew with her, including the fleet’s commander, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.
1897 – British colonial officers Charles Walter Rand and Lt. Charles Egerton Ayerst are assassinated in Pune, Maharashtra, India by the Chapekar brothers and Mahadeo Vinayak Ranade, who are later caught and hanged.
1898 – Spanish–American War: In a chaotic operation, 6,000 men of the U.S. Fifth Army Corps begins landing at Daiquirí, Cuba, about 16 miles (26 km) east of Santiago de Cuba. Lt. Gen. Arsenio Linares y Pombo of the Spanish Army outnumbers them two-to-one, but does not oppose the landings.
1907 – The London Underground’s Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway opens.
1911 – George V and Mary of Teck are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1911 – Mexican Revolution: Government forces bring an end to the Magonista rebellion of 1911 in the Second Battle of Tijuana.
1918 – The Hammond Circus Train Wreck kills 86 and injures 127 near Hammond, Indiana.
1940 – World War II: France is forced to sign the Second Compiègne armistice with Germany, in the same railroad car in which the Germans signed the Armistice in 1918.
1941 – World War II: Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa.
1942 – World War II: Erwin Rommel is promoted to Field Marshal after the Axis capture of Tobruk.
1942 – The Pledge of Allegiance is formally adopted by US Congress.
1944 – World War II: Opening day of the Soviet Union’s Operation Bagration against the Army Group Centre.
1944 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of Okinawa comes to an end.
1948 – The ship HMT Empire Windrush brought the first group of 802 West Indian immigrants to Tilbury, marking the start of modern immigration to the United Kingdom.
1948 – King George VI formally gives up the title “Emperor of India”, half a year after Britain actually gave up its rule of India.
1965 – The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea is signed.
1969 – The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland, Ohio, drawing national attention to water pollution, and spurring the passing of the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
1978 – Charon, the first of Pluto’s satellites to be discovered, was first seen at the United States Naval Observatory by James W. Christy.
1984 – Virgin Atlantic Airways launches with its first flight from London Gatwick Airport.
1986 – The famous Hand of God goal, scored by Diego Maradona in the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup match between Argentina and England, ignites controversy. This was later followed by the Goal of the Century. Argentina wins 2–1 and later goes on to win the World Cup.
1990 – Cold War: Checkpoint Charlie is dismantled in Berlin.
2000 – Wuhan Airlines Flight 343 is struck by lightning and crashes into Wuhan’s Hanyang District, killing 49 people.
2002 – An earthquake measuring 6.5 M_w strikes a region of northwestern Iran killing at least 261 people and injuring 1,300 others and eventually causing widespread public anger due to the slow official response.
2009 – A Washington D.C Metro train traveling southbound near Fort Totten station collides into another train waiting to enter the station. Nine people are killed in the collision (eight passengers and the train operator) and at least 80 others are injured.
2012 – Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is removed from office by impeachment and succeeded by Federico Franco.
2012 – A Turkish Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter plane is shot down by the Syrian Armed Forces, killing both of the plane’s pilots and worsening already-strained relations between Turkey and Syria.
2015 – The Afghan National Assembly building is attacked by gunmen after a suicide bombing. All six of the gunmen are killed and 18 people are injured.

Births on June 22

662 – Rui Zong, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 716)
916 – Sayf al-Dawla, founder of the Emirate of Aleppo (d. 967)
1000 – Robert I, duke of Normandy (d. 1035)
1373 – Elizabeth Bonifacia, heiress of Poland (d. 1399)
1427 – Lucrezia Tornabuoni, Italian writer and wife of Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici (d. 1482)
1450 – Eleanor of Naples, duchess of Ferrara (d. 1493)
1477 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, English nobleman (d. 1530)
1593 – Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet, English politician and militarian (d. 1671)
1680 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish minister and theologian (d. 1754)
1684 – Francesco Manfredini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
1704 – John Taylor, English author and scholar (d. 1766)
1713 – John Sackville, English cricketer and politician (d. 1765)
1738 – Jacques Delille, French poet and translator (d. 1813)
1757 – George Vancouver, English lieutenant and explorer (d. 1798)
1763 – Étienne Méhul, French pianist and composer (d. 1817)
1767 – Wilhelm von Humboldt, German philosopher, academic, and politician, Interior Minister of Prussia (d. 1835)
1792 – James Beaumont Neilson, Scottish engineer and businessman (d. 1865)
1805 – Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian journalist and politician (d. 1872)
1820 – James Hutchison Stirling, Scottish physician and philosopher (d. 1909)
1834 – William Chester Minor, American surgeon and linguist (d. 1920)
1837 – Paul Morphy, American chess player (d. 1884)
1837 – Ernst Ziller, German-Greek architect, designed the Presidential Mansion (d. 1923)
1844 – Oscar von Gebhardt, German theologian and academic (d. 1906)
1845 – Tom Dula, American soldier (d. 1868)
1845 – Richard Seddon, English-New Zealand politician, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1906)
1855 – Samuel Morris, Australian cricketer (d. 1931)
1856 – Henry Rider Haggard, English novelist (d. 1925)
1861 – Maximilian von Spee, Danish-German admiral (d. 1914)
1864 – Hermann Minkowski, German mathematician and academic (d. 1909)
1871 – William McDougall, English psychologist and polymath (d. 1938)
1873 – Filippo Silvestri, Italian entomologist and academic (d. 1949)
1874 – Walter Friedrich Otto, German philologist and scholar (d. 1958)
1876 – Pascual Díaz y Barreto, Mexican archbishop (d. 1936)
1879 – Thibaudeau Rinfret, Canadian lawyer and jurist, 9th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1962)
1880 – Johannes Drost, Dutch swimmer (d. 1954)
1884 – James Rector, American sprinter and lawyer (d. 1949)
1885 – Milan Vidmar, Slovenian engineer and chess player (d. 1962)
1887 – Julian Huxley, English biologist and academic (d. 1975)
1888 – Harold Hitz Burton, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of Cleveland (d. 1964)
1890 – Aleksander Warma, Estonian commander and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 1970)
1891 – Franz Alexander, Hungarian psychoanalyst and physician (d. 1964)
1892 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German general and pilot (d. 1945)
1894 – Bernard Ashmole, English archaeologist and art historian (d. 1988)
1896 – Leonard W. Murray, Canadian admiral (d. 1971)
1897 – Edmund A. Chester, American journalist and broadcaster (d. 1973)
1897 – Norbert Elias, German-Dutch sociologist and philosopher (d. 1990)
1898 – Erich Maria Remarque, German-Swiss soldier and author (d. 1970)
1899 – Richard Gurley Drew, American engineer, invented Masking tape (d. 1980)
1899 – Michał Kalecki, Polish economist and academic (d. 1970)
1900 – Oskar Fischinger, German-American abstract artist, filmmaker, and painter (d. 1967)
1901 – Elias Katz, Finnish runner and coach (d. 1947)
1902 – Marguerite De La Motte, American actress (d. 1950)
1903 – John Dillinger, American criminal (d. 1934)
1903 – Carl Hubbell, American baseball player (d. 1988)
1906 – William Kneale, English logician and philosopher (d. 1990)
1906 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American pilot and author (d. 2001)
1906 – Billy Wilder, Austrian-born American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1907 – Eriks Ādamsons, Latvian writer, poet, and novelist (d. 1946)
1909 – Katherine Dunham, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2006)
1909 – Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Spanish aristocratic (d. 2002)
1909 – Mike Todd, American producer and manager (d. 1958)
1910 – John Hunt, Baron Hunt, Indian-English lieutenant and mountaineer (d. 1998)
1910 – Anne Ziegler, English singer (d. 2003)
1910 – Konrad Zuse, German computer scientist and engineer, invented the Z3 computer (d. 1995)
1911 – Vernon Kirby, South African tennis player (d. 1994)
1912 – Princess Caroline Mathilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1983)
1912 – Raymonde Allain, French model and actress (d. 2008)
1913 – Sándor Weöres, Hungarian poet and author (d. 1989)
1914 – Mei Zhi, Chinese author and essayist (d. 2004)
1915 – Dolf van der Linden, Dutch conductor and composer (d. 1999)
1915 – Cornelius Warmerdam, American pole vaulter and coach (d. 2001)
1915 – Randolph Hokanson, American pianist (d. 2018)
1915 – Thomas Quinn Curtiss, American writer, and film and theatre critic (d. 2000)
1916 – Johnny Jacobs, American television announcer (d. 1982)
1916 – Richard Eastham, American actor (d. 2005)
1916 – Emil Fackenheim, Jewish philosopher and Reform rabbi (d. 2003)
1918 – Cicely Saunders, English Anglican nurse, social worker, physician and writer (d. 2005)
1919 – Gower Champion, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1980)
1919 – Henri Tajfel, Polish social psychologist (d. 1982)
1919 – Clifton McNeely, American basketball player and coach (d. 2003)
1920 – James H. Pomerene, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 2008)
1920 – Jovito Salonga, Filipino lawyer and politician, 14th President of the Senate of the Philippines (d. 2016)
1921 – Joseph Papp, American director and producer (d. 1991)
1921 – Barbara Vucanovich, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1921 – Radovan Ivšić, Croatian writer (d. 2009)
1921 – Barbara Perry, American actress (d. 2019)
1922 – Bill Blass, American fashion designer, founded Bill Blass Group (d. 2002)
1922 – Clair Cameron Patterson, American scientist (d. 1995)
1923 – José Giovanni, French-Swiss director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1924 – Christopher Booth, English clinician and historian (d. 2012)
1924 – Larkin Kerwin, Canadian physicist and academic (d. 2004)
1926 – George Englund, American film editor, director, producer and actor (d. 2017)
1926 – Rachid Solh, Lebanese politician, 48th Prime Minister of Lebanon (d. 2014)
1926 – Doreen Mantle, South African-English actress
1927 – Anthony Low, Indian-English historian and academic (d. 2015)
1928 – Ralph Waite, American actor and director (d. 2014)
1929 – Bruce Kent, English activist and laicised Roman Catholic priest
1930 – Yuri Artyukhin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1998)
1930 – Walter Bonatti, Italian journalist and mountaineer (d. 2011)
1931 – Ruby Garrard Woodson, American educator and cultural historian (d. 2008)
1932 – Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, Princess of Iran (d. 2001)
1932 – Yevgeny Kychanov, Russian orientalist, historian, and academic (d. 2013)
1932 – Amrish Puri, Indian actor (d. 2005)
1932 – June Salter, Australian actress (d. 2001)
1932 – Prunella Scales, English actress
1932 – John Wakeham, Baron Wakeham, English businessman and politician, Leader of the House of Lords
1933 – Dianne Feinstein, American politician
1934 – James Bjorken, American physicist, author, and academic
1936 – Kris Kristofferson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1936 – Ferran Olivella, Spanish footballer
1936 – Hermeto Pascoal, Brazilian accordion player and composer
1937 – Chris Blackwell, English record producer, co-founded Island Records
1937 – Bernie McGann, Australian saxophonist and composer (d. 2013)
1939 – Don Matthews, American-Canadian football player and coach (d. 2017)
1939 – Ed Paschke, Polish-American painter and academic (d. 2004)
1940 – Joan Busfield, English sociologist, psychologist, and academic
1940 – Hubert Chesshyre, English historian and author
1940 – Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
1940 – Esther Rantzen, English journalist
1941 – Ed Bradley, American journalist (d. 2006)
1941 – Terttu Savola, Finnish journalist and politician
1943 – Brit Hume, American journalist and author
1943 – Klaus Maria Brandauer, Austrian actor and director
1944 – Peter Asher, English singer, guitarist, and producer
1944 – Helmut Dietl, German director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
1945 – Rainer Brüderle, German economist and politician, German Minister of Economics and Technology
1946 – Linda Bond, Canadian 19th General of The Salvation Army
1946 – Sheila Hollins, Baroness Hollins, English psychiatrist and academic
1946 – Eliades Ochoa, Cuban singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1946 – Józef Oleksy, Polish economist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 2015)
1946 – Stephen Waley-Cohen, English journalist and businessman
1947 – Octavia E. Butler, American author (d. 2006)
1947 – Howard Kaylan, American pop-rock singer-songwriter and musician
1947 – Pete Maravich, American basketball player (d. 1988)
1947 – Jerry Rawlings, Ghanaian lieutenant and politician, President of Ghana
1948 – James Charteris, 13th Earl of Wemyss, Scottish businessman
1948 – Todd Rundgren, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1949 – Larry Junstrom, American bass player
1949 – Brian Leveson, English lawyer and judge
1949 – Alan Osmond, American singer and producer
1949 – Meryl Streep, American actress and singer
1949 – Luís Filipe Vieira, Portuguese businessman
1949 – Lindsay Wagner, American actress
1949 – Elizabeth Warren, American academic and politician
1950 – Sharon Maughan, English actress
1950 – Adrian Năstase, Romanian lawyer and politician, 59th Prime Minister of Romania
1950 – Greg Oliphant, Australian rugby league player
1950 – Zenonas Petrauskas, Lithuanian lawyer and politician (d. 2009)
1950 – Tom Alter, Indian actor (d. 2017)
1951 – Brian Cookson, British cyclist and sports administrator
1951 – Craig Gruber, American bass player (d. 2015)
1951 – Humphrey Ocean, English painter and academic
1952 – Graham Greene, Canadian actor
1952 – Santokh Singh, Malaysian football player
1953 – Wim Eijk, Dutch cardinal
1953 – Mauro Francaviglia, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
1953 – Cyndi Lauper, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1953 – Bruce McAvaney, Australian journalist and sportscaster
1954 – Freddie Prinze, American comedian and actor (d. 1977)
1955 – Green Gartside, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Christine Orengo, British academic and educator
1956 – Darryl Brohman, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1956 – Alfons De Wolf, Belgian cyclist
1956 – Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistani agriculturist and politician, 25th Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs
1956 – Tim Russ, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1956 – Markus Schatte, German footballer, manager, and coach
1956 – Derek Forbes, Scottish bass player and guitarist
1957 – Danny Baker, English journalist and screenwriter
1957 – Garry Gary Beers, Australian bass player, songwriter, and producer
1957 – Kevin Bond, English footballer and manager
1957 – Michael Stratton, English geneticist and academic
1958 – Rocío Banquells, Mexican pop singer and actress
1958 – Bruce Campbell, American actor, director, producer and writer
1959 – Michael Kinane, Irish jockey
1959 – Nicola Sirkis, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 – Daniel Xuereb, French footballer
1960 – Erin Brockovich, American lawyer and environmentalist
1960 – Margrit Klinger, German runner
1960 – Tracy Pollan, American actress
1961 – Jimmy Somerville, Scottish singer-songwriter
1962 – Stephen Chow, Hong Kong actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1962 – Bobby Gillespie, Scottish musician and singer-songwriter
1962 – Clyde Drexler, American basketball player and coach
1962 – Gerald Hillringhaus, German footballer
1963 – Hokutoumi Nobuyoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 61st Yokozuna
1963 – John Tenta, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 2006)
1964 – Cadillac Anderson, American basketball player
1964 – Amy Brenneman, American actress
1964 – Dan Brown, American author and academic
1964 – Miroslav Kadlec, Czech footballer
1965 – Uwe Boll, German director, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Ľubomír Moravčík, Czech footballer and manager
1966 – Michael Park, English racing driver (d. 2005)
1966 – Emmanuelle Seigner, French actress
1966 – Dean Woods, Australian cyclist
1968 – Darrell Armstrong, American basketball player and coach
1968 – Miri Yu, Zainichi, Korean novelist
1971 – Gary Connolly, English rugby player
1971 – Mary Lynn Rajskub, American actress and comedian
1971 – Kurt Warner, American football player and sportscaster
1972 – Damien Oliver, Australian jockey
1973 – Carson Daly, American radio and television host
1974 – Jo Cox, British MP (d. 2016)
1974 – Vijay, Indian film actor in Tamil cinema
1975 – Urmas Reinsalu, Estonian academic and politician, 28th Estonian Minister of Defence
1978 – Champ Bailey, American football player
1978 – Dan Wheldon, English racing driver (d. 2011)
1979 – Joey Cheek, American speed skater
1979 – Thomas Voeckler, French cyclist
1980 – Ilya Bryzgalov, Russian ice hockey player
1980 – Stephanie Jacobsen, Hong Kong-Australian actress
1981 – Sione Lauaki, New Zealand rugby player
1981 – Aquivaldo Mosquera, Colombian footballer
1982 – Andoni Iraola, Spanish footballer
1982 – Ian Kinsler, American baseball player
1982 – Soraia Chaves, Portuguese actress and model
1983 – Allar Raja, Estonian rower
1984 – Dustin Johnson, American golfer
1984 – Rubén Iván Martínez, Spanish footballer
1984 – Jerome Taylor, Jamaican cricketer
1984 – Janko Tipsarević, Serbian tennis player
1985 – Thomas Leuluai, New Zealand rugby league player
1987 – Danny Green, American basketball player
1987 – Nikita Rukavytsya, Ukrainian-Australian footballer
1988 – Omri Casspi, Israeli basketball player
1989 – Cédric Mongongu, Congolese footballer
1989 – Jung Yong-hwa, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
1990 – Sebastian Jung, German footballer
1991 – Hugo Mallo, Spanish footballer
1992 – Ura Kazuki, Japanese sumo wrestler
1992 – Harry Reid, British actor
1993 – Loris Karius, German footballer
1994 – Sebastien Haller, French footballer
1994 – Carlos Vinícius Santos de Jesus, Brazilian footballer
1996 – Mikel Merino, Spanish footballer
1999 – Sam Retford, Australian-English actor

Deaths on June 22

431 – Paulinus of Nola, Christian bishop and poet (b. 354)
910 – Gebhard, Frankish nobleman
910 – Gerhard I, Frankish nobleman
947 – Qian Hongzuo, king of Wuyue (b. 928)
1017 – Leo Passianos, Byzantine general
1101 – Roger I of Sicily, Norman nobleman (b. 1031)
1276 – Innocent V, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1225)
1343 – Aimone, Count of Savoy (b. 1291)
1429 – Jamshīd al-Kāshī, Persian astronomer and mathematician (b. 1380)
1521 – Leonardo Loredan, Italian politician, 76th Doge of Venice (b. 1436)
1535 – John Fisher, English bishop and saint (b. 1469)
1632 – James Whitelocke, English judge and politician, Chief Justice of Chester (b. 1570)
1634 – Johann von Aldringen, Austrian field marshal (b. 1588)
1664 – Katherine Philips, Anglo-Welsh poet (b. 1631)
1699 – Josiah Child, English merchant, economist, and politician (b. 1630)
1714 – Matthew Henry, Welsh minister and author (b. 1662)
1766 – Carlo Zimech, Maltese priest and painter (b. 1696)
1868 – Heber C. Kimball, American religious leader (b. 1801)
1872 – Rudecindo Alvarado, Argentinian general (b. 1792)
1874 – Howard Staunton, English chess player (b. 1810)
1892 – Pierre Ossian Bonnet, French mathematician and academic (b. 1819)
1894 – Alexandre-Antonin Taché, Canadian archbishop and missionary (b. 1823)
1905 – Francis Lubbock, American colonel and politician, 9th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
1913 – Ștefan Octavian Iosif, Romanian poet and translator (b. 1875)
1925 – Felix Klein, German mathematician and academic (b. 1849)
1928 – A. B. Frost, American illustrator and painter (b. 1851)
1931 – Armand Fallières, French politician, 9th President of France (b. 1841)
1933 – Tim Birkin, English racing driver and lieutenant (b. 1896)
1935 – Szymon Askenazy, Polish historian and diplomat (b. 1866)
1936 – Moritz Schlick, German-Austrian physicist and philosopher (b. 1882)
1938 – C. J. Dennis, Australian poet and author (b. 1876)
1940 – Monty Noble, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1873)
1942 – August Froehlich, German priest and activist (b. 1891)
1945 – Isamu Chō, Japanese general (b. 1895)
1945 – Mitsuru Ushijima, Japanese general (b. 1887)
1956 – Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer and novelist (b. 1873)
1959 – Hermann Brill, German educator and politician, 8th Minister-President of Thuringia (b. 1895)
1964 – Havank, Dutch journalist and author (b. 1904)
1965 – David O. Selznick, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1902)
1966 – Thaddeus Shideler, American hurdler (b. 1883)
1969 – Judy Garland, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
1970 – Đặng Thùy Trâm, Vietnamese surgeon and author (b. 1942)
1974 – Darius Milhaud, French composer and educator (b. 1892)
1977 – Jacqueline Audry, French director and screenwriter (b. 1908)
1977 – Peter Laughner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Rocket From the Tombs and Pere Ubu) (b. 1952)
1979 – Louis Chiron, Monégasque race car driver (b. 1899)
1984 – Joseph Losey, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1909)
1987 – Fred Astaire, American actor and dancer (b. 1899)
1988 – Dennis Day, American singer and actor (b. 1916)
1990 – Ilya Frank, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
1993 – Pat Nixon, American educator, 37th First Lady of the United States (b. 1912)
1995 – Leonid Derbenyov, Russian poet and songwriter (b. 1931)
1995 – Al Hansen, American sculptor and author (b. 1927)
1997 – Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
1997 – Gérard Pelletier, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1919)
2003 – Vasil Bykaŭ, Belarusian war novelist (b. 1924)
2004 – Bob Bemer, American computer scientist and engineer (b. 1920)
2004 – Mattie Stepanek, American poet and author (b. 1990)
2007 – Erik Parlevliet, Dutch field hockey player (b. 1964)
2008 – Natalia Bekhtereva, Russian neuroscientist and psychologist (b. 1924)
2008 – George Carlin, American comedian, actor, and author (b. 1937)
2008 – Dody Goodman, American actress and dancer (b. 1914)
2011 – Coşkun Özarı, Turkish footballer and coach (b. 1931)
2012 – Juan Luis Galiardo, Spanish actor and producer (b. 1922)
2013 – Henning Larsen, Danish architect, designed the Copenhagen Opera House (b. 1925)
2013 – Allan Simonsen, Danish race car driver (b. 1978)
2014 – Fouad Ajami, Lebanese-American author and academic (b. 1945)
2014 – Rama Narayanan, Indian director and producer (b. 1949)
2015 – James Horner, American composer and conductor (b. 1953)
2017 – Mao Kobayashi, Japanese newscaster and actress (b. 1982)
2017 – Quett Masire, Botswanan politician (b. 1926)
2018 – Vinnie Paul, American musician (b. 1964)

Holidays and observances on June 22

Christian feast day:
- Aaron of Aleth
- Alban, first recorded Martyr in Britain (commemoration, Anglicanism)
- Blessed Pope Innocent V
- Eusebius of Samosata (Orthodox Church)
- John Fisher (Catholic Church)
- Nicetas of Remesiana
- Paulinus of Nola
- Thomas More (Catholic Church)
- June 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Anti-Fascist Struggle Day (Croatia)
Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War (Belarus)
Father’s Day (Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey)
Teachers’ Day (El Salvador)

June 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

618 – Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang dynasty rule over China.
656 – Ali becomes Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
860 – Byzantine–Rus’ War: A fleet of about 200 Rus’ vessels sails into the Bosphorus and starts pillaging the suburbs of the Byzantine capital Constantinople.
1053 – Battle of Civitate: Three thousand horsemen of Norman Count Humphrey rout the troops of Pope Leo IX.
1178 – Five Canterbury monks see what is possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the Moon’s distance from the Earth (on the order of meters) are a result of this collision.
1264 – The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature.
1265 – A draft Byzantine–Venetian treaty is concluded between Venetian envoys and Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, but is not ratified by Doge Reniero Zeno.
1429 – French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years’ War.
1633 – Charles I is crowned King of Scots at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh.
1684 – The charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is revoked via a scire facias writ issued by an English court.
1757 – Battle of Kolín between Prussian forces under Frederick the Great and an Austrian army under the command of Field Marshal Count Leopold Joseph von Daun in the Seven Years’ War.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: British troops abandon Philadelphia.
1799 – Action of 18 June 1799: A frigate squadron under Rear-admiral Perrée is captured by the British fleet under Lord Keith.
1812 – The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom is signed by President James Madison, beginning the War of 1812.
1815 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher forcing him to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time.
1822 – Constantine Kanaris blows up the Ottoman navy’s flagship at Chios, killing the Kapudan Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha.
1858 – Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin’s own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.
1859 – First ascent of Aletschhorn, second summit of the Bernese Alps.
1873 – Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
1887 – The Reinsurance Treaty between Germany and Russia is signed.
1900 – Empress Dowager Cixi of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families.
1908 – Japanese immigration to Brazil begins when 781 people arrive in Santos aboard the ship Kasato-Maru.
1908 – The University of the Philippines is established.
1923 – Checker Taxi puts its first taxi on the streets.
1928 – Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she is a passenger; Wilmer Stultz is the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).
1935 – Police in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, clash with striking longshoremen, resulting in a total of 60 injuries and 24 arrests.
1940 – Appeal of 18 June by Charles de Gaulle.
1940 – The “Finest Hour” speech is delivered by Winston Churchill.
1945 – William Joyce (“Lord Haw-Haw”) is charged with treason for his pro-German propaganda broadcasting during World War II.
1946 – Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a Socialist, calls for a Direct Action Day against the Portuguese in Goa.
1948 – Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
1953 – The Egyptian revolution of 1952 ends with the overthrow of the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the declaration of the Republic of Egypt.
1953 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns near Tachikawa, Japan, killing 129.
1954 – Carlos Castillo Armas leads an invasion force across the Guatemalan border, setting in motion the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état.
1965 – Vietnam War: The United States uses B-52 bombers to attack National Liberation Front guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam.
1972 – Staines air disaster: One hundred eighteen people are killed when a BEA H.S. Trident crashes two minutes after take off from London’s Heathrow Airport.
1979 – SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union.
1981 – The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight.
1982 – Italian banker Roberto Calvi’s body is discovered hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London, England.
1983 – Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
1983 – Mona Mahmudnizhad, together with nine other Bahá’í women, is sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran over her religious beliefs.
1984 – A major clash between about 5,000 police and a similar number of miners takes place at Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the 1984–85 UK miners’ strike.
1994 – The Troubles: Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) attack a crowded pub with assault rifles in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. Six Catholic civilians are killed and five wounded. It was crowded with people watching the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
2006 – The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat-1 is launched.
2007 – The Charleston Sofa Super Store fire happened in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine firefighters.
2009 – The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA robotic spacecraft is launched.
2018 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 strikes northern Osaka.

Births on June 18

1269 – Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar (d. 1298)
1318 – Eleanor of Woodstock (d. 1355)
1332 – John V Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (d. 1391)
1466 – Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (d. 1539)
1511 – Bartolomeo Ammannati, Italian architect and sculptor, designed the Ponte Santa Trinita (d. 1592)
1517 – Emperor Ōgimachi of Japan (d. 1593)
1521 – Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Viseu (d. 1577)
1667 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal (d. 1750)
1673 – Antonio de Literes, Spanish composer (d. 1747)
1677 – Antonio Maria Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1726)
1716 – Joseph-Marie Vien, French painter and educator (d. 1809)
1717 – Johann Stamitz, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1757)
1757 – Ignaz Pleyel, Austrian-French pianist and composer (d. 1831)
1757 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Argentinian lawyer and politician 1st Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (d. 1833)
1769 – Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, Irish-English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1822)
1799 – William Lassell, English astronomer and merchant (d. 1880)
1812 – Ivan Goncharov, Russian journalist and author (d. 1891)
1815 – Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen, German general (d. 1881)
1816 – Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte, French daughter of Napoleon (d. 1907)
1816 – Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepali ruler (d. 1877)
1833 – Manuel González Flores, Mexican general and President (1880-1884) (d. 1893)
1834 – Auguste-Théodore-Paul de Broglie, French philosopher and academic (d. 1895)
1839 – William H. Seward Jr., American general and banker (d. 1920)
1845 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician and parasitologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1922)
1850 – Richard Heuberger, Austrian composer and critic (d. 1914)
1854 – E. W. Scripps, American publisher, founded the E. W. Scripps Company (d. 1926)
1857 – Henry Clay Folger, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Folger Shakespeare Library (d. 1930)
1858 – Andrew Forsyth, Scottish-English mathematician and academic (d. 1942)
1858 – Hector Rason, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1927)
1862 – Carolyn Wells, American novelist and poet (d. 1942)
1863 – George Essex Evans, English-Australian poet and author (d. 1909)
1868 – Miklós Horthy, Hungarian admiral and politician, Regent of Hungary (d. 1957)
1870 – Édouard Le Roy, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1954)
1877 – James Montgomery Flagg, American painter and illustrator (d. 1960)
1881 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer (d. 1956)
1882 – Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgarian compositor and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Bulgaria (d. 1949)
1884 – Édouard Daladier, French captain and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1970)
1886 – George Mallory, English lieutenant and mountaineer (d. 1924)
1886 – Alexander Wetmore, American ornithologist and paleontologist (d. 1978)
1887 – Tancrède Labbé, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1956)
1896 – Blanche Sweet, American actress (d. 1986)
1897 – Martti Marttelin, Finnish runner (d. 1940)
1900 – Vlasta Vraz, Czech-American relief worker, editor, and fundraiser (d. 1989)
1901 – Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1918)
1901 – Llewellyn Rees, English actor (d. 1994)
1902 – Louis Alter, American musician (d. 1980)
1902 – Paavo Yrjölä, Finnish decathlete (d. 1980)
1903 – Jeanette MacDonald, American actress and singer (d. 1965)
1903 – Raymond Radiguet, French author and poet (d. 1923)
1904 – Keye Luke, Chinese-American actor (d. 1991)
1904 – Manuel Rosenthal, French conductor and composer (d. 2003)
1905 – Eduard Tubin, Estonian composer and conductor (d. 1982)
1907 – Frithjof Schuon, Swiss-American metaphysicist, philosopher, and author (d. 1998)
1908 – Bud Collyer, American actor and game show host (d. 1969)
1908 – Stanley Knowles, American-Canadian academic and politician (d. 1997)
1908 – Nedra Volz, American actress (d. 2003)
1910 – Dick Foran, American actor and singer (d. 1979)
1910 – Avon Long, American actor and singer (d. 1984)
1910 – Ray McKinley, American singer, drummer, and bandleader (d. 1995)
1912 – Glenn Morris, American decathlete (d. 1974)
1913 – Wilfred Gordon Bigelow, Canadian soldier and surgeon (d. 2005)
1913 – Sammy Cahn, American pianist and composer (d. 1993)
1913 – Sylvia Porter, American economist and journalist (d. 1991)
1913 – Françoise Loranger, Canadian playwright and producer (d. 1995)
1913 – Robert Mondavi, American winemaker and philanthropist (d. 2008)
1913 – Oswald Teichmüller, German mathematician (d. 1943)
1914 – E. G. Marshall, American actor (d. 1998)
1914 – Efraín Huerta, Mexican poet (d.1982)
1915 – Red Adair, American firefighter (d. 2004)
1915 – Robert Kanigher, American author (d. 2002)
1915 – Alice T. Schafer, American mathematician (d. 2009)
1916 – Julio César Turbay Ayala, Colombian lawyer and politician, 25th President of Colombia (d. 2005)
1917 – Richard Boone, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1981)
1917 – Jack Karnehm, English snooker player and sportscaster (d. 2002)
1917 – Erik Ortvad, Danish painter and illustrator (d. 2008)
1918 – Alf Francis, West Prussia-born, English motor racing mechanic and race car constructor (d. 1983)
1918 – Jerome Karle, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
1918 – Franco Modigliani, Italian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
1919 – Jüri Järvet, Estonian actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
1920 – Ian Carmichael, English actor and singer (d. 2010)
1920 – Lode Van Den Bergh, Belgian author and academic
1922 – Claude Helffer, French pianist and educator (d. 2004)
1924 – George Mikan, American basketball player and coach (d. 2005)
1925 – Robert Beadell, American composer and educator (d. 1994)
1926 – Philip B. Crosby, American businessman and author (d. 2001)
1926 – Allan Sandage, American astronomer and cosmologist (d. 2010)
1926 – Tom Wicker, American journalist and author (d. 2011)
1927 – Eva Bartok, Hungarian-English actress (d. 1998)
1927 – Paul Eddington, English actor (d. 1995)
1928 – Michael Blakemore, Australian actor, director, and screenwriter
1928 – David T. Lykken, American geneticist and academic (d. 2006)
1929 – Jürgen Habermas, German sociologist and philosopher
1929 – Tibor Rubin, Hungarian-American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2015)
1931 – Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazilian sociologist, academic, and politician, 34th President of Brazil
1932 – Dudley R. Herschbach, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1932 – Geoffrey Hill, English poet and academic (d. 2016)
1933 – Colin Brumby, Australian composer and conductor (d. 2018)
1933 – Tommy Hunt, American singer
1934 – Brian Kenny, English general (d. 2017)
1934 – Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 2004)
1936 – Denny Hulme, New Zealand race car driver (d. 1992)
1936 – Barack Obama Sr., Kenyan economist (d. 1982)
1936 – Ronald Venetiaan, Surinamese politician, 6th President of Suriname
1937 – Del Harris, American basketball player and coach
1937 – Jay Rockefeller, American lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of West Virginia
1937 – Bruce Trigger, Canadian archaeologist, anthropologist and historian (d. 2006)
1937 – Vitaly Zholobov, Ukrainian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
1938 – Kevin Murray, Australian footballer and coach
1939 – Lou Brock, American baseball player and sportscaster
1939 – Jean-Claude Germain, Canadian historian, author, and journalist
1939 – Brooks Firestone, American businessman and politician
1941 – Roger Lemerre, French footballer and manager
1941 – Paul Mayersberg, English director and screenwriter
1941 – Delia Smith, English chef and author
1942 – John Bellany, Scottish painter and academic (d. 2013)
1942 – Roger Ebert, American journalist, critic, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1942 – Pat Hutchins, English author and illustrator
1942 – Thabo Mbeki, South African politician, 23rd President of South Africa
1942 – Paul McCartney, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1942 – Richard Perry, American record producer
1942 – Carl Radle, American bass player and producer (d. 1980)
1942 – Nick Tate, Australian actor and director
1942 – Hans Vonk, Dutch conductor (d. 2004)
1943 – Barry Evans, English actor (d. 1997)
1943 – Raffaella Carrà, Italian singer, dancer, and actress
1944 – Bruce DuMont, American broadcaster and political analyst
1944 – Sandy Posey, American pop/country singer
1946 – Russell Ash, English journalist and author (d. 2010)
1946 – Bruiser Brody, American wrestler (d. 1988)
1946 – Fabio Capello, Italian footballer and manager
1946 – Maria Bethânia, Brazilian singer
1947 – Ivonne Coll, Puerto Rican-American model and actress, Miss Puerto Rico 1967
1947 – Bernard Giraudeau, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1947 – Linda Thorson, Canadian actress
1948 – Philip Jackson, English actor
1948 – Éva Marton, Hungarian soprano and actress
1948 – Sherry Turkle, American academic, psychologist, and sociologist
1949 – Chris Van Allsburg, American author and illustrator
1949 – Jarosław Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Poland
1949 – Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (d. 2010)
1949 – Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican singer-songwriter (d. 1999)
1950 – Rod de’Ath, Welsh drummer and producer (d. 2014)
1950 – Annelie Ehrhardt, German hurdler
1950 – Mike Johanns, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of Agriculture
1950 – Jackie Leven, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
1951 – Mohammed Al-Sager, Kuwaiti journalist and politician
1951 – Miriam Flynn, American actress and comedian
1951 – Ian Hargreaves, English-Welsh journalist and academic
1951 – Stephen Hopper, Australian botanist and academic
1951 – Gyula Sax, Hungarian chess player (d. 2014)
1952 – Tiiu Aro, Estonian physician and politician, Estonian Minister of Social Affairs
1952 – Denis Herron, Canadian ice hockey player
1952 – Carol Kane, American actress
1952 – Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1952 – Lee Soo-man, South Korean singer and businessman, founded S.M. Entertainment
1953 – Peter Donohoe, English pianist and educator
1955 – Ed Fast, Canadian lawyer and politician
1956 – Brian Benben, American actor and producer
1956 – John Scott, English organist and conductor (d. 2015)
1957 – Miguel Ángel Lotina, Spanish footballer and manager
1957 – Richard Powers, American novelist
1958 – Peter Altmaier, German jurist and politician, Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany
1958 – Gary Martin, British voice actor and actor
1959 – Joe Ansolabehere, American animation screenwriter and producer
1960 – Barbara Broccoli, American director and producer
1960 – Steve Murphy, Canadian journalist
1961 – Oz Fox, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1961 – Andrés Galarraga, Venezuelan-American baseball player
1961 – Angela Johnson, American novelist and poet
1961 – Alison Moyet, English singer-songwriter
1962 – Lisa Randall, American physicist and academic
1963 – Dizzy Reed, American keyboard player and songwriter
1963 – Bruce Smith, American football player
1964 – Uday Hussein, Iraqi commander (d. 2003)
1964 – Patti Webster, American publicist and author (d. 2013)
1966 – Kurt Browning, Canadian figure skater, choreographer, and sportscaster
1966 – Troy Kemp, Bahamian high jumper
1968 – Frank Müller, German decathlete
1969 – Haki Doku, Albanian cyclist
1969 – Christopher Largen, American journalist and author (d. 2012)
1970 – Katie Derham, English journalist
1970 – Ivan Kozák, Slovak footballer
1970 – Greg Yaitanes, American director and producer
1971 – Kerry Butler, American actress and singer
1971 – Jason McAteer, English-Irish footballer and manager
1971 – Nathan Morris, American soul singer
1972 – Anu Tali, Estonian pianist and conductor
1972 – Wikus du Toit, South African actor, director, and composer
1973 – Julie Depardieu, French actress
1973 – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, American author and music critic
1973 – Ray LaMontagne, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1973 – Alexandra Meissnitzer, Austrian skier
1973 – Matt Parsons, Australian rugby league player
1973 – Gavin Wanganeen Australian footballer and coach
1974 – Vincenzo Montella, Italian footballer and manager
1974 – Sergey Sharikov, Russian fencer and coach (d. 2015)
1975 – Marie Gillain, Belgian actress
1975 – Aleksandrs Koļinko, Latvian footballer
1975 – Martin St. Louis, Canadian ice hockey player
1976 – Blake Shelton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Wang Liqin, Chinese table tennis player
1979 – Yumiko Kobayashi, Japanese voice actress and singer
1979 – Ivana Wong, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress
1980 – Antonio Gates, American football player
1980 – Sergey Kirdyapkin, Russian race walker
1980 – Craig Mottram, Australian runner
1980 – Antero Niittymäki, Finnish ice hockey player
1980 – Tara Platt, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1981 – Clint Newton, American-Australian rugby league player
1981 – Marco Streller, Swiss footballer
1982 – Nadir Belhadj, French-Algerian footballer
1982 – Marco Borriello, Italian footballer
1982 – Nathan Cavaleri, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1983 – Billy Slater, Australian rugby league player
1983 – Cameron Smith, Australian rugby league player
1984 – Nanyak Dala, Canadian rugby player
1985 – Chris Coghlan, American baseball player
1985 – Alex Hirsch, American animator and television producer
1986 – Edgars Eriņš, Latvian decathlete
1986 – Richard Gasquet, French tennis player
1987 – Omar Arellano, Mexican footballer
1987 – Moeen Ali, English cricketer
1988 – Elini Dimoutsos, Greek footballer
1988 – Josh Dun, American musician
1989 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, French-born Gabonese footballer
1989 – Chris Harris Jr., American football player
1990 – Luke Adam, Canadian ice hockey player
1990 – Sandra Izbașa, Romanian gymnast
1990 – Derek Stepan, American ice hockey player
1990 – Christian Taylor, American triple jumper
1993 – Dennis Lloyd, Israeli musician, producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
1994 – Sean McMahon, Australian rugby player
1994 – Takeoff, American rapper
1995 – Maxim Kovtun, Russian figure skater
1996 – Alen Halilović, Croatian footballer
1996 – Niki Wories, Dutch figure skater
1997 – Katharina Hobgarski, German tennis player
1997 – Latrell Mitchell, Australian rugby league player
1999 – Trippie Redd, American rapper

Deaths on June 18

741 – Leo III the Isaurian, Byzantine emperor (b. 685)
908 – Zhang Hao, general of Yang Wu
1095 – Sophia of Hungary (b. c. 1050)
1164 – Elisabeth of Schönau, German Benedictine visionary (b. c. 1129)
1234 – Emperor Chūkyō of Japan (b. 1218)
1250 – Theresa of Portugal, Queen of León
1291 – Alfonso III of Aragon (b. 1265)
1333 – Henry XV, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1312)
1464 – Rogier van der Weyden, Flemish painter (b. 1400)
1588 – Robert Crowley, English minister and poet (b. 1517)
1629 – Piet Pieterszoon Hein, Dutch admiral (b. 1577)
1650 – Christoph Scheiner, German priest, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1575)
1673 – Jeanne Mance, French-Canadian nurse, founded the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal (b. 1606)
1704 – Tom Brown, English author and translator (b. 1662)
1726 – Michel Richard Delalande, French organist and composer (b. 1657)
1742 – John Aislabie, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1670)
1749 – Ambrose Philips, English poet and politician (b. 1674)
1772 – Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German jurist and scholar (b. 1706)
1772 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian physician and reformer (b. 1700)
1788 – Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader (b. 1714)
1794 – François Buzot, French lawyer and politician (b. 1760)
1794 – James Murray, Scottish-English general and politician, 20th Governor of the Province of Quebec (b. 1721)
1815 – Thomas Picton, Welsh-English general and politician (b. 1758)
1833 – Robert Hett Chapman, American minister, missionary, and academic (b. 1771)
1835 – William Cobbett, English farmer and journalist (b. 1763)
1860 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Bismarck, German army officer and writer (b. 1783)
1866 – Prince Sigismund of Prussia (b. 1864)
1902 – Samuel Butler, English novelist, satirist, and critic (b. 1835)
1905 – Carmine Crocco, Italian soldier (b. 1830)
1916 – Max Immelmann, German lieutenant and pilot (b. 1890)
1917 – Titu Maiorescu, Romanian critic and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1840)
1922 – Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer and academic (b. 1851)
1928 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (b. 1872)
1936 – Maxim Gorky, Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright (b. 1868)
1937 – Gaston Doumergue, French politician, 13th President of France (b. 1863)
1942 – Arthur Pryor, American trombonist, bandleader, and politician (b. 1870)
1943 – Elias Degiannis, Greek commander (b. 1912)
1945 – Florence Bascom, American geologist and educator (b. 1862)^[10]
1945 – Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (b. 1886)
1947 – Shigematsu Sakaibara, Japanese admiral (b. 1898)
1948 – Edward Brooker, English-Australian politician, 31st Premier of Tasmania (b. 1891)
1959 – Ethel Barrymore, American actress (b. 1879)
1963 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor (b. 1912)
1964 – Giorgio Morandi, Italian painter (b. 1890)
1967 – Geki, Italian race car driver (b. 1937)
1967 – Beat Fehr, Swiss race car driver (b. 1942)
1971 – Thomas Gomez, American actor (b. 1905)
1971 – Paul Karrer, Russian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
1974 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and academic (b. 1896)
1974 – Georgy Zhukov, Russian marshal and politician, Minister of Defence for the Soviet Union (b. 1896)
1975 – Hugo Bergmann, German-Israeli philosopher and author (b. 1883)
1978 – Walter C. Alvarez, American physician and author (b. 1884)
1980 – Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (b. 1904)
1980 – André Leducq, French cyclist (b. 1904)
1982 – Djuna Barnes, American novelist, journalist, and playwright (b. 1892)
1982 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1912)
1982 – Curd Jürgens, German-Austrian actor and director (b. 1915)
1984 – Alan Berg, American lawyer and radio host (b. 1934)
1985 – Paul Colin, French illustrator (b. 1892)
1986 – Frances Scott Fitzgerald, American journalist (b. 1921)
1989 – I. F. Stone, American journalist and author (b. 1907)
1992 – Kofoworola Abeni Pratt, the first black Chief Nursing Officer of Nigeria (b. 1910)
1992 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1944)
1992 – Mordecai Ardon, Polish-Israeli painter and educator (b. 1896)
1993 – Craig Rodwell, American activist, founded the Oscar Wilde Bookshop (b. 1940)
1996 – Endel Puusepp, Estonian-Soviet military pilot and politician (b. 1909)
1997 – Lev Kopelev, Ukrainian-German author and academic (b. 1912)
1998 – Felix Knight, American actor and tenor (b. 1908)
2000 – Nancy Marchand, American actress (b. 1928)
2003 – Larry Doby, American baseball player and manager (b. 1923)
2005 – Mushtaq Ali, Indian cricketer (b. 1914)
2005 – Manuel Sadosky, Argentinian mathematician and academic (b. 1914)
2006 – Vincent Sherman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
2006 – Joseph Zobel, Martinique-French author (b. 1915)
2007 – Bernard Manning, English comedian and actor (b. 1930)
2007 – Hank Medress, American singer and producer (b. 1938)
2007 – Georges Thurston, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
2008 – Jean Delannoy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
2008 – Tasha Tudor, American author and illustrator (b. 1915)
2008 – Hans Steinbrenner, German sculptor (b. 1928)
2010 – Trent Acid, American wrestler (b. 1980)
2010 – José Saramago, Portuguese novelist Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1922)
2010 – Okan Demiriş, Turkish composer (b. 1942)
2011 – Yelena Bonner, Russian activist (b. 1923)
2011 – Frederick Chiluba, Zambian politician, 2nd President of Zambia (b. 1943)
2011 – Clarence Clemons, American saxophonist (b. 1942)
2012 – Horacio Coppola, Argentinian photographer and director (b. 1906)
2012 – Lina Haag, German author and activist (b. 1907)
2012 – Tom Maynard, Welsh cricketer (b. 1989)
2012 – Luis Edgardo Mercado Jarrín, Peruvian general and politician, 109th Prime Minister of Peru (b. 1919)
2012 – Alketas Panagoulias, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1934)
2012 – William Van Regenmorter, American businessman and politician (b. 1939)
2013 – Brent F. Anderson, American engineer and politician (b. 1932)
2013 – Alastair Donaldson, Scottish bass player (b. 1955)
2013 – Garde Gardom, Canadian lawyer and politician, 26th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (b. 1924)
2013 – Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (b. 1980)
2013 – David Wall, English ballet dancer (b. 1946)
2014 – Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer (b. 1923)
2014 – Johnny Mann, American singer-songwriter and conductor (b. 1928)
2014 – Claire Martin, Canadian author (b. 1914)
2014 – Vladimir Popovkin, Russian general (b. 1957)
2014 – Horace Silver, American pianist and composer (b. 1928)
2015 – Phil Austin, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1941)
2015 – Ralph J. Roberts, American businessman, co-founded Comcast (b. 1920)
2015 – Danny Villanueva, American football player and broadcaster, co-founded Univision (b. 1937)
2015 – Allen Weinstein, American historian and academic (b. 1937)
2016 – Jeppiaar, Indian educationist, founder and chancellor of Sathyabama University (b. 1931)
2018 – XXXTentacion, American rapper (b. 1998)
2018 – Big Van Vader (also known as Vader) American professional wrestler (b. 1955)
2018 – Jimmy Wopo, American rapper (b. 1997)
2020 – Vera Lynn, English singer who was the “Forces’ Sweetheart” in World War II (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances on June 18

Autistic Pride Day (International)
Christian feast day:
- Bernard Mizeki (Anglican and Episcopal Church)
- Elisabeth of Schönau
- Gregorio Barbarigo
- Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus
- Marina the Monk (Maronite Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria)
- Mark and Marcellian
- June 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Foundation Day (Benguet)
Human Rights Day (Azerbaijan)
National Day (Seychelles)
Queen Mother’s Birthday (Cambodia)
Waterloo Day (United Kingdom)

June 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burnt in Paris.
1397 – The Kalmar Union is formed under the rule of Margaret I of Denmark.
1462 – Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack at Târgovişte), forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.
1497 – Battle of Deptford Bridge: Forces under King Henry VII defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.
1565 – Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
1579 – Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.
1596 – The Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz discovers the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen.
1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.
1665 – Battle of Montes Claros: Portugal definitively secured independence from Spain in the last battle of the Portuguese Restoration War.
1673 – French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reach the Mississippi River and become the first Europeans to make a detailed account of its course.
1767 – Samuel Wallis, a British sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island.
1773 – Cúcuta, Colombia, is founded by Juana Rangel de Cuéllar.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.
1789 – In France, the Third Estate declares itself the National Assembly.
1794 – Foundation of Anglo-Corsican Kingdom.
1795 – The burghers of Swellendam expel the Dutch East India Company magistrate and declare a republic.
1839 – In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace are established as a result.
1843 – The Wairau Affray, the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers in the New Zealand Wars, takes place.
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Vienna, Virginia.
1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Aldie in the Gettysburg Campaign.
1876 – American Indian Wars: Battle of the Rosebud: 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook’s forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory.
1877 – American Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon: The Nez Perce defeat the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
1898 – The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
1900 – Boxer Rebellion: Western Allied and Japanese forces capture the Taku Forts in Tianjin, China.
1901 – The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT.
1910 – Aurel Vlaicu pilots an A. Vlaicu nr. 1 on its first flight.
1922 – Portuguese naval aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral complete the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic.
1929 – The town of Murchison, New Zealand Is rocked by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killing 17. At the time it was New Zealand’s worst natural disaster.
1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act into law.
1932 – Bonus Army: Around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits.
1933 – Union Station massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash are gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.
1939 – Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is executed in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison.
1940 – World War II: RMS Lancastria is attacked and sunk by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France. At least 3,000 are killed in Britain’s worst maritime disaster.
1940 – World War II: The British Army’s 11th Hussars assault and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya, Africa from Italian forces.
1940 – The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.
1944 – Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic.
1948 – United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.
1952 – Guatemala passes Decree 900, ordering the redistribution of uncultivated land.
1953 – Cold War: East Germany Workers Uprising: In East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion.
1958 – The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver (Canada), collapses into the Burrard Inlet killing 18 ironworkers and injuring others.
1960 – The Nez Perce tribe is awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km²) of land undervalued at four cents/acre in the 1863 treaty.
1963 – The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
1963 – A day after South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm announced the Joint Communiqué to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2,000 people breaks out. One person is killed.
1967 – Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.
1972 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process
1985 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-G mission: Space Shuttle Discovery launches carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist.
1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the dusky seaside sparrow becomes extinct.
1991 – Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
1992 – A “joint understanding” agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).
1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
2015 – Nine people are killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
2017 – A series of wildfires in central Portugal kill at least 64 people and injure 204 others.

Births on June 17

801 – Drogo of Metz, Frankish bishop (d. 855)
1239 – Edward I, English king (d. 1307)
1530 – François de Montmorency, French nobleman (d. 1579)
1571 – Thomas Mun, English writer on economics (d. 1641)
1603 – Joseph of Cupertino, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1663)
1604 – John Maurice, Dutch nobleman (d. 1679)
1610 – Birgitte Thott, Danish scholar, writer and translator (b. 1662)
1631 – Gauharara Begum, Mughal princess (d. 1706)
1682 – Charles XII, Swedish king (d. 1718)
1691 – Giovanni Paolo Panini, Italian painter and architect (d. 1765)
1693 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian and author (d. 1775)
1704 – John Kay, English engineer, invented the Flying shuttle (d. 1780)
1714 – César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer and cartographer (d. 1784)
1718 – George Howard, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Minorca (d. 1796)
1778 – Gregory Blaxland, English-Australian explorer (d. 1853)
1800 – William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, English-Irish astronomer and politician (d. 1867)
1808 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian poet, playwright, and linguist (d. 1845)
1810 – Ferdinand Freiligrath, German poet and translator (d. 1876)
1811 – Jón Sigurðsson, Icelandic scholar and politician (d. 1879)
1818 – Charles Gounod, French composer and academic (d. 1893)
1818 – Sophie of Württemberg, queen of the Netherlands (d. 1877)
1821 – E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (d. 1888)
1832 – William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (d. 1919)
1833 – Manuel González Flores, Mexican general and president (d. 1893)
1858 – Eben Sumner Draper, American businessman and politician, 44th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1914)
1861 – Pete Browning, American baseball player (d. 1905)
1861 – Omar Bundy, American general (d. 1940)
1863 – Charles Michael, duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1934)
1865 – Susan La Flesche Picotte, Native American physician (d. 1915)
1867 – Flora Finch, English-American actress (d. 1940)
1867 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born American educator, publisher, and humanitarian (d. 1948)
1867 – Henry Lawson, Australian poet and author (d. 1922)
1871 – James Weldon Johnson, American author, journalist, and activist (d. 1938)
1876 – William Carr, American rower (d. 1942)
1876 – Edward Anthony Spitzka, American anatomist and author (d. 1922)
1880 – Carl Van Vechten, American author and photographer (d. 1964)
1881 – Tommy Burns, Canadian boxer and promoter (d. 1955)
1882 – Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1918)
1882 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1971)
1888 – Heinz Guderian, German general (d. 1954)
1897 – Maria Izilda de Castro Ribeiro, Brazilian girl, popular saint (d. 1911)
1898 – M. C. Escher, Dutch illustrator (d. 1972)
1898 – Carl Hermann, German physicist and academic (d. 1961)
1898 – Harry Patch, English soldier and firefighter (d. 2009)
1900 – Martin Bormann, German politician (d. 1945)
1900 – Evelyn Irons, Scottish journalist and war correspondent (d. 2000)
1902 – Sammy Fain, American pianist and composer (d. 1989)
1902 – Alec Hurwood, Australian cricketer (d. 1982)
1903 – Ruth Graves Wakefield, American chef, created the chocolate chip cookie (d. 1977)
1904 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)
1904 – J. Vernon McGee, American pastor and theologian (d. 1988)
1904 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 1989)
1907 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
1909 – Elmer L. Andersen, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Minnesota (d. 2004)
1909 – Ralph E. Winters, Canadian-American film editor (d. 2004)
1910 – Red Foley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1968)
1910 – George Hees, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1996)
1914 – John Hersey, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
1915 – David “Stringbean” Akeman, American singer and banjo player (d. 1973)
1915 – Marcel Cadieux, Canadian civil servant and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 1981)
1916 – Terry Gilkyson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
1917 – Dufferin Roblin, Canadian politician, 14th Premier of Manitoba (d. 2010)
1918 – Ajahn Chah, Thai monk and educator (d. 1992)
1919 – William Kaye Estes, American psychologist and academic (d. 2011)
1919 – John Moffat, Scottish lieutenant and pilot (d. 2016)
1919 – Beryl Reid, English actress (d. 1996)
1920 – Jacob H. Gilbert, American lawyer and politician (d. 1981)
1920 – Setsuko Hara, Japanese actress (d. 2015)
1920 – François Jacob, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
1920 – Peter Le Cheminant, English air marshal and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (d. 2018)
1922 – John Amis, English journalist and critic (d. 2013)
1923 – Elroy Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004)
1923 – Arnold S. Relman, American physician and academic (d. 2014)
1923 – Dale C. Thomson, Canadian historian and academic (d. 1999)
1925 – Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (d. 2014)
1927 – Martin Böttcher, German composer and conductor (d. 2019)
1927 – Wally Wood, American author, illustrator, and publisher (d. 1981)
1928 – Juan María Bordaberry, President of Uruguay (d. 2011)
1929 – Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (d. 2016)
1929 – Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player (d. 1984)
1930 – Cliff Gallup, American rock & roll guitarist (d. 1988)
1930 – Brian Statham, English cricketer (d. 2000)
1931 – John Baldessari, American painter and illustrator (d. 2020)
1932 – Derek Ibbotson, English runner (d. 2017)
1932 – John Murtha, American colonel and politician (d. 2010)
1933 – Harry Browne, American soldier and politician (d. 2006)
1933 – Christian Ferras, French violinist (d. 1982)
1933 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (d. 1970)
1936 – Vern Harper, Canadian tribal leader and activist (d. 2018)
1936 – Ken Loach, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1937 – Peter Fitzgerald, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1937 – Ted Nelson, American sociologist and philosopher
1937 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian fashion designer, television presenter and politician (d. 2009)
1940 – George Akerlof, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1940 – Bobby Bell, American football player
1940 – Chuck Rainey, American bassist
1941 – Nicholas C. Handy, English chemist and academic (d. 2012)
1942 – Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian politician, Vice President of Egypt, Nobel Prize laureate
1942 – Doğu Perinçek, Turkish lawyer and politician
1942 – Roger Steffens, American actor and producer
1943 – Newt Gingrich, American historian and politician, 58th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
1943 – Barry Manilow, American singer-songwriter and producer
1943 – Chantal Mouffe, Belgian theorist and author
1943 – Burt Rutan, American engineer and pilot
1944 – Randy Johnson, American football player (d. 2009)
1944 – Chris Spedding, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Tommy Franks, American general
1945 – Ken Livingstone, English politician, 1st Mayor of London
1945 – Eddy Merckx, Belgian cyclist and sportscaster
1945 – Art Bell, American broadcaster and author (d. 2018)
1946 – Peter Rosei, Austrian author, poet, and playwright
1947 – Christopher Allport, American actor (d. 2008)
1947 – Timothy Wright, American gospel singer, pastor (d. 2009)
1947 – Linda Chavez, American journalist and author
1947 – George S. Clinton, American composer and songwriter
1947 – Gregg Rolie, American rock singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1947 – Paul Young, English singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
1948 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball player and manager
1948 – Jacqueline Jones, American historian and academic
1948 – Aurelio López, Mexican baseball player and politician (d. 1992)
1948 – Karol Sikora, English physician and academic
1949 – Snakefinger, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1987)
1949 – John Craven, English economist and academic
1949 – Russell Smith, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
1950 – Lee Tamahori, New Zealand film director
1951 – Starhawk, American author and activist
1951 – John Garrett, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1951 – Joe Piscopo, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
1952 – Mike Milbury, American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1952 – Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, English educator and politician, Secretary of State for Education
1953 – Vernon Coaker, English educator and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
1953 – Juan Muñoz, Spanish sculptor and storyteller (d. 2001)
1954 – Mark Linn-Baker, American actor and director
1955 – Mati Laur, Estonian historian, author, and academic
1955 – Bob Sauvé, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1955 – Cem Hakko, Turkish fashion designer and businessman
1956 – Iain Milne, Scottish rugby player
1957 – Philip Chevron, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1957 – Martin Dillon, American tenor and educator (d. 2005)
1957 – Uģis Prauliņš, Latvian composer
1958 – Pierre Berbizier, French rugby player and coach
1958 – Jello Biafra, American singer-songwriter and producer
1958 – Bobby Farrelly, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1958 – Sam Hamad, Syrian-Canadian academic and politician
1958 – Jon Leibowitz, American lawyer and politician
1958 – Daniel McVicar, American actor
1959 – Carol Anderson, American author and historian
1959 – Lawrence Haddad, South African-English economist and academic
1959 – Nikos Stavropoulos, Greek basketball player and coach
1960 – Adrián Campos, Spanish race car driver
1960 – Thomas Haden Church, American actor
1961 – Kōichi Yamadera, Japanese actor and singer
1962 – Michael Monroe, Finnish singer-songwriter and saxophonist
1963 – Greg Kinnear, American actor, television presenter, and producer
1964 – Rinaldo Capello, Italian race car driver
1964 – Michael Gross, German swimmer
1964 – Steve Rhodes, English cricketer and coach
1965 – Dermontti Dawson, American football player and coach
1965 – Dan Jansen, American speed skater and sportscaster
1965 – Dara O’Kearney, Irish runner and poker player
1966 – Mohammed Ghazy Al-Akhras, Iraqi journalist and author
1966 – Tory Burch, American fashion designer and philanthropist
1966 – Ken Clark, American football player (d. 2013)
1966 – Diane Modahl, English runner
1966 – Jason Patric, American actor
1967 – Dorothea Röschmann, German soprano and actress
1967 – Eric Stefani, American keyboard player and composer
1968 – Steve Georgallis, Australian rugby league player and coach
1968 – Minoru Suzuki, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1969 – Paul Tergat, Kenyan runner
1969 – Geoff Toovey, Australian rugby league player and coach
1969 – Ilya Tsymbalar, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
1970 – Stéphane Fiset, Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Will Forte, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
1970 – Jason Hanson, American football player
1970 – Popeye Jones, American basketball player and coach
1970 – Michael Showalter, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1970 – Alan Dowson, English football manager and former professional player
1971 – Paulina Rubio, Mexican pop singer
1971 – Mildred Fox, Irish politician
1973 – Leander Paes, Indian tennis player
1974 – Evangelia Psarra, Greek archer
1975 – Joshua Leonard, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1975 – Juan Carlos Valerón, Spanish footballer
1975 – Phiyada Akkraseranee, Thai actress and model
1976 – Scott Adkins, English actor and martial artist
1976 – Sven Nys, Belgian cyclist
1977 – Tjaša Jezernik, Slovenian tennis player
1977 – Mark Tauscher, American football player and sportscaster
1978 – Isabelle Delobel, French ice dancer
1978 – Travis Roche, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Nick Rimando, American soccer player
1979 – Tyson Apostol, American television personality
1979 – Young Maylay, American rapper, producer, and voice actor
1980 – Elisa Rigaudo, Italian race walker
1980 – Jeph Jacques, American author and illustrator
1980 – Venus Williams, American tennis player
1981 – Kyle Boller, American football player
1981 – Shane Watson, Australian cricketer
1982 – Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, Brazilian footballer
1982 – Marek Svatoš, Slovak ice hockey player (d. 2016)
1982 – Stanislava Hrozenská, Slovak tennis player
1982 – Stefan Hodgetts, English racing driver
1982 – Arthur Darvill, English actor
1982 – Jodie Whittaker, English actress
1983 – Lee Ryan, English singer/actor
1983 – Vlasis Kazakis, Greek footballer
1984 – Michael Mathieu, Bahamian sprinter
1984 – Si Tianfeng, Chinese race walker
1985 – Özge Akın, Turkish sprinter
1985 – Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player
1985 – Rafael Sóbis, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Apoula Edel, Armenian footballer
1986 – Helen Glover, English rower
1987 – Kendrick Lamar, American rapper
1987 – Nozomi Tsuji, Japanese singer and actress
1988 – Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player
1988 – Shaun MacDonald, Welsh footballer
1988 – Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
1989 – Georgios Tofas, Cypriot footballer
1989 – Simone Battle, American singer and actress (d. 2014)
1990 – Jordan Henderson, English footballer
1990 – Josh Mansour, Australian rugby league player
1991 – Daniel Tupou, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
1994 – Amari Cooper, American football player
1995 – Clément Lenglet, French footballer

Deaths on June 17

656 – Uthman, caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate (b. 579)
676 – Adeodatus, pope of the Catholic Church
811 – Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, Japanese shōgun (b. 758)
850 – Tachibana no Kachiko, Japanese empress (b. 786)
900 – Fulk, French archbishop and chancellor
1025 – Bolesław I the Brave, Polish king (b. 967)
1091 – Dirk V, count of Holland (b. 1052)
1207 – Daoji, Chinese buddhist monk (b. 1130)
1219 – David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
1361 – Ingeborg of Norway, princess consort and regent of Sweden (b. 1301)
1400 – Jan of Jenštejn, archbishop of Prague (b. 1348)
1463 – Catherine of Portugal, Portuguese princess (b. 1436)
1501 – John I Albert, Polish king (b. 1459)
1565 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (b. 1536)
1631 – Mumtaz Mahal, Mughal princess (b. 1593)
1649 – Injo of Joseon, Korean king (b. 1595)
1674 – Jijabai, Dowager Queen, mother of Shivaji (b. 1598)
1694 – Philip Howard, English cardinal (b. 1629)
1696 – John III Sobieski, Polish king (b. 1629)
1719 – Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician (b. 1672)
1734 – Claude Louis Hector de Villars, French general and politician, French Secretary of State for War (b. 1653)
1740 – Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1687)
1762 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French poet and playwright (b. 1674)
1771 – Daskalogiannis, Greek rebel leader (b. 1722)
1775 – John Pitcairn, Scottish-English soldier (b. 1722)
1797 – Mohammad Khan Qajar, Persian tribal chief (b. 1742)
1813 – Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, Scottish-English admiral and politician (b. 1726)
1821 – Martín Miguel de Güemes, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1785)
1839 – Lord William Bentinck, English general and politician, 14th Governor-General of India (b. 1774)
1866 – Joseph Méry, French poet and author (b. 1798)
1889 – Lozen, Chiracaua Apache warrior woman (b. ~1840)
1898 – Edward Burne-Jones, English soldier and painter (b. 1833)
1904 – Nikolay Bobrikov, Russian soldier and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1839)
1936 – Julius Seljamaa, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
1939 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1893)
1939 – Eugen Weidmann, German criminal (b. 1908)
1940 – Arthur Harden, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
1941 – Johan Wagenaar, Dutch organist and composer (b. 1862)
1942 – Charles Fitzpatrick, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1853)
1952 – Jack Parsons, American chemist and engineer (b. 1914)
1954 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (b. 1920)
1956 – Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry, English businessman (b. 1878)
1956 – Paul Rostock, German surgeon and academic (b. 1892)
1956 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (b. 1926)
1957 – Dorothy Richardson, English journalist and author (b. 1873)
1957 – J. R. Williams, Canadian-American cartoonist (b. 1888)
1961 – Jeff Chandler, American actor (b. 1918)
1963 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician (b. 1882)
1968 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1901)
1974 – Refik Koraltan, Turkish lawyer and politician, 8th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1889)
1975 – James Phinney Baxter III, American historian and academic (b. 1893)
1979 – Hubert Ashton, English cricketer and politician (b. 1898)
1979 – Duffy Lewis, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
1981 – Richard O’Connor, Indian-English general (b. 1889)
1981 – Zerna Sharp, American author and educator (b. 1889)
1982 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (b. 1920)
1983 – Peter Mennin, American composer and educator (b. 1923)
1985 – John Boulting, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1913)
1986 – Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907)
1987 – Dick Howser, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1936)
1996 – Thomas Kuhn, American historian and philosopher (b. 1922)
1996 – Curt Swan, American illustrator (b. 1920)
1999 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (b. 1923)
2000 – Ismail Mahomed, South African lawyer and jurist, 17th Chief Justice of South Africa (b. 1931)
2001 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
2001 – Thomas Winning, Scottish cardinal (b. 1925)
2002 – Willie Davenport, American sprinter and hurdler (b. 1943)
2002 – Fritz Walter, German footballer (b. 1920)
2004 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1926)
2006 – Bussunda, Brazilian comedian (b. 1962)
2007 – Gianfranco Ferré, Italian fashion designer (b. 1944)
2007 – Serena Wilson, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1933)
2008 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (b. 1922)
2009 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-English sociologist and politician (b. 1929)
2009 – Darrell Powers, American sergeant (b. 1923)
2011 – Rex Mossop, Australian rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1928)
2012 – Stéphane Brosse, French mountaineer (b. 1971)
2012 – Patricia Brown, American baseball player (b. 1931)
2012 – Nathan Divinsky, Canadian mathematician and chess player (b. 1925)
2012 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (b. 1965)
2012 – Fauzia Wahab, Pakistani actress and politician (b. 1956)
2013 – Michael Baigent, New Zealand-English theorist and author (b. 1948)
2013 – Atiqul Haque Chowdhury, Bangladeshi playwright and producer (b. 1930)
2013 – Pierre F. Côté, Canadian lawyer and civil servant (b. 1927)
2013 – Bulbs Ehlers, American basketball player (b. 1923)
2013 – James Holshouser, American politician, 68th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1934)
2014 – Patsy Byrne, English actress (b. 1933)
2014 – Éric Dewailly, Canadian epidemiologist and academic (b. 1954)
2014 – Stanley Marsh 3, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1938)
2014 – Arnold S. Relman, American physician and academic (b. 1923)
2014 – Larry Zeidel, Canadian-American ice hockey player and sportscaster (b. 1928)
2015 – Ron Clarke, Australian runner and politician, Mayor of the Gold Coast (b. 1937)
2015 – John David Crow, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
2015 – Süleyman Demirel, Turkish engineer and politician, 9th President of Turkey (b. 1924)
2015 – Roberto M. Levingston, Argentinian general and politician, 36th President of Argentina (b. 1920)
2015 – Clementa C. Pinckney, American minister and politician (b. 1973)
2017 – Baldwin Lonsdale, president of Vanuatu (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances on June 17

Christian feast day:
- Albert Chmielowski
- Botolph (England and Scandinavia)
- Gondulphus of Berry
- Hervé
- Hypatius of Bithynia (Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches)
- Rainerius
- Samuel and Henrietta Barnett (Church of England)
- June 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Father’s Day (El Salvador, Guatemala)
Icelandic National Day, celebrates the independence of Iceland from Kingdom of Denmark in 1944.
Occupation of the Latvian Republic Day (Latvia)
Remembrance to East German uprising of 1953, public holiday in West Germany between 1954 and 1990 (today German Unity Day) is the public holiday day)
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (International)
Zemla Intifada Day (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

June 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

218 – Battle of Antioch: With the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus. He flees but is captured near Chalcedon and later executed in Cappadocia.
793 – Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of Norse activity in the British Isles.
1042 – Edward the Confessor becomes King of England – the country’s penultimate Anglo-Saxon king.
1191 – Richard I arrives in Acre, beginning his crusade.
1663 – Portuguese victory at the Battle of Ameixial ensures Portugal’s independence from Spain.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: American attackers are driven back at the Battle of Trois-Rivières.
1783 – Laki, a volcano in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine.
1789 – James Madison introduces twelve proposed amendments to the United States Constitution in Congress.
1794 – Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution’s new state religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being, with large organized festivals all across France.
1856 – A group of 194 Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the mutineers of HMS Bounty, arrives at Norfolk Island, commencing the Third Settlement of the Island.
1861 – American Civil War: Tennessee secedes from the Union.
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Cross Keys: Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson save the Army of Northern Virginia from a Union assault on the James Peninsula led by General George B. McClellan.
1867 – Coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Hungary following the Austro-Hungarian compromise (Ausgleich).
1887 – Herman Hollerith applies for US patent #395,781 for the ‘Art of Compiling Statistics’, which was his punched card calculator.
1906 – Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.
1912 – Carl Laemmle incorporates Universal Pictures.
1918 – A solar eclipse is observed at Baker City, Oregon by scientists and an artist hired by the United States Navy.
1928 – Second Northern Expedition: The National Revolutionary Army captures Peking, whose name is changed to Beijing (“Northern Capital”).
1929 – Margaret Bondfield is appointed Minister of Labour. She is the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
1940 – World War II: The completion of Operation Alphabet, the evacuation of Allied forces from Narvik at the end of the Norwegian Campaign.
1941 – World War II: The Allies commence the Syria–Lebanon Campaign against the possessions of Vichy France in the Levant.
1942 – World War II: The Japanese imperial submarines I-21 and I-24 shell the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle.
1949 – Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members.
1949 – George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is published.
1953 – An F5 tornado hits Beecher, Michigan, killing 116, injuring 844, and destroying 340 homes.
1953 – The United States Supreme Court rules in District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co. that restaurants in Washington, D.C., cannot refuse to serve black patrons.
1959 – USS Barbero and the United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
1966 – An F-104 Starfighter collides with XB-70 Valkyrie prototype no. 2, destroying both aircraft during a photo shoot near Edwards Air Force Base. Joseph A. Walker, a NASA test pilot, and Carl Cross, a United States Air Force test pilot, are both killed.
1966 – Topeka, Kansas, is devastated by a tornado that registers as an “F5” on the Fujita scale: The first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured, and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.
1966 – The National Football League and American Football League announced a merger effective in 1970.
1967 – Six-Day War: The USS Liberty incident occurs, killing 34 and wounding 171.
1972 – Vietnam War: Nine-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc is burned by napalm, an event captured by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut moments later while the young girl is seen running down a road, in what would become an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo.
1982 – Bluff Cove Air Attacks during the Falklands War: Fifty-six British servicemen are killed by an Argentine air attack on two landing ships, RFA Sir Galahad and RFA Sir Tristram.
1984 – Homosexuality is declared legal in the Australian state of New South Wales.
1987 – New Zealand’s Labour government establishes a national nuclear-free zone under the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987.
1992 – The first World Oceans Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1995 – Downed U.S. Air Force pilot Captain Scott O’Grady is rescued by U.S. Marines in Bosnia.
2001 – Mamoru Takuma kills eight and injures 15 in a mass stabbing at an elementary school in the Osaka Prefecture of Japan.
2004 – The first Venus Transit in well over a century takes place, the previous one being in 1882.
2007 – Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, is hit by the State’s worst storms and flooding in 30 years resulting in the death of nine people and the grounding of a trade ship, the MV Pasha Bulker.
2008 – At least 37 miners go missing after an explosion in a Ukrainian coal mine causes it to collapse.
2008 – At least seven people are killed and ten injured in a stabbing spree in Tokyo, Japan.
2009 – Two American journalists are found guilty of illegally entering North Korea and sentenced to 12 years of penal labour.
2014 – At least 28 people are killed in an attack at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan.

Births on June 8

862 – Emperor Xizong of Tang (d. 888)
1508 – Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer (d. 1586)
1552 – Gabriello Chiabrera, Italian poet and author (d. 1638)
1593 – George I Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania (d. 1648)
1625 – Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Italian-French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1712)
1671 – Tomaso Albinoni, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1751)
1717 – John Collins, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1795)
1724 – John Smeaton, English engineer, designed the Coldstream Bridge and Perth Bridge (d. 1794)
1745 – Caspar Wessel, Norwegian-Danish mathematician and cartographer (d. 1818)
1757 – Ercole Consalvi, Italian cardinal (d. 1824)
1788 – Charles A. Wickliffe, American politician, 14th Governor of Kentucky (d. 1869)
1810 – Robert Schumann, German composer and critic (d. 1856)
1829 – John Everett Millais, English painter and illustrator (d. 1896)
1831 – Thomas J. Higgins, Canadian-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1917)
1842 – John Q. A. Brackett, American lawyer and politician, 36th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1918)
1851 – Jacques-Arsène d’Arsonval, French physician and physicist (d. 1940)
1852 – Guido Banti, Italian physician and pathologist (d. 1925)
1854 – Douglas Cameron, Canadian politician, 8th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 1921)
1855 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (d. 1924)
1858 – Charlotte Scott, English mathematician (d. 1931)
1859 – Smith Wigglesworth, English evangelist (d. 1947)
1860 – Alicia Boole Stott, Irish-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1940)
1867 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater (d. 1959)
1868 – Robert Robinson Taylor, American architect (d. 1942)
1872 – Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter and illustrator (d. 1949)
1875 – Ernst Enno, Estonian poet and author (d. 1934)
1876 – Alexandre Tuffère, Greek-French triple jumper (d. 1958)
1885 – Karl Genzken, German physician (d. 1957)
1891 – William Funnell, Australian public servant (d. 1962)
1893 – Ernst Marcus, German zoologist (d. 1968)
1893 – Gaby Morlay, French actress (d. 1964)
1894 – Erwin Schulhoff, Czech composer and pianist (d. 1942)
1895 – Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1978)
1897 – John G. Bennett, English mathematician and technologist (d. 1974)
1899 – Eugène Lapierre, Canadian organist, composer and arts administrator (d. 1970)
1899 – Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (d. 1945)
1900 – Lena Baker, African-American maid executed for capital murder, later pardoned posthumously (d. 1945)
1903 – Ralph Yarborough, American colonel and politician (d. 1996)
1903 – Marguerite Yourcenar, Belgian-French author and poet (d. 1987)
1910 – C. C. Beck, American illustrator (d. 1989)
1910 – John W. Campbell, American journalist and author (d. 1971)
1910 – Fernand Fonssagrives, French-American photographer, sculptor, and painter (d. 2003)
1911 – Edmundo Rivero, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 1986)
1912 – Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, British abstract painter (d. 2004)
1912 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
1912 – Harry Holtzman, American painter (d. 1987)
1915 – Kayyar Kinhanna Rai, Indian journalist, author, and poet (d. 2015)
1916 – Francis Crick, English biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1916 – Luigi Comencini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1916 – Richard Pousette-Dart, American painter and educator (d. 1992)
1917 – Byron White, American football player and judge (d. 2002)
1918 – George Edward Hughes, Irish-New Zealand philosopher and logician (d. 1994)
1918 – Robert Preston, American captain, actor, and singer (d. 1987)
1918 – John D. Roberts, American chemist and academic (d. 2016)
1918 – John H. Ross, American captain and pilot (d. 2013)
1919 – John R. Deane, Jr., American general (d. 2013)
1920 – Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and playwright (d. 1995)
1921 – Gordon McLendon, American broadcaster and businessman (d. 1986)
1921 – Olga Nardone, American actress (d. 2010)
1921 – LeRoy Neiman, American soldier and painter (d. 2012)
1921 – Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress and singer (d. 1993)
1921 – Suharto, Indonesian soldier and politician, 2nd President of Indonesia (d. 2008)
1924 – Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2013)
1924 – Kenneth Waltz, American political scientist and academic (d. 2013)
1925 – Barbara Bush, American wife of George H. W. Bush, 41st First Lady of the United States (d. 2018)
1927 – Jerry Stiller, American actor, comedian and producer (d. 2020)
1929 – Nada Inada, Japanese psychiatrist and author (d. 2013)
1930 – Robert Aumann, German-American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate
1930 – Marcel Léger, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1993)
1931 – James Goldstone, American director and screenwriter (d. 1999)
1931 – Dana Wynter, British actress (d. 2011)
1932 – Ray Illingworth, English cricketer and sportscaster
1932 – Ian Kirkwood, Lord Kirkwood, Scottish lawyer and judge (d. 2017)
1933 – Rommie Loudd, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
1933 – Joan Rivers, American comedian, actress, and television host (d. 2014)
1933 – Robert Stevens, English lawyer and academic
1934 – Millicent Martin, English actress and singer
1935 – Molade Okoya-Thomas, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2015)
1936 – James Darren, American actor
1936 – Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
1937 – Gillian Clarke, Welsh poet and playwright
1938 – Angelo Amato, Italian cardinal
1939 – Herb Adderley, American football player
1940 – Nancy Sinatra, American singer and actress
1941 – Robert Bradford, Northern Irish politician and activist (d. 1981)
1941 – George Pell, Australian cardinal
1942 – Nikos Konstantopoulos, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior
1942 – Doug Mountjoy, Welsh snooker player
1943 – Colin Baker, English actor
1943 – William Calley, American lieutenant
1943 – Willie Davenport, American colonel and hurdler (d. 2002)
1943 – Peter Eggert, German footballer and manager
1943 – Pierre-André Fournier, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 2015)
1944 – Mark Belanger, American baseball player (d. 1998)
1944 – Marc Ouellet, Canadian cardinal
1944 – Boz Scaggs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Steven Fromholz, American singer-songwriter, producer, and poet (d. 2014)
1945 – Derek Underwood, English cricketer
1946 – Graham Henry, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1947 – Annie Haslam, English singer-songwriter and painter
1947 – Sara Paretsky, American author
1947 – Eric F. Wieschaus, American biologist, geneticist, and academic Nobel Prize laureate
1949 – Emanuel Ax, Polish-American pianist and educator
1949 – Hildegard Falck, German runner
1950 – Kathy Baker, American actress
1950 – Sônia Braga, Brazilian actress and producer
1951 – Tony Rice, American guitarist and songwriter
1951 – Bonnie Tyler, Welsh singer-songwriter
1953 – Billy Hayes, English union leader
1953 – Sandy Nairne, English historian and curator
1953 – Ivo Sanader, Croatian historian and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Croatia
1953 – Olav Stedje, Norwegian singer-songwriter
1954 – Greg Ginn, American punk rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (Black Flag)
1954 – Kiril of Varna, Bulgarian metropolitan (d. 2013)
1954 – Sergei Storchak, Ukrainian-Russian politician
1955 – Tim Berners-Lee, English computer scientist, best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web
1955 – José Antonio Camacho, Spanish footballer and manager
1955 – Griffin Dunne, American actor, director, and producer
1956 – Udo Bullmann, German politician
1956 – Jonathan Potter, English psychologist, sociolinguist, and academic
1957 – Scott Adams, American author and illustrator
1957 – Don Robinson, American baseball player and politician
1957 – Sonja Vectomov, Czech/Finnish sculptor
1958 – Louise Richardson, Irish political scientist and academic
1958 – Keenen Ivory Wayans, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1959 – Mohsen Kadivar, Iranian philosopher
1960 – Mick Hucknall, English singer-songwriter
1960 – Terje Gewelt, Norwegian bassist
1960 – Thomas Steen, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
1961 – Mary Bonauto, American lawyer and gay rights activist
1962 – John Gibbons, American baseball player and manager
1962 – Andreas Keim, German footballer
1962 – Nick Rhodes, English keyboard player and producer
1963 – Karen Kingsbury, American journalist and author
1963 – Antoaneta Todorova, Bulgarian javelin thrower
1964 – Butch Reynolds, American runner and coach
1965 – Kevin Farley, American screenwriter
1965 – Rob Pilatus, German model, dancer and singer (Milli Vanilli) (d. 1998)
1966 – Julianna Margulies, American actress
1966 – Doris Pearson, English singer-songwriter and choreographer
1967 – Dan Futterman, American actor, screenwriter and producer
1967 – Russell E. Morris, Professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of St Andrews
1968 – Rob Ray, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1969 – David Barnhill, Australian rugby league player and coach
1969 – J. P. Manoux, American actor
1969 – Marcos Siega, American director and producer
1970 – Gabrielle Giffords, American businesswoman, politician and activist
1970 – Kwame Kilpatrick, American educator and politician, 68th Mayor of Detroit
1970 – Steve Renouf, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1970 – Troy Vincent, American football player
1971 – Mark Feuerstein, American actor, director, and producer
1972 – Christian Mayrleb, Austrian footballer
1973 – Lexa Doig, Canadian model and actress
1973 – Bryant Reeves, American basketball player
1974 – Pål Arne Fagernes, Norwegian javelin thrower (d. 2003)
1974 – Lauren Burns, Australian taekwondo practitioner
1974 – Alma Lepina, Latvian figure skater
1975 – Emm Gryner, Canadian singer-songwriter
1975 – Bryan McCabe, Canadian-American ice hockey player
1975 – Mark Ricciuto, Australian footballer and sportscaster
1975 – Shilpa Shetty, Indian actress and producer
1976 – Eion Bailey, American actor
1976 – Kenji Johjima, Japanese baseball player
1976 – Catherine McKinnell, English lawyer and politician
1977 – Kanye West, American rapper, producer, director, and fashion designer
1978 – Eun Ji-won, South Korean rapper, dancer, and producer
1978 – Maria Menounos, American television journalist
1979 – Alexei Kozlov, Estonian figure skater
1979 – Pete Orr, Canadian-American baseball player
1979 – Adine Wilson, New Zealand netball player
1979 – İpek Şenoğlu, Turkish tennis player
1980 – Gustavo Manduca, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Jamie Spencer, Irish jockey
1981 – Alex Band, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1981 – Rachel Held Evans, American Christian author
1981 – Matteo Meneghello, Italian race car driver
1981 – Sara Watkins, American singer-songwriter and fiddler
1982 – Matteo Barbini, Italian rugby player
1982 – Michael Cammalleri, Canadian ice hockey player
1982 – Dickson Etuhu, Nigerian footballer
1982 – Irina Lăzăreanu, Romanian-Canadian model and singer
1982 – Nadia Petrova, Russian tennis player
1983 – Gaines Adams, American football player (d. 2010)
1983 – Kim Clijsters, Belgian tennis player
1983 – Pantelis Kapetanos, Greek footballer
1983 – Coby Karl, American basketball player
1984 – Javier Mascherano, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Alexandre Despatie, Canadian diver
1985 – Rosanna Pansino, American actress, writer and TV personality
1986 – Patrick Kaleta, American ice hockey player
1986 – Andrej Sekera, Slovak ice hockey player
1987 – Coralie Balmy, French swimmer
1987 – Issiar Dia, Senegalese footballer
1989 – Timea Bacsinszky, Swiss tennis player
1989 – Mitchell Schwartz, American football player
1990 – Todd Barclay, New Zealand politician
1990 – Mickey Bushell, English wheelchair racer
1992 – Sebá, Brazilian footballer
1996 – Doğanay Kılıç, Turkish footballer
1997 – Jeļena Ostapenko, Latvian tennis player

Deaths on June 8

632 – Muhammad, the central figure of Islam, widely regarded as its founder (b. 570/571)
696 – Chlodulf, bishop of Metz (or 697)
951 – Zhao Ying, Chinese chancellor (b. 885)
1042 – Harthacnut, English-Danish king (b. 1018)
1154 – William of York, English archbishop and saint
1290 – Beatrice Portinari, object of Dante Alighieri’s adoration (b. 1266)
1376 – Edward, the Black Prince, English son of Edward III of England (b. 1330)
1383 – Thomas de Ros, 4th Baron de Ros, English politician (b. 1338)
1384 – Kan’ami, Japanese actor and playwright (b. 1333)
1405 – Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York (b. c.1350)
1405 – Thomas de Mowbray, 4th Earl of Norfolk (b. 1385)
1476 – George Neville, English archbishop and academic (b. 1432)
1492 – Elizabeth Woodville, Queen consort of England (b. 1437)
1501 – George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly, Earl of Huntly and Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1440)
1505 – Hongzhi Emperor of China (b. 1470)
1600 – Edward Fortunatus, German nobleman (b. 1565)
1611 – Jean Bertaut, French bishop and poet (b. 1552)
1612 – Hans Leo Hassler, German organist and composer (b. 1562)
1621 – Anne de Xainctonge, French saint, founded the Society of the Sisters of Saint Ursula of the Blessed Virgin (b. 1567)
1628 – Rudolph Goclenius, German lexicographer and philosopher (b. 1547)
1651 – Tokugawa Iemitsu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1604)
1714 – Sophia of Hanover (b. 1630)
1716 – Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, German son of Landgravine Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt (b. 1658)
1727 – August Hermann Francke, German-Lutheran pietist, philanthropist, and scholar (b. 1663)
1768 – Johann Joachim Winckelmann, German archaeologist and scholar (b. 1717)
1771 – George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1716)
1795 – Louis XVII of France (b. 1785)
1809 – Thomas Paine, English-American theorist and author (b. 1737)
1831 – Sarah Siddons, Welsh actress (b. 1755)
1835 – Gian Domenico Romagnosi, Italian economist and jurist (b. 1761)
1845 – Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (b. 1767)
1846 – Rodolphe Töpffer, Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist (b. 1799)
1857 – Douglas William Jerrold, English journalist and playwright (b. 1803)
1874 – Cochise, American tribal chief (b. 1805)
1876 – George Sand, French author and playwright (b. 1804)
1885 – Ignace Bourget, Canadian bishop (b. 1799)
1889 – Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (b. 1844)
1899 – Mary of the Divine Heart, German nun and saint (b. 1863)
1924 – Andrew Irvine, English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1902)
1924 – George Mallory, English lieutenant and mountaineer (b. 1886)
1929 – Bliss Carman, Canadian-American poet and playwright (b. 1861)
1945 – Karl Hanke, Polish-German soldier and politician (b. 1903)
1951 – Eugène Fiset, Canadian physician, general, and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1874)
1951 – Oswald Pohl, German SS officer (b. 1892)
1956 – Marie Laurencin, French painter and sculptor (b. 1883)
1959 – Leslie Johnson, English race car driver (b. 1912)
1965 – Edmondo Rossoni, Italian politician (b. 1884)
1966 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer and academic (b. 1890)
1968 – Elizabeth Enright, American author and illustrator (b. 1909)
1968 – Ludovico Scarfiotti, Italian race car driver (b. 1933)
1969 – Arunachalam Mahadeva, Sri Lankan politician and diplomat (b. 1885)
1969 – Robert Taylor, American actor and singer (b. 1911)
1970 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist and academic (b. 1908)
1971 – J.I. Rodale, American author and playwright (b. 1898)
1976 – Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe, Norwegian zoologist and psychologist (b. 1894)
1982 – Satchel Paige, American baseball player and coach (b. 1906)
1984 – Gordon Jacob, English composer and academic (b. 1895)
1987 – Alexander Iolas, Egyptian-American art collector (b. 1907)
1997 – George Turner, Australian author and critic (b. 1916)
1997 – Karen Wetterhahn, American chemist and academic (b. 1948)
1998 – Sani Abacha, Nigerian general and politician, 10th President of Nigeria (b. 1943)
1998 – Maria Reiche, German mathematician and archaeologist (b. 1903)
2000 – Jeff MacNelly, American cartoonist (b. 1948)
2001 – Alex de Renzy, American director and producer (b. 1935)
2004 – Charles Hyder, American astrophysicist and academic (b. 1930)
2004 – Mack Jones, American baseball player (b. 1938)
2006 – Jaxon, American illustrator and publisher, co-founded Rip Off Press (b. 1941)
2006 – Matta El Meskeen, Egyptian monk, theologian, and author (b. 1919)
2008 – Šaban Bajramović, Serbian singer-songwriter (b. 1936)
2009 – Omar Bongo, Gabonese captain and politician, President of Gabon (b. 1935)
2010 – Crispian St. Peters, English singer-songwriter (b. 1939)
2012 – Pete Brennan, American basketball player (b. 1936)
2012 – Charles E. M. Pearce, New Zealand-Australian mathematician and academic (b. 1940)
2012 – Ghassan Tueni, Lebanese journalist, academic, and politician (b. 1926)
2013 – Paul Cellucci, American soldier and politician, 69th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1948)
2013 – Yoram Kaniuk, Israeli painter, journalist, and critic (b. 1930)
2013 – Taufiq Kiemas, Indonesian politician, 5th First Spouse of Indonesia (b. 1942)
2014 – Alexander Imich, Polish-American chemist, parapsychologist, and academic (b. 1903)
2014 – Yoshihito, Prince Katsura of Japan (b. 1948)
2015 – Chea Sim, Cambodian commander and politician (b. 1932)
2017 – Sam Panopoulos, Greek cook (b. 1934)

Holidays and observances on June 8

Christian feast day:
- Blessed Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan
- Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (Droste zu Vischering)
- Chlodulf of Metz
- Jacques Berthieu, S.J.
- Jadwiga (Hedwig) of Poland
- Medard
- Melania the Elder
- Roland Allen (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Thomas Ken (Church of England)
- William of York
- June 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Queen’s Birthday can fall, while June 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in June. (Australia, except Western Australia and Queensland)
Bounty Day (Norfolk Island)
Caribbean American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Engineer’s Day (Peru)
Pranav Sivakumar Day (Illinois, United States)
Primož Trubar Day (Slovenia)
World Brain Tumor Day
World Oceans Day

June 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 6- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

913 – The 8-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, Constantine VII, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire, under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine’s uncle Alexander III on his deathbed.
1513 – Italian Wars: Battle of Novara. Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis II de la Trémoille, forcing the French to abandon Milan. Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.
1523 – Gustav Vasa, the Swedish regent, is elected King of Sweden, marking a symbolic end to the Kalmar Union. This is the Swedish national day.
1586 – Francis Drake’s forces raid St. Augustine in Spanish Florida.
1674 – Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire, is crowned.
1749 – The Conspiracy of the Slaves in Malta is discovered.
1762 – Seven Years’ War: British forces begin a siege of Havana, Cuba, and temporarily capture the city in the Battle of Havana.
1808 – Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, is crowned King of Spain.
1809 – Sweden promulgates a new Constitution, which restores political power to the Riksdag of the Estates after 20 years of enlightened absolutism. At the same time, Charles XIII is elected to succeed Gustav IV Adolf as King of Sweden.
1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Stoney Creek: A British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force twice its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
1822 – Alexis St. Martin is accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont’s studies on digestion.
1832 – The June Rebellion in Paris is put down by the National Guard.
1844 – The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.
1844 – The Glaciarium, the world’s first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens.
1857 – Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden–Norway.
1859 – Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales (Queensland Day).
1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Memphis: Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederates.
1882 – The Shewan forces of Menelik II of Ethiopia defeat the Gojjame army in the Battle of Embabo. The Shewans capture Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and their victory leads to a Shewan hegemony over the territories south of the Abay River.
1889 – The Great Seattle Fire destroys all of downtown Seattle.
1892 – The Chicago “L” elevated rail system begins operation.
1894 – Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners’ strike.
1909 – French troops capture Abéché (in modern-day Chad) and install a puppet sultan in the Ouaddai Empire.
1912 – The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
1916 – The death of Yuan Shikai marks the beginning of China’s Warlord Era.
1918 – World War I: Battle of Belleau Wood: The U.S. Marine Corps suffers its worst single day’s casualties while attempting to recapture the wood at Château-Thierry.
1919 – After eight days of existence, the Republic of Prekmurje is conquered by the Hungarian Soviet Republic.
1921 – Southwark Bridge in London is opened to traffic by King George V and Queen Mary.
1932 – The Revenue Act of 1932 is enacted, creating the first gas tax in the United States, at a rate of 1 cent per US gallon (¹⁄₄¢/L) sold.
1933 – The first drive-in theater opens in Camden, New Jersey, United States.
1934 – New Deal: The U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
1939 – Judge Joseph Force Crater, known as the “Missingest Man in New York”, is declared legally dead.
1942 – World War II: Battle of Midway. U.S. Navy dive bombers sink the Japanese cruiser Mikuma and four Japanese carriers.
1944 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Normandy—codenamed Operation Overlord—begins with the execution of Operation Neptune (commonly referred to as D-Day), the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The Allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
1946 – The Basketball Association of America is founded in New York City; the BAA was the precursor to the modern National Basketball Association.
1954 – The grand opening of the sculpture of Yuriy Dolgorukiy took place in Moscow. This statue is one of the main monuments of Moscow.
1964 – Under a temporary order, the rocket launches at Cuxhaven, Germany are terminated. They never resume.
1971 – Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 is launched.
1971 – A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a United States Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet fighter near Duarte, California, claims 50 lives.
1971 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Khanh between Australian and Vietnamese communist forces begins.
1974 – A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.
1981 – Bihar train disaster: A passenger train travelling between Mansi and Saharsa, India, jumps the tracks at a bridge crossing the Bagmati River. The government places the official death toll at 268 plus another 300 missing; however, it is generally believed that the death toll is closer to 1,000.
1982 – The Lebanon War begins. Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
1985 – The grave of “Wolfgang Gerhard” is opened in Embu, Brazil; the exhumed remains are later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz’s “Angel of Death”; Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February 1979.
1993 – Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat wins the first presidential election in Mongolia.
1994 – China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 crashes near Xi’an, China, killing all 160 people on board.
2002 – Eastern Mediterranean event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
2004 – Tamil is established as a “classical language” by the President of India, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, in a joint sitting of the two houses of the Indian Parliament.
2005 – In Gonzales v. Raich, the United States Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning cannabis, including medical marijuana.

Births on June 6

pre-19th century

1236 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (d. 1283)
1243 – Alix of Brittany, Dame de Pontarcy, Breton noble (d. 1288)
1296 – Władysław of Legnica (d. 1352)
1436 – Regiomontanus, German mathematician, astronomer, and bishop (d. 1476)
1519 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (d. 1603)
1539 – Catherine Vasa, Regent of East Frisia (d. 1610)
1553 – Bernardino Baldi, Italian mathematician and author (d. 1617)
1556 – Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English politician and diplomat (d. 1625)
1580 – Godefroy Wendelin, Belgian astronomer and author (d. 1667)
1584 – Yuan Chonghuan, politician, military general and writer (d. 1630)
1599 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter and educator (d. 1660)
1606 – Pierre Corneille, French playwright and producer (d. 1684)
1622 – Claude-Jean Allouez, French-American missionary and explorer (d. 1689)
1646 – Hortense Mancini, favourite Italian niece of Cardinal Mazarin (d. 1699)
1661 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer and educator (d. 1756)
1699 – Johann Georg Estor, German historian and theorist (d. 1773)
1714 – Joseph I of Portugal (d. 1777)
1735 – Anton Schweitzer, German composer (d. 1787)
1755 – Nathan Hale, American soldier (d. 1776)
1756 – John Trumbull, American soldier and painter (d. 1843)
1772 – Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily (d. 1807)
1799 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian author and poet (d. 1837)

19th century

1807 – Thiệu Trị, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1847)
1810 – Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin, German philologist and scholar (d. 1856)
1829 – Honinbo Shusaku, Japanese Go player (d. 1862)
1841 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher (d. 1910)
1844 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter and academic (d. 1905)
1850 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
1857 – Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1918)
1862 – Henry Newbolt, English historian, author, and poet (d. 1938)
1867 – David T. Abercrombie, American surveyor and businessman, founded Abercrombie & Fitch (d. 1931)
1868 – Robert Falcon Scott, English sailor and explorer (d. 1912)
1872 – Alix of Hesse, German princess and Russian empress (d.1918)
1875 – Thomas Mann, German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
1878 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (d. 1956)
1884 – Jock Hutchison, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1977)
1890 – Ted Lewis, American singer, clarinet player, and bandleader (d. 1971)
1891 – Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Indian author and academic (d. 1986)
1891 – Erich Marcks, German general (d. 1944)
1896 – Henry Allingham, English World War I soldier and supercentenarian (d. 2009).
1896 – Italo Balbo, Italian air marshal and politician (d. 1940)
1898 – Walter Abel, American actor (d. 1987)
1898 – Jacobus Johannes Fouché, South African politician, 2nd State President of South Africa (d. 1980)
1898 – Ninette de Valois, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (d. 2001)
1900 – Manfred Sakel, Ukrainian-American psychiatrist and physician (d. 1957)

1901–1930

1901 – Jan Struther, English author and hymnwriter (d. 1953)
1901 – Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia (d. 1970)
1902 – Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1947)
1903 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (d. 1978)
1903 – Bakht Singh, Indian evangelist, well-known bible teacher and preacher (d. 2000)
1906 – Max August Zorn, German mathematician and academic (d. 1993)
1907 – Bill Dickey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1993)
1907 – Robin Humphreys, British scholar of Latin America (d. 1999)
1908 – Giovanni Bracco, Italian race car driver (d. 1968)
1909 – Isaiah Berlin, Latvian-English historian and philosopher (d. 1997)
1913 – Carlo L. Golino, Italian-American author, critic, and academic (d. 1991)
1915 – Vincent Persichetti, American pianist and composer (d. 1987)
1916 – Hamani Diori, Nigerien academic and politician, 1st President of Niger (d. 1989)
1917 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (d. 2015)
1918 – Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
1919 – Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, English army officer and politician, 6th Secretary General of NATO (d. 2018)
1923 – V. C. Andrews, American author, illustrator, and painter (d. 1986)
1923 – Jean Pouliot, Canadian broadcaster (d. 2004)
1925 – Maxine Kumin, American poet and author (d. 2014)
1925 – Frank Chee Willeto, American soldier and politician, 4th Vice President of the Navajo Nation (d. 2013)
1926 – Torsten Andersson, Swedish painter and illustrator (d. 2009)
1926 – Erdal İnönü, Turkish physicist and politician, Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2007)
1926 – Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
1929 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (d. 2005)
1930 – Frank Tyson, English-Australian cricketer, coach and journalist (d. 2015)

1931–1945

Tommie Smith, born 6 June 1944, at the 1968 Olympic medal ceremony where he and John Carlos (behind) protested against racism.

1932 – David Scott, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
1932 – Billie Whitelaw, English actress (d. 2014)
1933 – Eli Broad, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded KB Home
1933 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
1934 – Albert II of Belgium
1935 – Jon Henricks, Australian swimmer; winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1956.
1936 – Mompati Merafhe, Botswana general and politician, Vice-President of Botswana (d. 2015)
1936 – D. Ramanaidu, Indian actor, director, and producer, founded Suresh Productions (d. 2015)
1936 – Levi Stubbs, American singer (d. 2008)
1938 – Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza
1938 – Ryuchi Matsuda, Japanese martial artist and author (d. 2013)
1939 – Louis Andriessen, Dutch pianist and composer
1939 – Gary U.S. Bonds, American singer-songwriter
1939 – Eddie Giacomin, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
1940 – Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya, Indian-English engineer and academic (d. 2019)
1940 – Willie John McBride, Northern Irish rugby player, coach, and manager
1941 – Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-American journalist and author (d. 2012)
1943 – José de Jesús Gudiño Pelayo, Mexican lawyer and jurist (d. 2010)
1943 – Richard Smalley, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
1943 – Joe Stampley, American country music singer-songwriter
1944 – Monty Alexander, Jamaican jazz pianist.
1944 – Phillip Allen Sharp, American molecular biologist; 1993 Nobel Prize laureate (Physiology or Medicine).
1944 – Tommie Smith, American sprinter and football player; winner of 1968 Olympic 200m gold medal in a world record time.

1946–2000

1946 – Tony Levin, American bass player and songwriter.^[
1947 – David Blunkett, British Labour politician; Home Secretary 2001–2004.
1947 – Robert Englund, American actor; best known for Nightmare on Elm Street.
1947 – Ada Kok, Dutch butterfly stroke swimmer; winner of three Olympic medals including gold in 1968.
1948 – Arlene Harris, American entrepreneur, inventor, investor and policy advocate.
1949 – Holly Near, American folk singer and songwriter.
1954 – Harvey Fierstein, American actor and playwright; twice a winner at the Tony Awards.
1954 – Wladyslaw Zmuda, Polish footballer and manager; 91 caps for Poland and voted Best Young Player at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
1955 – Sam Simon, American director, producer and screenwriter; co-developer of The Simpsons (d. 2015).
1956 – Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player; winner of eleven Grand Slam singles titles including five consecutive Wimbledons.
1972 – Natalie Morales, American television journalist and NBC News anchor.

Deaths

184 – Qiao Xuan, Chinese official (b. c. 110).
863 – Abu Musa Utamish, vizier to the Abbasid Caliphate.
913 – Alexander III, Byzantine emperor (b. 870).
1097 – Agnes of Aquitaine, Queen of Aragon and Navarre
1134 – Norbert of Xanten, German bishop and saint (b. 1060)
1217 – Henry I, King of Castile and Toledo (b. 1204)
1237 – John of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon
1251 – William III of Dampierre, Count of Flanders
1252 – Robert Passelewe, Bishop of Chichester
1333 – William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster (b. 1312)
1393 – Emperor Go-En’yū of Japan (b. 1359)
1480 – Vecchietta, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1412)
1548 – João de Castro, Portuguese soldier and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1500)
1561 – Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Italian painter (b. 1483)
1583 – Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese daimyō (b. 1556)
1659 – Nadira Banu Begum, Mughal princess (b. 1618)
1661 – Martino Martini, Italian Jesuit missionary (b. 1614)
1730 – Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, French general (b. 1646)
1740 – Alexander Spotswood, Moroccan-American colonial and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (b. 1676)
1784 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (b. 1741)
1799 – Patrick Henry, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Virginia (b. 1736)
1813 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Hôtel de Mademoiselle de Condé (b. 1739)
1813 – Antonio Cachia, Maltese architect, engineer and archaeologist (b. 1739)
1832 – Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (b. 1748)
1840 – Marcellin Champagnat, French priest and saint, founded the Marist Brothers (b. 1789)
1843 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German poet and author (b. 1770)
1861 – Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Italian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1810)
1862 – Turner Ashby, American colonel (b. 1828)
1865 – William Quantrill, American captain (b. 1837)
1878 – Robert Stirling, Scottish minister and engineer, invented the stirling engine (b. 1790)
1881 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1820)
1883 – Ciprian Porumbescu, Romanian composer and poet (b. 1853)
1891 – John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1815)
1916 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, 2nd President of the Republic of China (b. 1859)
1922 – Lillian Russell, American actress and singer (b. 1860)
1924 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (b. 1847)
1934 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and author (b. 1864)
1935 – Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, English field marshal and politician, 12th Governor-General of Canada (b. 1862)
1941 – Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and businessman, founded Chevrolet and Frontenac Motor Corporation (b. 1878)
1943 – Pandelis Pouliopoulos, Greek politician (b. 1900)
1946 – Gerhart Hauptmann, German novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
1947 – James Agate, English author and critic (b. 1877)
1948 – Louis Lumière, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1864)
1951 – Olive Tell, American actress (b. 1894)
1954 – Fritz Kasparek, Austrian mountaineer and author (b. 1910)
1955 – Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter and educator (b. 1875)
1961 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (b. 1875)
1962 – Yves Klein, French painter (b. 1928)
1962 – Tom Phillis, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1934)
1963 – William Baziotes, American painter and academic (b. 1912)
1968 – Randolph Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1911)
1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 64th United States Attorney General (b. 1925)
1968 – Kâzım Özalp, Turkish general and politician, 3rd Turkish Minister of National Defence (b. 1880)
1975 – Larry Blyden, American actor (b. 1925)
1976 – J. Paul Getty, American businessman, founded the Getty Oil Company (b. 1892)
1979 – Jack Haley, American actor (b. 1897)
1980 – Ruth Aarons, American table tennis player and manager (b. 1918)
1982 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and academic (b. 1905)
1983 – Hans Leip, German author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
1984 – A. Bertram Chandler, English-Australian soldier and author (b. 1912)
1991 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (b. 1927)
1994 – Barry Sullivan, American actor (b. 1912)
1996 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
1997 – Magda Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and socialite (b. 1915)
2000 – Frédéric Dard, French author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
2001 – Suzanne Schiffman, French screenwriter and director (b. 1939)
2003 – Ken Grimwood, American author (b. 1944)
2003 – Dave Rowberry, English singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1940)
2005 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (b. 1931)
2005 – Dana Elcar, American actor (b. 1927)
2006 – Arnold Newman, American photographer and educator (b. 1918)
2006 – Billy Preston, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (b. 1946)
2006 – Camille Sandorfy, Hungarian-Canadian chemist and academic (b. 1920)
2009 – Jean Dausset, French-Spanish immunologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
2009 – Jim Owens, American football player and coach (b. 1927)
2010 – Marvin Isley, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1953)
2012 – Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1960)
2012 – Manuel Preciado Rebolledo, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1957)
2012 – Mykola Volosyanko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1972)
2013 – Jerome Karle, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
2013 – Eugen Merzbacher, German-American physicist and academic (b. 1921)
2013 – Tom Sharpe, English-Spanish author and academic (b. 1928)
2013 – Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (b. 1921)
2014 – Ado Bayero, Nigerian politician and diplomat (b. 1930)
2014 – Eric Hill, English-American author and illustrator (b. 1927)
2014 – Lorna Wing, English psychiatrist and physician (b. 1928)
2015 – Pierre Brice, French actor (b. 1929)
2015 – Vincent Bugliosi, American lawyer and author (b. 1934)
2015 – Ronnie Gilbert, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
2015 – Ludvík Vaculík, Czech journalist and author (b. 1926)
2016 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player (b. 1931)
2016 – Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1926)
2018 – Ralph Santolla, American guitarist (b. 1969)

Holidays and observances on June 6

Christian feast day:
- Claude the Thaumaturge
- Gottschalk
- Ini Kopuria (Church of England, Episcopal Church, Anglican Church of Melanesia)
- Marcellin Champagnat
- Norbert of Xanten
- June 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Engineer’s Day (Taiwan)
Korean Children’s Union Foundation Day (North Korea)
Memorial Day (South Korea)
National Day, marks the end of the Danish-ruled Kalmar Union. (Sweden)
National Huntington’s Disease Awareness Day (United States)
Normandy landings of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (D-Day), a.k.a. Operation Neptune, part of Operation Overlord (1944)
Queensland Day (Queensland)
Teachers’ Day (Bolivia)
UN Russian Language Day (United Nations)

June 6- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire takes place. The Sasanids defeat the Armenians militarily but guarantee them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
946 – King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine’s Mass Day.
961 – King Otto I elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
1135 – Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 23,000.
1328 – William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena, and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
1573 – The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
1637 – Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots.
1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
1736 – The Battle of Ackia was fought near the present site of Tupelo, Mississippi. British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia.
1770 – The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated the end of fighting in the American Revolution.
1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
1821 – Establishment of the Peloponnesian Senate by the Greek rebels.
1822 – One hundred sixteen people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway’s history.
1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.
1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
1868 – The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote.
1869 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
1897 – Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
1897 – The original manuscript of William Bradford’s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
1900 – Thousand Days’ War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
1908 – The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
1917 – Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon.
1918 – The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
1923 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held and has since been run annually in June.
1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
1937 – Walter Reuther and members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Complex complex in Dearborn, Michigan, during the Battle of the Overpass.
1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
1940 – World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
1940 – World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
1966 – British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.
1967 – The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
1968 – H-dagurinn in Iceland: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight
1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
1970 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army slaughters at least 71 Hindus in Burunga, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
1981 – Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
1983 – The 7.8 M_w  Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.
1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes in the Phu Toei National Park in Thailand, killing all 223 people on board.
1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
1998 – The first “National Sorry Day” was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
2002 – The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
2004 – United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
2008 – Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.

Births on May 26

1264 – Koreyasu, Japanese prince and shōgun (d. 1326)
1478 – Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1534)
1562 – James III, margrave of Baden-Hachberg (d. 1590)
1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1603)
1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, Dutch-French painter (d. 1674)
1623 – William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (d. 1722)
1667 – Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1754)
1669 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (d. 1722)
1700 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (d. 1760)
1799 – August Kopisch, German poet and painter (d. 1853)
1822 – Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (d. 1896)
1863 – Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
1865 – Robert W. Chambers, American author and illustrator (d. 1933)
1867 – Mary of Teck, English-born queen consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
1876 – Percy Perrin, English cricketer (d. 1945)
1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
1881 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (d. 1955)
1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer, actress, dancer, and pianist (d. 1946)
1886 – Al Jolson, American singer and actor (d. 1950)
1887 – Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
1893 – Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (d. 1965)
1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor and singer (d. 1971)
1898 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
1899 – Antonio Barrette, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
1899 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (d. 1997)
1900 – Karin Juel, Swedish singer, actor, and writer (d. 1976)
1904 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1961)
1904 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1983)
1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (d. 2002)
1907 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (d. 2006)
1907 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1979)
1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
1908 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Vietnamese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1976)
1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1994)
1909 – Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
1910 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist, boxer, and gymnast (d. 1998)
1911 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (d. 2005)
1911 – Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1989)
1912 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
1913 – Pierre Daninos, French author (d. 2005)
1913 – Karin Ekelund, Swedish actress (d. 1976)
1913 – Josef Manger, German weightlifter (d. 1991)
1914 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
1915 – Vernon Alley, American bassist (d. 2004)
1915 – Antonia Forest, English author (d. 2003)
1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1972)
1919 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (d. 2003)
1920 – Jack Cheetham, South African cricketer (d. 1980)
1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2002)
1921 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
1922 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (d. 2009)
1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
1923 – Roy Dotrice, English actor (d. 2017)
1925 – Carmen Montejo, Cuban-Mexican actress (d. 2013)
1925 – Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
1926 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
1927 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (d. 2014)
1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and assisted suicide activist (d. 2011)
1929 – J. F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian and academic (d. 2014)
1929 – Ernie Carroll, Australian television personality and producer
1929 – Hans Freeman, Australian bioinorganic chemist and protein crystallographer (d. 2008)
1929 – John Jackson, English lawyer and businessman
1929 – Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
1930 – Karim Emami, Indian-Iranian lexicographer and critic (d. 2005)
1933 – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (d. 1995)
1935 – Eero Loone, Estonian philosopher and academic
1936 – David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
1937 – Manorama, Indian actress and singer (d. 2015)
1937 – Paul E. Patton, American politician, 59th Governor of Kentucky
1938 – William Bolcom, American pianist and composer
1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian author and playwright
1938 – K. Bikram Singh, Indian director and producer (d. 2013)
1938 – Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano and actress
1939 – Brent Musburger, American sportscaster
1939 – Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
1940 – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Canadian academic and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
1940 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, and actor (d. 2012)
1941 – Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer and criminal
1941 – Jim Dobbin, Scottish microbiologist and politician (d. 2014)
1941 – Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player and sportscaster
1941 – Imants Kalniņš, Latvian composer
1943 – Erica Terpstra, Dutch swimmer, journalist, and politician
1944 – Phil Edmonston, American-Canadian journalist and politician
1944 – Jan Kinder, Norwegian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
1944 – Sam Posey, American race car driver and journalist
1945 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
1945 – Alistair MacDuff, English lawyer and judge
1945 – Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer
1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian gymnast and coach
1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1993)
1947 – Carol O’Connell, American author and painter
1947 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricketer
1948 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter
1949 – Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician
1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki
1949 – Pam Grier, American actress
1949 – Anne McGuire, Scottish educator and politician
1949 – Philip Michael Thomas, American actor
1949 – Hank Williams Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and businessman
1951 – Lou van den Dries, Dutch mathematician
1951 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (d. 2012)
1951 – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish educator and politician
1952 – David Meece, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1953 – Kay Hagan, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
1953 – Don McAllister, English footballer and manager
1953 – Michael Portillo, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
1953 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (d. 2012)
1954 – Alan Hollinghurst, English novelist, poet, short story writer, and translator
1954 – Denis Lebel, Canadian businessman and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Transport
1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese-American chef
1955 – Paul Stoddart, Australian businessman
1955 – Wesley Walker, American football player and educator
1956 – Neil Parish, English politician
1956 – Fiona Shackleton, English lawyer
1957 – Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1957 – François Legault, Canadian businessman and politician
1957 – Roberto Ravaglia, Italian race car driver
1958 – Ronnie Black, American golfer
1958 – Arto Bryggare, Finnish hurdler and politician
1958 – Margaret Colin, American actress
1959 – Ole Bornedal, Danish actor, director, and producer
1960 – Doug Hutchison, American actor
1960 – Dean Lukin, Australian weightlifter
1960 – Masahiro Matsunaga, Japanese race car driver
1960 – Rob Murphy, American baseball player
1960 – Romas Ubartas, Lithuanian discus thrower
1961 – Steve Pate, American golfer
1961 – Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
1962 – Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
1962 – Genie Francis, Canadian-American actress
1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1963 – Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright and novelist
1963 – Claude Legault, Canadian actor and screenwriter
1963 – Mary Nightingale, English journalist
1963 – Jamie Spence, English golfer
1964 – Caitlín R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor
1964 – Argiris Pedoulakis, Greek basketball player and coach
1965 – Hazel Irvine, Scottish sportscaster and journalist
1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
1966 – Zola Budd, South African runner
1967 – Philip Treacy, Irish milliner, hat designer
1967 – Mika Yamamoto, Japanese journalist (d. 2012)
1968 – Fernando León de Aranoa, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
1968 – Steve Sedgley, English footballer and manager
1969 – John Baird, Canadian politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1969 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete and coach
1969 – Dominic Mohan, English journalist
1970 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese illustrator
1971 – Zaher Andary, Lebanese footballer
1971 – Matt Stone, American actor, animator, screenwriter, producer, and composer
1973 – Naomi Harris, Canadian-American photographer
1974 – Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer
1975 – Lauryn Hill, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1976 – Paul Collingwood, English cricketer and coach
1976 – Stephen Curry, Australian comedian and actor
1976 – Kenny Florian, American mixed martial artist and sportscaster
1976 – Justin Pierre, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1977 – Nikos Chatzivrettas, Greek basketball player
1977 – Raina Telgemeier, American author and cartoonist
1977 – Luca Toni, Italian footballer
1977 – Misaki Ito, Japanese actress and model
1978 – Phil Elvrum, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Fabio Firmani, Italian footballer
1978 – Dan Parks, Australian-Scottish rugby player
1979 – Amanda Bauer, American astronomer and academic
1979 – Natalya Nazarova, Russian sprinter
1979 – Elisabeth Harnois, American actress
1979 – Mehmet Okur, Turkish basketball player
1980 – Louis-Jean Cormier, Canadian singer and songwriter
1981 – Robert Copeland, Australian footballer
1981 – Anthony Ervin, American swimmer
1981 – Jason Manford, English actor, screenwriter, and television host
1981 – Isaac Slade, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1981 – Ben Zobrist, American baseball player
1982 – Sten Lassmann, Estonian pianist
1982 – Hasan Kabze, Turkish footballer
1983 – Demy de Zeeuw, Dutch footballer
1983 – Henry Holland, English fashion designer
1983 – Nathan Merritt, Australian rugby league player
1985 – Monika Christodoulou, Greek singer-songwriter and guitarist
1985 – Ashley Vincent, English footballer
1986 – Michel Tornéus, Swedish long jumper
1987 – Olcay Şahan, Turkish footballer
1987 – Josh Thomas, Australian comedian and actor
1988 – Andrea Catellani, Italian footballer
1988 – Will Chambers, Australian rugby league player
1988 – Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
1988 – Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
1988 – Joel Selwood, Australian footballer
1988 – Damian Williams, American football player
1989 – Paula Findlay, Canadian triathlete
1991 – Ah Young, South Korean singer and actress
1992 – Curtis Rona, New Zealand rugby league player
1993 – Jason Adesanya, Belgian footballer
1993 – Dan Sarginson, Australian-English rugby league player
1993 – Katerine Savard, Canadian swimmer
1993 – Jimmy Vesey, American ice hockey player
1996 – Lara Goodall, South African cricketer

Deaths on May 26

604 – Augustine of Canterbury, Benedictine monk and archbishop
735 – Bede, English monk, historian, and theologian
818 – Ali al-Ridha, Saudi Arabian 8th of The Twelve Imams
926 – Yuan Xingqin, Chinese general and governor
946 – Edmund I, king of England (b. 921)
1035 – Berenguer Ramon I, Spanish nobleman (b. 1005)
1055 – Adalbert, margrave of Austria
1250 – Peter I, duke of Brittany
1339 – Aldona Ona, queen of Poland
1362 – Louis I, king of Naples (b. 1320)
1421 – Mehmed I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1389)
1512 – Bayezid II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1447)
1536 – Francesco Berni, Italian poet (b. 1498)
1552 – Sebastian Münster, German cartographer and cosmographer (b. 1488)
1648 – Vincent Voiture, French poet and author (b. 1597)
1653 – Robert Filmer, English theorist and author (b. 1588)
1679 – Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1636)
1685 – Charles II, German elector palatine (b. 1651)
1703 – Samuel Pepys, English politician (b. 1633)
1742 – Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (b. 1672)
1746 – Thomas Southerne, Irish playwright (b. 1660)
1762 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher and academic (b. 1714)
1799 – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Scottish linguist, biologist, and judge (b. 1714)
1818 – Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian field marshal and politician, Governor-General of Finland (b. 1761)
1818 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and guerrilla leader (b. 1785)
1824 – Capel Lofft, English lawyer (b. 1751)
1840 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (b. 1764)
1881 – Jakob Bernays, German philologist and academic (b. 1824)
1883 – Abdelkader El Djezairi, Algerian ruler (b. 1808)
1902 – Almon Brown Strowger, American soldier and inventor (b. 1839)
1904 – Georges Gilles de la Tourette, French physician and neurologist (b. 1857)
1908 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Indian religious leader, founded the Ahmadiyya movement (b. 1835)
1914 – Jacob August Riis, Danish-American journalist, photographer, and reformer (b. 1849)
1924 – Victor Herbert, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor, founded the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (b. 1859)
1926 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (b. 1904)
1933 – Horatio Bottomley, English financier, journalist, and politician (b. 1860)
1933 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1897)
1939 – Charles Horace Mayo, American physician, co-founded Mayo Clinic (b. 1865)
1943 – Edsel Ford, American businessman (b. 1893)
1943 – Alice Tegnér, Swedish organist, composer, and educator (b. 1864)
1944 – Christian Wirth, German SS officer (b. 1885)
1948 – Torsten Bergström, Swedish actor and director (b. 1896)
1951 – Lincoln Ellsworth, American explorer (b. 1880)
1954 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (b. 1900)
1955 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (b. 1918)
1956 – Al Simmons, American baseball player and coach (b. 1902)
1959 – Philip Kassel, American gymnast (b. 1876)
1966 – Elizabeth Dilling, American author and activist (b. 1894)
1969 – Paul Hawkins, Australian race car driver (b. 1937)
1969 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer, co-founded the Lockheed Corporation (b. 1889)
1974 – Silvio Moser, Swiss race car driver (b. 1941)
1976 – Martin Heidegger, German philosopher and academic (b. 1889)
1978 – Cybele Andrianou, Greek actress (b. 1887)
1979 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (b. 1904)
1984 – Elizabeth Peer, American journalist (b. 1936)
1989 – Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
1994 – Sonny Sharrock, American guitarist (b. 1940)
1995 – Friz Freleng, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1906)
1997 – Ralph Horween, American football player and coach (b. 1896)
1999 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and philanthropist (b. 1906)
1999 – Waldo Semon, American chemist and engineer (b. 1898)
2001 – Vittorio Brambilla, Italian race car driver (b. 1937)
2001 – Anne Haney, American actress (b. 1934)
2001 – Moven Mahachi, Zimbabwean soldier and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Defence (b. 1952)
2001 – Dona Massin, Canadian actress and choreographer (b. 1917)
2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (b. 1932)
2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American journalist and author (b. 1919)
2004 – Nikolai Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
2005 – Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
2005 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist and educator (b. 1937)
2005 – Leslie Smith, English businessman, co-founded Lesney Products (b. 1918)
2006 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)
2006 – Kevin O’Flanagan, Irish footballer and physician (b. 1919)
2007 – Jack Edward Oliver, English illustrator (b. 1942)
2007 – Howard Porter, American basketball player (b. 1948)
2008 – Sydney Pollack, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
2008 – Zita Urbonaitė, Lithuanian cyclist (b. 1973)
2009 – Mihalis Papagiannakis, Greek journalist and politician (b. 1941)
2009 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (b. 1965)
2010 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (b. 1912)
2010 – Chris Moran, English air marshal and pilot (b. 1956)
2010 – Kieran Phelan, Irish politician (b. 1949)
2011 – Arisen Ahubudu, Sri Lankan scholar, author, and playwright (b. 1920)
2012 – Arthur Decabooter, Belgian cyclist (b. 1936)
2012 – Leo Dillon, American illustrator (b. 1933)
2012 – Stephen Healey, Welsh captain and footballer (b. 1982)
2012 – Hiroshi Miyazawa, Japanese politician (b. 1921)
2012 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian wrestler (b. 1925)
2012 – Jim Unger, English-Canadian illustrator (b. 1937)
2013 – Ray Barnhart, American businessman and politician (b. 1928)
2013 – John Bierwirth, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1924)
2013 – Roberto Civita, Italian-Brazilian businessman (b. 1936)
2013 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (b. 1940)
2013 – Otto Muehl, Austrian painter (b. 1925)
2013 – Jack Vance, American author (b. 1916)
2014 – Baselios Thoma Didymos I, Indian metropolitan (b. 1921)
2014 – Miodrag Radulovacki, Serbian-American academic and neuropharmacologist (b. 1933)
2014 – William R. Roy, American physician, journalist, and politician (b. 1926)
2014 – Hooshang Seyhoun, Iranian-Canadian architect, sculptor, and painter (b. 1920)
2015 – Vicente Aranda, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
2015 – Les Johnson, Australian politician and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (b. 1924)
2015 – Robert Kraft, American astronomer and academic (b. 1927)
2015 – João Lucas, Portuguese footballer (b. 1979)
2015 – Dayton Waller, American soldier and politician (b. 1925)
2016 – Hedy Epstein, German-born American human rights activist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1924)
2017 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-born American politician (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on May 26

Christian feast day:
- Augustine of Canterbury (Anglican Communion and Eastern Orthodox)
- Lambert of Vence
- Peter Sanz (one of Martyr Saints of China)
- Philip Neri
- Pope Eleuterus
- Quadratus of Athens
- Zachary, Bishop of Vienne
- May 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Independence Day, commemorates the day of the First Republic in 1918 (Georgia)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom in 1966.
Mother’s Day (Poland)
National Paper Airplane Day (United States)
National Sorry Day (Australia)

May 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

325 – The First Council of Nicaea is formally opened, starting the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church.
491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed Augusta is able to choose her successor for the Byzantine throne, after Zeno (late emperor) dies of dysentery.
685 – The Battle of Dun Nechtain is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
794 – While visiting the royal Mercian court at Sutton Walls with a view to marrying princess Ælfthryth, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia is taken captive and beheaded.
1217 – The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
1293 – King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Estudio de Escuelas de Generales in Alcalá de Henares.
1449 – The Battle of Alfarrobeira is fought, establishing the House of Braganza as a principal royal family of Portugal.
1497 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route to India when he arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.
1521 – Ignatius of Loyola is seriously wounded in the Battle of Pampeluna.
1570 – Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas.
1609 – Shakespeare’s sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.
1631 – The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years’ War.
1645 – Yangzhou massacre: The ten day massacre of 800,000 residents of the city of Yangzhou, part of the Transition from Ming to Qing.
1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias ends in a Spanish victory and the British begin withdrawal towards Jamaica with substantial losses.
1775 – The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is allegedly signed in Charlotte, North Carolina.
1802 – By the Law of 20 May 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution.
1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
1840 – York Minster is badly damaged by fire.
1861 – American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, opening 84 million acres of public land to settlers.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church: In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
1875 – Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the International System of Units.
1882 – The Triple Alliance between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy is formed.
1883 – Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.
1891 – History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison’s prototype kinetoscope.
1902 – Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country’s first President.
1927 – Treaty of Jeddah: The United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
1932 – Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
1940 – The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
1941 – World War II: Battle of Crete: German paratroops invade Crete.
1948 – Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek wins the 1948 Republic of China presidential election and is sworn in as the first President of the Republic of China at Nanjing.
1949 – In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.
1956 – In Operation Redwing, the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
1964 – Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.
1967 – The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1969 – The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
1971 – In the Chuknagar massacre, Pakistani forces massacre thousands, mostly Bengali Hindus.
1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, by 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.
1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier.
1983 – Church Street bombing: A car bomb planted by Umkhonto we Sizwe explodes on Church Street in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, killing 19 people and injuring 217 others.
1985 – Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
1989 – The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
1990 – The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
1996 – Civil rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.
2002 – The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and three years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
2012 – At least 27 people are killed and 50 others injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Italy.
2013 – An EF5 tornado strikes the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing 24 people and injuring 377 others.
2019 – The International System of Units (SI): The base units are redefined, making the international prototype of the kilogram obsolete.

Births on May 20

1315 – Bonne of Luxembourg, first wife of John II of France (d. 1349)
1470 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal, poet, and scholar (d. 1547)
1505 – Levinus Lemnius, Dutch writer (d. 1568)
1531 – Thado Minsaw of Ava, Viceroy of Ava (d. 1584)
1537 – Hieronymus Fabricius, Italian anatomist (d. 1619)
1575 – Robert Heath, English judge and politician (d. 1649)
1664 – Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor and architect (d. 1714)
1726 – Francis Cotes, English painter and academic (d. 1770)
1743 – Toussaint Louverture, Haitian revolutionary, general, and president (d. 1803)
1759 – William Thornton, Virgin Islander-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1828)
1769 – Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
1772 – Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet, English inventor and politician, developed Congreve rockets (d. 1828)
1776 – Simon Fraser, American-Canadian fur trader and explorer (d. 1862)
1795 – Pedro María de Anaya, Mexican soldier. President (1847-1848) (d. 1854)
1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist and playwright (d. 1850)
1806 – John Stuart Mill, English economist, civil servant, and philosopher (d. 1873)
1811 – Alfred Domett, English-New Zealand poet and politician, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1887)
1818 – William Fargo, American businessman and politician, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1881)
1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1912)
1824 – Cadmus M. Wilcox, Confederate States Army general (d. 1890)
1825 – Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman to be ordained as a mainstream Protestant minister in the U.S. (d. 1921)
1830 – Hector Malot, French author (d. 1907)
1838 – Jules Méline, French lawyer and politician, 65th Prime Minister of France (d. 1925)
1851 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor, invented the Gramophone record (d. 1929)
1854 – George Prendergast, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Victoria (d. 1937)
1856 – Henri-Edmond Cross, French Neo-Impressionist painter (d. 1910)
1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, zymologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
1875 – Hendrik Offerhaus, Dutch rower (d. 1953)
1877 – Pat Leahy, Irish-American jumper (d. 1927)
1879 – Hans Meerwein, German chemist (d. 1965)
1882 – Sigrid Undset, Danish-Norwegian novelist, essayist, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
1883 – Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded the Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
1894 – Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian guru and scholar (d. 1994)
1895 – R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire and Supermarine S.6B (d. 1937)
1897 – Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author (d. 1983)
1897 – Malcolm Nokes, English hammer and discus thrower (d. 1986)
1898 – Eduard Ole, Estonian painter (d. 1995)
1899 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Russian painter and sculptor (d. 1969)
1899 – John Marshall Harlan II, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1971)
1900 – Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet and author (d. 1977)
1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player, mathematician, and author (d. 1981)
1901 – Doris Fleeson, American journalist (d. 1970)
1904 – Margery Allingham, English author of detective fiction (d. 1966)
1906 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (d. 1989)
1907 – Carl Mydans, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
1908 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Victoria (d. 1990)
1908 – Louis Daquin, French actor and director (d. 1980)
1908 – Francis Raymond Fosberg, American botanist and author (d. 1993)
1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
1911 – Gardner Fox, American author (d. 1986)
1911 – Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch author and playwright (d. 1995)
1913 – Teodoro Fernández, Peruvian footballer (d. 1996)
1913 – William Redington Hewlett, American engineer, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (d. 2001)
1915 – Peter Copley, English actor (d. 2008)
1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician, 5th Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1981)
1915 – Joff Ellen, Australian comedian and actor (d. 1999)
1916 – Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
1916 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (d. 2001)
1916 – Ondina Valla, Italian sprinter and hurdler (d. 2006)
1917 – Tony Cliff, Israeli-English author and activist (d. 2000)
1917 – Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1967)
1918 – Alexandra Boyko, Russian tank commander (d. 1996)
1918 – Edward B. Lewis, American biologist, geneticist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1919 – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
1920 – John Cruickshank, Scottish lieutenant and banker, Victoria Cross recipient
1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German author and playwright (d. 1947)
1921 – Hal Newhouser, American baseball player and scout (d. 1998)
1921 – Hao Wang, Chinese-American logician, philosopher, and mathematician (d. 1995)
1922 – Ted Hinton, Northern Irish international footballer (d. 1988)
1923 – Edith Fellows, American actress (d. 2011)
1923 – Sam Selvon, Trinidad-born writer (d. 1994)
1924 – David Chavchavadze, English-American CIA officer and author (d. 2014)
1924 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (d. 1976)
1925 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (d. 2001)
1926 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
1927 – Bud Grant, American football player and coach
1927 – David Hedison, American actor (d. 2019)
1927 – Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (d. 2016)
1929 – Gilles Loiselle, Canadian politician and diplomat, 33rd Canadian Minister of Finance
1930 – Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
1931 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1982)
1931 – Louis Smith, American trumpeter (d. 2016)
1933 – Constance Towers, American actress and singer
1935 – José Mujica, Uruguayan guerrilla leader and politician, 40th President of Uruguay
1936 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
1937 – Dave Hill, American golfer (d. 2011)
1937 – Derek Lampe, English footballer
1939 – Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1940 – Shorty Long, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1969)
1940 – Stan Mikita, Slovak-Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster (d. 2018)
1940 – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager
1941 – Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
1941 – John Strasberg, American actor and teacher
1942 – Raymond Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
1942 – Lynn Davies, Welsh sprinter and long jumper
1942 – Carlos Hathcock, American sergeant and sniper (d. 1999)
1942 – Frew McMillan, South African tennis player
1943 – Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, actor, and winemaker
1943 – Deryck Murray, Trinidadian cricketer
1944 – Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
1944 – Boudewijn de Groot, Indonesian-Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Keith Fletcher, English cricketer and manager
1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman, co-founded Red Bull GmbH
1945 – Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian intelligence officer
1946 – Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1946 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
1947 – Steve Currie, English bass player (d. 1981)
1947 – Greg Dyke, English journalist and academic
1949 – Robert Morin, Canadian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
1949 – Michèle Roberts, English author and poet
1949 – Dave Thomas, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1950 – Andy Johns, English-American engineer and producer (d. 2013)
1950 – Reinaldo Merlo, Argentinian footballer and coach
1951 – Thomas Akers, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
1951 – Christie Blatchford, Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist and broadcaster (d. 2020)
1951 – Mike Crapo, American lawyer and politician
1952 – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer and manager
1952 – Michael Wills, English politician, British Minister of Justice
1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian educator and politician, 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne
1954 – David Paterson, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of New York
1954 – Colin Sutherland, Lord Carloway, Scottish lawyer and judge
1955 – Steve George, American keyboard player and songwriter
1955 – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish composer and producer
1956 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian-German author and critic
1956 – Gerry Peyton, English born Irish international footballer and coach
1956 – Douglas Preston, American journalist and author
1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, Japanese lawyer and politician, 62nd Prime Minister of Japan
1958 – Ron Reagan, American journalist and radio host
1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
1959 – Susan Cowsill, American singer-songwriter
1960 – Tony Goldwyn, American actor and director
1961 – Clive Allen, English international footballer and manager
1961 – Nick Heyward, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1963 – David Wells, American baseball player and sportscaster
1964 – Kōichirō Genba, Japanese politician, 80th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
1964 – Edin Osmanović, Slovenian footballer, coach, and manager
1964 – Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, English journalist and author
1965 – Ted Allen, American television host and author
1965 – Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player, sportscaster, and lawyer
1966 – Dan Abrams, American journalist and author
1967 – Graham Brady, English politician
1967 – Gabriele Muccino, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor and producer
1969 – Road Dogg, American wrestler, producer, and soldier
1970 – Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
1970 – Louis Theroux, Singaporean-English journalist and producer
1971 – Šárka Kašpárková, Czech triple jumper and coach
1971 – Tony Stewart, American race car driver
1972 – Michael Diamond, Australian shooter
1972 – Christophe Dominici, French rugby player
1972 – Busta Rhymes, American rapper, producer, and actor
1973 – Nathan Long, Australian rugby league player
1974 – Allison Amend, American novelist and short story writer
1974 – Shiboprosad Mukherjee, Indian film director, writer and actor
1975 – Juan Minujín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
1976 – Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
1977 – Matt Czuchry, American actor
1977 – Leo Franco, Argentinian footballer
1977 – Angela Goethals, American actress
1977 – Stirling Mortlock, Australian rugby player
1977 – Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
1978 – Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
1978 – Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech pole vaulter
1978 – Nils Schumann, German runner
1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician, 28th Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
1979 – Jayson Werth, American baseball player
1980 – Austin Kearns, American baseball player
1980 – Kassim Osgood, American football player
1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
1981 – Rachel Platten, American singer and songwriter
1981 – Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
1981 – Mark Winterbottom, Australian race car driver
1982 – Petr Čech, Czech footballer
1982 – Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer
1982 – Jessica Raine, English actress
1982 – Daniel Ribeiro, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
1983 – Óscar Cardozo, Paraguayan footballer
1983 – Matt Langridge, English rower
1984 – Mauro Rafael da Silva, Brazilian footballer
1984 – Patrick Ewing, Jr., American basketball player
1984 – Keith Grennan, American football player
1985 – Chris Froome, Kenyan-English cyclist
1985 – Brendon Goddard, Australian footballer
1986 – Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
1986 – Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer
1986 – Jiřina Svobodová, Czech pole vaulter
1987 – Mike Havenaar, Japanese footballer
1987 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
1988 – Joel Moon, Australian rugby league player
1989 – Siosia Vave, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
1991 – Bastian Baker, Swiss singer, songwriter, and performer
1991 – Emre Colak, Turkish footballer
1992 – Cate Campbell, Malawian-Australian swimmer
1992 – Jack Gleeson, Irish actor
1992 – Enes Kanter, Turkish basketball player
1993 – Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
1996 – Brian Kelly, Australian rugby league player
1998 – Jamie Chadwick, English race car driver
1998 – Nam Nguyen, Canadian figure skater

Deaths on May 20

685 – Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
794 – Æthelberht II, king of East Anglia
965 – Gero the Great, Saxon ruler (b.c. 900)
1062 – Bao Zheng, Chinese magistrate and mayor of Kaifeng (b. 999)
1277 – Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
1285 – John II of Jerusalem (b. 1259)
1291 – Sufi Saint Sayyid Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari
1366 – Maria of Calabria, Empress of Constantinople (b. 1329)
1444 – Bernardino of Siena, Italian-Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1380)
1449 – Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches
1449 – Infante Pedro, Duke of Coimbra (b. 1392)
1501 – Columba of Rieti, Italian Dominican tertiary Religious Sister (b. 1467)
1503 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, Italian banker and politician (b. 1463)
1506 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer, discovered the Americas (b. 1451)
1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1510)
1579 – Isabella Markham, English courtier (b. 1527)
1622 – Osman II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1604)
1645 – Shi Kefa, Chinese general and calligrapher (b. 1601)
1648 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish son of Sigismund III Vasa (b. 1595)
1677 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, Spanish-English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1612)
1713 – Thomas Sprat, English bishop (b. 1635)
1717 – John Trevor, Welsh lawyer and politician, 102nd Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1637)
1722 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (b. 1669)
1732 – Thomas Boston, Scottish author and educator (b. 1676)
1782 – William Emerson, English mathematician and academic (b. 1701)
1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss botanist and biologist (b. 1720)
1812 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (b. 1732)
1834 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French general (b. 1757)
1841 – Joseph Blanco White, Spanish poet and theologian (b. 1775)
1864 – John Clare, English poet (b. 1793)
1873 – George-Étienne Cartier, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th Premier of East Canada (b. 1814)
1880 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse and philanthropist (b. 1814)
1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
1909 – Ernest Hogan, American actor and composer (b. 1859)
1917 – Valentine Fleming, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1887)
1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
1924 – Bogd Khan, Mongolian ruler (c. 1869)
1925 – Joseph Howard, Maltese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1862)
1931 – Ernest Noel, Scottish businessman and politician (b. 1831)
1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
1942 – Hector Guimard, French Architect (b. 1867)
1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish pilot and engineer (b. 1871)
1947 – Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
1947 – Georgios Siantos, Greek sergeant and politician (b. 1890)
1949 – Damaskinos of Athens, Greek archbishop and politician, 137th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1891)
1956 – Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist (b. 1872)
1956 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer and trainer (b. 1881)
1961 – Josef Priller, German colonel and pilot (b. 1915)
1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (b. 1936)
1971 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (b. 1904)
1973 – Renzo Pasolini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1938)
1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
1975 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor and lithographer (b. 1903)
1976 – Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
1976 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (b. 1924)
1976 – Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan politician (b. 1934)
1989 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
1989 – Gilda Radner, American actress and comedian (b. 1946)
1995 – Les Cowie, Australian rugby league player (b. 1925)
1996 – Jon Pertwee, English actor, portrayed the Third Doctor (b. 1919)
1998 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (b. 1916)
2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (b. 1922)
2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player and actor (b. 1970)
2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1933)
2001 – Renato Carosone, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1920)
2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist, biologist, and academic (b. 1941)
2005 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (b. 1913)
2005 – William Seawell, American general (b. 1918)
2007 – Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (b. 1914)
2008 – Hamilton Jordan, American politician, 8th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1944)
2009 – Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect and urban planner, designed Roy Thomson Hall (b. 1924)
2009 – Lucy Gordon, American actress and model (b. 1980)
2009 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (b. 1919)
2011 – Randy Savage, American wrestler and actor (b. 1952)
2012 – Leela Dube, Indian anthropologist and scholar (b. 1923)
2012 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1949)
2012 – David Littman, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (b. 1933)
2012 – Ken Lyons, American bass guitarist (b. 1953)
2012 – Eugene Polley, American engineer, invented the remote control (b. 1915)
2012 – Andrew B. Steinberg, American lawyer (b. 1958)
2013 – Flavio Costantini, Italian painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
2013 – Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1924)
2013 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (b. 1947)
2013 – Miloslav Kříž, Czech basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
2013 – Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1939)
2013 – Denys Roberts, English judge and politician (b. 1923)
2013 – Zach Sobiech, American singer-songwriter (b. 1995)
2014 – Sandra Bem, American psychologist and academic (b. 1944)
2014 – Ross Brown, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1934)
2014 – Robyn Denny, English-French painter (b. 1930)
2014 – Arthur Gelb, American journalist, author, and critic (b. 1924)
2014 – Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English businessman (b. 1933)
2014 – Barbara Murray, English actress (b. 1929)
2015 – Bob Belden, American saxophonist, composer, and producer (b. 1956)
2015 – Femi Robinson, Nigerian actor and playwright (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances on May 20

Christian feast day:
- Abercius and Helena
- Alcuin of York
- Aurea of Ostia
- Austregisilus
- Baudilus
- Bernardino of Siena
- Ivo of Chartres
- Lucifer of Cagliari
- Sanctan
- May 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)
Emancipation Day (Florida)
European Maritime Day (European Council)
Independence Restoration Day, celebrates the independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002.
Josephine Baker Day (NAACP)
National Awakening Day (Indonesia), and its related observances:
- Indonesian Doctor Day (Indonesia)
National Day (Cameroon)
World Bee Day
World Metrology Day

May 20 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of 47. His first coronation was 28 years earlier, in 844, during the reign of his father Lothair I.
1096 – First Crusade: Around 800 Jews are massacred in Worms, Germany.
1152 – The future Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine. He would become king two years later, after the death of his cousin once removed King Stephen of England.
1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Siege of Antioch.
1291 – Fall of Acre, the end of Crusader presence in the Holy Land.
1302 – Bruges Matins, the nocturnal massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by members of the local Flemish militia.
1388 – During the Battle of Buyur Lake, General Lan Yu leads a Chinese army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Tögüs Temür, the Khan of Northern Yuan.
1499 – Alonso de Ojeda sets sail from Cádiz on his voyage to what is now Venezuela.
1565 – The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.
1593 – Playwright Thomas Kyd’s accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
1652 – Slavery in Rhode Island is abolished, although the law is not rigorously enforced.
1756 – The Seven Years’ War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.
1783 – First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John, New Brunswick), Canada, after leaving the United States.
1794 – Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
1811 – Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay led by José Artigas.
1812 – John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
1843 – The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
1848 – Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany.
1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” doctrine is constitutional.
1896 – Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
1900 – The United Kingdom proclaims a protectorate over Tonga.
1912 – The first Indian film, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, is released in Mumbai.
1917 – World War I: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.
1926 – Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears in Venice, California.
1927 – The Bath School disaster: Forty-five people, including many children, are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan.
1927 – After being founded for 20 years, the Government of the Republic of China approves Tongji University to be among the first national universities of the Republic of China.
1933 – New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
1944 – World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino: Conclusion after seven days of the fourth battle as German paratroopers evacuate Monte Cassino.
1944 – Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
1948 – The First Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China officially convenes in Nanking.
1953 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
1955 – Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam following the end of the First Indochina War, ends.
1965 – Israeli spy Eli Cohen is hanged in Damascus, Syria.
1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 is launched.
1973 – Aeroflot Flight 109 is hijacked mid-flight and the aircraft is subsequently destroyed when the hijacker’s bomb explodes, killing all 82 people on board.
1974 – Nuclear weapons testing: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
1977 – Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
1980 – Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
1980 – Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
1990 – In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3 km/h (320.2 mph).
1991 – Northern Somalia declares independence from the rest of Somalia as the Republic of Somaliland but is not recognized by the international community.
1993 – Riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police open fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injure 11 demonstrators.
1994 – Israeli troops finish withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, ceding the area to the Palestinian National Authority to govern.
2005 – A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
2006 – The post Loktantra Andolan government passes a landmark bill curtailing the power of the monarchy and making Nepal a secular country.
2009 – The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.
2015 – At least 78 people die in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Colombian town of Salgar.
2018 – A school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas kills 10 people.

Births on May 18

1048 – Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet (d. 1131)
1186 – Konstantin of Rostov (d. 1218)
1450 – Piero Soderini, Italian politician and diplomat (d. 1513)
1537 – Guido Luca Ferrero, Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1585)
1631 – Stanislaus Papczyński, Polish priest (d. 1701)
1662 – George Smalridge, English bishop (d. 1719)
1692 – Joseph Butler, English bishop, theologian, and apologist (d. 1752)
1711 – Roger Joseph Boscovich, Ragusan physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1787)
1777 – John George Children, English chemist, mineralogist, and zoologist (d. 1852)
1778 – Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, Irish soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Austria (d. 1854)
1785 – John Wilson, Scottish author and critic (d. 1854)
1797 – Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854)
1822 – Mathew Brady, American photographer and journalist (d. 1896)
1835 – Charles N. Sims, American Methodist preacher and 3rd chancellor of Syracuse University (d. 1908)
1850 – Oliver Heaviside, English engineer, mathematician, and physicist (d. 1925)
1851 – James Budd, American lawyer and politician, 19th Governor of California (d. 1908)
1852 – Gertrude Käsebier, American photographer (d. 1934)
1854 – Bernard Zweers, Dutch composer and educator (d. 1924)
1855 – Francis Bellamy, American minister and author (d. 1931)
1862 – Josephus Daniels, American publisher and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1948)
1867 – Minakata Kumagusu, Japanese author, biologist, naturalist and ethnologist (d. 1941)
1868 – Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
1869 – Lucy Beaumont, English-American actress (d. 1937)
1871 – Denis Horgan, Irish shot putter and weight thrower (d. 1922)
1872 – Bertrand Russell, British mathematician, historian, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
1876 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (d. 1931)
1878 – Johannes Terwogt, Dutch rower (d. 1977)
1882 – Babe Adams, American baseball player, manager, and journalist (d. 1968)
1883 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian marshal and politician, 16th President of Brazil (d. 1974)
1883 – Walter Gropius, German-American architect, designed the John F. Kennedy Federal Building (d. 1969)
1886 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1946)
1889 – Thomas Midgley, Jr., American chemist and engineer (d. 1944)
1891 – Rudolf Carnap, German-American philosopher and academic (d. 1970)
1892 – Ezio Pinza, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1957)
1895 – Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan rebel leader (d. 1934)
1896 – Eric Backman, Swedish runner (d. 1965)
1897 – Frank Capra, Italian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1991)
1898 – Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel, Turkish poet, author, and playwright (d. 1973)
1901 – Henri Sauguet, French composer (d. 1989)
1901 – Vincent du Vigneaud, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
1902 – Meredith Willson, American playwright and composer (d. 1984)
1904 – Shunryū Suzuki, Japanese-American monk and educator (d. 1971)
1904 – Jacob K. Javits, American colonel and politician, 58th New York Attorney General (d. 1986)
1905 – Ruth Alexander, pioneering American pilot (d. 1930)
1905 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1943)
1907 – Irene Hunt, American author and educator (d. 2001)
1909 – Fred Perry, English-Australian tennis player and academic (d. 1995)
1910 – Ester Boserup, Danish economist and author (d. 1999)
1911 – Big Joe Turner, American blues/R&B singer (d. 1985)
1912 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1992)
1912 – Perry Como, American singer and television host (d. 2001)
1912 – Walter Sisulu, South African politician (d. 2003)
1913 – Jane Birdwood, Baroness Birdwood, Canadian-English publisher and politician (d. 2000)
1914 – Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founded Balmain (d. 1982)
1914 – Boris Christoff, Bulgarian-Italian opera singer (d. 1993)
1917 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (d. 1973)
1919 – Margot Fonteyn, British ballerina (d. 1991)
1920 – Pope John Paul II (d. 2005)
1921 – Michael A. Epstein, English pathologist and academic
1922 – Bill Macy, American actor (d. 2019)
1922 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (d. 1983)
1923 – Jean-Louis Roux, Canadian actor and politician, 34th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2013)
1923 – Hugh Shearer, Jamaican journalist and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2004)
1924 – Priscilla Pointer, American actress
1924 – Jack Whitaker, American sportscaster (d. 2019)
1925 – Lillian Hoban, American author and illustrator (d. 1998)
1927 – Richard Body, English politician (d. 2018)
1927 – Ray Nagel, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
1928 – Pernell Roberts, American actor (d. 2010)
1929 – Jack Sanford, American baseball player and coach (d. 2000)
1929 – Norman St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 2012)
1930 – Warren Rudman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
1930 – Fred Saberhagen, American soldier and author (d. 2007)
1931 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (d. 2000)
1931 – Robert Morse, American actor
1931 – Kalju Pitksaar, Estonian chess player (d. 1995)
1931 – Clément Vincent, Canadian farmer and politician (d. 2018)
1933 – Bernadette Chirac, French politician, First Lady of France
1933 – H. D. Deve Gowda, Indian farmer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of India
1933 – Don Whillans, English rock climber and mountaineer (d. 1985)
1934 – Dwayne Hickman, American actor and director
1936 – Leon Ashley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1936 – Türker İnanoğlu, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter
1936 – Michael Sandle, English sculptor and academic
1937 – Brooks Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster
1937 – Jacques Santer, Luxembourger jurist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Luxembourg
1938 – Janet Fish, American painter and academic
1939 – Patrick Cormack, Baron Cormack, English historian, journalist, and politician
1939 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
1939 – Gordon O’Connor, Canadian general and politician, 38th Canadian Minister of Defence
1940 – Erico Aumentado, Filipino journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2012)
1941 – Gino Brito, Canadian wrestler and promoter
1941 – Malcolm Longair, Scottish astronomer, physicist, and academic
1941 – Miriam Margolyes, English-Australian actress and singer
1942 – Nobby Stiles, English footballer, coach, and manager
1944 – Albert Hammond, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1944 – W. G. Sebald, German novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2001)
1946 – Frank Hsieh, Taiwanese lawyer and politician, 40th Premier of the Republic of China
1946 – Reggie Jackson, American baseball player and sportscaster
1946 – Gerd Langguth, German political scientist and author (d. 2013)
1947 – John Bruton, Irish politician, 10th Taoiseach of Ireland
1947 – Gail Strickland, American actress
1948 – Joe Bonsall, American country/gospel singer
1948 – Yi Mun-yol, South Korean author and academic
1948 – Richard Swedberg, Swedish sociologist and academic
1948 – Tom Udall, American lawyer and politician, 28th New Mexico Attorney General, United States Senator from New Mexico
1949 – Rick Wakeman, English progressive rock keyboardist and songwriter (Yes)
1949 – Walter Hawkins, American gospel music singer and pastor (d. 2010)
1950 – Rod Milburn, American hurdler and coach (d. 1997)
1950 – Mark Mothersbaugh, American singer-songwriter and painter
1951 – Richard Clapton, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Jim Sundberg, American baseball player and sportscaster
1951 – Angela Voigt, German long jumper (d. 2013)
1952 – Diane Duane, American author and screenwriter
1952 – David Leakey, English general and politician
1952 – George Strait, American singer, guitarist and producer
1952 – Jeana Yeager, American pilot
1953 – Alan Kupperberg, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
1954 – Wreckless Eric, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – Eric Gerets, Belgian footballer and manager
1955 – Chow Yun-fat, Hong Kong actor and screenwriter
1956 – Catherine Corsini, French director and screenwriter
1956 – John Godber, English playwright and screenwriter
1957 – Michael Cretu, Romanian-German keyboard player and producer
1957 – Henrietta Moore, English anthropologist and academic
1958 – Rubén Omar Romano, Argentinian-Mexican footballer and coach
1958 – Toyah Willcox, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1959 – Graham Dilley, English cricketer and coach (d. 2011)
1959 – Jay Wells, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Brent Ashton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Jari Kurri, Finnish ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1960 – Yannick Noah, French tennis player
1961 – Russell Senior, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1963 – Marty McSorley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1963 – Sam Vincent, American basketball player and coach
1964 – Ignasi Guardans, Spanish academic and politician
1966 – Renata Nielsen, Polish-Danish long jumper and coach
1966 – Michael Tait, American singer-songwriter and producer
1967 – Nina Björk, Swedish journalist and author
1967 – Heinz-Harald Frentzen, German race car driver
1967 – Nancy Juvonen, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded Flower Films
1967 – Mimi Macpherson, Australian environmentalist, entrepreneur and celebrity
1968 – Philippe Benetton, French rugby player
1968 – Ralf Kelleners, German race car driver
1969 – Troy Cassar-Daley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1969 – Martika, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1969 – Antônio Carlos Zago, Brazilian footballer and manager
1970 – Tina Fey, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
1970 – Tim Horan, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
1970 – Billy Howerdel, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1970 – Javier Cárdenas, Spanish singer, television and radio presenter
1970 – Vicky Sunohara, Canadian former ice hockey player
1971 – Brad Friedel, American international soccer player, goalkeeper, manager and sportscaster
1971 – Mark Menzies, Scottish politician
1971 – Nobuteru Taniguchi, Japanese race car driver
1972 – Turner Stevenson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1973 – Donyell Marshall, American basketball player and coach
1973 – Aleksandr Olerski, Estonian footballer (d. 2011)
1974 – Nelson Figueroa, American baseball player and sportscaster
1975 – Jem, Welsh singer-songwriter and producer
1975 – John Higgins, Scottish snooker player
1975 – Jack Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1976 – Ron Mercer, American basketball player
1976 – Marko Tomasović, Croatian pianist and composer
1976 – Oleg Tverdovsky, Ukrainian-Russian ice hockey player
1977 – Lee Hendrie, English footballer
1977 – Danny Mills, English footballer and sportscaster
1977 – Li Tie, Chinese footballer and manager
1978 – Ricardo Carvalho, Portuguese footballer
1978 – Marcus Giles, American baseball player
1978 – Charles Kamathi, Kenyan runner
1979 – Jens Bergensten, Swedish video game designer, co-designed Minecraft
1979 – Mariusz Lewandowski, Polish footballer
1979 – Michal Martikán, Slovak slalom canoeist
1979 – Milivoje Novaković, Slovenian footballer
1979 – Julián Speroni, Argentinian footballer
1980 – Reggie Evans, American basketball player
1980 – Michaël Llodra, French tennis player
1980 – Diego Pérez, Uruguayan footballer
1981 – Mahamadou Diarra, Malian international footballer
1981 – Ashley Harrison, Australian rugby league player
1982 – Jason Brown, English footballer
1982 – Marie-Ève Pelletier, Canadian tennis player
1983 – Gary O’Neil, English footballer
1983 – Luis Terrero, Dominican baseball player
1983 – Vince Young, American football player
1984 – Ivet Lalova, Bulgarian sprinter
1984 – Simon Pagenaud, French race car driver
1984 – Darius Šilinskis, Lithuanian basketball player
1984 – Joakim Soria, Mexican baseball player
1984 – Niki Terpstra, Dutch cyclist
1985 – Oliver Sin, Hungarian painter
1985 – Henrique Sereno, Portuguese footballer
1986 – Ahmed Hamada, Egyptian race car driver
1986 – Kevin Anderson, South African tennis player
1988 – Taeyang, South Korean singer
1990 – Dimitri Daeseleire, Belgian footballer
1990 – Yuya Osako, Japanese footballer
1990 – Josh Starling, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Adwoa Aboah, British fashion model
1993 – Stuart Percy, Canadian ice hockey player
1993 – Jessica Watson, Australian sailor
1998 – Polina Edmunds, American figure skater
1999 – Laura Omloop, Belgian singer-songwriter
2000 – Ryan Sessegnon, English footballer
2000 – Steven Sessegnon, English footballer
2002 – Alina Zagitova, Russian figure skater

Deaths on May 18

526 – Pope John I (b. 470)
893 – Stephen I of Constantinople (b. 867)
932 – Ma Shaohong, general of Later Tang
947 – Emperor Taizong of the Liao Dynasty
978 – Frederick I, duke of Upper Lorraine
1065 – Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine (b. c. 1003)
1096 – Minna of Worms, Jewish martyr killed during the Worms massacre (1096)
1160 – Eric Jedvardsson (King Eric IX) of Sweden (since 1156); (b. circa 1120)
1297 – Nicholas Longespee, Bishop of Salisbury
1401 – Vladislaus II of Opole (b. 1332)
1410 – Rupert of Germany, Count Palatine of the Rhine (b. 1352)
1550 – Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (b. 1498)
1551 – Domenico di Pace Beccafumi, Italian painter (b. 1486)
1675 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, historian, and theologian (b. 1623)
1675 – Jacques Marquette, French-American missionary and explorer (b. 1637)
1692 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (b. 1617)
1721 – Maria Barbara Carillo, victim of the Spanish Inquisition (b.1625)
1733 – Georg Böhm, German organist and composer (b. 1761)
1780 – Charles Hardy, English-American admiral and politician, 29th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1714)
1781 – Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian-Indian rebel leader (b. 1742)
1792 – Levy Solomons, Canadian merchant and fur trader (b. 1730)
1795 – Robert Rogers, English colonel (b. 1731)
1799 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and publisher (b. 1732)
1800 – Alexander Suvorov, Russian general (b. 1729)
1807 – John Douglas, Scottish bishop and scholar (b. 1721)
1808 – Elijah Craig, American minister, inventor, and educator, invented Bourbon whiskey (b. 1738)
1844 – Richard McCarty, American lawyer and politician (b. 1780)
1853 – Lionel Kieseritzky, Estonian-French chess player (b. 1806)
1867 – Clarkson Stanfield, English painter (b. 1793)
1889 – Isabella Glyn, Scottish-English actress (b. 1823)
1900 – Félix Ravaisson-Mollien, French archaeologist and philosopher (b. 1813)
1908 – Louis-Napoléon Casault, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1823)
1909 – Isaac Albéniz, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1860)
1909 – George Meredith, English novelist and poet (b. 1828)
1910 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher (b. 1841)
1910 – Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (b. 1821)
1911 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1860)
1922 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician and parasitologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
1941 – Werner Sombart, German economist and sociologist (b. 1863)
1943 – Ōnishiki Daigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 28th Yokozuna (b. 1883)
1947 – Hal Chase, American baseball player and manager (b. 1883)
1955 – Mary McLeod Bethune, American educator and activist (b. 1875)
1956 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (b. 1895)
1958 – Jacob Fichman, Israeli poet and critic (b. 1881)
1963 – Ernie Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1939)
1968 – Frank Walsh, Australian politician, 34th Premier of South Australia (b. 1897)
1971 – Aleksandr Gennadievich Kurosh, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1908)
1973 – Jeannette Rankin, American social worker and politician (b. 1880)
1974 – Harry Ricardo, English engine designer and researcher (b. 1885)
1975 – Leroy Anderson, American composer and conductor (b. 1908)
1980 – Victims of Mount St. Helens eruption:
- Reid Blackburn, American photographer and journalist (b. 1952)
- David A. Johnston, American volcanologist and geologist (b. 1949)
1980 – Ian Curtis, English singer-songwriter (b. 1956)
1981 – Arthur O’Connell, American actor (b. 1908)
1981 – William Saroyan, American novelist, playwright, and short story writer (b. 1908)
1987 – Mahdi Amel, Lebanese journalist, poet, and academic (b. 1936)
1989 – Dorothy Ruth, American horse breeder and author (b. 1921)
1990 – Jill Ireland, English actress (b. 1936)
1995 – Elisha Cook, Jr., American actor (b. 1903)
1995 – Alexander Godunov, Russian-American ballet dancer and actor (b. 1949)
1995 – Brinsley Le Poer Trench, 8th Earl of Clancarty, Irish ufologist and historian (b. 1911)
1995 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (b. 1933)
1998 – Obaidullah Aleem, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (b. 1939)
1999 – Augustus Pablo, Jamaican singer, keyboard player, and producer (b. 1954)
1999 – Betty Robinson, American runner (b. 1911)
2000 – Stephen M. Wolownik, Russian-American composer and musicologist (b. 1946)
2001 – Irene Hunt, American author and illustrator (b. 1907)
2004 – Elvin Jones, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1927)
2006 – Jaan Eilart, Estonian geographer, ecologist, and historian (b. 1933)
2007 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932)
2008 – Joseph Pevney, American actor and director (b. 1911)
2008 – Roberto García-Calvo Montiel, Spanish judge (b. 1942)
2009 – Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan rebel leader, founded the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (b. 1954)
2012 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (b. 1925)
2012 – Peter Jones, English-Australian drummer and songwriter (b. 1967)
2012 – Alan Oakley, English bicycle designer, designed the Raleigh Chopper (b. 1927)
2013 – Aleksei Balabanov, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1959)
2013 – Jo Benkow, Norwegian soldier and politician (b. 1924)
2013 – Steve Forrest, American actor (b. 1925)
2013 – David McMillan, American football player (b. 1981)
2013 – Lothar Schmid, German chess player (b. 1928)
2014 – Dobrica Ćosić, Serbian politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1921)
2014 – Hans-Peter Dürr, German physicist and academic (b. 1929)
2014 – Kaiketsu Masateru, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1948)
2014 – Chukwuedu Nwokolo, Nigerian physician and academic (b. 1921)
2014 – Wubbo Ockels, Dutch physicist and astronaut (b. 1946)
2015 – Halldór Ásgrímsson, Icelandic accountant and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1947)
2015 – Raymond Gosling, English physicist and academic (b. 1926)
2015 – T. J. Moran, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1930)
2015 – Jean-François Théodore, French businessman (b. 1946)
2017 – Roger Ailes, American businessman (b. 1940)
2017 – Jacque Fresco, American engineer and academic (b. 1916)
2017 – Chris Cornell, American singer (b. 1964)
2020 – Ken Osmond, American actor and the police officer (b. 1943)

Holidays and observances on May 18

Christian feast day:
- Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
- Eric IX of Sweden
- Felix of Cantalice
- Pope John I
- Venantius of Camerino
- May 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Victoria Day (Canada) (Earliest possible date of the last Monday preceding May 25)
Baltic Fleet Day (Russia)
Battle of Las Piedras Day (Uruguay)
Day of Remembrance of Crimean Tatar genocide (Ukraine)
Flag and Universities Day (Haiti)
Independence Day (Somaliland) (unrecognized)
International Museum Day
Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day (Sri Lankan Tamils)
Revival, Unity, and Poetry of Magtymguly Day (Turkmenistan)
Teacher’s Day (Syria)
Victory Day (Sri Lanka)
World AIDS Vaccine Day

May 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanish.
1536 – King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church. In 1539 the Great Bible would be provided for this purpose.
1542 – Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
1659 – English Restoration: A faction of the British Army removes Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth and reinstalls the Rump Parliament.
1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.
1757 – Battle of Prague: A Prussian army fights an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years’ War.
1757 – The end of Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War, and the end of Burmese Civil War (1740–1757).
1757 – English poet Christopher Smart is admitted into St Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics in London, beginning his six-year confinement to mental asylums.
1782 – Construction begins on the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the King of Siam in Bangkok, at the command of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
1801 – Captain Thomas Cochrane in the 14-gun HMS Speedy captures the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo.
1835 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp becomes valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1857 – The East India Company disbands the 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry whose sepoy Mangal Pandey had earlier revolted against the British in the lead up to the War of Indian Independence.
1861 – American Civil War: Arkansas secedes from the Union.
1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with the defeat of the Army of the Potomac by the Army of Northern Virginia.
1877 – Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Lakota surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.
1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish are stabbed to death by Fenian assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
1882 – The United States Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act.
1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
1906 – The Russian Constitution of 1906 is adopted (on April 23 by the Julian calendar).
1910 – George V becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and many overseas territories, on the death of his father, Edward VII.
1915 – Babe Ruth, then a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, hits his first major league home run.
1916 – Twenty-one Lebanese nationalists are executed in Martyrs’ Square, Beirut by Djemal Pasha.
1916 – Vietnamese Emperor Duy Tân is captured while calling upon the people to rise up against the French, and is later deposed and exiled to Réunion island.
1933 – The Deutsche Studentenschaft attacked Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, later burning many of its books.
1935 – New Deal: Under the authority of the newly-enacted Federal Emergency Relief Administration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 7034 to create the Works Progress Administration.
1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.
1940 – John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
1941 – At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.
1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
1942 – World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
1945 – World War II: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
1945 – World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.
1949 – EDSAC, the first practical electronic digital stored-program computer, runs its first operation.
1954 – Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes.
1960 – More than 20 million viewers watch the first televised royal wedding when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.
1966 – Myra Hindley and Ian Brady are sentenced to life imprisonment for the Moors murders in England.
1972 – Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
1975 – During a lull in fighting, 100,000 Armenians gather in Beirut for the 60th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
1976 – The 6.5 M_w  Friuli earthquake affected Northern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 900–978 dead and 1,700–2,400 injured.
1983 – The Hitler Diaries are revealed as a hoax after being examined by new experts.
1984 – One hundred three Korean Martyrs are canonized by Pope John Paul II in Seoul.
1988 – All thirty-six passengers and crew were killed when Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into Mt. Torghatten in Brønnøy.
1994 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
1996 – The body of former CIA director William Colby is found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he disappeared.
1997 – The Bank of England is given independence from political control, the most significant change in the bank’s 300-year history.
1998 – Kerry Wood strikes out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens. He threw a one-hitter and did not walk a batter in his fifth career start.
1998 – Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. unveils the first iMac.
1999 – The first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are held.
2001 – During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque.
2002 – Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is assassinated following a radio-interview at the Mediapark in Hilversum.
2010 – In just 36 minutes, the Dow-Jones average plunged nearly 1000 points in what is known as the 2010 Flash Crash.
2013 – Three women, kidnapped and missing for more than a decade, are found alive in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.

Births on May 6

973 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1024)
1464 – Sophia Jagiellon, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Polish princess (d. 1512)
1493 – Girolamo Seripando, Italian theologian and cardinal (d. 1563)
1501 – Marcellus II, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1555)
1574 – Innocent X, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1655)
1580 – Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, French noble (d. 1637)
1635 – Johann Joachim Becher, German physician and alchemist (d. 1682)
1668 – Alain-René Lesage, French author and playwright (d. 1747)
1680 – Jean-Baptiste Stuck, Italian-French cellist and composer (d. 1755)
1713 – Charles Batteux, French philosopher and academic (d. 1780)
1714 – Anton Raaff, German tenor (d. 1797)
1742 – Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and physiologist (d. 1809)
1758 – André Masséna, French general (d. 1817)
1758 – Maximilien Robespierre, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
1769 – Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1824)
1769 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834)
1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (d. 1832)
1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)
1800 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general (d. 1881)
1827 – Hermann Raster, German-American journalist and politician (d. 1891)
1836 – Max Eyth, German engineer and author (d. 1906)
1843 – Grove Karl Gilbert, American geologist and academic (d. 1918)
1848 – Henry Edward Armstrong, English chemist and academic (d. 1937)
1851 – Aristide Bruant, French singer and actor (d. 1925)
1856 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1939)
1856 – Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (d. 1920)
1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and politician, President of the Indian National Congress (d. 1931)
1868 – Gaston Leroux, French journalist and author (d. 1927)
1869 – Junnosuke Inoue, Japanese businessman and central banker, 8th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (d. 1932)
1870 – Walter Rutherford, Scottish golfer (d. 1936)
1871 – Victor Grignard, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1935)
1871 – Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (d. 1914)
1872 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1934)
1872 – Djemal Pasha, Ottoman general (d. 1922)
1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
1879 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (d. 1929)
1880 – Winifred Brunton, English-South African painter and illustrator (d. 1959)
1880 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German-Swiss painter (d. 1938)
1883 – Alberto Collo, Italian actor (d. 1955)
1895 – Júlio César de Mello e Souza, Brazilian mathematician and author (d. 1974)
1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian soldier and politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (d. 1946)
1895 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (d. 1926)
1896 – Rolf Maximilian Sievert, Swedish physicist and academic (d. 1966)
1897 – Paul Alverdes, German author and poet (d. 1979)
1898 – Konrad Henlein, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1945)
1902 – Harry Golden, Ukrainian-American journalist and author (d. 1981)
1902 – Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (d. 1957)
1903 – Toots Shor, American businessman, founded Toots Shor’s Restaurant (d. 1977)
1904 – Moshé Feldenkrais, Ukrainian-Israeli physicist and academic (d. 1984)
1904 – Catherine Lacey, English actress (d. 1979)
1904 – Harry Martinson, Swedish novelist, essayist, and poet Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
1905 – Philip N. Krasne, American lawyer and producer (d. 1999)
1906 – André Weil, French mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
1907 – Weeb Ewbank, American football player and coach (d. 1998)
1911 – Guy des Cars, French journalist and author (d. 1993)
1913 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (d. 1989)
1913 – Stewart Granger, English-American actor (d. 1993)
1915 – Orson Welles, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1985)
1915 – Theodore H. White, American historian, journalist, and author (d. 1986)
1916 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (d. 1997)
1917 – Kal Mann, American songwriter (d. 2001)
1918 – Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, emir of Abu Dhabi and first president of the United Arab Emirates (d. 2004)
1919 – André Guelfi, French race car driver (d. 2016)
1920 – Kamisese Mara, Fijian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Fiji (d. 2004)
1920 – Marguerite Piazza, American soprano and actress (d. 2012)
1921 – Erich Fried, Austrian-German author, poet, and translator (d. 1988)
1922 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1999)
1923 – Harry Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2002)
1924 – Nestor Basterretxea, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 2014)
1924 – Patricia Helen Kennedy, American socialite, activist, and author (d. 2006)
1924 – Denny Wright, English guitarist, composer, and producer (d. 1992)
1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Canadian politician, co-founded the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
1929 – Rosemary Cramp, English archaeologist and academic
1929 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1929 – John Taylor, English bishop and theologian (d. 2016)
1931 – Willie Mays, American baseball player and coach
1931 – Louis Gambaccini, American government official (d. 2018)
1932 – Ahmet Haxhiu, Kosovan activist (d. 1994)
1932 – Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, English lieutenant and politician (d. 2020)
1934 – Richard Shelby, American lawyer and politician
1937 – Rubin Carter, American-Canadian boxer (d. 2014)
1938 – Jean Garon, Canadian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 2014)
1939 – Eddie C. Campbell, American singer and guitarist (d. 2018)
1939 – Chet Allen, American child actor (d. 1984)
1942 – Ariel Dorfman, Argentinian author, playwright, and academic
1943 – Andreas Baader, German terrorist, co-founded the Red Army Faction (d. 1977)
1943 – Milton William Cooper, American theorist and author (d. 2001)
1943 – Wolfgang Reinhardt, German pole vaulter (d. 2011)
1943 – James Turrell, American sculptor and illustrator
1944 – Anton Furst, English-American production designer and art director (d. 1991)
1944 – Masanori Murakami, Japanese baseball player and coach
1945 – Jimmie Dale Gilmore, American country singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, and producer
1945 – Bob Seger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1947 – Alan Dale, New Zealand actor
1947 – Martha Nussbaum, American philosopher and author
1947 – Ljubomir Vračarević, Serbian martial artist, founded Real Aikido (d. 2013)
1948 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2013)
1950 – Jeffery Deaver, American journalist and author
1951 – Samuel Doe, Liberian sergeant and politician, 21st President of Liberia (d. 1990)
1952 – Gerrit Zalm, Dutch economist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1953 – Alexander Akimov, Ukrainian Chernobyl worker (d. 1986)
1953 – Tony Blair, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1953 – Michelle Courchesne, Canadian urban planner and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
1953 – Ülle Rajasalu, Estonian politician
1953 – Graeme Souness, Scottish international footballer and manager
1953 – Lynn Whitfield, American actress and producer
1954 – Tom Abernethy, American basketball player
1954 – Dora Bakoyannis, Greek politician, 120th Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
1954 – Angela Hernández Nuñez, Dominican author and poet
1954 – Ain Lutsepp, Estonian actor and politician
1955 – Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Armagh
1955 – Tom Bergeron, American television host
1955 – John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
1956 – Lakis Lazopoulos, Greek actor and screenwriter
1956 – Cindy Lovell, American educator and writer
1956 – Roland Wieser, German race walker and coach
1958 – Randall Stout, American architect, designed the Taubman Museum of Art (d. 2014)
1959 – Andreas Busse, German runner
1959 – Charles Hendry, English politician
1960 – Lyudmila Andonova, Bulgarian high jumper
1960 – Keith Dowding, English political scientist, philosopher, and academic
1960 – Roma Downey, Irish-American actress and producer
1960 – John Flansburgh, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Aleksei Lotman, Estonian biologist and politician
1960 – Anne Parillaud, French actress
1961 – Oleksandr Apaychev, Ukrainian decathlete and coach
1961 – George Clooney, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Tom Hunter, Scottish businessman and philanthropist
1961 – Gina Riley, Australian actress, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Frans Timmermans, Dutch politician and diplomat, First Vice President of the European Commission
1962 – Tom Brake, English politician
1962 – Brad Izzard, Australian rugby league player
1963 – Alessandra Ferri, Italian ballerina
1965 – Leslie Hope, Canadian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Worku Bikila, Ethiopian runner
1968 – Lætitia Sadier, French singer and keyboard player
1969 – Jim Magilton, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1970 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
1970 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
1971 – Chris Shiflett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1972 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Naoko Takahashi, Japanese runner
1974 – Bernard Barmasai, Kenyan runner
1974 – Daniela Bártová, Czech pole vaulter and gymnast
1975 – Alan Richardson, English cricketer and coach
1976 – Dean Chandler, English footballer
1976 – Iván de la Peña, Spanish footballer
1977 – Christophe Brandt, Belgian cyclist
1977 – Marc Chouinard, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Mark Eaton, American ice hockey player and coach
1977 – Chantelle Newbery, Australian diver
1978 – John Abraham, American football player
1978 – Tony Estanguet, French slalom canoeist
1978 – Fredrick Federley, Swedish journalist and politician
1978 – Alexandr Fedorov, Russian bodybuilder
1979 – Gerd Kanter, Estonian discus thrower
1979 – Jan Erik Mikalsen, Norwegian composer
1979 – Jon Montgomery, Canadian skeleton racer and television host
1980 – Brooke Bennett, American swimmer
1980 – Dimitris Diamantidis, Greek professional basketball player
1980 – Ricardo Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Matthew Whiley, English cricketer
1982 – Jason Witten, American football player
1983 – Dani Alves, Brazilian footballer
1983 – Ingrid Jonach, Australian author
1983 – Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
1983 – Trinley Thaye Dorje, Tibetan religious leader, the 17th Karmapa Lama
1983 – Fredrik Sjöström, Swedish ice hockey player
1984 – Anton Babchuk, Ukrainian ice hockey player
1984 – Juan Pablo Carrizo, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
1986 – Goran Dragic, Slovenian basketball player
1987 – Dries Mertens, Belgian footballer
1987 – Meek Mill, American rapper
1987 – Adrienne Warren, American actress
1988 – Ryan Anderson, American basketball player
1988 – Dakota Kai, New Zealander profesional wrestler
1989 – Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player
1989 – Jesse Hughes, Canadian DJ and producer
1990 – José Altuve, Venezuelan baseball player
1992 – Brendan Gallagher, Canadian ice hockey player
1992 – Byun Baekhyun, South Korean musician and actor
1992 – Jonas Valančiūnas, Lithuanian professional basketball player
1993 – Gustavo Gómez, Paraguayan footballer
1994 – Mateo Kovačić, Austrian-Croatian footballer
1997 – Duncan Scott, Scottish swimmer
2019 – Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, British royal

Deaths on May 6

698 – Eadberht, bishop of Lindisfarne
850 – Ninmyō, Japanese emperor (b. 808)
932 – Qian Liu, Chinese warlord and king (b. 852)
988 – Dirk II, count of Frisia and Holland
1002 – Ealdwulf, Archbishop of York, Abbot of Peterborough and Bishop of Worcester
1187 – Ruben III, Prince of Armenia (b. 1145)
1236 – Roger of Wendover, Benedictine monk and chronicler
1471 – Edmund Beaufort, English commander (b. 1438)
1471 – Thomas Tresham, Speaker of the House of Commons
1475 – Dieric Bouts, Flemish painter (b. 1415)
1483 – Queen Jeonghui, Korean regent (b. 1418)
1502 – James Tyrrell, English knight (b. 1450)
1527 – Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne (b.1490)
1540 – Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (b. 1492)
1596 – Giaches de Wert, Flemish-Italian composer (b. 1535)
1631 – Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, English historian and politician, founded the Cotton library (b. 1570)
1638 – Cornelius Jansen, Dutch-French bishop and theologian (b. 1585)
1708 – François de Laval, French-Canadian bishop (b. 1623)
1757 – Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1683)
1757 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (b. 1684)
1782 – Christine Kirch, German astronomer and academic (b. 1696)
1840 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (b. 1792)
1859 – Alexander von Humboldt, German geographer and explorer (b. 1769)
1862 – Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher (b. 1817)
1877 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Swedish-Finnish poet and hymn-writer (b. 1804)
1882 – Thomas Henry Burke, Irish civil servant (b. 1829)
1882 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, British politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (b. 1836)
1902 – Bret Harte, American author and poet (b. 1836)
1905 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (b. 1831)
1907 – Emanuele Luigi Galizia, Maltese architect and civil engineer (b. 1830)
1910 – Edward VII of the United Kingdom (b. 1841)
1919 – L. Frank Baum, American novelist (b. 1856)
1939 – Konstantin Somov, Russian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1869)
1949 – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian-French poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
1951 – Élie Cartan, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1869)
1952 – Maria Montessori, Italian-Dutch physician and educator (b. 1870)
1959 – Maria Dulęba, Polish actress (b. 1881)
1959 – Ragnar Nurkse, Estonian-American economist and academic (b. 1907)
1961 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (b. 1895)
1963 – Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and engineer (b. 1881)
1963 – Ted Weems, American violinist, trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1901)
1963 – Monty Woolley, American raconteur, actor, and director (b. 1888)
1967 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (b. 1885)
1970 – Alexander Rodzyanko, Russian general (b. 1879)
1973 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (b. 1893)
1975 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1892)
1980 – María Luisa Bombal, Chilean writer (b. 1910)
1983 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (b. 1916)
1983 – Kai Winding, Danish-American trombonist and composer (b. 1922)
1984 – Mary Cain, American journalist and politician (b. 1904)
1984 – Bonner Pink, English politician (b. 1912)
1987 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (b. 1913)
1989 – Earl Blaik, American football player and coach (b. 1897)
1990 – Charles Farrell, American actor (b. 1901)
1991 – Wilfrid Hyde-White, English actor (b. 1903)
1992 – Marlene Dietrich, German-American actress and singer (b. 1901)
1993 – Ann Todd, English actress and producer (b. 1909)
1995 – Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1956)
2000 – Gordon McClymont, Australian ecologist and academic (b. 1920)
2002 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1906)
2002 – Otis Blackwell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1932)
2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch sociologist, academic, and politician (b. 1948)
2002 – Bjørn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (b. 1940)
2003 – Art Houtteman, American baseball player and journalist (b. 1927)
2004 – Virginia Capers, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
2004 – Philip Kapleau, American monk and educator (b. 1912)
2004 – Barney Kessel, American guitarist and composer (b. 1923)
2006 – Grant McLennan, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
2006 – Lorne Saxberg, Canadian journalist (b. 1958)
2007 – Enéas Carneiro, Brazilian physician and politician (b. 1938)
2007 – Curtis Harrington, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
2009 – Kevin Grubb, American race car driver (b. 1978)
2010 – Robin Roberts, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
2012 – James R. Browning, American lieutenant, lawyer, and judge (b. 1918)
2012 – James Isaac, American director and producer (b. 1960)
2012 – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and author (b. 1924)
2013 – Giulio Andreotti, Italian journalist and politician, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1919)
2013 – Severo Aparicio Quispe, Peruvian bishop (b. 1923)
2013 – Michelangelo Spensieri, Italian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1949)
2014 – Wil Albeda, Dutch economist and politician, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs (b. 1925)
2014 – William H. Dana, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
2014 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (b. 1940)
2014 – Billy Harrell, American baseball player and scout (b. 1928)
2014 – Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1921)
2014 – Maria Lassnig, Austrian painter and academic (b. 1919)
2014 – Farley Mowat, Canadian environmentalist and author (b. 1921)
2015 – Novera Ahmed, Bangladeshi sculptor (b. 1930)
2015 – Denise McCluggage, American race car driver and journalist (b. 1927)
2015 – Jim Wright, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1922)
2016 – Patrick Ekeng, Cameroonian footballer (b. 1990)
2016 – Reg Grundy, Australian businessman (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances on May 6

Christian Feast Day:
- Dominic Savio
- Evodius of Antioch (Roman Catholic Church)
- François de Laval
- Gerard of Lunel
- Lucius of Cyrene
- Petronax of Monte Cassino
- St George’s Day related observances (Eastern Orthodox Church):
  - Day of Bravery, also known as Gergyovden (Bulgaria)
  - Đurđevdan (Gorani, Roma)
  - Police Day (Georgia)
  - Yuri’s Day in the Spring (Russian Orthodox Church)
- St John before the Latin Gate
- May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Military Spouse Day can fall, while May 12 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Mother’s Day (United States)
International No Diet Day
Martyrs’ Day (Gabon)
Martyrs’ Day (Lebanon and Syria)
Teachers’ Day (Jamaica)
The first day of Hıdırellez (Turkey)

May 6 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

May 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day / admin

1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales.
1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
1814 – Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
1814 – King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism.
1836 – Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians
1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England.
1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate is fought in Japan.
1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1886 – Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
1912 – Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes.
1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan.
1926 – The United Kingdom general strike begins.
1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is incorporated.
1932 – In Atlanta, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day. It encompasses all Wehrmacht units in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany.
1946 – In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Five people are killed in the riot.
1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash.
1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
1959 – The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held.
1961 – American civil rights movement: The “Freedom Riders” begin a bus trip through the South.
1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km).
1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam.
1972 – The Don’t Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to “Greenpeace Foundation”.
1978 – The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people.
1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.
1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal.
1990 – Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.
1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London).
2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale.
2014 – Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya.

Births on May 4

1006 – Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian mystic and poet (d. 1088)
1008 – Henry I, king of France (d. 1060)
1559 – Alice Spencer, English noblewoman (d. 1637)
1634 – Katherine Ferrers, English aristocrat and heiress (d. 1660)
1649 – Chhatrasal, Indian ruler (d. 1731)
1654 – Kangxi Emperor, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty
1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (d. 1731)
1677 – Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, French noblewoman (d.1749)
1715 – Richard Graves, English minister and author (d. 1804)
1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (d. 1799)
1752 – John Brooks, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
1757 – Manuel Tolsá, Spanish sculptor and first director of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City (d. 1816)
1767 – Tyagaraja, Indian composer (d. 1847)
1770 – François Gérard, French painter (d. 1837)
1772 – Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
1796 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (d. 1859)
1796 – William Pennington, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of New Jersey, 23rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1862)
1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian and scholar (d. 1859)
1820 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
1820 – John Whiteaker, American soldier, judge, and politician, 1st Governor of Oregon (d. 1902)
1822 – Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian physician and politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1915)
1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anatomist, and academic (d. 1895)
1825 – Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American historian, photographer, and academic (d. 1908)
1826 – Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
1827 – John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer (d. 1864)
1851 – Thomas Dewing, American painter (d. 1938)
1852 – Alice Liddell, English model (d. 1934)
1855 – Greyfriars Bobby, faithful dog (d. 1872)
1883 – Wang Jingwei, Chinese politician (d. 1944)
1884 – Richard Baggallay, English army officer and cricketer (d. 1975)
1887 – Andrew Dasburg, French-American painter (d. 1979)
1889 – Francis Spellman, American cardinal (d. 1967)
1890 – Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (d. 1945)
1902 – Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (d. 1986)
1902 – Cola Debrot, Dutch physician, lawyer, and politician (d. 1981)
1903 – Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
1903 – Paul Demel, Czech actor (d. 1951)
1905 – Al Dexter, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
1906 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1987)
1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American soldier and playwright, co-founded the New York City Ballet (d. 1996)
1907 – Walter Walsh, American target shooter and FBI agent (d. 2014)
1908 – Wolrad Eberle, German decathlete (d. 1949)
1911 – Evald Seepere, Estonian boxer (d. 1990)
1913 – John Broome, American author (d. 1999)
1913 – Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (d. 2007)
1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
1916 – Richard Proenneke, American soldier, carpenter, and meteorologist (d. 2003)
1917 – Edward T. Cone, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
1917 – Nick Joaquin, Filipino writer, journalist and historian (d. 2004)
1918 – Tom Mead, Australian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
1918 – Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese soldier and politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1993)
1919 – Dory Funk, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1973)
1919 – Basil Yamey, South African-English economist and academic
1921 – Patsy Garrett, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
1921 – John van Kesteren, Dutch-American tenor and actor (d. 2008)
1921 – Edo Murtić, Croatian painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 2005)
1922 – Paul-Émile Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 2014)
1922 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic (d. 2015)
1923 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (d. 2006)
1923 – Ed Cassidy, American jazz and rock drummer (d. 2012)
1923 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and producer (d. 1986)
1923 – Eric Sykes, British actor and comedian (d. 2012)
1923 – John Toner, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1925 – Jenő Buzánszky, Hungarian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman and philanthropist
1926 – David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon, English politician
1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (d. 2006)
1928 – Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, translator, and publisher
1928 – Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt (d. 2020)
1928 – Betsy Rawls, American golfer
1928 – Wolfgang von Trips, German race car driver (d. 1961)
1929 – Manuel Contreras, Chilean general (d. 2015)
1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-British actress and humanitarian (d. 1993)
1930 – Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family
1930 – Roberta Peters, American soprano (d. 2017)
1931 – Jan Pesman, Dutch speed skater (d. 2014)
1931 – Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor and educator (d. 2018)
1931 – Thomas Stuttaford, English physician, journalist, and politician (d. 2018)
1932 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
1932 – Alexander MacAra, Scottish epidemiologist and academic (d. 2012)
1933 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist and educator (d. 2007)
1936 – El Cordobés, Spanish bullfighter
1936 – Med Hondo, Mauritanian filmmaker and actor (d. 2019)
1937 – Ron Carter, American bassist and educator
1937 – Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (d. 2019)
1937 – Wim Verstappen, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
1938 – Tyrone Davis, American blues and soul singer (d. 2005)
1938 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist, author, and critic (d. 2010)
1938 – Gillian Tindall, English historian and author
1939 – Neil Fox, English rugby league player and coach
1939 – Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author (d. 2018)
1939 – Leon Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player
1940 – Robin Cook, American physician and author
1940 – Peter Gregg, American race car driver and businessman (d. 1980)
1941 – George Will, American journalist and author
1942 – Nickolas Ashford, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2011)
1943 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (d. 1971)
1943 – Mihail Chemiakin, Russian painter and sculptor
1943 – Prasanta Pattanaik, Indian economist and academic
1944 – Steve Liebmann, Australian radio and television host
1944 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress (d. 2019)
1945 – Jan Mulder, Dutch footballer and journalist
1946 – John Barnard, English car designer
1946 – Gary Bauer, American political activist
1946 – John Watson, British race car driver
1947 – John Bosley, Canadian businessman and politician, 31st Canadian Speaker of the House of Commons
1947 – Ronald Sørensen, Dutch historian and politician
1947 – Trivimi Velliste, Estonian politician, 17th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1948 – Alison Britton, English sculptor and educator
1948 – Hurley Haywood, American race car driver
1948 – King George Tupou V of Tonga, (d. 2012)
1949 – Graham Swift, English novelist and short story writer
1950 – Darryl Hunt, English bass player
1951 – Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
1951 – Colleen Hanabusa, American lawyer and politician
1951 – Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
1952 – Belinda Green, Australian beauty queen and 1972 Miss World
1953 – Pia Zadora, American actress and singer
1954 – Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino pianist, composer, and conductor
1956 – Michael L. Gernhardt, American astronaut and engineer
1956 – David Guterson, American novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist
1956 – Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach
1957 – Jaak Huimerind, Estonian architect
1957 – Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier
1957 – Peter Sleep, Australian cricketer
1957 – Marijke Vos, Dutch educator and politician
1958 – Delbert Fowler, American football player
1958 – Keith Haring, American painter (d. 1990)
1958 – Jane Kennedy, English politician
1958 – Caroline Spelman, English politician, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
1959 – Valdemaras Chomičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
1959 – Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1959 – Bob Tway, American golfer
1960 – Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria
1961 – Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer
1964 – Silvia Costa, Cuban high jumper
1966 – Gary Elkins, English footballer and manager
1966 – Jane McGrath, English-Australian activist, co-founded the McGrath Foundation (d. 2008)
1967 – Kate Garraway, English journalist
1967 – Ana Gasteyer, American actress and singer
1969 – Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Franz Resch, Austrian footballer and manager
1970 – Gregg Alexander, American singer-songwriter and producer
1970 – Will Arnett, Canadian actor and producer
1970 – Giovanni Mirabassi, Italian jazz musician
1970 – Dawn Staley, American basketball player
1970 – Paul Wiseman, New Zealand cricketer and coach
1971 – Joe Borowski, American baseball player and sportscaster
1971 – Miles Stewart, Australian triathlete
1972 – Manny Aybar, Dominican baseball player
1972 – Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter
1973 – Matthew Barnaby, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1973 – Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach
1973 – John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1974 – Miguel Cairo, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
1974 – Tony McCoy, Northern Irish jockey and sportscaster
1976 – Ben Grieve, American baseball player
1976 – Rory Hamill, Northern Irish international footballer
1976 – Jason Michaels, American baseball player
1976 – Indrek Visnapuu, Estonian basketball player and coach
1977 – John Tripp, Canadian-German ice hockey player
1978 – Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist
1978 – Igor Biscan, Croatian footballer
1978 – Brett Burton, Australian footballer
1978 – Vladimíra Uhlířová, Czech tennis player
1979 – Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, and producer
1979 – Kristin Harmel, American journalist and author
1979 – Marie Poissonnier, French pole vaulter
1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player
1980 – Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
1981 – Dallon Weekes, American singer-songwriter and musician
1982 – Kleopas Giannou, Greek footballer
1982 – Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
1982 – Giorgos Tsiaras, Greek basketball player
1983 – Dan Christian, Australian cricketer
1983 – Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Robert Zwinkels, Dutch footballer
1984 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (d. 2007)
1984 – Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee
1984 – Sarah Meier, Swiss figure skater
1984 – Montell Owens, American football player
1984 – Kevin Slowey, American baseball player
1985 – Ravi Bopara, English cricketer
1985 – Anthony Fedorov, Ukrainian-born American singer and actor
1985 – Fernandinho, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Lester “Bo” McCalebb, American-Macedonian professional basketball player
1985 – Jamie Adenuga, English MC and rapper
1986 – Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – George Hill, American basketball player
1987 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer
1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
1988 – Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer
1989 – Dániel Gyurta, Hungarian swimmer
1989 – Henna Lindholm, Finnish figure skater
1989 – Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer
1989 – Aris Tatarounis, Greek basketball player
1989 – James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
1990 – Irina Falconi, American tennis player
1990 – Ryan Morgan, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Duvashen Padayachee, Australian race car driver
1990 – Andrea Torres, Filipino actress and model
1991 – Brianne Jenner, Canadian women’s ice hockey player
1992 – Victor Oladipo, American basketball player
1993 – Jānis Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
1994 – Abi Masatora, Japanese sumo wrestler
1994 – Joseph Tapine, New Zealand rugby league player
1996 – Pelayo Roza, Spanish sprint canoeist

Deaths on May 4

408 – Venerius, archbishop of Milan
784 – Arbeo, bishop of Freising
1003 – Herman II, duke of Swabia
1038 – Gotthard of Hildesheim, German bishop (b. 960)
1406 – Coluccio Salutati, chancellor of Florence (b. 1331)
1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader
1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, son and heir of Henry VI of England (b. 1453)
1471 – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset (b. 1438)
1483 – George Neville, Duke of Bedford (b. 1457)
1506 – Husayn Mirza Bayqara, Timurid ruler of Herat (b. 1438)
1519 – Lorenzo de’ Medici, duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
1535 – John Houghton, Carthusian monk and saint
1562 – Lelio Sozzini, Italian Protestant theologian (b. 1525)
1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
1571 – Pierre Viret, Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1511)
1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (b. 1533)
1605 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (b. 1522)
1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish priest and mathematician (b. 1561)
1626 – Arthur Lake, English bishop and scholar (b. 1569)
1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (b. 1630)
1684 – John Nevison, English criminal (b. 1639)
1729 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
1734 – James Thornhill, English painter and politician (b. 1675)
1737 – Eustace Budgell, English journalist and politician (b. 1686)
1774 – Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Prussian nobleman (b. 1714)
1776 – Jacques Saly, French painter and sculptor (b. 1717)
1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American politician (b. 1718)
1799 – Tipu, ruler of Mysore (b. 1750)
1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
1816 – Samuel Dexter, American lawyer and politician, 4th United States Secretary of War, 3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1761)
1824 – Joseph Joubert, French author (b. 1754)
1826 – Sebastián Kindelán y O’Regan, colonial governor of East Florida, Santo Domingo and Cuba (b. 1757)
1839 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b. 1784)
1858 – Aimé Bonpland, French botanist and explorer (b. 1773)
1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1771)
1880 – Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
1901 – John Jones Ross, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (b. 1831)
1903 – Gotse Delchev, Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary IMRO (b. 1872)
1912 – Nettie Stevens, American geneticist credited with discovering sex chromosomes (b. 1861)
1916 – Ned Daly, Irish rebel commander (Easter Rising) (b. 1891)
1916 – John Murray, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of Victoria (b. 1851)
1916 – Joseph Plunkett, Irish rebel and writer (b. 1887)
1916 – Willie Pearse, Irish rebel (b. 1891)
1919 – Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general and politician (b. 1880)
1922 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (b. 1888)
1923 – Ralph McKittrick, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1877)
1924 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (b. 1858)
1938 – Kanō Jigorō, Japanese founder of judo (b. 1860)
1938 – Carl von Ossietzky, German journalist and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
1941 – Chris McKivat, Australian rugby player and coach (b. 1880)
1945 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (b. 1880)
1953 – Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (b. 1876)
1955 – George Enescu, Romanian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1881)
1964 – Karl Robert Pusta, Estonian politician, 4th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1883)
1969 – Osbert Sitwell, English-Italian author and poet (b. 1892)
1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
1973 – Jane Bowles, American author and playwright (b. 1917)
1975 – Moe Howard, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (b. 1897)
1976 – Frank Strahan, Australian public servant (b. 1886)
1980 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav field marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
1981 – C. Loganathan, Sri Lankan banker (b. 1913)
1983 – Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (b. 1911)
1984 – Diana Dors, English actress (b. 1931)
1985 – Fikri Sönmez, Turkish tailor and politician (b. 1938)
1985 – Clarence Wiseman, English-Canadian 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
1987 – Paul Butterfield, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1942)
1987 – Cathryn Damon, American actress (b. 1930)
1988 – Lillian Estelle Fisher, American historian of Spanish America (b. 1891)
1990 – Emily Remler, American guitarist (b. 1957)
1991 – Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer-songwriter and mandolin player (b. 1902)
1992 – Gregor Mackenzie, Scottish politician (b. 1927)
1993 – France Štiglic, Slovenian film director and screenwriter (b. 1919)
1995 – Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (b. 1922)
2000 – Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist and academic (b. 1909)
2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American model, wife of Robert Blake (b. 1956)
2004 – David Reimer, Canadian victim of a botched circumcision and transgender reassignment surgery (b. 1965)
2005 – David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (b. 1930)
2008 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (b. 1918)
2009 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1933)
2011 – Sammy McCrory, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1924)
2012 – Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1923)
2012 – Bob Stewart, American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (b. 1920)
2012 – Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (b. 1964)
2012 – Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (b. 1963)
2013 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (b. 1918)
2013 – Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
2013 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (b. 1948)
2013 – Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (b. 1935)
2013 – Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (b. 1914)
2013 – César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban guitarist and composer (b. 1922)
2014 – Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (b. 1924)
2014 – Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (b. 1983)
2014 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923)
2014 – Helga Königsdorf, German physicist and author (b. 1938)
2014 – Ross Lonsberry, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1947)
2014 – Jean-Paul Ngoupandé, Central African politician, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1948)
2015 – William Bast, American screenwriter and author (b. 1931)
2015 – Ellen Albertini Dow, American actress (b. 1913)
2015 – Marv Hubbard, American football player (b. 1946)
2016 – Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Burundian politician (b. 1946)
2020 – Don Shula, American football player and coach (b. 1930)
2020 – Greg Zanis, American carpenter and activist (b. 1950)

Holidays and observances on May 4

Anti-Bullying Day (United Nations)
Bird Day (United States)
Cassinga Day (Namibia)
Christian feast day:
- Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla
- Blessed Michal Giedroyc
- English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era (Church of England)
- F. C. D. Wyneken (Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)
- Florian
- Gotthard of Hildesheim
- José María Rubio
- Judas Cyriacus
- Monica of Hippo (1960 Roman Catholic Calendar)
- Sacerdos of Limoges
- Venerius of Milan
- May 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Dave Brubeck Day
Death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik Day (Slovakia)
Greenery Day (Japan)
International Firefighters’ Day
May Fourth Movement commemorations:
- Literary Day (Republic of China)
- Youth Day (China)
Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled (Afghanistan)
Remembrance of the Dead (Netherlands)
Restoration of Independence day (Latvia)
Star Wars Day (International observance)
World Give Day
World Naked Gardening Day
Youth Day (Fiji)

May 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day