1754

  • June 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
    • 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II.
    • 923 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
    • 1184 – The naval Battle of Fimreite is won by the Birkebeiner pretender Sverre Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson takes the Norwegian throne and King Magnus V of Norway is killed.
    • 1215 – King John of England puts his seal to Magna Carta.
    • 1219 – Northern Crusades: Danish victory at the Battle of Lindanise (modern-day Tallinn) establishes the Danish Duchy of Estonia.
    • 1246 – With the death of Frederick II, Duke of Austria, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
    • 1300 – The city of Bilbao is founded.
    • 1312 – At the Battle of Rozgony, King Charles I of Hungary wins a decisive victory over the family of Palatine Amade Aba.
    • 1389 – Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.
    • 1410 – In a decisive battle at Onon River, the Mongol forces of Oljei Temur were decimated by the Chinese armies of the Yongle Emperor.
    • 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Martinique on his fourth voyage.
    • 1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in Exsurge Domine.
    • 1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
    • 1667 – The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys.
    • 1670 – The first stone of Fort Ricasoli is laid down in Malta.
    • 1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown).
    • 1776 – Delaware Separation Day: Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania.
    • 1800 – The Provisional Army of the United States is dissolved.
    • 1804 – New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
    • 1808 – Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
    • 1836 – Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
    • 1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
    • 1846 – The Oregon Treaty extends the border between the United States and British North America, established by the Treaty of 1818, westward to the Pacific Ocean.
    • 1859 – Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the “Northwestern Boundary Dispute” between American and British/Canadian settlers.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Petersburg begins.
    • 1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.81 km2) of the Arlington estate (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
    • 1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
    • 1878 – Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.
    • 1888 – Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II; he will be the last Emperor of the German Empire. Due to the death of his predecessors Wilhelm I and Frederick III, 1888 is the Year of the Three Emperors.
    • 1896 – The deadliest tsunami in Japan’s history kills more than 22,000 people.
    • 1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City’s East River kills 1,000.
    • 1916 – United States President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter.
    • 1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
    • 1920 – Following the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, Northern Schleswig is transferred from Germany to Denmark.
    • 1921 – Bessie Coleman earns her pilot’s license, becoming the first female pilot of African-American descent.
    • 1934 – The United States Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
    • 1936 – First flight of the Vickers Wellington bomber.
    • 1937 – A German expedition led by Karl Wien loses sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat. It is the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000m peak.
    • 1940 – World War II: Operation Ariel begins: Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany’s takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
    • 1944 – World War II: The United States invades Saipan, capital of Japan’s South Seas Mandate.
    • 1944 – In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government in North America.
    • 1970 – Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders.
    • 1972 – Red Army Faction co-founder Ulrike Meinhof is captured by police in Langenhagen.
    • 1977 – After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, the first democratic elections took place in Spain.
    • 1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.
    • 1985 – Rembrandt’s painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife.
    • 1991 – In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, killing over 800 people.
    • 1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the United States for trial, without approval from those other countries.
    • 1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
    • 1996 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonates a powerful truck bomb in the middle of Manchester, England, devastating the city centre and injuring 200 people.
    • 2001 – Leaders of the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan formed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
    • 2012 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to successfully tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls.
    • 2013 – A bomb explodes on a bus in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 25 people and wounding 22 others.

    Births on June 15

    • 1330 – Edward, the Black Prince of England (d. 1376)
    • 1479 – Lisa del Giocondo, Italian model, subject of the Mona Lisa (d. 1542)
    • 1519 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1536)
    • 1542 – Richard Grenville, English captain and explorer (d. 1591)
    • 1549 – Elizabeth Knollys, English noblewoman (d. 1605)
    • 1553 – Archduke Ernest of Austria (d. 1595)
    • 1605 – Thomas Randolph, English poet and playwright (d. 1635)
    • 1618 – François Blondel, French architect (d. 1686)
    • 1623 – Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672)
    • 1624 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist and philologist (d. 1704)
    • 1640 – Bernard Lamy, French mathematician and theologian (d. 1715)
    • 1645 – Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, English politician (d. 1712)
    • 1749 – Georg Joseph Vogler, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1814)
    • 1754 – Juan José Elhuyar, Spanish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1796)
    • 1755 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist and entomologist (d. 1809)
    • 1763 – Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1826)
    • 1763 – Kobayashi Issa, Japanese priest and poet (d. 1827)
    • 1765 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician, Mayor of Cincinnati (d. 1831)
    • 1765 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1831)
    • 1767 – Rachel Jackson, American wife of Andrew Jackson (d. 1828)
    • 1777 – David Daniel Davis, Welsh physician and academic (d. 1841)
    • 1789 – Josiah Henson, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1883)
    • 1792 – Thomas Mitchell, Scottish-Australian colonel and explorer (d. 1855)
    • 1801 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American merchant and politician, 3rd Mayor of Chicago (d. 1883)
    • 1805 – William B. Ogden, American businessman and politician, 1st Mayor of Chicago (d. 1877)
    • 1809 – François-Xavier Garneau, Canadian poet and historian (d. 1866)
    • 1835 – Adah Isaacs Menken, American actress, painter, and poet (d. 1868)
    • 1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian pianist and composer (d. 1907)
    • 1848 – Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala, Indian bishop and saint (d. 1902)
    • 1872 – Thomas William Burgess, English swimmer and water polo player (d. 1950)
    • 1875 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-Canadian skier (d. 1987)
    • 1878 – Margaret Abbott, Indian-American golfer (d. 1955)
    • 1881 – Kesago Nakajima, Japanese lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army (d. 1945)
    • 1884 – Harry Langdon, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1944)
    • 1886 – Frank Clement, British racing driver (d. 1970)
    • 1888 – Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet and author (d. 1921)
    • 1890 – Georg Wüst, German oceanographer and academic (d. 1977)
    • 1894 – Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and conductor (d. 1981)
    • 1894 – Nikolai Chebotaryov, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1947)
    • 1898 – Hubertus Strughold, German-American physiologist and academic (d. 1986)
    • 1900 – Gotthard Günther, German philosopher and academic (d. 1984)
    • 1900 – Otto Luening, German-American composer and conductor (d. 1996)
    • 1901 – Elmar Lohk, Russian-Estonian architect (d. 1963)
    • 1902 – Erik Erikson, German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Gordon Welchman, English-American mathematician and author (d. 1985)
    • 1906 – Léon Degrelle, Belgian SS officer (d. 1994)
    • 1907 – James Robertson Justice, English actor and educator (d. 1975)
    • 1909 – Elena Nikolaidi, Greek-American soprano and educator (d. 2002)
    • 1910 – David Rose, English-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Wilbert Awdry, English author, co-created Thomas the Tank Engine (d. 1997)
    • 1913 – Tom Adair, American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
    • 1914 – Yuri Andropov, Russian politician (d. 1984)
    • 1914 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-American cartoonist (d. 1999)
    • 1914 – Hilda Terry, American cartoonist (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – Nini Theilade, Danish ballet dancer, choreographer, and educator (d. 2018)
    • 1915 – Thomas Huckle Weller, American biologist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
    • 1916 – Olga Erteszek, Polish-American fashion designer (d. 1989)
    • 1916 – Horacio Salgán, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2016)
    • 1916 – Herbert A. Simon, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – John Fenn, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
    • 1917 – Michalis Genitsaris, Greek singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1917 – Lash LaRue, American actor and producer (d. 1996)
    • 1918 – François Tombalbaye, Chadian politician, 1st President of Chad (d. 1975)
    • 1920 – Keith Andrews, American race car driver (d. 1957)
    • 1920 – Alla Kazanskaya, Russian actress (d. 2008)
    • 1920 – Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (d. 2012)
    • 1920 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1921 – Erroll Garner, American pianist and composer (d. 1977)
    • 1922 – Jaki Byard, American pianist and composer (d. 1999)
    • 1923 – Erland Josephson, Swedish actor and director (d. 2012)
    • 1923 – Ninian Stephen, English-Australian lieutenant, judge, and politician, 20th Governor-General of Australia (d. 2017)
    • 1924 – Hédi Fried, Swedish author and psychologist
    • 1924 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli general and politician, 7th President of Israel (d. 2005)
    • 1925 – Richard Baker, English journalist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1925 – Attilâ İlhan, Turkish poet, author, and critic (d. 2005)
    • 1926 – Alfred Duraiappah, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician (d. 1975)
    • 1927 – Ross Andru, American illustrator (d. 1993)
    • 1927 – Ibn-e-Insha, Indian-Pakistani poet and author (d. 1978)
    • 1927 – Hugo Pratt, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
    • 1930 – Miguel Méndez, American author and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1930 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1931 – Joseph Gilbert, English air marshal
    • 1931 – Brian Sewell, English art dealer and critic (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – David Alliance, Baron Alliance, Iranian-English businessman and politician
    • 1932 – Mario Cuomo, American lawyer and politician, 52nd Governor of New York (d. 2015)
    • 1932 – Zia Fariduddin Dagar, Indian singer (d. 2013)
    • 1932 – Bernie Faloney, American-Canadian football player and sportscaster (d. 1999)
    • 1933 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Iranian politician, 2nd President of Iran (d. 1981)
    • 1933 – Predrag Koraksić Corax, Serbian political caricaturist
    • 1934 – Ruby Nash Garnett, American R&B singer
    • 1936 – William Levada, American cardinal
    • 1937 – Pierre Billon, Swiss-Canadian author and screenwriter
    • 1937 – Waylon Jennings, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
    • 1938 – Billy Williams, American baseball player and coach
    • 1939 – Ward Connerly, American activist and businessman, founded the American Civil Rights Institute
    • 1941 – Neal Adams, American illustrator
    • 1941 – Harry Nilsson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1942 – Ian Greenberg, Canadian broadcaster, founded Astral Media
    • 1942 – John E. McLaughlin, American diplomat
    • 1942 – Peter Norman, Australian sprinter (d. 2006)
    • 1943 – Johnny Hallyday, French singer and actor (d. 2017)
    • 1943 – Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Danish politician, 38th Prime Minister of Denmark
    • 1944 – Robert D. Keppel, American police officer and academic
    • 1945 – Miriam Defensor Santiago, Filipino judge and politician (d. 2016)
    • 1945 – Robert Sarah, Guinean cardinal
    • 1945 – Lawrence Wilkerson, American colonel
    • 1946 – Noddy Holder, English rock singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
    • 1946 – John Horner, American paleontologist and academic
    • 1946 – Demis Roussos, Egyptian-Greek singer-songwriter and bass player (d. 2015)
    • 1947 – John Hoagland, American photographer and journalist (d. 1984)
    • 1948 – Mike Holmgren, American football player and coach
    • 1948 – Alan Huckle, English politician and diplomat, Governor of Anguilla
    • 1948 – Henry McLeish, Scottish footballer, academic, and politician, 2nd First Minister of Scotland
    • 1949 – Dusty Baker, American baseball player and manager
    • 1949 – Simon Callow, English actor and director
    • 1949 – Russell Hitchcock, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1949 – Jim Varney, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
    • 1950 – Uğur Erdener, Turkish ophthalmologist and professor
    • 1950 – Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Ghanaian nurse and politician
    • 1950 – Deney Terrio, American choreographer and host of the television musical variety series Dance Fever
    • 1950 – Lakshmi Mittal, Indian-English businessman
    • 1951 – Jane Amsterdam, American magazine and newspaper editor (Manhattan, inc., New York Post)
    • 1951 – Vance A. Larson, American painter (d. 2000)
    • 1951 – John Redwood, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1951 – Steve Walsh, American rock singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1952 – Satya Pal Jain, Indian lawyer and politician, Additional Solicitor General of India
    • 1953 – Vilma Bardauskienė, Lithuanian long jumper
    • 1953 – Marc Brickman, American lighting and production designer
    • 1953 – Eje Elgh, Swedish racing driver and sportscaster
    • 1953 – Xi Jinping, Chinese engineer and politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of China
    • 1953 – Raphael Wallfisch, English cellist and educator
    • 1954 – Jim Belushi, American actor
    • 1954 – Terri Gibbs, American country music singer and keyboard player
    • 1954 – Paul Rusesabagina, Rwandan humanitarian
    • 1954 – Zdeňka Šilhavá, Czech discus thrower and shot putter
    • 1954 – Beverley Whitfield, Australian swimmer (d. 1996)
    • 1955 – Polly Draper, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Julie Hagerty, American model and actress
    • 1956 – Yevgeny Kiselyov, Russian-Ukrainian journalist
    • 1956 – Lance Parrish, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1958 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player
    • 1958 – Riccardo Paletti, Italian racing driver (d. 1982)
    • 1959 – Alan Brazil, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
    • 1959 – Eileen Davidson, American model and actress
    • 1960 – Michèle Laroque, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Marieke van Doorn, Dutch field hockey player and coach
    • 1961 – Dave McAuley, Irish boxer and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Scott Norton, American wrestler
    • 1962 – Brad Armstrong, American wrestler (d. 2012)
    • 1962 – Chris Morris, English actor, satirist, director, and producer
    • 1962 – Andrea Rost, Hungarian soprano
    • 1963 – Marina Azyabina, Russian hurdler
    • 1963 – Mario Gosselin, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Helen Hunt, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1964 – Courteney Cox, American actress and producer
    • 1964 – Michael Laudrup, Danish footballer and manager
    • 1965 – Annelies Bredael, Belgian rower
    • 1965 – Karim Massimov, Kazakhstani politician, 7th Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
    • 1965 – Adam Smith, American lawyer and politician
    • 1966 – Raimonds Vējonis, Latvian politician, 9th President of Latvia
    • 1968 – Károly Güttler, Hungarian swimmer
    • 1969 – Jesse Bélanger, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1969 – Ice Cube, American rapper, producer, and actor
    • 1969 – Idalis DeLeón, American singer and actress
    • 1969 – Nasos Galakteros, Greek basketball player
    • 1969 – Oliver Kahn, German footballer and sportscaster
    • 1969 – Maurice Odumbe, Kenyan cricketer
    • 1969 – Cédric Pioline, French tennis player
    • 1970 – Christian Bauman, American soldier and author
    • 1970 – David Bayssari, Australian rugby league player
    • 1970 – Gaëlle Méchaly, French soprano
    • 1970 – Leah Remini, American actress and producer
    • 1970 – Žan Tabak, Croatian basketball player and coach
    • 1971 – Christos Myriounis, Greek basketball player
    • 1971 – Jake Busey, American actor, musician, and film producer
    • 1972 – Justin Leonard, American golfer
    • 1972 – Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
    • 1973 – Tore Andre Flo, Norwegian footballer and coach
    • 1973 – Neil Patrick Harris, American actor and singer
    • 1973 – Pia Miranda, Australian actress
    • 1976 – Jiří Ryba, Czech decathlete
    • 1977 – Michael Doleac, American basketball player and manager
    • 1978 – Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer
    • 1978 – Zach Day, American baseball player
    • 1979 – Yulia Nestsiarenka, Belarusian sprinter
    • 1979 – Christian Rahn, German footballer
    • 1979 – Charles Zwolsman, Jr., Dutch racing driver
    • 1980 – David Lyons, Australian rugby player
    • 1981 – John Paintsil, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1982 – Mike Delany, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1982 – Abdur Razzak, Bangladeshi cricketer
    • 1983 – Julia Fischer, German violinist and pianist[citation needed]
    • 1983 – Laura Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist[citation needed]
    • 1983 – Josh McGuire, Canadian fencer
    • 1984 – Luke Hodge, Australian footballer
    • 1984 – Eva Hrdinová, Czech tennis player
    • 1984 – Tim Lincecum, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Edison Toloza, Colombian footballer
    • 1985 – Ashley Nicole Black, American comedian, actress, and writer
    • 1986 – James Maloney, Australian rugby league player
    • 1986 – Trevor Plouffe, American baseball player
    • 1989 – Víctor Cabedo, Spanish cyclist (d. 2012)
    • 1989 – Bryan Clauson, American race car driver (d. 2016)
    • 1992 – Michał Kopczyński, Polish footballer
    • 1992 – Mohamed Salah, Egyptian footballer
    • 1992 – Dafne Schippers, Dutch heptathlete and sprinter
    • 1993 – Irfan Hadžić, Bosnian footballer
    • 1994 – Inaki Williams, Basque footballer
    • 1997 – Madison Kocian, American gymnast

    Deaths on June 15

    • 923 – Robert I of France (b. 866)
    • 948 – Romanos I Lekapenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. c. 870)
    • 952 – Murong Yanchao, Chinese general
    • 960 – Eadburh of Winchester, English princess and saint
    • 970 – Adalbert, bishop of Passau
    • 991 – Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 960)
    • 1073 – Emperor Go-Sanjō of Japan (b. 1034)
    • 1184 – Magnus Erlingsson, King of Norway (b. 1156)
    • 1189 – Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)
    • 1246 – Frederick II, Duke of Austria (b. 1219)
    • 1337 – Angelo da Clareno, Italian Franciscan and leader of a group of Fraticelli (b. 1247)
    • 1341 – Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1297)
    • 1381 – John Cavendish, English lawyer and judge (b. 1346)
    • 1381 – Wat Tyler, English rebel leader (b. 1341)
    • 1383 – John VI Kantakouzenos, Byzantine emperor (b. 1292)
    • 1383 – Matthew Kantakouzenos, Byzantine emperor
    • 1389 – Lazar of Serbia (b. 1329)
    • 1389 – Murad I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1319)
    • 1389 – Miloš Obilić, Serbian knight.
    • 1416 – John, Duke of Berry (b. 1340)
    • 1467 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1396)
    • 1521 – Tamás Bakócz, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1442)
    • 1614 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English courtier and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1540)
    • 1724 – Henry Sacheverell, English minister and politician (b. 1674)
    • 1768 – James Short, Scottish mathematician and optician (b. 1710)
    • 1772 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (b. 1694)
    • 1844 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet and academic (b. 1777)
    • 1849 – James K. Polk, American lawyer and politician, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
    • 1858 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1888 – Frederick III, German Emperor (b. 1831)
    • 1889 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (b. 1850)
    • 1890 – Unryū Kyūkichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 10th Yokozuna (b. 1822)
    • 1917 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian physicist and academic (b. 1867)
    • 1934 – Alfred Bruneau, French cellist and composer (b. 1857)
    • 1938 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter and illustrator (b. 1880)
    • 1941 – Otfrid Foerster, German neurologist and physician (b. 1873)
    • 1941 – Evelyn Underhill, English mystic and author (b. 1875)
    • 1945 – Count Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein, Austrian diplomat
    • 1961 – Giulio Cabianca, Italian racing driver (b. 1923)
    • 1961 – Peyami Safa, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1899)
    • 1962 – Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1877)
    • 1967 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (b. 1885)
    • 1968 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player, coach, and umpire (b. 1880)
    • 1968 – Wes Montgomery, American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1925)
    • 1971 – Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
    • 1976 – Jimmy Dykes, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1896)
    • 1984 – Meredith Willson, American playwright, composer, and conductor (b. 1902)
    • 1985 – Andy Stanfield, American sprinter (b. 1927)
    • 1989 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1912)
    • 1989 – Ray McAnally, Irish actor (b. 1926)
    • 1991 – Happy Chandler, American businessman and politician, 49th Governor of Kentucky (b. 1898)
    • 1991 – Arthur Lewis, Saint Lucian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
    • 1992 – Chuck Menville, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
    • 1992 – Brett Whiteley, Australian painter (b. 1939)
    • 1993 – John Connally, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 61st United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1917)
    • 1993 – James Hunt, English racing driver and sportscaster (b. 1947)
    • 1994 – Manos Hatzidakis, Greek composer and theorist (b. 1925)
    • 1995 – John Vincent Atanasoff, American physicist and inventor, invented the Atanasoff–Berry computer (b. 1903)
    • 1996 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer and actress (b. 1917)
    • 1996 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Scottish general and politician (b. 1911)
    • 1996 – Dick Murdoch, American wrestler (b. 1946)
    • 1999 – Omer Côté, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1906)
    • 2000 – Jules Roy, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1907)
    • 2001 – Henri Alekan, French cinematographer (b. 1909)
    • 2002 – Choi Hong Hi, South Korean general and martial artist, founded Taekwondo (b. 1918)
    • 2003 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor (b. 1911)
    • 2004 – Ahmet Piriştina, Turkish politician and mayor of İzmir (b. 1952)
    • 2005 – Suzanne Flon, French actress (b. 1918)
    • 2006 – Raymond Devos, Belgian-French comedian and clown (b. 1922)
    • 2006 – Herb Pearson, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1910)
    • 2008 – Ray Getliffe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1914)
    • 2011 – Bill Haast, American herpetologist and academic (b. 1910)
    • 2012 – Phillip D. Cagan, American economist and author (b. 1927)
    • 2012 – Capitola Dickerson, American pianist and educator (b. 1913)
    • 2012 – Barry MacKay, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Israel Nogueda Otero, Mexican economist and politician, 10th Governor of Guerrero (b. 1935)
    • 2012 – Jerry Tubbs, American football player and coach (b. 1935)
    • 2013 – Heinz Flohe, German footballer and manager (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – José Froilán González, Argentinian racing driver (b. 1922)
    • 2013 – Dennis O’Rourke, Australian director and producer (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Kenneth G. Wilson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1936)
    • 2014 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Casey Kasem, American radio host, producer, and voice actor, co-created American Top 40 (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Daniel Keyes, American short story writer and novelist (b. 1927)
    • 2014 – Moise Safra, Brazilian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Banco Safra (b. 1934)
    • 2015 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (b. 1917)
    • 2016 – Lois Duncan, American author (b. 1934)
    • 2018 – Matt “Guitar” Murphy, American Blues guitarist (The Blues Brothers) (b. 1929)
    • 2019 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film director (b. 1923)

    Holidays and observances on June 15

    • Arbor Day (Costa Rica)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Abraham of Clermont (or of St Cyriacus)
      • Alice (or Adelaide) of Schaerbeek
      • Augustine of Hippo (Eastern Orthodox Church)
      • Blessed Albertina Berkenbrock
      • Blessed Clement Vismara
      • Edburga of Winchester
      • Evelyn Underhill (Church of England and The Episcopal Church)
      • Germaine Cousin
      • Landelin (of Crespin or of Lobbes)
      • Trillo
      • Vitus (Guy), Modestus and Crescentia
      • June 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Day of Valdemar and Reunion Day (Flag Day) (Denmark)
    • Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while June 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Sunday in June. (United States, and most other countries.)
    • Engineer’s Day (Italy)
    • Global Wind Day (international)
    • National Beer Day (United Kingdom)
    • National Salvation Day (Azerbaijan)

  • June 14 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1158 – Munich is founded by Henry the Lion on the banks of the river Isar.
    • 1216 – First Barons’ War: Prince Louis of France captures the city of Winchester and soon conquers over half of the Kingdom of England.
    • 1276 – While taking exile in Fuzhou, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Song dynasty court hold the coronation ceremony for Emperor Duanzong.
    • 1285 – Second Mongol invasion of Vietnam: Forces led by Prince Trần Quang Khải of the Trần dynasty destroy most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong Duong.
    • 1287 – Kublai Khan defeats the force of Nayan and other traditionalist Borjigin princes in East Mongolia and Manchuria.
    • 1381 – Richard II of England meets leaders of Peasants’ Revolt at Mile End. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance.
    • 1404 – Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr, having declared himself Prince of Wales, allies himself with the French against King Henry IV of England.
    • 1618 – Joris Veseler prints the first Dutch newspaper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. in Amsterdam (approximate date).
    • 1645 – English Civil War: Battle of Naseby: Twelve thousand Royalist forces are beaten by 15,000 Parliamentarian soldiers.
    • 1667 – The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet in the Second Anglo-Dutch War ends. It had lasted for five days and resulted in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.
    • 1690 – King William III of England (William of Orange) lands in Ireland to confront the former King James II.
    • 1775 – American Revolutionary War: the Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Army.
    • 1777 – The Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777 adopting the Stars and Stripes as the Flag of the United States.
    • 1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an open boat.
    • 1800 – The French Army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy and re-conquers Italy.
    • 1807 – Emperor Napoleon’s French Grande Armée defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Poland (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.
    • 1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the 300 year old Sudanese kingdom to an end.
    • 1822 – Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society.
    • 1830 – Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: Thirty-four thousand French soldiers begin their invasion of Algiers, landing 27 kilometers west at Sidi Fredj.
    • 1839 – Henley Royal Regatta: the village of Henley-on-Thames, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, stages its first regatta.
    • 1846 – Bear Flag Revolt begins: Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Winchester: A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.
    • 1863 – Second Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson during the American Civil War.
    • 1872 – Trade unions are legalized in Canada.
    • 1881 – The White Rajahs territories become the British protectorate of Sarawak.
    • 1900 – Hawaii becomes a United States territory.
    • 1900 – The second German Naval Law calls for the Imperial German Navy to be doubled in size.
    • 1907 – The National Association for Women’s Suffrage succeeds in getting Norwegian women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
    • 1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown depart from St. John’s, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.
    • 1926 – Brazil leaves the League of Nations.
    • 1937 – Pennsylvania becomes the first (and only) state of the United States to celebrate Flag Day officially as a state holiday.
    • 1937 – U.S. House of Representatives passes the Marihuana Tax Act.
    • 1940 – World War II: The German occupation of Paris begins.
    • 1940 – The Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Lithuania resulting in Lithuanian loss of independence.
    • 1940 – Seven hundred twenty-eight Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first inmates of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
    • 1941 – June deportation: the first major wave of Soviet mass deportations and murder of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, begins.
    • 1944 – World War II: After several failed attempts, the British Army abandons Operation Perch, its plan to capture the German-occupied town of Caen.
    • 1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army liberate the captured in Ilocos Sur and start the Battle of Bessang Pass in Northern Luzon.
    • 1949 – Albert II, a rhesus monkey, rides a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 134 km (83 mi), thereby becoming the first monkey in space.
    • 1951 – UNIVAC I is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.
    • 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words “under God” into the United States Pledge of Allegiance.
    • 1955 – Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
    • 1959 – Disneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
    • 1959 – Dominican exiles depart from Cuba and land in the Dominican Republic to overthrow the totalitarian government of Rafael Trujillo. All but four are killed or executed.
    • 1962 – The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris – later becoming the European Space Agency.
    • 1966 – The Vatican announces the abolition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (“index of prohibited books”), which was originally instituted in 1557.
    • 1967 – Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched towards Venus.
    • 1982 – Falklands War: Argentine forces in the capital Stanley conditionally surrender to British forces.
    • 1986 – The Mindbender derails and kills three riders at the Fantasyland (known today as Galaxyland) indoor amusement park in Edmonton, Alberta.
    • 1994 – The 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot occurs after the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup from Vancouver, causing an estimated C$1.1 million, leading to 200 arrests and injuries.
    • 2002 – Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
    • 2014 – A Ukraine military Ilyushin Il-76 airlifter is shot down, killing all 49 people on board.
    • 2017 – London: A fire in a high-rise apartment building in North Kensington leaves 72 people dead and another 74 injured.
    • 2017 – In Alexandria, Virginia, Republican member of Congress and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana is shot while practicing for charity baseball.

    Births on June 14

    • 1444 – Nilakantha Somayaji, Indian astronomer and mathematician (d. 1544)
    • 1463 – Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1514)
    • 1479 – Giglio Gregorio Giraldi, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1552)
    • 1529 – Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (d. 1595)
    • 1627 – Johann Abraham Ihle, German astronomer (d. 1699)
    • 1691 – Jan Francisci, Slovak organist and composer (d. 1758)
    • 1726 – Thomas Pennant, Welsh ornithologist and historian (d. 1798)
    • 1730 – Antonio Sacchini, Italian composer and educator (d. 1786)
    • 1736 – Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist and engineer (d. 1806)
    • 1763 – Simon Mayr, German composer and educator (d. 1845)
    • 1780 – Henry Salt, English historian and diplomat, British Consul-General in Egypt (d. 1827)
    • 1796 – Nikolai Brashman, Czech-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1866)
    • 1798 – František Palacký, Czech historian and politician (d. 1876)
    • 1801 – Heber C. Kimball, American religious leader (d. 1868)
    • 1811 – Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author and activist (d. 1896)
    • 1812 – Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (d. 1881)
    • 1819 – Henry Gardner, American merchant and politician, 23rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1892)
    • 1820 – John Bartlett, American author and publisher (d. 1905)
    • 1829 – Bernard Petitjean, French Roman Catholic missionary to Japan (d. 1884)
    • 1838 – Yamagata Aritomo, Japanese Field Marshal and politician, 3rd and 9th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1922)
    • 1840 – William F. Nast, American businessman (d. 1893)
    • 1848 – Bernard Bosanquet, English philosopher and theorist (d. 1923)
    • 1848 – Max Erdmannsdörfer, German conductor and composer (d. 1905)
    • 1855 – Robert M. La Follette, American lawyer and politician, 20th Governor of Wisconsin (d. 1925)
    • 1856 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1922)
    • 1862 – John Ulric Nef, Swiss-American chemist and academic (d. 1915)
    • 1864 – Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist (d. 1915)
    • 1868 – Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
    • 1868 – Anna B. Eckstein, German peace activist (d. 1947)
    • 1870 – Sophia of Prussia (d. 1932)
    • 1871 – Hermanus Brockmann, Dutch rower (d. 1936)
    • 1871 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish mechanic and engineer (d. 1946)
    • 1872 – János Szlepecz, Slovene priest and author (d. 1936)
    • 1877 – Jane Bathori, French soprano (d. 1970)
    • 1877 – Ida MacLean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society (d. 1944)
    • 1878 – Léon Thiébaut, French fencer (d. 1943)
    • 1879 – Arthur Duffey, American sprinter and coach (d. 1955)
    • 1884 – John McCormack, Irish tenor and actor (d. 1945)
    • 1884 – Georg Zacharias, German swimmer (d. 1953)
    • 1890 – May Allison, American actress (d. 1989)
    • 1894 – Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (d. 1924)
    • 1894 – José Carlos Mariátegui (d. 1930)
    • 1894 – W. W. E. Ross, Canadian geophysicist and poet (d. 1966)
    • 1895 – Jack Adams, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 1968)
    • 1900 – Ruth Nanda Anshen, American writer, editor, and philosopher (d. 2003)
    • 1900 – June Walker, American stage and film actress (d. 1966)
    • 1903 – Alonzo Church, American mathematician and logician (d. 1995)
    • 1903 – Rose Rand, Austrian-American logician and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1980)
    • 1904 – Margaret Bourke-White, American photographer and journalist (d. 1971)
    • 1905 – Steve Broidy, American businessman (d. 1991)
    • 1905 – Arthur Davis, American animator and director (d. 2000)
    • 1907 – Nicolas Bentley, English author and illustrator (d. 1978)
    • 1907 – René Char, French poet and author (d. 1988)
    • 1909 – Burl Ives, American actor and singer (d. 1995)
    • 1910 – Rudolf Kempe, German pianist and conductor (d. 1976)
    • 1913 – Joe Morris, English-Canadian lieutenant and trade union leader (d. 1996)
    • 1916 – Dorothy McGuire, American actress (d. 2001)
    • 1917 – Lise Nørgaard, Danish journalist, author, and screenwriter
    • 1917 – Gilbert Prouteau, French poet and director (d. 2012)
    • 1917 – Atle Selberg, Norwegian-American mathematician and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1918 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (d. 2008)
    • 1919 – Gene Barry, American actor (d. 2009)
    • 1919 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor and director (d. 1993)
    • 1921 – Martha Greenhouse, American actress (d. 2013)
    • 1923 – Judith Kerr, German-English author and illustrator (d. 2019)
    • 1923 – Green Wix Unthank, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (d. 2013)
    • 1924 – James Black, Scottish pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
    • 1925 – Pierre Salinger, American journalist and politician, 11th White House Press Secretary (d. 2004)
    • 1926 – Don Newcombe, American baseball player (d. 2019)
    • 1928 – Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Argentinian-Cuban physician, author, guerrilla leader and politician (d. 1967)
    • 1929 – Cy Coleman, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
    • 1929 – Alan Davidson, Australian cricketer
    • 1929 – Johnny Wilson, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1931 – Marla Gibbs, American actress and comedian
    • 1931 – Ross Higgins, Australian actor (d. 2016)
    • 1931 – Junior Walker, American saxophonist (d. 1995)
    • 1933 – Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-American novelist and screenwriter (d. 1991)
    • 1933 – Vladislav Rastorotsky, Russian gymnast and coach
    • 1936 – Renaldo Benson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
    • 1936 – Irmelin Sandman Lilius, Finnish author, poet, and translator
    • 1938 – Julie Felix, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2020)
    • 1939 – Steny Hoyer, American lawyer and politician
    • 1939 – Peter Mayle, English author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
    • 1939 – Colin Thubron, English journalist and author
    • 1942 – Jonathan Raban, English author and academic
    • 1942 – Roberto García-Calvo Montiel, Spanish judge (d. 2008)
    • 1943 – Barry Burman, English painter and academic (d. 2001)
    • 1943 – Jennifer Gretton, Baroness Gretton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire
    • 1943 – John Miles, English racing driver and journalist
    • 1943 – Harold Wheeler, American composer, conductor, and producer
    • 1944 – Laurie Colwin, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1992)
    • 1945 – Rod Argent, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1945 – Carlos Reichenbach, Brazilian director and producer (d. 2012)
    • 1945 – Richard Stebbins, American sprinter and educator
    • 1946 – Robert Louis-Dreyfus, French-Swiss businessman (d. 2009)
    • 1946 – Tõnu Sepp, Estonian instrument maker and educator
    • 1946 – Donald Trump, American businessman, television personality and 45th President of the United States
    • 1947 – Roger Liddle, Baron Liddle, English politician
    • 1947 – Barry Melton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1947 – Paul Rudolph, Canadian singer, guitarist, and cyclist
    • 1948 – Laurence Yep, American author and playwright
    • 1949 – Jim Lea, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
    • 1949 – Roger Powell, English-Australian scientist and academic
    • 1949 – Antony Sher, South African-British actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1949 – Harry Turtledove, American historian and author
    • 1949 – Alan White, English drummer and songwriter
    • 1950 – Rowan Williams, Welsh archbishop and theologian
    • 1951 – Paul Boateng, English lawyer and politician, British High Commissioner to South Africa
    • 1951 – Danny Edwards, American golfer
    • 1952 – Robert Lepikson, Estonian racing driver and politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior (d. 2006)
    • 1952 – Pat Summitt, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1952 – Leon Wieseltier, American philosopher, journalist, and critic
    • 1953 – Janet Mackey, New Zealand lawyer and politician
    • 1954 – Will Patton, American actor
    • 1955 – Michael D. Duvall, American businessman and politician
    • 1955 – Paul O’Grady, English television host, producer, and drag performer
    • 1955 – Kirron Kher, Indian theatre, film & television actress, TV talk show host, politician and Member of Parliament
    • 1956 – Fred Funk, American golfer and coach
    • 1956 – King Diamond (Kim Bendix Petersen), heavy metal musician
    • 1957 – Suzanne Nora Johnson, American lawyer and businesswoman
    • 1957 – Mona Simpson, American novelist
    • 1958 – Pamela Geller, American activist and blogger
    • 1959 – Marcus Miller, American bass player, composer, and producer
    • 1960 – Tonie Campbell, American hurdler
    • 1960 – Mike Laga, American baseball player
    • 1961 – Boy George, English singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Dušan Kojić, Serbian singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1961 – Sam Perkins, American basketball player
    • 1963 – Grant Kenny, Australian iron man and canoeist
    • 1964 – Peter Gilliver, English lexicographer and academic
    • 1967 – Dedrick Dodge, American football player and coach
    • 1968 – Campbell Brown, American journalist
    • 1968 – Faizon Love, Cuban-American actor and screenwriter
    • 1969 – Éric Desjardins, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1969 – Steffi Graf, German tennis player
    • 1970 – Heather McDonald, American comedian, actress, and author
    • 1971 – Bruce Bowen, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Ramon Vega, Swiss footballer
    • 1972 – Rick Brunson, American basketball player and coach
    • 1972 – Matthias Ettrich, German computer scientist and engineer, founded KDE
    • 1972 – Dominic Brown, English guitarist and songwriter
    • 1972 – Claude Henderson, South African cricketer
    • 1972 – Danny McFarlane, Jamaican hurdler and sprinter
    • 1973 – Sami Kapanen, Finnish-American ice hockey player and manager
    • 1976 – Alan Carr, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1976 – Massimo Oddo, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1977 – Boeta Dippenaar, South African cricketer
    • 1977 – Chris McAlister, American football player
    • 1977 – Joe Worsley, English rugby player and coach
    • 1978 – Steve Bégin, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1978 – Diablo Cody, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1978 – Annia Hatch, Cuban-American gymnast and coach
    • 1978 – Nikola Vujčić, Croatian former professional basketball player
    • 1979 – Shannon Hegarty, Australian rugby league player
    • 1981 – Elano, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1982 – Jamie Green, English racing driver
    • 1982 – Nicole Irving, Australian swimmer
    • 1982 – Lang Lang, Chinese pianist
    • 1983 – Trevor Barry, Bahamian high jumper
    • 1983 – Louis Garrel, French actor, director, and screenwriter
    • 1984 – Lorenzo Booker, American football player
    • 1984 – Mark Cosgrove, Australian cricketer
    • 1984 – Siobhán Donaghy, English singer-songwriter
    • 1984 – Yury Prilukov, Russian swimmer
    • 1985 – Oleg Medvedev. Russian luger
    • 1985 – Andy Soucek, Spanish racing driver
    • 1986 – Matt Read, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Andrew Cogliano, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1987 – Mohamed Diamé, Senegalese footballer
    • 1988 – Adrián Aldrete, Mexican footballer
    • 1988 – Kevin McHale, American actor, singer, dancer and radio personality
    • 1989 – Lucy Hale, American actress and singer-songwriter
    • 1989 – Brad Takairangi, Australian-Cook Islands rugby league player
    • 1990 – Patrice Cormier, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1990 – Stephen McLaughlin, Irish footballer
    • 1991 – Kostas Manolas, Greek footballer
    • 1991 – Jesy Nelson, English singer
    • 1992 – Devante Smith-Pelly, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1993 – Gunna, American rapper
    • 1993 – Ryan McCartan, American actor and singer
    • 1999 – Tzuyu, Taiwanese singer

    Deaths on June 14

    • 809 – Ōtomo no Otomaro, Japanese general (b. 731)
    • 847 – Methodius I, patriarch of Constantinople
    • 957 – Guadamir, bishop of Vic (Spain)
    • 976 – Aron, Bulgarian nobleman
    • 1161 – Emperor Qinzong of the Song dynasty (b. 1100)
    • 1205 – Walter III, Count of Brienne
    • 1349 – Günther von Schwarzburg, German king (b. 1304)
    • 1381 – Simon Sudbury, English archbishop (b. 1316)
    • 1497 – Giovanni Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandía, Italian son of Pope Alexander VI (b. 1474)
    • 1516 – John III of Navarre (b. 1469)
    • 1544 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1489)
    • 1548 – Carpentras, French composer (b. 1470)
    • 1583 – Shibata Katsuie, Japanese samurai (b. 1522)
    • 1594 – Jacob Kroger, German goldsmith, hanged in Edinburgh for stealing the jewels of Anne of Denmark.
    • 1594 – Orlande de Lassus, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1532)
    • 1662 – Henry Vane the Younger, English-American politician, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1613)
    • 1674 – Marin le Roy de Gomberville, French author and poet (b. 1600)
    • 1679 – Guillaume Courtois, French painter and illustrator (b. 1628)
    • 1746 – Colin Maclaurin, Scottish mathematician (b. 1698)
    • 1794 – Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, English courtier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1718)
    • 1800 – Louis Desaix, French general (b. 1768)
    • 1800 – Jean-Baptiste Kléber, French general (b. 1753)
    • 1801 – Benedict Arnold, American general during the American Revolution later turned British spy (b. 1741)
    • 1825 – Pierre Charles L’Enfant, French-American architect and engineer, designed Washington, D.C. (b. 1754)
    • 1837 – Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet and philosopher (b. 1798)
    • 1864 – Leonidas Polk, American general and bishop (b. 1806)
    • 1887 – Mary Carpenter, English educational and social reformer (b. 1807)
    • 1883 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet and author (b. 1809)
    • 1886 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian director and playwright (b. 1823)
    • 1907 – William Le Baron Jenney, American architect and engineer, designed the Home Insurance Building (b. 1832)
    • 1907 – Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (b. 1830)
    • 1908 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, English captain and politician, 6th Governor General of Canada (b. 1841)
    • 1914 – Adlai Stevenson I, American lawyer and politician, 23rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1835)
    • 1916 – João Simões Lopes Neto, Brazilian author (b. 1865)
    • 1920 – Max Weber, German sociologist and economist (b. 1864)
    • 1923 – Isabelle Bogelot, French philanthropist (b. 1838)
    • 1926 – Mary Cassatt, American-French painter (b. 1843)
    • 1927 – Ottavio Bottecchia, Italian cyclist (b. 1894)
    • 1927 – Jerome K. Jerome, English author (b. 1859)
    • 1928 – Emmeline Pankhurst, English activist and academic (b. 1857)
    • 1932 – Dorimène Roy Desjardins, Canadian businesswoman, co-founded Desjardins Group (b. 1858)
    • 1933 – Justinien de Clary, French target shooter (b. 1860)
    • 1936 – G. K. Chesterton, English essayist, poet, playwright, and novelist (b. 1874)
    • 1936 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, painter, and designer, designed the IG Farben Building (b. 1869)
    • 1946 – John Logie Baird, Scottish-English physicist and engineer (b. 1888)
    • 1946 – Jorge Ubico, 21st President of Guatemala (b. 1878)
    • 1953 – Tom Cole, Welsh-American racing driver (b. 1922)
    • 1968 – Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1901)
    • 1972 – Dündar Taşer, Turkish soldier and politician (b. 1925)
    • 1977 – Robert Middleton, American actor (b. 1911)
    • 1977 – Alan Reed, American actor, original voice of Fred Flintstone (b.1907)
    • 1979 – Ahmad Zahir, Afghan singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
    • 1980 – Charles Miller, American saxophonist and flute player (b. 1939)
    • 1986 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator (b. 1899)
    • 1986 – Alan Jay Lerner, American composer and songwriter (b. 1918)
    • 1987 – Stanisław Bareja, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
    • 1990 – Erna Berger, German soprano and actress (b. 1900)
    • 1991 – Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (b. 1907)
    • 1994 – Lionel Grigson, English pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1942)
    • 1994 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (b. 1924)
    • 1994 – Marcel Mouloudji, French singer and actor (b. 1922)
    • 1995 – Els Aarne, Ukrainian-Estonian pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1917)
    • 1995 – Rory Gallagher, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1949)
    • 1995 – Roger Zelazny, American author and poet (b. 1937)
    • 1996 – Noemí Gerstein, Argentinian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1908)
    • 1997 – Richard Jaeckel, American actor (b. 1926)
    • 1999 – Bernie Faloney, American-Canadian football player and sportscaster (b. 1932)
    • 2000 – Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and author (b. 1911)
    • 2002 – June Jordan, American author and activist (b. 1936)
    • 2003 – Dale Whittington, American race car driver (b. 1959)
    • 2004 – Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountaineer and guide (b. 1900)
    • 2005 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director (b. 1914)
    • 2005 – Mimi Parent, Canadian-Swiss painter (b. 1924)
    • 2006 – Monty Berman, English director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1905)
    • 2006 – Jean Roba, Belgian author and illustrator (b. 1930)
    • 2007 – Ruth Graham, Chinese-American author, poet, and painter (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Robin Olds, American general and pilot (b. 1922)
    • 2007 – Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Austrian politician, 9th President of Austria (b. 1918)
    • 2009 – Bob Bogle, American musician (The Ventures) (b. 1934)
    • 2009 – William McIntyre, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and judge (b. 1918)
    • 2012 – Peter Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell, English lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales (b. 1926)
    • 2012 – Bob Chappuis, American football player and soldier (b. 1923)
    • 2012 – Margie Hyams, American pianist and vibraphone player (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, German pianist and academic (b. 1930)
    • 2012 – Carlos Reichenbach, Brazilian director and producer (b. 1945)
    • 2012 – Gitta Sereny, Austrian-English historian, journalist, and author (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Elroy Schwartz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Alberto Cañas Escalante, Costa Rican journalist and politician (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Isabelle Collin Dufresne, French actress (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Robert Lebeck, German photographer and journalist (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – James E. Rogers, American lawyer, businessman, and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2015 – Richard Cotton, Australian geneticist and academic (b. 1940)
    • 2015 – Anne Nicol Gaylor, American activist, co-founded the Freedom From Religion Foundation (b. 1926)
    • 2015 – Qiao Shi, Chinese politician (b. 1924)
    • 2016 – Ann Morgan Guilbert, American actress and singer (b. 1928)
    • 2016 – Gilles Lamontagne, Canadian politician, Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1919)
    • 2020 – Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian film actor (b. 1986)

    Holidays and observances on June 14

    • Christian feast day:
      • Burchard of Meissen
      • Caomhán of Inisheer
      • Elisha (Roman Catholic and Lutheran)
      • Fortunatus of Naples (Roman Catholic)
      • Blessed Francisca de Paula de Jesus (Nhá Chica)
      • Joseph the Hymnographer (Roman Catholic: Orthodox April 3)
      • Methodios I of Constantinople
      • Quintian of Rodez (Rodez)
      • Richard Baxter (Church of England)
      • Valerius and Rufinus
      • June 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration of the Soviet Deportation related observances:
      • Baltic Freedom Day (United States)
      • Mourning and Commemoration Day or Leinapäev (Estonia)
      • Mourning and Hope Day (Lithuania)
    • Day of Memory for Repressed People (Armenia)
    • Flag Day (United States)
    • Freedom Day (Malawi)
    • Liberation Day (Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands)
    • World Blood Donor Day

  • June 9- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 411 BC – The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy.
    • AD 53 – The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia.
    • AD 68 – Nero commits suicide, after quoting Homer’s Iliad, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
    • 721 – Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse.
    • 747 – Abbasid Revolution: Abu Muslim Khorasani begins an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which is carried out under the sign of the Black Standard.
    • 1311 – Duccio’s Maestà, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.
    • 1523 – The Parisian Faculty of Theology fines Simon de Colines for publishing the Biblical commentary Commentarii initiatorii in quatuor Evangelia by Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples.
    • 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to describe and map the Saint Lawrence River.
    • 1667 – Second Anglo-Dutch War: The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet begins. It lasts for five days and results in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.
    • 1732 – James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of the future U.S. state of Georgia.
    • 1772 – The British schooner Gaspee is burned in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
    • 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battles of Arklow and Saintfield.
    • 1815 – End of the Congress of Vienna: The new European political situation is set.
    • 1856 – Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa for the Mormon Trail.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson concludes his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic; his tactics during the campaign are now studied by militaries around the world.
    • 1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
    • 1885 – Treaty of Tientsin is signed to end the Sino-French War, with China eventually giving up Tonkin and Annam – most of present-day Vietnam – to France.
    • 1900 – Indian nationalist Birsa Munda dies of cholera in a British prison.
    • 1915 – William Jennings Bryan resigns as Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States’ handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
    • 1923 – Bulgaria’s military takes over the government in a coup.
    • 1928 – Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross.
    • 1930 – A Chicago Tribune reporter, Jake Lingle, is killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a $100,000 gambling debt owed to Al Capone.
    • 1944 – World War II: Ninety-nine civilians are hanged from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks.
    • 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, occupied by Finland since 1941.
    • 1948 – Foundation of the International Council on Archives under the auspices of the UNESCO.
    • 1953 – The Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence kills 94 people in Massachusetts.
    • 1954 – Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings, giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, “You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
    • 1957 – First ascent of Broad Peak by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl.
    • 1959 – The USS George Washington is launched. It is the first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.
    • 1965 – The civilian Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Phan Huy Quát, resigns after being unable to work with a junta led by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ.
    • 1965 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong commences combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in the war.
    • 1967 – Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.
    • 1968 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
    • 1972 – Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.
    • 1973 – In horse racing, Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown.
    • 1978 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to “all worthy men”, ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men.
    • 1979 – The Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney, Australia, kills seven.
    • 1999 – Kosovo War: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty.
    • 2008 – Two bombs explode at a train station near Algiers, Algeria, killing at least 13 people.
    • 2009 – An explosion kills 17 people and injures at least 46 at a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan.
    • 2010 – At least 40 people are killed and more than 70 wounded in a suicide bombing at a wedding party in Arghandab, Kandahar.

    Births on June 9

    • 1016 – Deokjong of Goryeo, ruler of Korea (d. 1034)
    • 1424 – Blanche II of Navarre (d. 1464)
    • 1580 – Daniel Heinsius, Belgian poet and scholar (d. 1655)
    • 1588 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (d. 1666)
    • 1595 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish king (d. 1648)
    • 1597 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (d. 1665)
    • 1640 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1705)
    • 1661 – Feodor III of Russia (d. 1682)
    • 1672 – Peter the Great, Russian emperor (d. 1725)
    • 1686 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1747)
    • 1696 – Shiva Rajaram, infant Chattrapati of the Maratha Empire (d. 1726)
    • 1732 – Giuseppe Demachi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1791)
    • 1754 – Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, English general and politician, Governor of Barbados (d. 1815)
    • 1768 – Samuel Slater, English-American engineer and businessman (d. 1835)
    • 1781 – George Stephenson, English engineer, designed the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (d. 1848)
    • 1810 – Otto Nicolai, German composer and conductor (d. 1849)
    • 1812 – Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer and academic (d. 1910)
    • 1836 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician and politician (d. 1917)
    • 1837 – Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, English author (d. 1919)
    • 1842 – Hazard Stevens, American military officer, mountaineer, politician and writer (d. 1918)
    • 1843 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
    • 1845 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, English soldier, academic, and politician, 36th Governor-General of India (d. 1914)
    • 1845 – Frank Norton, American baseball player (d. 1920)
    • 1849 – Michael Ancher, Danish painter and academic (d. 1927)
    • 1851 – Charles Joseph Bonaparte, American lawyer and politician, 46th United States Attorney General (d. 1921)
    • 1861 – Pierre Duhem, French physicist, mathematician, and historian (d. 1916)
    • 1861 – Gustav Heinrich Johann Apollon Tammann, Russian-German chemist and physicist (d. 1938)
    • 1864 – Jeanne Bérangère, French actress (d. 1928)
    • 1865 – Albéric Magnard, French composer and educator (d. 1914)
    • 1865 – Carl Nielsen, Danish violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931)
    • 1868 – Jane Avril, French model and dancer (d. 1943)
    • 1874 – Launceston Elliot, Scottish weightlifter and wrestler (d. 1930)
    • 1875 – Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
    • 1879 – Harry DeBaecke, American rower (d. 1961)
    • 1882 – Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter and coach (d. 1963)
    • 1885 – Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, Polish general and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Poland (d. 1962)
    • 1890 – Leslie Banks, English actor, director, and producer (d. 1952)
    • 1891 – Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
    • 1893 – Irish Meusel, American baseball player and coach (d. 1963)
    • 1895 – Archie Weston, American football player and journalist (d. 1981)
    • 1898 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (d. 1952)
    • 1900 – Fred Waring, American singer, bandleader, and television host (d. 1984)
    • 1902 – Skip James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1969)
    • 1903 – Felice Bonetto, Italian race car driver (d. 1953)
    • 1903 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (d. 1996)
    • 1906 – Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and businessman, founded Repository for Germinal Choice (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Luis Kutner, American lawyer, author, and activist (d. 1993)
    • 1908 – Branch McCracken, American basketball player and coach (d. 1970)
    • 1910 – Robert Cummings, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1990)
    • 1910 – Ted Hicks, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (d. 1984)
    • 1912 – Ingolf Dahl, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970)
    • 1915 – Jim McDonald, American football player and coach (d. 1997)
    • 1915 – Les Paul, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
    • 1916 – Jurij Brězan, German soldier and author (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Siegfried Graetschus, German SS officer (d. 1943)
    • 1916 – Robert McNamara, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2009)
    • 1917 – Eric Hobsbawm, Egyptian-English historian and author (d. 2012)
    • 1918 – John Hospers, American philosopher and politician (d. 2011)
    • 1921 – Arthur Hertzberg, American rabbi and scholar (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Jean Lacouture, French journalist, historian, and author (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – George Axelrod, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1922 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., Anglo-American pilot and poet (d. 1941)
    • 1922 – Fernand Seguin, Canadian biochemist and academic (d. 1988)
    • 1923 – Gerald Götting, German politician (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Ed Farhat, American wrestler and manager (d. 2003)
    • 1925 – Keith Laumer, American soldier and author (d. 1993)
    • 1925 – Herman Sarkowsky, German-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Seattle Seahawks (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Calvin “Fuzz” Jones, American singer and bass player (d. 2010)
    • 1926 – Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, 31st Second Lady of the United States (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Jim Nolan, American basketball player (d. 1983)
    • 1928 – R. Geraint Gruffydd, Welsh critic and academic (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Johnny Ace, American singer and pianist (d. 1954)
    • 1930 – Barbara, French singer (d. 1997)
    • 1930 – Jordi Pujol, Spanish physician and politician, 126th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
    • 1931 – Jackie Mason, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
    • 1931 – Nandini Satpathy, Indian author and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Odisha (d. 2006)
    • 1931 – Bill Virdon, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1933 – Al Cantello, American javelin thrower and coach
    • 1934 – Michael Mates, English colonel and politician
    • 1934 – Jackie Wilson, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
    • 1935 – Dutch Savage, American wrestler and promoter (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Nell Dunn, English playwright, screenwriter and author
    • 1936 – Mick O’Dwyer, Irish Gaelic footballer and manager
    • 1936 – George Radda, Hungarian chemist and academic
    • 1937 – Harald Rosenthal, German hydrobiologist and academic
    • 1938 – Jeremy Hardie, English economist and businessman
    • 1938 – Giles Havergal, Scottish actor, director, and playwright
    • 1938 – Charles Wuorinen, American composer and educator (d. 2020)
    • 1939 – Ileana Cotrubaș, Romanian soprano and actress
    • 1939 – Eric Fernie, Scottish historian and academic
    • 1939 – David Hobbs, English race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1939 – Dick Vitale, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1939 – Charles Webb, American author
    • 1940 – André Vallerand, Canadian businessman and politician
    • 1941 – Jon Lord, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2012)
    • 1942 – Anton Burghardt, German footballer and manager
    • 1942 – Nicholas Lloyd, English journalist
    • 1943 – John Fitzpatrick, English race car driver
    • 1943 – Charles Saatchi, Iraqi-English businessman, co-founded Saatchi & Saatchi
    • 1944 – Janric Craig, 3rd Viscount Craigavon, English accountant and politician
    • 1944 – Wally Gabler, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1946 – Deyda Hydara, Gambian journalist and publisher, co-founded The Point (d. 2004)
    • 1946 – James Kelman, Scottish author and playwright
    • 1946 – Peter Kilfoyle, English politician
    • 1946 – Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Italian politician and diplomat, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • 1947 – Robert Indermaur, Swiss painter
    • 1947 – Robbie Vincent, UK disc jockey and radio presenter
    • 1948 – Jim Bailey, American football player
    • 1948 – Gudrun Schyman, Swedish social worker and politician
    • 1949 – Kiran Bedi, Indian police officer and activist
    • 1950 – Trevor Bolder, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
    • 1950 – Fred Jackson, American football player and coach
    • 1950 – Giorgos Kastrinakis, Greek-American basketball player
    • 1951 – Michael Patrick Cronan, American graphic designer and academic (d. 2013)
    • 1951 – James Newton Howard, American composer, conductor, and producer
    • 1951 – Dave Parker, American baseball player and coach
    • 1951 – Brian Taylor, American basketball player
    • 1952 – Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
    • 1952 – Billy Knight, American basketball player
    • 1953 – Ken Navarro, Italian-American guitarist and composer
    • 1954 – Pete Byrne, English singer-songwriter
    • 1954 – Paul Chapman, Welsh guitarist and songwriter
    • 1954 – Gregory Maguire, American author
    • 1954 – Elizabeth May, American-Canadian environmentalist, lawyer, and politician
    • 1954 – George Pérez, American author and illustrator
    • 1956 – Berit Aunli, Norwegian skier
    • 1956 – Patricia Cornwell, American journalist and author
    • 1956 – Marek Gazdzicki, Polish nuclear physicist
    • 1956 – Joaquín, Spanish footballer
    • 1956 – John Le Lievre, British squash player
    • 1956 – Kayhan Mortezavi, Iranian director
    • 1956 – Francine Raymond, French Canadian singer songwriter
    • 1956 – Nikolai Tsonev, Bulgarian politician
    • 1956 – Rudolf Wojtowicz, Polish footballer
    • 1957 – Randy Read, English crystallographer and academic
    • 1958 – David Ancrum, American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Peter Fowler, Australian golfer
    • 1960 – Steve Paikin, Canadian journalist and author
    • 1961 – Thomas Benson, American football player
    • 1961 – Michael J. Fox, Canadian-American actor, producer, and author
    • 1961 – Aaron Sorkin, American screenwriter, producer, and playwright
    • 1962 – Yuval Banay, Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Ken Rose, American football player
    • 1962 – David Trewhella, Australian rugby league player
    • 1963 – Gilad Atzmon, Israeli-English saxophonist, author, and activist
    • 1963 – Johnny Depp, American actor
    • 1963 – David Koepp, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1964 – Gloria Reuben, Canadian-American actress
    • 1964 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (d. 2009)
    • 1967 – Rubén Maza, Venezuelan runner
    • 1968 – Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper and coach
    • 1969 – André Racicot, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1969 – Eric Wynalda, American soccer player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Jean Galfione, French pole vaulter and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Jackie McKeown, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1972 – Matt Horsley, Australian footballer and coach
    • 1973 – Aigars Apinis, Latvian discus thrower and shot putter
    • 1973 – Tedy Bruschi, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1973 – Frédéric Choffat, Swiss director, producer, and cinematographer
    • 1973 – Grant Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1974 – Samoth, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1975 – Otto Addo, German-Ghanaian footballer and manager
    • 1975 – Ameesha Patel, Indian actress and model
    • 1975 – Andrew Symonds, English-Australian cricketer
    • 1977 – Usman Afzaal, Pakistani-English cricketer
    • 1977 – Paul Hutchison, English cricketer
    • 1977 – Olin Kreutz, American football player
    • 1977 – Peja Stojaković, Serbian basketball player
    • 1978 – Matt Bellamy, English singer, musician and songwriter
    • 1978 – Shandi Finnessey, American model and actress, Miss USA 2004
    • 1978 – Miroslav Klose, German footballer
    • 1978 – Heather Mitts, American soccer player
    • 1978 – Hayden Schlossberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1979 – Dario Dainelli, Italian footballer
    • 1979 – Amanda Lassiter, American basketball player
    • 1980 – D’banj, Nigerian singer-songwriter and harmonica player
    • 1980 – Mike Fontenot, American baseball player
    • 1980 – Udonis Haslem, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Lehlohonolo Seema, South African footballer
    • 1981 – Natalie Portman, Israeli-American actress
    • 1982 – Parinya Charoenphol, Thai boxer, model, and actress
    • 1982 – Yoshito Ōkubo, Japanese footballer
    • 1982 – Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Firas Al-Khatib, Syrian footballer
    • 1983 – Josh Cribbs, American football player
    • 1983 – Dwayne Jones, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Danny Richar, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1984 – Yulieski Gourriel, Cuban baseball player
    • 1984 – Jake Newton, Guyanese footballer
    • 1984 – Asko Paade, Estonian basketball player
    • 1984 – Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer
    • 1984 – Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer
    • 1985 – Richard Kahui, New Zealand rugby player
    • 1985 – Sonam Kapoor, Indian model and actress
    • 1985 – Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player
    • 1986 – Doug Legursky, American football player
    • 1986 – Yadier Pedroso, Cuban baseball player (d. 2013)
    • 1986 – Ashley Postell, American gymnast
    • 1987 – Jaan Mölder, Estonian race car driver
    • 1988 – Jason Demers, Canadian ice hockey defenseman
    • 1988 – Sara Isaković, Slovenian swimmer
    • 1989 – Dídac Vilà, Spanish footballer
    • 1990 – Matthias Mayer, Austrian skier
    • 1992 – Zach Hyman, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Yannick Agnel, French swimmer
    • 1992 – Boyd Cordner, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – George Jennings, Australian rugby league player

    Deaths on June 9

    • AD 68 – Nero, Roman emperor (b. 37)
    • 373 – Ephrem the Syrian, hymnographer and theologian (b. 306)
    • 597 – Columba, Irish missionary and saint (b. 521)
    • 630 – Shahrbaraz, king of the Persian Empire
    • 889 – Aimoin, Frankish monk and archivist
    • 908 – Yang Wo, Prince of Hongnong
    • 1075 – Gebhard of Supplinburg, Saxon count
    • 1087 – Otto I of Olomouc (b. 1045)
    • 1238 – Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester
    • 1252 – Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
    • 1348 – Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Sienese painter (b. 1290)
    • 1361 – Philippe de Vitry, French composer and poet (b. 1291)
    • 1563 – William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1506)
    • 1572 – Jeanne d’Albret, Navarrese queen and Huguenot leader (b. 1528)
    • 1583 – Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1525)
    • 1597 – José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1534)
    • 1647 – Leonard Calvert, Colonial governor of Maryland (b. 1606)
    • 1656 – Thomas Tomkins, Welsh-English composer (b. 1572)
    • 1716 – Banda Singh Bahadur, Indian commander (b. 1670)
    • 1717 – Jeanne Guyon, French mystic and author (b. 1648)
    • 1834 – William Carey, English minister and missionary (b. 1761)
    • 1870 – Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (b. 1812)
    • 1875 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and conchologist (b. 1795)
    • 1889 – Mike Burke, American baseball player (b. 1854)
    • 1892 – William Grant Stairs, Canadian-English captain and explorer (b. 1863)
    • 1901 – Adolf Bötticher, German historian and author (b. 1842)
    • 1923 – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (b. 1846)
    • 1927 – Victoria Woodhull, American activist for women’s rights (b. 1838)
    • 1929 – Louis Bennison, American stage and silent film actor (b. 1884)
    • 1929 – Margaret Lawrence, American stage actress (b. 1889)
    • 1942 – František Erben, Czech gymnast (b. 1874)
    • 1952 – Adolf Busch, German-Austrian violinist and composer (b. 1891)
    • 1953 – Ernest Graves, Sr., American football player, coach, and general (b. 1880)
    • 1956 – Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist and lawyer (b. 1888)
    • 1956 – Hans Bergsland, Norwegian fencer (b. 1878)
    • 1956 – Thomas Hicks, Australian tennis player (b. 1869)
    • 1956 – Ferdinand Jodl, German general (b. 1896)
    • 1958 – Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905)
    • 1959 – Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
    • 1960 – Harry S. Hammond, American football player and businessman (b. 1884)
    • 1961 – Camille Guérin, French veterinarian, bacteriologist and immunologist (b. 1872)
    • 1963 – Jacques Villon, French painter (b.1875)
    • 1964 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, British businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1879)
    • 1968 – Bernard Cronin, Australian author and journalist (b. 1884)
    • 1972 – Gilberto Parlotti, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1940)
    • 1973 – Chuck Bennett, American football player and coach (b. 1907)
    • 1973 – John Creasey, English author and politician (b. 1908)
    • 1973 – Erich von Manstein, German general (b. 1887)
    • 1974 – Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan journalist, author, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
    • 1979 – Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player and civil servant (b. 1884)
    • 1981 – Allen Ludden, American game show host (b. 1917)
    • 1984 – Helen Hardin, American painter (b. 1943)
    • 1989 – George Wells Beadle, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1991 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-American pianist and educator (b. 1903)
    • 1993 – Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress (b. 1921)
    • 1994 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
    • 1997 – Stanley Knowles, American-Canadian academic and politician (b. 1908)
    • 1998 – Lois Mailou Jones, American painter and academic (b. 1905)
    • 2000 – John Abramovic, American basketball player (b. 1919)
    • 2000 – Jacob Lawrence, American painter and academic (b. 1917)
    • 2004 – Rosey Brown, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
    • 2004 – Brian Williamson, Jamaican activist, co-founded J-FLAG (b. 1945)
    • 2006 – Drafi Deutscher, German singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
    • 2007 – Frankie Abernathy, American purse designer, cast-member on The Real World: San Diego (b. 1981)
    • 2008 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (b. 1931)
    • 2008 – Suleiman Mousa, Jordanian historian and author (b. 1919)
    • 2009 – Dick May, American race car driver (b. 1930)
    • 2010 – Ken Brown, British Guitarist who was a member of The Quarrymen (b. 1940)
    • 2011 – M. F. Husain, Indian painter and director (b. 1915)
    • 2011 – Tomoko Kawakami, Japanese voice actress (b. 1970)
    • 2011 – Mike Mitchell, American basketball player (b. 1956)
    • 2012 – Régis Clère, French cyclist (b. 1956)
    • 2012 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (b. 1943)
    • 2012 – Ivan Minatti, Slovene poet and translator (b. 1924)
    • 2012 – Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (b. 1939)
    • 2012 – Abram Wilson, American-English trumpet player and educator (b. 1973)
    • 2013 – Iain Banks, Scottish author (b. 1954)
    • 2013 – Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – John Burke, English rugby player (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – Walter Jens, German philologist, historian, and academic (b. 1923)
    • 2013 – Zdeněk Rotrekl, Czech poet and historian (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Rik Mayall, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
    • 2014 – Elsie Quarterman, American ecologist and academic (b. 1910)
    • 2014 – Alicemarie Huber Stotler, American lawyer and judge (b. 1942)
    • 2014 – Gustave Tassell, American fashion designer (b. 1926)
    • 2014 – Bob Welch, American baseball player and coach (b. 1956)
    • 2015 – Pumpkinhead, American rapper (b. 1975)
    • 2015 – Pedro Zerolo, Spanish lawyer and politician (b. 1960)
    • 2017 – Adam West, American actor and investor (b. 1928)
    • 2018 – Fadil Vokrri, Kosovo Albanian football administrator and player (b. 1960)
    • 2019 – Bushwick Bill, Jamaican-American rapper (b. 1966)

    Holidays and observances on June 9

    • Anniversary of the Accession of King Abdullah II (Jordan)
    • Autonomy Day (Åland Islands)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Aidan of Lindisfarne (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
      • Bede (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
      • Columba
      • Ephrem the Syrian (Roman Catholic Church and Church of England)
      • José de Anchieta
      • Primus and Felician
      • June 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Coral Triangle Day
    • La Rioja Day (La Rioja)
    • Murcia Day (Murcia)
    • National Heroes’ Day (Uganda)

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

    • 1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
    • 1561 – The steeple of St Paul’s, the medieval cathedral of London, is destroyed in a fire caused by lightning and is never rebuilt.
    • 1615 – Siege of Osaka: Forces under Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan.
    • 1745 – Battle of Hohenfriedberg: Frederick the Great’s Prussian army decisively defeated an Austrian army under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine during the War of the Austrian Succession.
    • 1760 – Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada, taken from the Acadians.
    • 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
    • 1784 – Élisabeth Thible becomes the first woman to fly in an untethered hot air balloon. Her flight covers four kilometres in 45 minutes, and reached 1,500 metres altitude (estimated).
    • 1792 – Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain.
    • 1802 – King Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia abdicates his throne in favor of his brother, Victor Emmanuel.
    • 1812 – Following Louisiana’s admittance as a U.S. state, the Louisiana Territory is renamed the Missouri Territory.
    • 1825 – General Lafayette, a French officer in the American Revolutionary War, speaks at what would become Lafayette Square, Buffalo, during his visit to the United States.
    • 1855 – Major Henry C. Wayne departs New York aboard the USS Supply to procure camels to establish the U.S. Camel Corps.
    • 1859 – Italian Independence wars: In the Battle of Magenta, the French army, under Louis-Napoleon, defeat the Austrian army.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
    • 1876 – An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City.
    • 1878 – Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.
    • 1896 – Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.
    • 1912 – Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage.
    • 1913 – Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of King George V’s horse at The Derby. She is trampled, never regains consciousness, and dies four days later.
    • 1916 – World War I: Russia opens the Brusilov Offensive with an artillery barrage of Austro-Hungarian lines in Galicia.
    • 1917 – The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
    • 1919 – Women’s rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
    • 1920 – Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.
    • 1928 – The President of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin, is assassinated by Japanese agents.
    • 1932 – Marmaduke Grove and other Chilean military officers lead a coup d’état establishing the short-lived Socialist Republic of Chile.
    • 1939 – The Holocaust: The MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, in the United States, after already being turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.
    • 1940 – World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation ends: British forces complete evacuation of 338,000 troops from Dunkirk in France. To rally the morale of the country, Winston Churchill delivers, only to the House of Commons, his famous “We shall fight on the beaches” speech.
    • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway begins. The Japanese Admiral Chūichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island by much of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
    • 1943 – A military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.
    • 1944 – World War II: A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505: The first time a U.S. Navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
    • 1944 – World War II: The United States Fifth Army captures Rome, although much of the German Fourteenth Army is able to withdraw to the north.
    • 1961 – Cold War: In the Vienna summit, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sparks the Berlin Crisis by threatening to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany and ending American, British and French access to East Berlin.
    • 1967 – Seventy-two people are killed when a Canadair C-4 Argonaut crashes at Stockport in England.
    • 1970 – Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
    • 1975 – The Governor of California Jerry Brown signs the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act into law, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights.
    • 1979 – Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.
    • 1983 – Gordon Kahl, who killed two US Marshals in Medina, North Dakota on February 13, is killed in a shootout in Smithville, Arkansas, along with a local sheriff, after a four-month manhunt.
    • 1986 – Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
    • 1988 – Three cars on a train carrying hexogen to Kazakhstan explode in Arzamas, Gorky Oblast, USSR, killing 91 and injuring about 1,500.
    • 1989 – Ali Khamenei is elected as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts after the death and funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
    • 1989 – The Tiananmen Square protests are suppressed in Beijing by the People’s Liberation Army, with between 241 and 1,000 dead (an unofficial estimate).
    • 1989 – Solidarity’s victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, leads to the creation of the so-called Contract Sejm and begins the Autumn of Nations.
    • 1989 – Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
    • 1996 – The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 37 seconds. It was a Cluster mission.
    • 1998 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
    • 2010 – Falcon 9 Flight 1 is the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.

    Births on June 4

    • 1394 – Philippa of England, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (d. 1430)
    • 1489 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1544)
    • 1563 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith (d. 1624)
    • 1604 – Claudia de’ Medici, Italian daughter of Christina of Lorraine (d. 1648)
    • 1665 – Zacharie Robutel de La Noue, Canadian captain (d. 1733)
    • 1694 – François Quesnay, French economist and physician (d. 1774)
    • 1704 – Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and businessman (d. 1776)
    • 1738 – George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1820)
    • 1744 – Patrick Ferguson, Scottish soldier, designed the Ferguson rifle (d. 1780)
    • 1754 – Miguel de Azcuénaga, Argentinian soldier (d. 1833)
    • 1754 – Franz Xaver von Zach, Slovak astronomer and academic (d. 1832)
    • 1787 – Constant Prévost, French geologist and academic (d. 1856)
    • 1801 – James Pennethorne, English architect, designed Victoria Park (d. 1871)
    • 1821 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1897)
    • 1829 – Jinmaku Kyūgorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 12th Yokozuna (d. 1903)
    • 1854 – Solko van den Bergh, Dutch target shooter (d. 1916)
    • 1860 – Alexis Lapointe, Canadian runner (d. 1924)
    • 1861 – William Propsting, Australian politician, 20th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1937)
    • 1866 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish journalist and politician (d. 1952)
    • 1867 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish general and politician, 6th President of Finland (d. 1951)
    • 1873 – Nictzin Dyalhis, American author (d.1942)
    • 1877 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
    • 1879 – Mabel Lucie Attwell, English author and illustrator (d. 1964)
    • 1880 – Clara Blandick, American actress (d. 1962)
    • 1885 – Arturo Rawson, Argentinian general and politician, 26th President of Argentina (d. 1952)
    • 1887 – Tom Longboat, Canadian runner and soldier (d. 1949)
    • 1889 – Beno Gutenberg, German-American seismologist (d. 1960)
    • 1903 – Yevgeny Mravinsky, Russian conductor (d. 1988)
    • 1904 – Bhagat Puran Singh, Indian publisher, environmentalist, and philanthropist (d. 1992)
    • 1907 – Jacques Roumain, Haitian journalist and politician (d. 1944)
    • 1907 – Rosalind Russell, American actress (d. 1976)
    • 1907 – Patience Strong, English poet and journalist (d. 1990)
    • 1910 – Christopher Cockerell, English engineer, invented the hovercraft (d. 1999)
    • 1912 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (d. 1993)
    • 1915 – Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2006)
    • 1915 – Modibo Keïta, Malian educator and politician, 1st President of Mali (d. 1977)
    • 1915 – Nils Kihlberg, Swedish actor, singer, and director (d. 1965)
    • 1916 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
    • 1916 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian painter (d. 2014)
    • 1917 – Robert Merrill, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
    • 1921 – Milan Komar, Slovenian-Argentinian philosopher and academic (d. 2006)
    • 1921 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
    • 1923 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-Australian author and academic (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Masutatsu Ōyama, Japanese karateka (d. 1994)
    • 1924 – Tofilau Eti Alesana, Samoan politician, 5th Prime Minister of Samoa (d. 1999)
    • 1924 – Dennis Weaver, American actor and director (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – Antonio Puchades, Spanish footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1926 – Robert Earl Hughes, American who was the heaviest human being recorded in the history of the world during his lifetime (d. 1958)
    • 1926 – Ain Kaalep, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 2020)
    • 1926 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (d. 2015)
    • 1927 – Henning Carlsen, Danish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1927 – Geoffrey Palmer, English actor
    • 1928 – Ruth Westheimer, German-American therapist and author
    • 1929 – Karolos Papoulias, Greek lawyer and politician, 5th President of Greece
    • 1930 – George Chesworth, English air marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Moray (d. 2017)
    • 1930 – Morgana King, American singer and actress (d. 2018)
    • 1930 – Viktor Tikhonov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1931 – Gustav Nossal, Austrian-Australian biologist and academic
    • 1932 – John Drew Barrymore, American actor (d. 2004)
    • 1932 – Oliver Nelson, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1975)
    • 1932 – Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand author and playwright (d. 2004)
    • 1934 – Monica Dacon, Vincentian educator and politician, 6th Governor-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
    • 1934 – Daphne Sheldrick, Kenyan-British conservationist and author (d. 2018)
    • 1935 – Colette Boky, Canadian soprano and actress
    • 1935 – Berhanu Dinka, Ethiopian economist and diplomat (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Vince Camuto, American fashion designer and businessman, co-founded Nine West (d. 2015)
    • 1936 – Bruce Dern, American actor
    • 1937 – Freddy Fender, American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
    • 1937 – Mortimer Zuckerman, Canadian-American businessman and publisher, founded Boston Properties
    • 1938 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2016)
    • 1938 – Art Mahaffey, American baseball player
    • 1939 – Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, Anglo-Irish peer (d. 2014)
    • 1939 – Denis de Belleval, Canadian civil servant and politician
    • 1939 – Henri Pachard, American director and producer (d. 2008)
    • 1939 – George Reid, Scottish journalist and politician, 2nd Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
    • 1940 – Ludwig Schwarz, Slovak-Austrian bishop
    • 1941 – Kenneth G. Ross, Australian playwright and screenwriter
    • 1942 – Louis Reichardt, American mountaineer
    • 1942 – Bill Rowe, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1943 – John Burgess, Australian radio and television host
    • 1943 – Sandra Haynie, American golfer
    • 1943 – Tom Jaine, English author
    • 1944 – Roger Ball, Scottish saxophonist and songwriter
    • 1944 – Michelle Phillips, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1945 – Anthony Braxton, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
    • 1945 – Daniel Topolski, English rower and coach (d. 2015)
    • 1945 – Gordon Waller, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
    • 1947 – Viktor Klima, Austrian businessman and politician, 25th Chancellor of Austria
    • 1948 – Bob Champion, English jockey
    • 1948 – Sandra Post, Canadian golfer and sportscaster
    • 1948 – Jürgen Sparwasser, German footballer and manager
    • 1949 – Gabriel Arcand, Canadian actor
    • 1949 – Mark B. Cohen, American lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Raymond Dumais, Canadian bishop (d. 2012)
    • 1951 – Leigh Kennedy, American author
    • 1951 – Bronisław Malinowski, Polish runner (d. 1981)
    • 1951 – Melanie Phillips, English journalist and author
    • 1951 – Wendy Pini, American author and illustrator
    • 1951 – David Yip, English actor and playwright
    • 1952 – Bronisław Komorowski, Polish historian and politician, 5th President of Poland
    • 1952 – Dambudzo Marechera, Zimbabwean author and poet (d. 1987)
    • 1953 – Linda Lingle, American journalist and politician, 6th Governor of Hawaii
    • 1953 – Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish musician and songwriter (d. 1979)
    • 1953 – Susumu Ojima, Japanese businessman, founded Huser
    • 1953 – Paul Samson, English guitarist and producer (d. 2002)
    • 1954 – Raphael Ravenscroft, English saxophonist and composer (d. 2014)
    • 1954 – Kazuhiro Yamaji, Japanese actor and voice actor
    • 1955 – Val McDermid, Scottish author
    • 1955 – Mary Testa, American singer and actress
    • 1956 – Keith David, American actor
    • 1956 – John Hockenberry, American journalist and author
    • 1956 – Terry Kennedy, American baseball player and manager
    • 1956 – Joyce Sidman, American author and poet
    • 1957 – Neil McNab, Scottish footballer
    • 1959 – Juan Camacho, Bolivian runner
    • 1959 – Georgios Voulgarakis, Greek politician, 21st Greek Minister for Culture
    • 1960 – Miloš Đelmaš, Serbian footballer and manager
    • 1960 – Kristine Kathryn Rusch, American author
    • 1960 – Paul Taylor, American guitarist and keyboard player
    • 1960 – Bradley Walsh, English television presenter, comedian, singer and former footballer
    • 1961 – El DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Ferenc Gyurcsány, Hungarian businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Hungary
    • 1962 – Krzysztof Hołowczyc, Polish race car driver
    • 1962 – Zenon Jaskuła, Polish cyclist
    • 1962 – John P. Kee, American singer-songwriter and pastor
    • 1962 – Junius Ho, Hong Kong solicitor and politician
    • 1963 – Sean Fitzpatrick, New Zealand rugby union player
    • 1963 – Jim Lachey, American football player and sportscaster
    • 1963 – Xavier McDaniel, American basketball player and coach
    • 1964 – Sean Pertwee, English actor
    • 1964 – Kōji Yamamura, Japanese animator, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1965 – Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer
    • 1965 – Andrea Jaeger, American tennis player and preacher
    • 1966 – Cecilia Bartoli, Italian soprano and actress
    • 1966 – Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 2017)
    • 1966 – Bill Wiggin, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
    • 1967 – Robert S. Kimbrough, American colonel and astronaut
    • 1968 – Roger Lim, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1968 – Niurka Montalvo, Cuban-Spanish long jumper
    • 1968 – Al B. Sure!, American R&B singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
    • 1968 – Scott Wolf, American actor
    • 1969 – Horatio Sanz, Chilean-American actor and comedian
    • 1970 – Deborah Compagnoni, Italian skier
    • 1970 – Richie Hawtin, English-Canadian DJ and producer
    • 1970 – Dave Pybus, English bass player and songwriter
    • 1970 – Izabella Scorupco, Polish-Swedish actress and model
    • 1971 – Joseph Kabila, Congolese soldier and politician, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
    • 1971 – Mike Lee, American lawyer and politician
    • 1971 – Shoji Meguro, Japanese director and composer
    • 1971 – Karl Martin Sinijärv, Estonian journalist and poet
    • 1971 – Noah Wyle, American actor and producer
    • 1972 – Derian Hatcher, American ice hockey defenseman
    • 1972 – Rob Huebel, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Mikey Whipwreck, American wrestler and trainer
    • 1974 – Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni, Indian chef (d. 2012)
    • 1974 – Darin Erstad, American baseball player and coach
    • 1974 – Andrew Gwynne, English lawyer and politician
    • 1974 – Janette Husárová, Slovak tennis player
    • 1974 – Buddy Wakefield, American poet and author
    • 1975 – Russell Brand, English comedian and actor
    • 1975 – Henry Burris, American football player
    • 1975 – Angelina Jolie, American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian, and activist
    • 1975 – Dinanath Ramnarine, Trinidadian cricketer
    • 1975 – Alex Wharf, English cricketer
    • 1976 – Kasey Chambers, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1976 – Alexei Navalny, Russian lawyer and politician
    • 1976 – Nenad Zimonjić, Serbian tennis player
    • 1977 – Dionisis Chiotis, Greek footballer
    • 1977 – Alex Manninger, Austrian footballer
    • 1977 – Roman Miroshnichenko, Ukrainian guitarist and composer
    • 1977 – Roland G. Fryer Jr., American economist and professor
    • 1978 – Robin Lord Taylor, American actor
    • 1979 – Naohiro Takahara, Japanese footballer
    • 1979 – Daniel Vickerman, South African-Australian rugby player (d. 2017)
    • 1980 – François Beauchemin, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1981 – Jennifer Carroll, Canadian swimmer
    • 1981 – Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek footballer
    • 1981 – Natalia Vodopyanova, Russian basketball player
    • 1982 – Abel Kirui, Kenyan runner
    • 1982 – Ronnie Prude, American-Canadian football player
    • 1983 – Romaric, Ivorian footballer
    • 1983 – Emmanuel Eboué, Ivorian footballer
    • 1983 – Olha Saladuha, Ukrainian triple jumper
    • 1984 – Enrico Rossi Chauvenet, Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Rainie Yang, Taiwanese actress
    • 1984 – Ian White, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1985 – Leon Botha, South African painter and DJ (d. 2011)
    • 1985 – Anna-Lena Grönefeld, German tennis player
    • 1985 – Evan Lysacek, American figure skater
    • 1985 – Lukas Podolski, German footballer
    • 1985 – Oddvar Reiakvam, Norwegian politician
    • 1987 – Luisa Zissman, English businesswoman
    • 1987 – Mollie King, English singer-songwriter and model
    • 1988 – Matt Bartkowski, American ice hockey defenseman
    • 1988 – Kimberley Busteed, Australian model
    • 1989 – Federico Erba, Italian footballer
    • 1989 – Paweł Fajdek, Polish hammer thrower
    • 1990 – Zac Farro, American singer and drummer
    • 1990 – Evan Spiegel, American Internet entrepreneur
    • 1991 – Lorenzo Insigne, Italian footballer
    • 1991 – Matt McIlwrick, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1991 – Ben Stokes, New Zealand-English cricketer
    • 1993 – Jonathan Huberdeau, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1995 – Shiori Tamai, Japanese singer
    • 1999 – Kim So-hyun, South Korean actress
    • 2004 – Mackenzie Ziegler, American dancer, singer, actress and model

    Deaths on June 4

    • 756 – Shōmu, Japanese emperor (b. 701)
    • 863 – Charles, archbishop of Mainz
    • 895 – Li Xi, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
    • 946 – Guaimar II (Gybbosus), Lombard prince
    • 956 – Muhammad III of Shirvan, Muslim ruler
    • 1039 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 990)
    • 1102 – Władysław I Herman, Polish nobleman (b. c. 1044)
    • 1134 – Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1106)
    • 1135 – Emperor Huizong of Song (b. 1082)
    • 1206 – Adela of Champagne (b. 1140)
    • 1246 – Isabella of Angoulême (b. 1188)
    • 1257 – Przemysł I of Greater Poland (b. 1221)
    • 1394 – Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV of England (b.c. 1368)
    • 1453 – Andronikos Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, Byzantine commander
    • 1463 – Flavio Biondo, Italian historian and author (b. 1392)
    • 1472 – Nezahualcoyotl, Aztec poet (b. 1402)
    • 1585 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (b. 1526)
    • 1608 – Francis Caracciolo, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1563)
    • 1622 – Péter Révay, Hungarian soldier and historian (b. 1568)
    • 1647 – Canonicus, Grand Chief Sachem of the Narragansett (b. 1565)
    • 1663 – William Juxon, English archbishop and academic (b. 1582)
    • 1798 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian adventurer and author (b. 1725)
    • 1801 – Frederick Muhlenberg, American minister and politician, 1st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1750)
    • 1809 – Nicolai Abildgaard, Danish neoclassical and history painter, sculptor and architect (b. 1743)
    • 1830 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (b. 1795)
    • 1872 – Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, Dutch historian, jurist, and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1798)
    • 1875 – Eduard Mörike, German pastor and poet (b. 1804)
    • 1876 – Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire, 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1830)
    • 1922 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (b. 1864)
    • 1925 – Margaret Murray Washington, American Academic (b. 1865)
    • 1926 – Fred Spofforth, Australian-English cricketer and coach (b. 1853)
    • 1928 – Zhang Zuolin, Chinese warlord (b. 1873)
    • 1929 – Harry Frazee, American director, producer, and agent (b. 1881)
    • 1931 – Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, Sharif and Emir of Mecca, King of the Hejaz (b. 1853/54)
    • 1933 – Ahmet Haşim, Turkish poet and author (b. 1884)
    • 1939 – Tommy Ladnier, American trumpet player (b. 1900)
    • 1941 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor (b. 1859)
    • 1942 – Reinhard Heydrich, German SS officer and politician (b. 1904)
    • 1951 – Serge Koussevitzky, Russian-American bassist, composer, and conductor (b. 1874)
    • 1956 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and producer (b. 1881)
    • 1962 – Clem McCarthy, American sportscaster (b. 1882)
    • 1967 – Linda Eenpalu, Estonian lawyer and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1968 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (b. 1898)
    • 1970 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (b. 1911)
    • 1971 – György Lukács, Hungarian historian and philosopher (b. 1885)
    • 1973 – Maurice René Fréchet, French mathematician and academic (b. 1878)
    • 1973 – Murry Wilson, American songwriter, producer, and manager (b. 1917)
    • 1981 – Leslie Averill, New Zealand doctor and soldier (b. 1897)
    • 1989 – Dik Browne, American cartoonist (b. 1917)
    • 1990 – Stiv Bators, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1949)
    • 1992 – Carl Stotz, American businessman, founded Little League Baseball (b. 1910)
    • 1993 – Bernard Evslin, American writer (b. 1922)
    • 1994 – Derek Leckenby, English musician (b. 1943)
    • 1997 – Ronnie Lane, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1946)
    • 1998 – Josephine Hutchinson, American actress (b. 1903)
    • 2002 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, Peruvian architect and politician, 42nd President of Peru (b. 1912)
    • 2004 – Steve Lacy, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1934)
    • 2004 – Nino Manfredi, Italian actor (b. 1921)
    • 2007 – Clete Boyer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1937)
    • 2007 – Bill France, Jr., American businessman (b. 1933)
    • 2007 – Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – John Wooden, American basketball player and coach (b. 1910)
    • 2011 – Juan Francisco Luis, Virgin Islander sergeant and politician, 23rd Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1940)
    • 2011 – Andreas P. Nielsen, Danish author and composer (b. 1953)
    • 2012 – Peter Beaven, New Zealand architect, designed the Lyttelton Road Tunnel Administration Building (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Pedro Borbón, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1946)
    • 2012 – Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, Guatemalan cardinal (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – Herb Reed, American violinist (b. 1929)
    • 2013 – Walt Arfons, American race car driver (b. 1916)
    • 2013 – Joey Covington, American drummer (b. 1945)
    • 2013 – Hermann Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer, handball player, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
    • 2013 – Will Wynn, American football player (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – George Ho, American-Hong Kong businessman (b. 1919)
    • 2014 – Nathan Shamuyarira, Zimbabwean journalist and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Sydney Templeman, Baron Templeman, English lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
    • 2014 – Don Zimmer, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1931)
    • 2015 – Marguerite Patten, English economist and author (b. 1915)
    • 2015 – Leonid Plyushch, Ukrainian mathematician and academic (b. 1938)
    • 2015 – Jabe Thomas, American race car driver (b. 1930)
    • 2015 – Anne Warburton, British academic and diplomat, British Ambassador to Denmark (b. 1927)
    • 2016 – Carmen Pereira, Bissau-Guinean politician (b. 1937)
    • 2017 – Juan Goytisolo, Spanish essayist, poet and novelist (b. 1931)

    Holidays and observances on June 4

    • Birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim & Flag Day celebration of the Finnish Defence Forces (Finland)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Filippo Smaldone
      • Francis Caracciolo
      • Optatus
      • Petroc of Cornwall
      • Quirinus of Sescia
      • Saturnina
      • June 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Emancipation Day or Independence Day, commemorates the abolition of serfdom in Tonga by King George Tupou in 1862, and the independence of Tonga from the British protectorate in 1970. (Tonga)
    • Flag Day (Estonia)
    • International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression (International)
    • National Unity Day (Hungary)
    • Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 Memorial Day (International)

  • June 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.
    • 1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later.
    • 1615 – The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.
    • 1676 – Franco-Dutch War: France ensured the supremacy of its naval fleet for the remainder of the war with its victory in the Battle of Palermo.
    • 1692 – Bridget Bishop is the first person to be tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts; she was found guilty and later hanged.
    • 1763 – Pontiac’s Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison’s attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.
    • 1774 – Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act is enacted, allowing a governor in colonial America to house British soldiers in uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings if suitable quarters are not provided.
    • 1793 – French Revolution: François Hanriot, leader of the Parisian National Guard, arrests 22 Girondists selected by Jean-Paul Marat, setting the stage for the Reign of Terror.
    • 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: A Franco-Spanish fleet recaptures Diamond Rock, an uninhabited island at the entrance to the bay leading to Fort-de-France, from the British.
    • 1835 – P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.
    • 1848 – The Slavic congress in Prague begins.
    • 1866 – The Fenians defeat Canadian forces at Ridgeway and Fort Erie, but the raids end soon after.
    • 1896 – Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his wireless telegraph.
    • 1909 – Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
    • 1910 – Charles Rolls, a co-founder of Rolls-Royce Limited, becomes the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane.
    • 1919 – Anarchists simultaneously set off bombs in eight separate U.S. cities.
    • 1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
    • 1941 – World War II: German paratroopers murder Greek civilians in the villages of Kondomari and Alikianos.
    • 1946 – Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum, King Umberto II of Italy is exiled.
    • 1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised.
    • 1955 – The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.
    • 1962 – During the FIFA World Cup, police had to intervene multiple times in fights between Chilean and Italian players in one of the most violent games in football history.
    • 1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed.
    • 1966 – Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.
    • 1967 – Luis Monge is executed in Colorado’s gas chamber, in the last pre-Furman execution in the United States.
    • 1967 – Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into riots, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group Movement 2 June.
    • 1979 – Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
    • 1983 – After an emergency landing because of an in-flight fire, twenty-three passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 797 are killed when a flashover occurs as the plane’s doors open. Because of this incident, numerous new safety regulations are put in place.
    • 1990 – The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 66 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12.
    • 1997 – In Denver, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died. He was executed four years later.
    • 2003 – Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
    • 2012 – Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
    • 2014 – Telangana officially becomes the 29th state of India, formed from ten districts of northwestern Andhra Pradesh.

    Births on June 2 

    • 1305 – Abu Sa’id Bahadur Khan, ruler of Ilkhanate (d. 1335)
    • 1423 – Ferdinand I of Naples (d. 1494)
    • 1489 – Charles, Duke of Vendôme (d. 1537)
    • 1535 – Pope Leo XI (d. 1605)
    • 1602 – Rudolf Christian, Count of East Frisia, Ruler of East Frisia (d. 1628)
    • 1621 – Rutger von Ascheberg, Courland-born soldier in Swedish service (d. 1693)
    • 1621 – (baptized) Isaac van Ostade, Dutch painter (d. 1649)
    • 1638 – Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (d. 1709)
    • 1644 – William Salmon, English medical writer (d. 1713)
    • 1739 – Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1815)
    • 1740 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and politician (d. 1814)
    • 1743 – Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian occultist and explorer (d. 1795)
    • 1773 – John Randolph of Roanoke, American planter and politician, 8th United States Ambassador to Russia (d. 1833)
    • 1774 – William Lawson, English-Australian explorer and politician (d. 1850)
    • 1813 – Daniel Pollen, Irish-New Zealand politician, 9th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1896)
    • 1823 – Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (d. 1905)
    • 1835 – Pope Pius X (d. 1914)
    • 1838 – Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg (d. 1900)
    • 1840 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (d. 1928)
    • 1840 – Émile Munier, French artist (d. 1895)
    • 1857 – Edward Elgar, English composer and educator (d. 1934)
    • 1857 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
    • 1861 – Concordia Selander, Swedish actress and manager (d. 1935)
    • 1863 – Felix Weingartner, Croatian-Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1942)
    • 1865 – George Lohmann, English cricketer (d. 1901)
    • 1865 – Adelaide Casely-Hayford, Sierra Leone Creole advocate and activist for cultural nationalism (d. 1960)
    • 1869 – Jack O’Connor, American baseball player and manager (d. 1937)
    • 1875 – Charles Stewart Mott, American businessman and politician, 50th Mayor of Flint, Michigan (d. 1973)
    • 1878 – Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (d. 1912)
    • 1881 – Walter Egan, American golfer (d. 1971)
    • 1891 – Thurman Arnold, American lawyer and judge (d. 1969)
    • 1891 – Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese admiral and pilot (d. 1945)
    • 1899 – Lotte Reiniger, German animator and director (d. 1981)
    • 1899 – Edwin Way Teale, American environmentalist and photographer (d. 1980)
    • 1904 – Frank Runacres, English painter and educator (d. 1974)
    • 1904 – Johnny Weissmuller, Hungarian-American swimmer and actor (d. 1984)
    • 1907 – Dorothy West, American journalist and author (d. 1998)
    • 1907 – John Lehmann, English poet and publisher (d. 1987)
    • 1910 – Hector Dyer, American sprinter (d. 1990)
    • 1911 – Joe McCluskey, American runner (d. 2002)
    • 1913 – Barbara Pym, English author (d. 1980)
    • 1913 – Elsie Tu, English-Hong Kong educator and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1914 – Johnny Bulla, American golfer (d. 2003)
    • 1915 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian spy (d. 1992)
    • 1917 – Heinz Sielmann, German photographer and director (d. 2006)
    • 1918 – Ruth Atkinson, Canadian-American illustrator (d. 1997)
    • 1918 – Kathryn Tucker Windham, American journalist and author (d. 2011)
    • 1919 – Nat Mayer Shapiro, American painter (d. 2005)
    • 1920 – Frank G. Clement, American lawyer and politician, 41st Governor of Tennessee (d. 1969)
    • 1920 – Yolande Donlan, American-English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1920 – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-German author and critic (d. 2013)
    • 1920 – Tex Schramm, American businessman (d. 2003)
    • 1920 – Johnny Speight, English screenwriter and producer (d. 1998)
    • 1921 – Betty Freeman, American photographer and philanthropist (d. 2009)
    • 1921 – Ernie Royal, American trumpet player (d. 1983)
    • 1921 – Sigmund Sternberg, Hungarian-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
    • 1921 – András Szennay, Hungarian priest (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1922 – Carmen Silvera, Canadian-English actress (d. 2002)
    • 1923 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
    • 1924 – June Callwood, Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2007)
    • 1926 – Chiyonoyama Masanobu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 41st Yokozuna (d. 1977)
    • 1926 – Milo O’Shea, Irish-American actor (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Colin Brittan, English footballer (d. 2013)
    • 1927 – Christopher Slade, English lawyer and judge
    • 1928 – Erzsi Kovács, Hungarian singer (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Rafael A. Lecuona, Cuban-American gymnast and academic (d. 2014)
    • 1928 – Ron Reynolds, English footballer (d. 1999)
    • 1929 – Norton Juster, American architect, author, and academic
    • 1929 – Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player (d. 2007)
    • 1930 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1999)
    • 1933 – Jerry Lumpe, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1933 – Lew “Sneaky Pete” Robinson, drag racer (d. 1971)
    • 1934 – Johnny Carter, American singer (d. 2009)
    • 1935 – Carol Shields, American-Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2003)
    • 1935 – Dimitri Kitsikis, Greek poet and educator
    • 1936 – Volodymyr Holubnychy, Ukrainian race walker
    • 1937 – Rosalyn Higgins, English lawyer and judge
    • 1937 – Sally Kellerman, American actress
    • 1937 – Jimmy Jones, American singer-songwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1937 – Robert Paul, Canadian figure skater and choreographer
    • 1937 – Deric Washburn, American screenwriter and playwright
    • 1938 – Kevin Brownlow, English historian and author
    • 1938 – George William Penrose, Lord Penrose, Scottish lawyer and judge
    • 1939 – Charles Miller, American musician (d. 1980)
    • 1939 – John Schlee, American golfer (d. 2000)
    • 1940 – Constantine II of Greece
    • 1941 – Ünal Aysal, Turkish businessman
    • 1941 – Stacy Keach, American actor
    • 1941 – Lou Nanne, Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager
    • 1941 – Charlie Watts, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1942 – Mike Ahern, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of Queensland
    • 1943 – Charles Haid, American actor and director
    • 1943 – Crescenzio Sepe, Italian cardinal
    • 1944 – Robert Elliott, American actor (d. 2004)
    • 1944 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and conductor (d. 2012)
    • 1945 – Richard Long, English painter, sculptor, and photographer
    • 1945 – Bonnie Newman, American businesswoman and politician
    • 1946 – Lasse Hallström, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1946 – Peter Sutcliffe, UK serial killer
    • 1948 – Jerry Mathers, American actor
    • 1949 – Heather Couper, English astronomer and physicist (d. 2020)
    • 1949 – Frank Rich, American journalist and critic
    • 1950 – Jonathan Evans, Welsh lawyer and politician
    • 1950 – Joanna Gleason, Canadian actress and singer
    • 1950 – Anne Phillips, English theorist and academic
    • 1950 – Momčilo Vukotić, Serbian footballer and manager
    • 1951 – Gilbert Baker, American artist, gay rights activist, and designer of the rainbow flag (d. 2017)
    • 1951 – Arnold Mühren, Dutch footballer and manager
    • 1951 – Larry Robinson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1951 – Alexander Wylie, Lord Kinclaven, Scottish lawyer, judge, and educator
    • 1952 – Gary Bettman, American commissioner of the National Hockey League
    • 1953 – Vidar Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist
    • 1953 – Craig Stadler, American golfer
    • 1953 – Cornel West, American philosopher, author, and academic
    • 1954 – Dennis Haysbert, American actor and producer
    • 1955 – Dana Carvey, American comedian and actor
    • 1955 – Nandan Nilekani, Indian businessman, co-founded Infosys
    • 1955 – Mani Ratnam, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1955 – Michael Steele, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1956 – Jan Lammers, Dutch race car driver
    • 1957 – Mark Lawrenson, English footballer and manager
    • 1958 – Lex Luger, American wrestler and football player
    • 1959 – Rineke Dijkstra, Dutch photographer
    • 1959 – Lydia Lunch, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
    • 1959 – Erwin Olaf, Dutch photographer
    • 1960 – Olga Bondarenko, Russian runner
    • 1960 – Tony Hadley, English singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1960 – Kyle Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster
    • 1961 – Dez Cadena, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1962 – Mark Plaatjes, South African-American runner and coach
    • 1963 – Anand Abhyankar, Indian actor (d. 2012)
    • 1964 – Caroline Link, German director and screenwriter
    • 1965 – Russ Courtnall, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1965 – Mark Waugh, Australian cricketer and journalist
    • 1965 – Steve Waugh, Australian cricketer
    • 1966 – Dayana Cadeau, Haitian born Canadian-American professional bodybuilder
    • 1966 – Candace Gingrich, American activist
    • 1966 – Pedro Guerra, Spanish singer-songwriter
    • 1966 – Petra van Staveren, Dutch swimmer
    • 1967 – Remigija Nazarovienė, Lithuanian heptathlete and coach
    • 1967 – Mike Stanton, American baseball player
    • 1968 – Merril Bainbridge, Australian singer-songwriter
    • 1968 – Andy Cohen, American television host
    • 1969 – Kurt Abbott, American baseball player
    • 1969 – Paulo Sérgio, Brazilian footballer
    • 1969 – David Wheaton, American tennis player, radio host, and author
    • 1970 – B Real, American rapper and actor
    • 1971 – Kateřina Jacques, Czech translator and politician
    • 1972 – Wayne Brady, American actor, comedian, game show host, and singer
    • 1972 – Raúl Ibañez, American baseball player
    • 1972 – Wentworth Miller, American actor and screenwriter
    • 1973 – Marko Kristal, Estonian footballer and manager
    • 1973 – Neifi Pérez, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1974 – Gata Kamsky, Russian-American chess player
    • 1974 – Matt Serra, American mixed martial artist
    • 1975 – Salvatore Scibona, American author
    • 1976 – Earl Boykins, American basketball player
    • 1976 – Martin Čech, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2007)
    • 1976 – Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brazilian mixed martial artist and boxer
    • 1976 – Tim Rice-Oxley, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1977 – Teet Allas, Estonian footballer
    • 1977 – A.J. Styles, American wrestler
    • 1977 – Zachary Quinto, American actor and producer
    • 1978 – Dominic Cooper, English actor
    • 1978 – Nikki Cox, American actress
    • 1978 – Justin Long, American actor
    • 1978 – Yi So-yeon, biotechnologist and astronaut, the first Korean in space
    • 1978 – Luke Williamson, Australian rugby league player
    • 1979 – Morena Baccarin, Brazilian-American actress
    • 1979 – Butterfly Boucher, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1979 – Natalia Rodríguez, Spanish runner
    • 1980 – Fabrizio Moretti, Brazilian-American drummer
    • 1980 – Bobby Simmons, American basketball player
    • 1980 – Richard Skuse, English rugby player
    • 1980 – Abby Wambach, American soccer player and coach
    • 1980 – Tomasz Wróblewski, Polish bass player and songwriter
    • 1981 – Nikolay Davydenko, Russian tennis player
    • 1981 – Chin-hui Tsao, Taiwanese baseball player
    • 1982 – Jewel Staite, Canadian actress
    • 1983 – Chris Higgins, American ice hockey player
    • 1983 – Leela James, American singer-songwriter
    • 1983 – Toni Livers, Swiss skier
    • 1983 – Brooke White, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1984 – Jack Afamasaga, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1984 – Max Boyer, Canadian wrestler
    • 1984 – Feleti Mateo, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
    • 1985 – Miyuki Sawashiro, Japanese voice actress and singer
    • 1985 – Maggie Thrash, American graphic novelist and writer
    • 1986 – Todd Carney, Australian rugby league player
    • 1987 – Maryka Holtzhausen, South African netball player
    • 1987 – Yoann Huget, French rugby player
    • 1987 – Matthew Koma, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1987 – Angelo Mathews, Sri Lankan cricketer
    • 1987 – Darin Zanyar, Swedish singer-songwriter
    • 1987 – Sonakshi Sinha, Indian actress
    • 1988 – Sergio Agüero, Argentinian footballer
    • 1988 – Patrik Berglund, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1988 – Staniliya Stamenova, Bulgarian canoeist
    • 1989 – Freddy Adu, Ghanaian-American footballer
    • 1989 – Steve Smith, Australian cricketer
    • 1990 – Jack Lowden, Scottish actor
    • 1992 – Pajtim Kasami, Swiss footballer
    • 1993 – Adam Taggart, Australian footballer
    • 1994 – Mike Grzesiek, Esports player and streamer
    • 1999 – Campbell Graham, Australian rugby league player
    • 2000 – Lilimar Hernandez, Venezuelan actress

    Deaths on June 2 

    • 657 – Pope Eugene I
    • 891 – Al-Muwaffaq, Abbasid general (b. 842)
    • 910 – Richilde of Provence (b. 845)
    • 1200 – Bishop John of Oxford
    • 1258 – Peter I, Count of Urgell
    • 1292 – Rhys ap Maredudd, Welsh nobleman and rebel leader
    • 1418 – Katherine of Lancaster, queen of Henry III of Castile
    • 1453 – Álvaro de Luna, Duke of Trujillo, Constable of Castile
    • 1567 – Shane O’Neill, head of the O’Neill dynasty in Ireland (b. 1530)
    • 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (b. 1536)
    • 1581 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, Scottish soldier and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1525)
    • 1603 – Bernard of Wąbrzeźno, Roman Catholic priest (b. 1575)
    • 1693 – John Wildman, English soldier and politician, Postmaster General of the United Kingdom (b. 1621)
    • 1701 – Madeleine de Scudéry, French author (b. 1607)
    • 1716 – Ogata Kōrin, Japanese painter and educator (b. 1658)
    • 1754 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish minister and theologian (b. 1680)
    • 1761 – Jonas Alströmer, Swedish businessman (b. 1685)
    • 1785 – Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, French mathematician and academic (b. 1713)
    • 1806 – William Tate, English painter (b. 1747)
    • 1853 – Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, English general (b. 1777)
    • 1865 – Ner Middleswarth, American judge and politician (b. 1783)
    • 1875 – Józef Kremer, Polish psychologist, historian, and philosopher (b. 1806)
    • 1881 – Émile Littré, French lexicographer and philosopher (b. 1801)
    • 1882 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (b. 1807)
    • 1901 – George Leslie Mackay, Canadian missionary and author (b. 1844)
    • 1927 – Hüseyin Avni Lifij, Turkish painter (b. 1886)
    • 1929 – Enrique Gorostieta, Mexican general (b. 1889)
    • 1933 – Frank Jarvis, American runner and triple jumper (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – Louis Vierne, French organist and composer (b. 1870)
    • 1941 – Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (b. 1903)
    • 1942 – Bunny Berigan, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1908)
    • 1947 – John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, English sailor and politician (b. 1867)
    • 1948 – Viktor Brack, German physician (b. 1904)
    • 1948 – Karl Brandt, German SS officer (b. 1904)
    • 1948 – Karl Gebhardt, German physician (b. 1897)
    • 1948 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (b. 1903)
    • 1948 – Wolfram Sievers, German SS officer (b. 1905)
    • 1952 – Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Central Sofia Market Hall (b. 1880)
    • 1956 – Jean Hersholt, Danish-American actor and director (b. 1886)
    • 1959 – Lyda Borelli, Italian actress (b. 1884)
    • 1961 – George S. Kaufman, American director, producer, and playwright (b. 1889)
    • 1962 – Vita Sackville-West, English author and poet (b. 1892)
    • 1967 – Benno Ohnesorg, German student and activist (b. 1940)
    • 1968 – André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
    • 1969 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (b. 1917)
    • 1970 – Orhan Kemal, Turkish author (b. 1914)
    • 1970 – Albert Lamorisse, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
    • 1970 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand race car driver and engineer, founded the McLaren racing team (b. 1937)
    • 1970 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian soldier, journalist, and academic (b. 1888)
    • 1974 – Hiroshi Kazato, Japanese race car driver (b. 1949)
    • 1976 – Kenneth Mason, English soldier and geographer (b. 1887)
    • 1976 – Juan José Torres, Bolivian general and politician, 61st President of Bolivia (b. 1920)
    • 1977 – Albert Bittlmayer, German footballer (b. 1952)
    • 1977 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish-born American actor (b. 1931)
    • 1978 – Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1895)
    • 1979 – Jim Hutton, American actor (b. 1934)
    • 1982 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th President of Pakistan (b. 1904)
    • 1983 – Stan Rogers, Canadian singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
    • 1983 – Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1913)
    • 1986 – Aurèle Joliat, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1901)
    • 1987 – Anthony de Mello, Indian-American priest and psychotherapist (b. 1931)
    • 1987 – Sammy Kaye, American bandleader and songwriter (b. 1910)
    • 1987 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (b. 1893)
    • 1988 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1924)
    • 1989 – Ted a’Beckett, Australian cricketer and footballer (b. 1907)
    • 1990 – Jack Gilford, American actor and comedian (b. 1908)
    • 1990 – Rex Harrison, English actor (b. 1908)
    • 1991 – Ahmed Arif, Turkish poet and author (b. 1927)
    • 1992 – Philip Dunne, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
    • 1993 – Johnny Mize, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1913)
    • 1993 – Tahar Djaout, Algerian journalist, writer and poet (b. 1954)
    • 1994 – David Stove, Australian philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1927)
    • 1996 – John Alton, Hungarian-American cinematographer and director (b. 1901)
    • 1996 – Leon Garfield, English author (b. 1921)
    • 1996 – Ray Combs, American game show host (b. 1956)
    • 1997 – Doc Cheatham, American trumpet player, singer, and bandleader (b. 1905)
    • 1999 – Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican singer (b. 1949)
    • 2000 – Svyatoslav Fyodorov, Russian ophthalmologist, academic, and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2000 – John Schlee, American golfer (b. 1939)
    • 2000 – Gerald James Whitrow, English mathematician, cosmologist, and historian (b. 1912)
    • 2001 – Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (b. 1908)
    • 2001 – Joey Maxim, American boxer (b. 1922)
    • 2002 – Hugo van Lawick, Dutch director and photographer (b. 1937)
    • 2003 – Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (b. 1918)
    • 2003 – Alma Ricard, Canadian broadcaster and philanthropist (b. 1906)
    • 2005 – Lucien Cliche, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1916)
    • 2005 – Gunder Gundersen, Norwegian skier (b. 1930)
    • 2005 – Samir Kassir, Lebanese journalist and educator (b. 1950)
    • 2005 – Melita Norwood, English civil servant and spy (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Keith Smith, English rugby player and coach (b. 1952)
    • 2007 – Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (b. 1949)
    • 2007 – Huang Ju, Chinese engineer and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1938)
    • 2008 – Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1928)
    • 2008 – Mel Ferrer, American actor (b. 1917)
    • 2008 – Cevher Özden, Turkish banker and businessman (b. 1933)
    • 2009 – David Eddings, American author (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Avraham Botzer, Polish-Israeli commander (b. 1929)
    • 2012 – Adolfo Calero, Nicaraguan businessman and political activist (b. 1931)
    • 2012 – Richard Dawson, English-American soldier, actor, television personality, and game show host (b. 1932)
    • 2012 – LeRoy Ellis, American basketball player (b. 1940)
    • 2012 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (b. 1939)
    • 2012 – Jan Gmelich Meijling, Dutch commander and politician (b. 1943)
    • 2013 – Mario Bernardi, Canadian pianist and conductor (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Chen Xitong, Chinese politician, 8th Mayor of Beijing (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Mandawuy Yunupingu, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1956)
    • 2014 – Ivica Brzić, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Anjan Das, Indian director and producer (b. 1951)
    • 2014 – Gennadi Gusarov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1937)
    • 2014 – Nikolay Khrenkov, Russian bobsledder (b. 1984)
    • 2014 – Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Kuaima Riruako, Namibian politician (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (b. 1925)
    • 2015 – Fernando de Araújo, East Timorese politician, President of East Timor (b. 1963)
    • 2015 – Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1926)
    • 2017 – Peter Sallis, English actor (b. 1921)

    Holidays and observances on June 2 

    • Children’s Day (North Korea)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Alexander (martyr)
      • Elmo
      • Felix of Nicosia
      • Marcellinus and Peter
      • Martyrs of Lyon, including Blandina
      • Pope Eugene I
      • Pothinus
      • June 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Civil Aviation Day (Azerbaijan)
    • Coronation of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, also Social Forestry Day (Bhutan)
    • Day of Hristo Botev (Bulgaria)
    • Decoration Day (Canada)
    • Festa della Repubblica (Italy)
    • International Sex Workers Day
    • Telangana Day (Telangana, India)
  • |

    May 31- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
    • 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus’ and Cumans.
    • 1293 – Mongol invasion of Java was a punitive expedition against King Kertanegara of Singhasari, who had refused to pay tribute to the Yuan and maimed one of its ministers. However, it ended with failure for the Mongols. Regarded as establish City of Surabaya
    • 1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France.
    • 1669 – Citing poor eyesight as a reason, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
    • 1775 – American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolves are adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
    • 1790 – Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
    • 1790 – The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
    • 1795 – French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
    • 1805 – French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock.
    • 1813 – In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.
    • 1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.
    • 1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
    • 1864 – American Civil War: Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: The Army of Northern Virginia engages the Army of the Potomac.
    • 1879 – Gilmore’s Garden in New York City is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
    • 1884 – The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria.
    • 1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
    • 1902 – Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
    • 1909 – The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.
    • 1910 – The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.
    • 1911 – The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    • 1911 – The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.
    • 1916 – World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
    • 1921 – The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.
    • 1935 – A 7.7 Mw  earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000.
    • 1941 – Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns ‘Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
    • 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
    • 1947 – Ferenc Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, resigns from office after blackmail from the Hungarian Communist Party accusing him of being part of a plot against the state. This grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.
    • 1961 – The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership.
    • 1961 – In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.
    • 1962 – The West Indies Federation dissolves.
    • 1970 – The 7.9 Mw  Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794–70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured.
    • 1971 – In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
    • 1973 – The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
    • 1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.
    • 1985 – United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
    • 1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM II mission.
    • 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was “Deep Throat”.
    • 2008 – Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds
    • 2010 – Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.
    • 2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.
    • 2013 – A record breaking 2.6 mile wide tornado strikes El Reno, Oklahoma, United States, causing eight fatalities and over 150 injuries.
    • 2017 – A car bomb explodes in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463.
    • 2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump tweets the word “covfefe” and quickly becomes a worldwide viral phenomenon.
    • 2019 – A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.

    Births on May 31

    • 1443 (or 1441) – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (d. 1509)
    • 1462 – Philipp II, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1504)
    • 1469 – Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
    • 1535 – Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
    • 1556 – Jerzy Radziwiłł, Catholic cardinal (d. 1600)
    • 1577 – Nur Jahan, Empress consort of the Mughal Empire (d. 1645)
    • 1613 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
    • 1640 – Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland (d. 1673)
    • 1641 – Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem (d. 1707)
    • 1725 – Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of the Malwa Kingdom under the Maratha Empire (d. 1795)
    • 1732 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (d. 1812)
    • 1753 – Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French lawyer and politician (d. 1793)
    • 1754 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter and educator (d. 1817)
    • 1773 – Ludwig Tieck, German poet, author, and critic (d. 1853)
    • 1801 – Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1887)
    • 1815 – Adye Douglas, English-Australian cricketer and politician, 15th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1906)
    • 1818 – John Albion Andrew, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1867)
    • 1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (d. 1892)
    • 1827 – Kusumoto Ine, first Japanese female doctor of Western medicine (d. 1903)
    • 1835 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese commander (d. 1869)
    • 1838 – Henry Sidgwick, English economist and philosopher (d. 1900)
    • 1842 – John Cox Bray, Australian politician, 15th Premier of South Australia (d. 1894)
    • 1847 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Canadian-Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (d. 1924)
    • 1852 – Francisco Moreno, Argentinian explorer and academic (d. 1919)
    • 1852 – Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist, invented the Petri dish (d. 1921)
    • 1857 – Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
    • 1858 – Graham Wallas, English socialist, social psychologist, and educationalist (d. 1932)
    • 1860 – Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
    • 1863 – Francis Younghusband, Indian-English captain and explorer (d. 1942)
    • 1866 – John Ringling, American entrepreneur; one of the founders of the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1936)
    • 1875 – Rosa May Billinghurst, British suffragette and women’s rights activist (d.1953)
    • 1879 – Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian soprano (d. 1952)
    • 1882 – Sándor Festetics, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of War (d. 1956)
    • 1883 – Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician, 2nd President of Finland (d. 1942)
    • 1885 – Robert Richards, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of South Australia (d. 1967)
    • 1887 – Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
    • 1892 – Michel Kikoine, Belarusian-French painter (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Erich Neumann, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1951)
    • 1892 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian poet and author (d. 1968)
    • 1892 – Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1934)
    • 1894 – Fred Allen, American comedian, radio host, game show panelist, and author (d. 1956)
    • 1898 – Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (d. 1993)
    • 1900 – Lucile Godbold, American Olympic athlete (d. 1981)
    • 1901 – Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
    • 1908 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
    • 1909 – Art Coulter, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2000)
    • 1911 – Maurice Allais, French economist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
    • 1912 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (d. 1997)
    • 1914 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer and educator (d. 2006)
    • 1916 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
    • 1918 – Robert Osterloh, American actor (d. 2001)
    • 1918 – Lloyd Quarterman, African American chemist (d. 1982)
    • 1919 – Robie Macauley, American editor, novelist and critic (d. 1995)
    • 1921 – Edna Doré, English actress (d. 2014)
    • 1921 – Andrew Grima, Anglo-Italian jewellery designer (d. 2007)
    • 1921 – Howard Reig, American radio and television announcer (d. 2008)
    • 1921 – Alida Valli, Austrian-Italian actress and singer (d. 2006)
    • 1922 – Denholm Elliott, English-Spanish actor (d. 1992)
    • 1923 – Ellsworth Kelly, American painter and sculptor (d. 2015)
    • 1923 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
    • 1925 – Julian Beck, American actor and director (d. 1986)
    • 1927 – James Eberle, English admiral (d. 2018)
    • 1927 – Michael Sandberg, Baron Sandberg, English lieutenant and banker (d. 2017)
    • 1928 – Pankaj Roy, Indian cricketer (d. 2001)
    • 1929 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, musician, and producer
    • 1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Shirley Verrett, American soprano and actress (d. 2010)
    • 1932 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian pianist, bassist, and composer (d. 2012)
    • 1932 – Jay Miner, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 1994)
    • 1933 – Henry B. Eyring, American religious leader, educator, and author
    • 1934 – Jim Hutton, American actor (d. 1979)
    • 1935 – Jim Bolger, New Zealand businessman and politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
    • 1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
    • 1938 – John Prescott, British sailor and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
    • 1938 – Peter Yarrow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1939 – Terry Waite, English humanitarian and author
    • 1940 – Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Ukrainian hammer thrower and coach
    • 1940 – Augie Meyers, American musician and singer-songwriter
    • 1940 – Gilbert Shelton, American illustrator
    • 1941 – June Clark, Welsh nurse and educator
    • 1941 – Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1941 – William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1943 – Sharon Gless, American actress
    • 1943 – Joe Namath, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
    • 1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
    • 1945 – Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian academic and politician, 4th President of Côte d’Ivoire
    • 1945 – Bernard Goldberg, American journalist and author
    • 1946 – Ted Baehr, American publisher and critic
    • 1946 – Steve Bucknor, Jamaican cricketer and umpire
    • 1946 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat (d. 2009)
    • 1946 – Debbie Moore, English model and businesswoman
    • 1947 – Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1947 – Gabriele Hinzmann, German discus thrower
    • 1948 – Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1948 – John Bonham, English musician, songwriter and drummer (d. 1980)
    • 1948 – Martin Hannett, English bass player, guitarist, and record producer (d. 1991)
    • 1948 – Duncan Hunter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician
    • 1949 – Tom Berenger, American actor, film producer and television writer
    • 1950 – Jean Chalopin, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded DIC Entertainment
    • 1950 – Gregory Harrison, American actor
    • 1950 – Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
    • 1951 – Karl-Hans Riehm, German hammer thrower
    • 1952 – Karl Bartos, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1953 – Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Finnish actor and screenwriter
    • 1954 – Thomas Mavros, Greek footballer
    • 1954 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (d. 2000)
    • 1955 – Tommy Emmanuel, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1955 – Susie Essman, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1956 – Fritz Hilpert, German drummer and composer
    • 1956 – John Young, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
    • 1957 – Jim Craig, American ice hockey player
    • 1959 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver (d. 2014)
    • 1959 – Phil Wilson, English politician
    • 1960 – Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman
    • 1960 – Chris Elliott, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
    • 1960 – Peter Winterbottom, English rugby player
    • 1961 – Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1961 – Justin Madden, Australian footballer and politician
    • 1961 – Lea Thompson, American actress, director, and producer
    • 1962 – Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1963 – David Leigh, holder of the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry at the University of Manchester
    • 1963 – Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary
    • 1963 – Wesley Willis, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2003)
    • 1964 – Leonard Asper, Canadian lawyer and businessman
    • 1964 – Stéphane Caristan, French hurdler and coach
    • 1964 – Yukio Edano, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
    • 1964 – Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, American rapper and producer
    • 1965 – Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer
    • 1966 – Roshan Mahanama, Sri Lankan cricketer and referee
    • 1967 – Phil Keoghan, New Zealand television host and producer
    • 1967 – Kenny Lofton, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Arun Luthra, Indo-Anglo-American saxophonist, konnakol artist, composer, and arranger
    • 1972 – Christian McBride, American bassist and record producer
    • 1972 – Archie Panjabi, Indo-British actress
    • 1972 – Frode Estil, Norwegian skier
    • 1972 – Antti Niemi, Finnish international footballer, goalkeeper and coach
    • 1972 – Dave Roberts, American baseball player and coach
    • 1974 – Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Japanese comedian and singer
    • 1974 – Chad Campbell, American golfer
    • 1975 – Mac Suzuki, Japanese baseball player
    • 1976 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
    • 1976 – Matt Harpring, American basketball player and sportscaster
    • 1977 – Theodoros Baev, Bulgarian-Greek volleyball player
    • 1977 – Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
    • 1977 – Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
    • 1977 – Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
    • 1977 – Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player
    • 1979 – Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
    • 1981 – Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
    • 1981 – Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer
    • 1981 – Jake Peavy, American baseball player
    • 1981 – Marlies Schild, Austrian skier
    • 1984 – Andrew Bailey, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer
    • 1984 – Nate Robinson, American basketball player
    • 1985 – Jordy Nelson, American football player
    • 1986 – Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist
    • 1989 – Marco Reus, German footballer
    • 1990 – Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Michaël Bournival, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1992 – Laura Ikauniece, Latvian heptathlete
    • 1996 – Normani Korde, American singer
    • 1998 – Santino Ferrucci, American race car driver

    Deaths on May 31

    • 455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor (b. 396)
    • 930 – Liu Hua, princess of Southern Han (b. 896)
    • 960 – Fujiwara no Morosuke, Japanese statesman (b. 909)
    • 1076 – Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, English politician (b. 1050)
    • 1089 – Sigwin von Are, archbishop of Cologne
    • 1162 – Géza II, king of Hungary (b. 1130)
    • 1321 – Birger, king of Sweden (b. 1280)
    • 1326 – Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (b. 1271)
    • 1329 – Albertino Mussato, Italian statesman and writer (b. 1261)
    • 1349 – Thomas Wake, English politician (b. 1297)
    • 1370 – Vitalis of Assisi, Italian hermit and monk (b. 1295)
    • 1408 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1358)
    • 1410 – Martin of Aragon, Spanish king (b. 1356)
    • 1504 – Engelbert II of Nassau (b. 1451)
    • 1558 – Philip Hoby, English general and diplomat (b. 1505)
    • 1567 – Guido de Bres, Belgian pastor and theologian (b. 1522)
    • 1594 – Tintoretto, Italian painter and educator (b. 1518)
    • 1601 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (b. 1547)
    • 1640 – Zeynab Begum, Safavid princess (date of birth unknown)
    • 1665 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (b. 1597)
    • 1680 – Joachim Neander, German theologian and educator (b. 1650)
    • 1740 – Frederick William I of Prussia (b. 1688)
    • 1747 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1686)
    • 1809 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1732)
    • 1809 – Jean Lannes, French general (b. 1769)
    • 1831 – Samuel Bentham, English architect and engineer (b. 1757)
    • 1832 – Évariste Galois, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1811)
    • 1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor, comedian and dancer, (b. 1779)
    • 1846 – Philip Marheineke, German pastor and philosopher (b. 1780)
    • 1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister and economist (b. 1780)
    • 1848 – Eugénie de Guérin, French author (b. 1805)
    • 1899 – Stefanos Koumanoudis, Greek archaeologist, teacher and writer (b. 1818)
    • 1908 – Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian author, poet, and politician (b. 1839)
    • 1909 – Thomas Price, Welsh-Australian politician, 24th Premier of South Australia (b. 1852)
    • 1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, English-American physician and educator (b. 1821)
    • 1931 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
    • 1931 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (b. 1864)
    • 1945 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (b. 1904)
    • 1954 – Antonis Benakis, Greek art collector and philanthropist, founded the Benaki Museum (b. 1873)
    • 1957 – Stefanos Sarafis, Greek general and politician (b. 1890)
    • 1957 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet and academic (b. 1878)
    • 1960 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish author and poet (b. 1882)
    • 1960 – Walther Funk, German economist, journalist, and politician, German Minister of Economics (b. 1890)
    • 1962 – Henry F. Ashurst, American lawyer and politician (b. 1874)
    • 1967 – Billy Strayhorn, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
    • 1970 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1929)
    • 1976 – Jacques Monod, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
    • 1977 – William Castle, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1914)
    • 1978 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
    • 1981 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist and journalist (b. 1914)
    • 1982 – Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer and explorer (b. 1930)
    • 1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer and lieutenant (b. 1895)
    • 1985 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer and author (b. 1921)
    • 1986 – Jane Frank, American painter and sculptor (b. 1918)
    • 1986 – James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
    • 1987 – John Abraham, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
    • 1989 – Owen Lattimore, American author and academic (b. 1900)
    • 1989 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and historian (b. 1901)
    • 1993 – Honey Tree Evil Eye, or, Spud Mackenzie, a Bull Terrier, dies of kidney failure.
    • 1994 – Uzay Heparı, Turkish actor, producer, and composer (b. 1969)
    • 1994 – Herva Nelli, Italian-American soprano (b. 1909)
    • 1995 – Stanley Elkin, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1930)
    • 1996 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author (b. 1920)
    • 1998 – Charles Van Acker, Belgian-American race car driver (b. 1912)
    • 2000 – Petar Mladenov, Bulgarian diplomat, 1st President of Bulgaria (b. 1936)
    • 2000 – Tito Puente, American jazz musician (b. 1923)
    • 2000 – A. Jeyaratnam Wilson, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (b. 1928)
    • 2001 – Arlene Francis, American actress, talk show host, game show panelist, and television personality (b. 1907)
    • 2002 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (b. 1929)
    • 2004 – Aiyathurai Nadesan, Sri Lankan journalist (b. 1954)
    • 2004 – Robert Quine, American guitarist (b. 1941)
    • 2004 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French screenwriter and composer (b. 1941)
    • 2006 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (b. 1933)
    • 2006 – Raymond Davis, Jr., American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
    • 2009 – Danny La Rue, Irish-British drag queen performer and singer (b. 1927)
    • 2009 – George Tiller, American physician (b. 1941)
    • 2010 – Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor and painter (b. 1911)
    • 2010 – Brian Duffy, English photographer and producer (b. 1933)
    • 2010 – William A. Fraker, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1923)
    • 2010 – Rubén Juárez, Argentinian singer-songwriter and bandoneón player (b. 1947)
    • 2010 – Merata Mita, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
    • 2011 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (b. 1919)
    • 2011 – Jonas Bevacqua, American fashion designer, co-founded the Lifted Research Group (b. 1977)
    • 2011 – Derek Hodge, Virgin Islander lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1941)
    • 2011 – Hans Keilson, German-Dutch psychoanalyst and author (b. 1909)
    • 2011 – John Martin, English admiral and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (b. 1918)
    • 2011 – Andy Robustelli, American football player and manager (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Christopher Challis, English cinematographer (b. 1919)
    • 2012 – Randall B. Kester, American lawyer and judge (b. 1916)
    • 2012 – Paul Pietsch, German racing driver and publisher (b. 1911)
    • 2012 – Orlando Woolridge, American basketball player and coach (b. 1959)
    • 2013 – Gerald E. Brown, American physicist and academic (b. 1926)
    • 2013 – Frederic Lindsay, Scottish author and educator (b. 1933)
    • 2013 – Miguel Méndez, American author and poet (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Tim Samaras, American engineer and storm chaser (b. 1957)
    • 2013 – Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (b. 1987)
    • 2013 – Jean Stapleton, American actress (b. 1923)
    • 2014 – Marilyn Beck, American journalist (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1952)
    • 2014 – Hoss Ellington, American race car driver (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Martha Hyer, American actress (b. 1924)
    • 2014 – Lewis Katz, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1942)
    • 2014 – Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, English author (b. 1922)
    • 2015 – Gladys Taylor, Canadian author and publisher (b. 1917)
    • 2016 – Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (1976–2016) (b. 1947)
    • 2016 – Jan Crouch, American televangelist, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (b. 1938)
    • 2016 – Carla Lane, English television writer (b. 1928)
    • 2016 – Rupert Neudeck, German journalist and humanitarian (b. 1939)

    Holidays and observances on May 31

    • Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Camilla Battista da Varano
      • Hermias
      • Petronella
      • Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)
      • May 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • The beginning of Gawai Dayak (Dayaks in Sarawak, Malaysia and West Kalimantan, Indonesia)
    • World No Tobacco Day (International)

  • May 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of Halys, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
    • 621 – Battle of Hulao: Li Shimin, the son of the Chinese emperor Gaozu, defeats the numerically superior forces of Dou Jiande near the Hulao Pass (Henan). This victory decides the outcome of the civil war that followed the Sui dynasty’s collapse in favour of the Tang dynasty.
    • 1533 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
    • 1588 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port.)
    • 1644 – English Civil War: Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby.
    • 1754 – French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
    • 1802 – In Guadeloupe, 400 rebellious slaves, led by Louis Delgrès, blow themselves up rather than submit to Napoleon’s troops.
    • 1830 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which denies Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocates them.
    • 1871 – The Paris Commune falls after two months.
    • 1892 – In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
    • 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
    • 1907 – The first Isle of Man TT race was held.
    • 1918 – The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the First Republic of Armenia declare their independence.
    • 1926 – The 28 May 1926 coup d’état: Ditadura Nacional is established in Portugal to suppress the unrest of the First Republic.
    • 1932 – In the Netherlands, construction of the Afsluitdijk is completed and the Zuiderzee bay is converted to the freshwater IJsselmeer.
    • 1934 – Near Callander, Ontario, Canada, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne; they will be the first quintuplets to survive infancy.
    • 1936 – Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
    • 1937 – Volkswagen, the German automobile manufacturer is founded.
    • 1940 – World War II: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium.
    • 1940 – World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War.
    • 1948 – Daniel François Malan is elected as Prime Minister of South Africa. He later goes on to implement Apartheid.
    • 1958 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
    • 1961 – Peter Benenson’s article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
    • 1974 – Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.
    • 1975 – Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.
    • 1977 – In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 people inside.
    • 1979 – Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.
    • 1987 – A West German pilot, Mathias Rust, who was 18 years old, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
    • 1991 – The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.
    • 1995 – The 7.0 Mw  Neftegorsk earthquake shook the former Russian settlement of Neftegorsk with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured. The settlement was not rebuilt.
    • 1996 – U.S. President Bill Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
    • 1998 – Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Pakistan celebrates Youm-e-Takbir annually.
    • 1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.
    • 2002 – The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
    • 2003 – Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor-General of Australia following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
    • 2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq’s interim government.
    • 2008 – The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.
    • 2010 – In West Bengal, India, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment and subsequent collision kills 148 passengers.
    • 2011 – Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year.

    Births on May 28

    • 1140 – Xin Qiji, Chinese poet, general, and politician (d. 1207)
    • 1371 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1419)
    • 1524 – Selim II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1574)
    • 1588 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (d. 1672)
    • 1589 – Robert Arnauld d’Andilly, French writer (d. 1674)
    • 1663 – António Manoel de Vilhena, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (d. 1736)
    • 1676 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1754)
    • 1692 – Geminiano Giacomelli, Italian composer (d. 1740)
    • 1738 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (d. 1814)
    • 1759 – William Pitt the Younger, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1806)
    • 1763 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (d. 1811)
    • 1764 – Edward Livingston, American jurist and politician, 11th United States Secretary of State (d. 1836)
    • 1779 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and composer (d. 1852)
    • 1807 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American paleontologist and geologist (d. 1873)
    • 1818 – P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (d. 1893)
    • 1836 – Friedrich Baumfelder, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1916)
    • 1836 – Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist and academic (d. 1918)
    • 1837 – George Ashlin, Irish architect, co-designed St Colman’s Cathedral (d. 1921)
    • 1837 – Tony Pastor, American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner (d. 1908)
    • 1841 – Sakaigawa Namiemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 14th Yokozuna (d. 1887)
    • 1853 – Carl Larsson, Swedish painter and author (d. 1919)
    • 1858 – Carl Richard Nyberg, Swedish inventor and businessman, developed the blow torch (d. 1939)
    • 1872 – Marian Smoluchowski, Polish physicist and mountaineer (d. 1917)
    • 1878 – Paul Pelliot, French sinologist and explorer (d. 1945)
    • 1879 – Milutin Milanković, Serbian mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (d. 1958)
    • 1883 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (d. 1966)
    • 1883 – Clough Williams-Ellis, English-Welsh architect, designed the Portmeirion Village (d. 1978)
    • 1884 – Edvard Beneš, Czech academic and politician, 2nd President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1948)
    • 1886 – Santo Trafficante, Sr., Italian-American mobster (d. 1954)
    • 1888 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian journalist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)
    • 1888 – Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, English author and educator (d. 1947)
    • 1888 – Jim Thorpe, American decathlete, football player, and coach (d. 1953)
    • 1889 – Richard Réti, Slovak-Czech chess player and author (d. 1929)
    • 1892 – Minna Gombell, American actress (d. 1973)
    • 1900 – Tommy Ladnier, American trumpet player (d. 1939)
    • 1903 – S. L. Kirloskar, Indian businessman, founded Kirloskar Group (d. 1994)
    • 1906 – Henry Thambiah, Sri Lankan lawyer, judge, and diplomat, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada (d. 1997)
    • 1908 – Léo Cadieux, Canadian journalist and politician, 17th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2005)
    • 1908 – Ian Fleming, English journalist and author, created James Bond (d. 1964)
    • 1909 – Red Horner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
    • 1910 – Georg Gaßmann, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 1987)
    • 1910 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (d. 2003)
    • 1910 – T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
    • 1911 – Bob Crisp, South African cricketer (d. 1994)
    • 1911 – Thora Hird, English actress (d. 2003)
    • 1911 – Fritz Hochwälder, Austrian playwright (d. 1986)
    • 1912 – Herman Johannes, Indonesian scientist, academic, and politician (d. 1992)
    • 1912 – Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (d. 1981)
    • 1912 – Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
    • 1914 – W. G. G. Duncan Smith, English captain and pilot (d. 1996)
    • 1915 – Joseph Greenberg, American linguist and academic (d. 2001)
    • 1916 – Walker Percy, American novelist and essayist (d. 1990)
    • 1917 – Barry Commoner, American biologist, academic, and politician (d. 2012)
    • 1918 – Johnny Wayne, Canadian comedian (d. 1990)
    • 1921 – D. V. Paluskar, Indian Hindustani classical musician (d. 1955)
    • 1921 – Heinz G. Konsalik, German journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1921 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier, boxer, and politician (d. 2015)
    • 1922 – Lou Duva, American boxer, trainer, and manager (d. 2017)
    • 1922 – Roger Fisher, American author and academic (d. 2012)
    • 1922 – Tuomas Gerdt, Finnish soldier
    • 1923 – György Ligeti, Hungarian-Austrian composer and educator (d. 2006)
    • 1923 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 1996)
    • 1924 – Edward du Cann, English naval officer and politician (d. 2017)
    • 1924 – Paul Hébert, Canadian actor (d. 2017)
    • 1925 – Bülent Ecevit, Turkish journalist, scholar, and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2006)
    • 1925 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (d. 2012)
    • 1928 – Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Patrick McNair-Wilson, English politician
    • 1930 – Edward Seaga, American-Jamaican academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Carroll Baker, American actress
    • 1931 – Gordon Willis, American cinematographer (d. 2014)
    • 1932 – Tim Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, English politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
    • 1933 – John Karlen, American actor
    • 1933 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress and activist (d. 2010)
    • 1936 – Claude Forget, Canadian academic and politician
    • 1936 – Ole K. Sara, Norwegian politician (d. 2013)
    • 1936 – Betty Shabazz, American educator and activist (d. 1997)
    • 1938 – Jerry West, American basketball player, coach, and executive
    • 1939 – Maeve Binchy, Irish novelist (d. 2012)
    • 1940 – David William Brewer, English politician, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London
    • 1940 – Shlomo Riskin, American rabbi and academic, founded the Lincoln Square Synagogue
    • 1941 – Beth Howland, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
    • 1942 – Stanley B. Prusiner, American neurologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
    • 1943 – Terry Crisp, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1944 – Faith Brown, English actress and singer
    • 1944 – Rudy Giuliani, American lawyer and politician, 107th mayor of New York City
    • 1944 – Gladys Knight, American singer-songwriter and actress
    • 1944 – Rita MacNeil, Canadian singer and actress (d. 2013)
    • 1944 – Gary Stewart, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
    • 1944 – Billy Vera, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1945 – Patch Adams, American physician and author, founded the Gesundheit! Institute
    • 1945 – John N. Bambacus, American military veteran (USMC) and politician
    • 1945 – John Fogerty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1945 – Jean Perrault, Canadian politician, Mayor of Sherbrooke, Quebec
    • 1945 – Helena Shovelton, English physician
    • 1946 – Bruce Alexander, English actor
    • 1946 – Skip Jutze, American baseball player
    • 1946 – Janet Paraskeva, Welsh politician
    • 1946 – K. Satchidanandan, Indian poet and critic
    • 1946 – William Shawcross, English journalist and author
    • 1947 – Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and academic
    • 1947 – Lynn Johnston, Canadian author and illustrator
    • 1947 – Leland Sklar, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1948 – Michael Field, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Tasmania
    • 1948 – Pierre Rapsat, Belgian singer and songwriter (d. 2002)
    • 1949 – Martin Kelner, English journalist, author, comedian, singer, actor and radio presenter
    • 1949 – Wendy O. Williams, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (d. 1998)
    • 1952 – Roger Briggs, American pianist, composer, conductor, and educator
    • 1953 – Pierre Gauthier, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
    • 1954 – João Carlos de Oliveira, Brazilian jumper (d. 1999)
    • 1954 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1988)
    • 1954 – Charles Saumarez Smith, English historian and academic
    • 1954 – Péter Szilágyi, Hungarian conductor and politician (d. 2013)
    • 1954 – John Tory, Canadian lawyer and politician, 65th Mayor of Toronto
    • 1955 – Laura Amy Schlitz, American author and librarian
    • 1955 – Mark Howe, American ice hockey player and coach
    • 1956 – Jerry Douglas, American guitarist and producer
    • 1956 – Jeff Dujon, Jamaican cricketer
    • 1956 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1980)
    • 1956 – Peter Wilkinson, English admiral
    • 1957 – Colin Barnes, English footballer
    • 1957 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player and manager
    • 1957 – Ben Howland, American basketball player and coach
    • 1959 – Risto Mannisenmäki, Finnish racing driver
    • 1960 – Mark Sanford, American military veteran (USAF) and politician, 115th Governor of South Carolina
    • 1960 – Mary Portas, English journalist and author
    • 1963 – Houman Younessi, Australian-American biologist and academic
    • 1964 – Jeff Fenech, Australian boxer and trainer
    • 1964 – Armen Gilliam, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
    • 1964 – Zsa Zsa Padilla, Filipino singer and actress
    • 1964 – Phil Vassar, American singer-songwriter
    • 1965 – Chris Ballew, American singer-songwriter and bass player
    • 1965 – Mary Coughlan, Irish politician
    • 1966 – Roger Kumble, American director, screenwriter, and playwright
    • 1966 – Miljenko Jergović, Bosnian novelist and journalist
    • 1966 – Gavin Robertson, Australian cricketer
    • 1967 – Glen Rice, American basketball player
    • 1968 – Kylie Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1969 – Mike DiFelice, American baseball player and manager
    • 1969 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (d. 2016)
    • 1970 – Glenn Quinn, American actor (d. 2002)
    • 1971 – Isabelle Carré, French actress and singer
    • 1971 – Ekaterina Gordeeva, Russian figure skater and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Marco Rubio, American lawyer and politician
    • 1972 – Doriva, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1972 – Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist and manager
    • 1973 – Marco Paulo Faria Lemos, Portuguese footballer and manager
    • 1974 – Hans-Jörg Butt, German footballer
    • 1974 – Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistani cricketer
    • 1975 – Maura Johnston, American journalist, critic, and academic
    • 1976 – Steven Bell, Australian rugby league player
    • 1976 – Zaza Enden, Georgian-Turkish wrestler, basketball player, and coach
    • 1976 – Roberto Goretti, Italian footballer
    • 1976 – Glenn Morrison, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1977 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American talk show host and author
    • 1978 – Jake Johnson, American actor
    • 1979 – Abdulaziz al-Omari, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 11 (d. 2001)
    • 1979 – Ronald Curry, American football player and coach
    • 1980 – Miguel Pérez, Spanish footballer
    • 1980 – Lucy Shuker, English tennis player
    • 1981 – Daniel Cabrera, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1981 – Eric Ghiaciuc, American football player
    • 1981 – Adam Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1982 – Alexa Davalos, French-American actress
    • 1982 – Jhonny Peralta, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1983 – Steve Cronin, American soccer player
    • 1983 – Humberto Sánchez, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1983 – Roman Atwood, American YouTube star
    • 1985 – Colbie Caillat, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1985 – Pablo Andrés González, Argentinian footballer
    • 1985 – Kostas Mendrinos, Greek footballer
    • 1985 – Carey Mulligan, English actress and singer
    • 1986 – Berrick Barnes, Australian rugby player
    • 1986 – Seth Rollins, American wrestler
    • 1986 – Ingmar Vos, Dutch decathlete
    • 1987 – T.J. Yates, American football player
    • 1988 – NaVorro Bowman, American football player
    • 1988 – Percy Harvin, American football player
    • 1988 – Craig Kimbrel, American baseball player
    • 1990 – Kyle Walker, English international footballer, right-back
    • 1991 – Sharrif Floyd, American football player
    • 1991 – Alexandre Lacazette, French footballer
    • 1991 – Kail Piho, Estonian skier
    • 1992 – Tom Carroll, English footballer
    • 1993 – Daniel Alvaro, Australian rugby league player
    • 1993 – Bárbara Luz, Portuguese tennis player
    • 1994 – John Stones, English footballer
    • 1994 – Son Yeon-jae, South Korean gymnast
    • 1998 – Dahyun, Korean singer
    • 1999 – Cameron Boyce, American actor (d. 2019)
    • 2000 – Phil Foden, English footballer

    Deaths on May 28

    • 576 – Germain of Paris, French bishop and saint (b. 496)
    • 741 – Ucha’an K’in B’alam, Mayan king
    • 926 – Kong Qian, official of Later Tang
    • 926 – Li Jiji, prince of Later Tang
    • 1023 – Wulfstan, English archbishop
    • 1279 – William Wishart, English bishop
    • 1327 – Robert Baldock, Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor of England
    • 1357 – Afonso IV of Portugal (b. 1291)
    • 1427 – Henry IV, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (b. 1397)
    • 1556 – Saitō Dōsan, Japanese samurai (b. 1494)
    • 1626 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (b. 1561)
    • 1651 – Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent, English politician (b. 1594)
    • 1672 – John Trevor, Welsh politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1626)
    • 1747 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French author (b. 1715)
    • 1750 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1720)
    • 1787 – Leopold Mozart, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1719)
    • 1805 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (b. 1743)
    • 1808 – Richard Hurd, English bishop (b. 1720)
    • 1811 – Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1742)
    • 1831 – William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, Scottish-English admiral (b. 1756)
    • 1843 – Noah Webster, American lexicographer (b. 1758)
    • 1849 – Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1820)
    • 1864 – Simion Bărnuțiu, Romanian historian and politician (b. 1808)
    • 1878 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
    • 1904 – Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader (b. 1846)
    • 1916 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian economist, journalist, and poet (b. 1856)
    • 1927 – Boris Kustodiev, Russian painter and stage designer (b. 1878)
    • 1937 – Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish ophthalmologist and psychologist (b. 1870)
    • 1946 – Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1858)
    • 1947 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (b. 1907)
    • 1952 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian archbishop (b. 1882)
    • 1953 – Tatsuo Hori, Japanese author and poet (b. 1904)
    • 1964 – Terry Dillon, American football player (b. 1941)
    • 1968 – Fyodor Okhlopkov, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1908)
    • 1971 – Audie Murphy, American soldier and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1925)
    • 1972 – Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
    • 1975 – Ezzard Charles, American boxer (b. 1921)
    • 1976 – Zainul Abedin, Bangladeshi painter and sculptor (b. 1914)
    • 1980 – Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician and academic (b. 1895)
    • 1981 – Mary Lou Williams, American pianist and composer (b. 1910)
    • 1981 – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish cardinal (b. 1901)
    • 1982 – H. Jones, English colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1940)
    • 1983 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American soldier and politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany (b. 1909)
    • 1984 – Eric Morecambe, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)
    • 1986 – Edip Cansever, Turkish poet and author (b. 1928)
    • 1988 – Sy Oliver, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (b. 1910)
    • 1990 – Julius Eastman, American composer (b. 1940)
    • 1994 – Julius Boros, American golfer (b. 1920)
    • 1994 – Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American author and academic (b. 1916)
    • 1998 – Phil Hartman, Canadian-American actor and comedian (b. 1948)
    • 1999 – Michael Barkai, Israeli commander (b. 1935)
    • 1999 – B. Vittalacharya, Indian director and producer (b. 1920)
    • 2000 – George Irving Bell, American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer (b. 1926)
    • 2001 – Joe Moakley, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
    • 2001 – Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist and philosopher (b. 1946)
    • 2002 – Mildred Benson, American journalist and author (b. 1905)
    • 2003 – Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1933)
    • 2003 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-Belgian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
    • 2003 – Martha Scott, American actress (b. 1912)
    • 2004 – Umberto Agnelli, Swiss-Italian businessman and politician (b. 1934)
    • 2004 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (b. 1979)
    • 2004 – John Tolos, Greek-Canadian wrestler (b. 1930)
    • 2006 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (b. 1920)
    • 2007 – Jörg Immendorff, German painter, sculptor, and academic (b. 1945)
    • 2007 – Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Agriculture (b. 1945)
    • 2008 – Beryl Cook, English painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
    • 2010 – Gary Coleman, American actor (b. 1968)
    • 2011 – Gino Valenzano, Italian racing driver (b. 1920)
    • 2012 – Bob Edwards, English journalist (b. 1925)
    • 2012 – Yuri Susloparov, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager (b. 1958)
    • 2013 – Viktor Kulikov, Russian commander (b. 1921)
    • 2013 – Eddie Romero, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Gerd Schmückle, German general (b. 1917)
    • 2014 – Maya Angelou, American memoirist and poet (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Stan Crowther, English footballer (b. 1935)
    • 2014 – Oscar Dystel, American publisher (b. 1912)
    • 2014 – Malcolm Glazer, American businessman (b. 1928)
    • 2014 – Bob Houbregs, Canadian-American basketball player and manager (b. 1932)
    • 2014 – Isaac Kungwane, South African footballer (b. 1971)
    • 2015 – Steven Gerber, American pianist and composer (b. 1948)
    • 2015 – Johnny Keating, Scottish trombonist, composer, and producer (b. 1927)
    • 2015 – Reynaldo Rey, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1940)
    • 2018 – Neale Cooper, Scottish footballer (b. 1963)
    • 2018 – Jens Christian Skou, Danish medical doctor and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
    • 2018 – Cornelia Frances, English-Australian actress (b. 1941)

    Holidays and observances on May 28

    • Armed Forces Day (Croatia)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Bernard of Menthon
      • Germain of Paris
      • John Calvin (Episcopal Church)
      • Lanfranc
      • Margaret Pole
      • William of Gellone
      • May 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Downfall of the Derg Day (Ethiopia)
    • Flag Day (Philippines)
    • Menstrual Hygiene Day
    • Republic Day (Nepal)
    • TDFR Republic Day, celebrates the declaration of independence of the First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918. (Azerbaijan and Armenia)
    • Youm-e-Takbir (Pakistan)

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

    • 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 Mw  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 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

    • 1430 – Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to raise the Siege of Compiègne.
    • 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in Florence, Italy.
    • 1533 – The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void.
    • 1568 – Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Arenberg, and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years’ War.
    • 1609 – Official ratification of the Second Virginia Charter takes place.
    • 1618 – The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years’ War.
    • 1701 – After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London.
    • 1706 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeats a French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies.
    • 1788 – South Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution as the eighth American state.
    • 1793 – Battle of Famars during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition.
    • 1829 – Accordion patent granted to Cyrill Demian in Vienna, Austrian Empire.
    • 1844 – Declaration of the Báb the evening before the 23rd: A merchant of Shiraz announces that he is a Prophet and founds a religious movement that would later be brutally crushed by the Persian government. He is considered to be a forerunner of the Bahá’í Faith; Bahá’ís celebrate the day as a holy day.
    • 1846 – Mexican–American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.
    • 1863 – The General German Workers’ Association, a precursor of the modern Social Democratic Party of Germany, is founded in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony.
    • 1873 – The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
    • 1900 – American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Assault on the Battery Wagner in 1863.
    • 1907 – The unicameral Parliament of Finland gathers for its first plenary session.
    • 1911 – The New York Public Library is dedicated.
    • 1915 – World War I: Italy joins the Allies, fulfilling its part of the Treaty of London.
    • 1932 – In Brazil, four students are shot and killed during a manifestation against the Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas, which resulted in the outbreak of the Constitutionalist Revolution several weeks later.
    • 1934 – Infamous American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.
    • 1934 – The Auto-Lite strike culminates in the “Battle of Toledo”, a five-day melée between 1,300 troops of the Ohio National Guard and 6,000 picketers.
    • 1939 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Squalus sinks off the coast of New Hampshire during a test dive, causing the death of 24 sailors and two civilian technicians. The remaining 32 sailors and one civilian naval architect are rescued the following day.
    • 1945 – World War II: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.
    • 1945 – World War II: Germany’s Flensburg Government under Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are arrested by British forces.
    • 1948 – Thomas C. Wasson, the US Consul-General, is assassinated in Jerusalem, Israel.
    • 1949 – Cold War: The Western occupying powers approve the Basic Law and establish a new German state, the Federal Republic of Germany.
    • 1951 – Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement with China.
    • 1960 – A tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile the previous day kills 61 people in Hilo, Hawaii.
    • 1992 – Italy’s most prominent anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three body guards are killed by the Corleonesi clan with a half-ton bomb near Capaci, Sicily. His friend and colleague Paolo Borsellino will be assassinated less than two months later, making 1992 a turning point in the history of Italian Mafia prosecutions.
    • 1995 – The first version of the Java programming language is released.
    • 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes.
    • 2002 – The “55 parties” clause of the Kyoto Protocol is reached after its ratification by Iceland.
    • 2006 – Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts.
    • 2008 – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute between the two countries.
    • 2013 – A freeway bridge carrying Interstate 5 over the Skagit River collapses in Mount Vernon, Washington.
    • 2014 – Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed and another 14 injured in a killing spree near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.
    • 2015 – At least 46 people are killed as a result of floods caused by a tornado in Texas and Oklahoma.
    • 2016 – Two suicide bombings, conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, killed at least 45 potential army recruits in Aden, Yemen.
    • 2016 – Eight bombings were carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Jableh and Tartus, coastline cities in Syria. One hundred eighty-four people were killed and at least 200 people injured.
    • 2017 – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao, following the Maute’s attack in Marawi.

    Births on May 23

    • 635 – K’inich Kan Bahlam II, Mayan king (d. 702)
    • 675 – Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar II, King of Mutharaiyar dynasty, Tamil Nadu, India
    • 1052 – Philip I of France (d. 1108)
    • 1100 – Emperor Qinzong of Song (d. 1161)
    • 1127 – Uijong of Goryeo, Korean monarch of the Goryeo dynasty (d. 1173)
    • 1330 – Gongmin of Goryeo, Korean ruler (d. 1374)
    • 1586 – Paul Siefert, German composer and organist (d. 1666)
    • 1606 – Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz, Spanish mathematician and philosopher (d. 1682)
    • 1614 – Bertholet Flemalle, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1675)
    • 1617 – Elias Ashmole, English astrologer and politician (d. 1692)
    • 1629 – William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, noble of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1663)
    • 1707 – Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist (d. 1778)
    • 1718 – William Hunter, Scottish-English anatomist and physician (d. 1783)
    • 1729 – Giuseppe Parini, Italian poet and educator (d. 1799)
    • 1730 – Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, Prussian prince and general (d. 1813)
    • 1734 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologer (d. 1815)
    • 1741 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer (d. 1801)
    • 1789 – Franz Schlik, Austrian earl and general (d. 1862)
    • 1790 – Jules Dumont d’Urville, French admiral and explorer (d. 1842)
    • 1790 – James Pradier, French neoclassical sculptor (d. 1852)
    • 1794 – Ignaz Moscheles, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1870)
    • 1795 – Charles Barry, English architect, designed the Upper Brook Street Chapel and Halifax Town Hall (d. 1860)
    • 1800 – Rómulo Díaz de la Vega, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1877)
    • 1810 – Margaret Fuller, American journalist and critic (d. 1850)
    • 1817 – Manuel Robles Pezuela, Unconstitutional Mexican interim president (d. 1862)
    • 1820 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (d. 1887)
    • 1820 – Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge (d. 1891)
    • 1824 – Ambrose Burnside, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1881)
    • 1834 – Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect (d. 1891)
    • 1834 – Carl Bloch, Danish painter and academic (d. 1890)
    • 1837 – Anatole Mallet, Swiss mechanical engineer and inventor (d. 1919)
    • 1837 – Józef Wieniawski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1912)
    • 1838 – Amaldus Nielsen, Norwegian painter (d. 1932)
    • 1840 – George Throssell, Irish-Australian politician, 2nd Premier of Western Australia (d. 1910)
    • 1844 – `Abdu’l-Bahá, Iranian religious leader (d. 1921)
    • 1848 – Otto Lilienthal, German pilot and engineer (d. 1896)
    • 1855 – Isabella Ford, English author and activist (d. 1924)
    • 1861 – József Rippl-Rónai, Hungarian painter (d. 1927)
    • 1863 – Władysław Horodecki, Polish architect (d. 1930)
    • 1864 – William O’Connor, American fencer (d. 1939)
    • 1865 – Epitácio Pessoa, Brazilian jurist and politician, 11th President of Brazil (d. 1942)
    • 1875 – Alfred P. Sloan, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1966)
    • 1882 – William Halpenny, Canadian pole vaulter (d. 1960)
    • 1883 – Douglas Fairbanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1939)
    • 1884 – Corrado Gini, Italian sociologist and demographer (d. 1965)
    • 1887 – Thoralf Skolem, Norwegian mathematician and theorist (d. 1963)
    • 1887 – Nikolai Vekšin, Estonian-Russian sailor and captain (d. 1951)
    • 1888 – Adriaan Roland Holst, Dutch writer (d. 1976)
    • 1888 – Zack Wheat, American baseball player and police officer (d. 1972)
    • 1889 – Ernst Niekisch, German educator and politician (d. 1967)
    • 1890 – Herbert Marshall, English-American actor and singer (d. 1966)
    • 1891 – Pär Lagerkvist, Swedish novelist, playwright, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
    • 1892 – Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, British peer and grandfather of Diana Spencer (d. 1975)
    • 1896 – Felix Steiner, Russian-German SS officer (d. 1966)
    • 1897 – Jimmie Guthrie, Scottish motorcycle racer (d. 1937)
    • 1898 – Scott O’Dell, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1989)
    • 1898 – Josef Terboven, German soldier and politician (d. 1945)
    • 1899 – Jeralean Talley, American super-centenarian (d. 2015)
    • 1900 – Hans Frank, German lawyer and politician (d. 1946)
    • 1900 – Franz Leopold Neumann, German lawyer and theorist (d. 1954)
    • 1908 – John Bardeen, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
    • 1908 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (d. 1934)
    • 1910 – Margaret Wise Brown, American author and educator (d. 1952)
    • 1910 – Hugh Casson, English architect and academic (d. 1999)
    • 1910 – Scatman Crothers, American actor and comedian (d. 1986)
    • 1910 – Franz Kline, American painter and academic (d. 1962)
    • 1910 – Artie Shaw, American clarinet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 2004)
    • 1911 – Lou Brouillard, Canadian boxer (d. 1984)
    • 1911 – Paul Augustin Mayer, German cardinal (d. 2010)
    • 1911 – Betty Nuthall, English tennis player (d. 1983)
    • 1912 – Jean Françaix, French pianist and composer (d. 1997)
    • 1912 – John Payne, American actor (d. 1989)
    • 1914 – Harold Hitchcock, English visionary landscape artist (d. 2009)
    • 1914 – Celestine Sibley, American journalist and author (d. 1999)
    • 1914 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist, journalist, and prominent Catholic layperson (d. 1981)
    • 1915 – S. Donald Stookey, American physicist and chemist, invented CorningWare (d. 2014)
    • 1917 – Edward Norton Lorenz, American mathematician and meteorologist (d. 2008)
    • 1918 – Denis Compton, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1997)
    • 1919 – Robert Bernstein, American author and playwright (d. 1988)
    • 1919 – Ruth Fernández, Puerto Rican contralto and a member of the Puerto Rican Senate (d. 2012)
    • 1919 – Betty Garrett, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2011)
    • 1920 – Helen O’Connell, American singer (d. 1993)
    • 1923 – Alicia de Larrocha, Catalan-Spanish pianist (d. 2009)
    • 1923 – Irving Millman, American virologist and microbiologist (d. 2012)
    • 1924 – Karlheinz Deschner, German author and activist (d. 2014)
    • 1925 – Joshua Lederberg, American biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2008)
    • 1926 – Basil Salvadore D’Souza, Indian bishop (d. 1996)
    • 1926 – Joe Slovo, Lithuanian-South African activist and politician (d. 1995)
    • 1928 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (d. 2002)
    • 1928 – Nigel Davenport, English actor (d. 2013)
    • 1928 – Nina Otkalenko, Russian runner (d. 2015)
    • 1929 – Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish-Austrian actress (d. 1982)
    • 1930 – Friedrich Achleitner, German poet and critic (d. 2019)
    • 1931 – Barbara Barrie, American actress
    • 1932 – Kevork Ajemian, Syrian-French journalist and author (d. 1998)
    • 1933 – Joan Collins, English actress
    • 1933 – Ove Fundin, Swedish motorcycle racer
    • 1934 – Robert Moog, electronic engineer and inventor of the Moog synthesizer (d. 2005)
    • 1935 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author (d. 2009)
    • 1936 – Ingeborg Hallstein, German soprano and actress
    • 1936 – Charles Kimbrough, American actor
    • 1939 – Michel Colombier, French-American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
    • 1939 – Reinhard Hauff, German director and screenwriter
    • 1940 – Bjorn Johansen, Norwegian saxophonist (d. 2002)
    • 1940 – Gérard Larrousse, French race car driver
    • 1940 – Cora Sadosky, Argentinian mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
    • 1941 – Zalman King, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
    • 1941 – Rod Thorn, American basketball player, coach, and executive
    • 1942 – Gabriel Liiceanu, Romanian philosopher, author, and academic
    • 1942 – Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao, Indian director, screenwriter, and choreographer
    • 1943 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (d. 2016)
    • 1944 – John Newcombe, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1945 – Padmarajan, Indian director, screenwriter, and author (d. 1991)
    • 1946 – David Graham, Australian golfer
    • 1947 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and translator (d. 1995)
    • 1948 – Myriam Boyer, French actress, director, and producer
    • 1949 – Daniel DiNardo, American cardinal
    • 1949 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (d. 2019)
    • 1950 – Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and Sinn Féin politician, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (d. 2017)
    • 1951 – Anatoly Karpov, Russian chess player
    • 1951 – Antonis Samaras, Greek economist and politician, 185th Prime Minister of Greece
    • 1952 – Martin Parr, English photographer and journalist
    • 1954 – Gerry Armstrong, Northern Irish international footballer, striker
    • 1954 – Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American boxer and actor
    • 1955 – Luka Bloom, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1956 – Andrea Pazienza, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 1988)
    • 1956 – Ursula Plassnik, Austrian politician and diplomat, Foreign Minister of Austria
    • 1956 – Buck Showalter, American baseball player, coach, and manager
    • 1958 – Mitch Albom, American journalist, author, and screenwriter
    • 1958 – Drew Carey, American actor, game show host, and entrepreneur
    • 1958 – Lea DeLaria, American actress and singer
    • 1959 – Marcella Mesker, Dutch tennis player and sportscaster
    • 1960 – Linden Ashby, American actor
    • 1961 – Daniele Massaro, Italian footballer and manager
    • 1961 – Norrie May-Welby, Scottish Australian gender activist
    • 1962 – Karen Duffy, American actress
    • 1963 – Viviane Baladi, Swiss mathematician
    • 1964 – Ruth Metzler, Swiss lawyer and politician
    • 1965 – Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, Spanish footballer
    • 1965 – Tom Tykwer, German director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
    • 1965 – Melissa McBride, American actress
    • 1965 – Paul Sironen, Australian rugby league player
    • 1966 – Graeme Hick, Zimbabwean-English cricketer and coach
    • 1966 – Gary Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
    • 1967 – Luís Roberto Alves, Mexican footballer
    • 1967 – Anna Ibrisagic, Swedish politician
    • 1968 – Guinevere Turner, American actress and screenwriter
    • 1970 – Bryan Herta, American race car driver and businessman, co-founded Bryan Herta Autosport
    • 1971 – George Osborne, English journalist and politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer
    • 1972 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1972 – Martin Saggers, English cricketer and umpire
    • 1973 – Maxwell, American singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1974 – Jewel, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress, and poet
    • 1974 – Manuela Schwesig, German politician, German Federal Minister of Family Affairs
    • 1976 – Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer and manager
    • 1977 – Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skater
    • 1978 – Scott Raynor, American drummer
    • 1979 – Rasual Butler, American basketball player (d. 2018)
    • 1979 – Brian Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player
    • 1980 – Theofanis Gekas, Greek footballer
    • 1980 – Ben Ross, Australian rugby league player
    • 1983 – Silvio Proto, Belgian-Italian footballer
    • 1984 – Hugo Almeida, Portuguese footballer
    • 1985 – Sebastián Fernández, Uruguayan footballer
    • 1985 – Teymuraz Gabashvili, Russian tennis player
    • 1985 – Wim Stroetinga, Dutch cyclist
    • 1985 – Ross Wallace, Scottish footballer
    • 1986 – Ryan Coogler, American film director and screenwriter
    • 1986 – Alexei Sitnikov, Russian-Azerbaijani figure skater
    • 1986 – Alice Tait, Australian swimmer
    • 1986 – Ruben Zadkovich, Australian footballer
    • 1987 – Gracie Otto, Australian actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
    • 1987 – Bray Wyatt, American wrestler
    • 1988 – Rosanna Crawford, Canadian biathlete
    • 1988 – Angelo Ogbonna, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Morgan Pressel, American golfer
    • 1989 – Ezequiel Schelotto, Italian footballer
    • 1990 – Dan Evans, British tennis player
    • 1990 – Kristina Kucova, Slovakian tennis player
    • 1990 – Oliver Venno, Estonian volleyball player
    • 1991 – Aaron Donald, American football player
    • 1991 – Lena Meyer-Landrut, German singer-songwriter
    • 1991 – César Pinares, Chilean footballer
    • 1996 – Katharina Althaus, German ski jumper
    • 1996 – Emmanuel Boateng, Ghanaian footballer
    • 1996 – Razvan Marin, Romanian footballer
    • 1997 – Pedro Chirivella, Spanish footballer
    • 1997 – Coy Craft, American footballer
    • 1997 – Joe Gomez, English footballer
    • 1997 – Gustaf Nilsson, Swedish footballer
    • 1997 – Sam Timmins, New Zealand basketball player
    • 1998 – Sérgio Sette Câmara, Brazilian race car driver
    • 1998 – Ross Cunningham, Scottish footballer
    • 1998 – Salwa Eid Naser, Bahraini track and field sprinter
    • 1998 – Luca De La Torre, American footballer
    • 1998 – Steve Lacy, American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer
    • 2000 – Felipe Drugovich, Brazilian race car driver
    • 2000 – Jaxson Hayes, American basketball player

    Deaths on May 23

    • 230 – Urban I, pope of the Catholic Church
    • 922 – Li Sizhao, Chinese general and governor
    • 962 – Guibert of Gembloux, Frankish abbot (b. 892)
    • 1125 – Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1081)
    • 1304 – Jehan de Lescurel, French poet and composer
    • 1338 – Alice de Warenne, Countess of Arundel, English noble (b. 1287)
    • 1370 – Toghon Temür, Mongol emperor (b. 1320)
    • 1423 – Antipope Benedict XIII (b. 1328)
    • 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian friar and preacher (b. 1452)
    • 1523 – Ashikaga Yoshitane, Japanese shōgun (b. 1466)
    • 1524 – Ismail I, First Emperor of Safavid Empire (b. 1487)
    • 1591 – John Blitheman, English organist and composer (b. 1525)
    • 1662 – John Gauden, English bishop (b. 1605)
    • 1670 – Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1610)
    • 1691 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (b. 1622)
    • 1701 – William Kidd, Scottish pirate (b. 1645)
    • 1749 – Abraham ben Abraham, Polish martyr (b. 1700)
    • 1752 – William Bradford, English-American printer (b. 1663)
    • 1754 – John Wood, the Elder, English architect, designed The Circus and Queen Square (b. 1704)
    • 1783 – James Otis, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1725)
    • 1813 – Géraud Duroc, French general and diplomat (b. 1772)
    • 1815 – Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, American clergyman and botanist (b. 1753)
    • 1841 – Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1765)
    • 1855 – Charles Robert Malden, English lieutenant and explorer (b. 1797)
    • 1857 – Augustin-Louis Cauchy, French mathematician and academic (b. 1789)
    • 1868 – Kit Carson, American general (b. 1809)
    • 1886 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian and academic (b. 1795)
    • 1893 – Anton von Schmerling, Austrian politician (b. 1805)
    • 1895 – Franz Ernst Neumann, German mineralogist, physicist, and mathematician (b. 1798)
    • 1906 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian director, playwright, and poet (b. 1828)
    • 1908 – François Coppée, French poet and author (b. 1842)
    • 1920 – Svetozar Boroević, Croatian-Austrian field marshal (b. 1856)
    • 1921 – August Nilsson, Swedish shot putter and tug of war competitor (b. 1872)
    • 1934 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (b. 1909)
    • 1934 – Mihkel Martna, Estonian journalist and politician (b. 1860)
    • 1934 – Bonnie Parker, American criminal (b. 1910)
    • 1937 – John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company and Rockefeller University (b. 1839)
    • 1938 – Frederick Ruple, Swiss-American painter (b. 1871)
    • 1942 – Panagiotis Toundas, Greek composer and conductor (b. 1886)
    • 1945 – Heinrich Himmler, German commander and politician, Reich Minister of the Interior (b. 1900)
    • 1947 – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss author and poet (b. 1878)
    • 1949 – Jan Frans De Boever, Belgian painter and illustrator (b. 1872)
    • 1956 – Gustav Suits, Latvian-Estonian poet and politician (b. 1883)
    • 1960 – Georges Claude, French engineer and inventor, created Neon lighting (b. 1870)
    • 1962 – Louis Coatalen, French engineer (b. 1879)
    • 1963 – August Jakobson, Estonian author and politician (b. 1904)
    • 1965 – David Smith, American sculptor (b. 1906)
    • 1975 – Moms Mabley, American comedian and actor (b. 1894)
    • 1979 – S. Selvanayagam, Sri Lankan geographer and academic (b. 1932)
    • 1981 – Gene Green, American baseball player (b. 1933)
    • 1981 – Rayner Heppenstall, English author and poet (b. 1911)
    • 1981 – George Jessel, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1898)
    • 1981 – David Lewis, Belarusian-Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
    • 1986 – Sterling Hayden, American actor (b. 1916)
    • 1989 – Georgy Tovstonogov, Russian director and producer (b. 1915)
    • 1989 – Karl Koch, German computer hacker (b. 1965)
    • 1991 – Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist and composer (b. 1895)
    • 1991 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1907)
    • 1991 – Fletcher Markle, Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1921)
    • 1992 – Kostas Davourlis, Greek footballer (b. 1948)
    • 1992 – Giovanni Falcone, Italian lawyer and judge (b. 1939)
    • 1994 – Olav Hauge, Norwegian poet (b. 1908)
    • 1996 – Kronid Lyubarsky, Russian journalist and activist (b. 1934)
    • 1998 – Telford Taylor, American general and lawyer (b. 1908)
    • 1999 – Owen Hart, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1965)
    • 2002 – Sam Snead, American golfer and journalist (b. 1912)
    • 2006 – Lloyd Bentsen, American colonel and politician, 69th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1921)
    • 2006 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and manager (b. 1921)
    • 2008 – Iñaki Ochoa de Olza, Spanish mountaineer (b. 1967)
    • 2008 – Utah Phillips, American singer-songwriter and poet (b. 1935)
    • 2009 – Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean soldier and politician, 9th President of South Korea (b. 1946)
    • 2010 – José Lima, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1972)
    • 2010 – Simon Monjack, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1970)
    • 2011 – Xavier Tondo, Spanish cyclist (b. 1978)
    • 2012 – Paul Fussell, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
    • 2013 – Epy Guerrero, Dominican baseball player, coach, and scout (b. 1942)
    • 2013 – Hayri Kozakçıoğlu, Turkish police officer and politician, 15th Governor of Istanbul Province (b. 1938)
    • 2013 – Georges Moustaki, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
    • 2013 – Flynn Robinson, American basketball player (b. 1941)
    • 2014 – Mikhail Egorovich Alekseev, Russian linguist and academic (b. 1949)
    • 2014 – Madhav Mantri, Indian cricketer (b. 1921)
    • 2015 – Anne Meara, American actress, comedian and playwright (b. 1929)
    • 2015 – Aleksey Mozgovoy, Ukrainian sergeant (b. 1975)
    • 2015 – Alicia Nash, Salvadoran-American physicist and engineer (b. 1933)
    • 2015 – John Forbes Nash, Jr., American mathematician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1928)
    • 2017 – Roger Moore, English actor (b. 1927)
    • 2020 – Hana Kimura, Japanese professional wrestler (b. 1997)

    Holidays and observances on May 23

    • Christian feast day:
      • Aaron the Illustrious (Syriac Orthodox Church)
      • Desiderius of Vienne
      • Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi
      • Julia of Corsica
      • Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Quintian, Lucius and Julian
      • William of Perth
      • May 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Constitution Day (Germany)
    • Earliest day on which Declaration of the Báb can fall, while May 24 is the latest; observed on ‘Aẓamat 8 (Bahá’í Faith)
    • Earliest day on which National Heroes’ Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Monday of May. (Turks and Caicos Islands)
    • Labour Day (Jamaica)
    • Students’ Day (Mexico)
    • World Turtle Day

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

    • 1395 – Battle of Rovine: The Wallachians defeat an invading Ottoman army.
    • 1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.
    • 1536 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s marriage is annulled.
    • 1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
    • 1642 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
    • 1673 – Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
    • 1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed under the Buttonwood Agreement.
    • 1805 – Muhammad Ali becomes Wāli of Egypt.
    • 1809 – Emperor Napoleon I orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
    • 1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
    • 1814 – The Constitution of Norway is signed and Crown Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.
    • 1859 – Members of the Melbourne Football Club codified the first rules of Australian rules football.
    • 1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
    • 1865 – The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
    • 1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby with the jockey Oliver Lewis (2:37.75)
    • 1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
    • 1900 – The children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, is first published in the United States. The first copy is given to the author’s sister.
    • 1902 – Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
    • 1914 – The Protocol of Corfu is signed, recognising full autonomy to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.
    • 1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (led by H. H. Asquith) falls.
    • 1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
    • 1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States’ first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
    • 1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
    • 1943 – World War II: Dambuster Raids commence by No. 617 Squadron RAF.
    • 1954 – The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, outlawing racial segregation in public schools.
    • 1967 – Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
    • 1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
    • 1973 – Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
    • 1974 – The Troubles: Thirty-three civilians are killed and 300 injured when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) detonates four car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland.
    • 1974 – Police in Los Angeles raid the Symbionese Liberation Army’s headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
    • 1977 – Nolan Bushnell opened the first Chuck E. Cheese’s in San Jose, California.
    • 1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
    • 1980 – On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in Chuschi (a town in Ayacucho), starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
    • 1983 – The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world’s largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds , in response to the Appalachian Observer’s Freedom of Information Act request.
    • 1983 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
    • 1984 – Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”, sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
    • 1987 – Iran–Iraq War: An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
    • 1990 – The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.
    • 1992 – Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, hundreds of injuries, many disappearances, and more than 3,500 arrests.
    • 1994 – Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.
    • 1995 – Shawn Nelson steals an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard Armory in San Diego and proceeds to go on a rampage.
    • 1997 – Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.
    • 2000 – Arsenal and Galatasaray fans clash in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final riots in Copenhagen
    • 2004 – The first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. are performed in the state of Massachusetts.
    • 2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.
    • 2007 – Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.
    • 2014 – A plane crash in northern Laos kills 17 people.

    Births on May 17

    • 1155 – Jien, Japanese monk, poet, and historian (d. 1225)
    • 1443 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland (d. 1460)
    • 1451 – Engelbert II of Nassau, Count of Nassau-Vianden and Lord of Breda (1475–1504) (d. 1504)
    • 1490 – Albert, Duke of Prussia, last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (d. 1568)
    • 1500 – Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (d. 1540)
    • 1551 – Martin Delrio, Belgian occultist and theologian (d. 1601)
    • 1568 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Swedish princess (d. 1625)
    • 1610 – Stefano della Bella, Italian engraver and etcher (d. 1664)
    • 1628 – Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria (d. 1662)
    • 1636 – Edward Colman, English Catholic courtier under Charles II (d. 1678)
    • 1682 – Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
    • 1698 – Gio Nicola Buhagiar, Maltese painter (d. 1752)
    • 1706 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (d. 1780)
    • 1718 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (d. 1778)
    • 1732 – Francesco Pasquale Ricci, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1817)
    • 1743 – Seth Warner, American colonel (d. 1784)
    • 1749 – Edward Jenner, English physician and microbiologist (d. 1823)
    • 1758 – Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet, English politician (d. 1839)
    • 1768 – Caroline of Brunswick (d. 1821)
    • 1768 – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1854)
    • 1794 – Anna Brownell Jameson, Irish-English author (d. 1860)
    • 1818 – Ezra Otis Kendall, American professor, astronomer and mathematician (d. 1899)
    • 1821 – Sebastian Kneipp, German priest and therapist (d. 1897)
    • 1835 – Thomas McIlwraith, Scottish-Australian politician, 8th Premier of Queensland (d. 1900)
    • 1836 – Virginie Loveling, Belgian author and poet (d. 1923)
    • 1836 – Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian-American chess player (d. 1900)
    • 1845 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan priest and poet (d. 1902)
    • 1860 – Martin Kukučín, Slovak author and playwright (d. 1928)
    • 1860 – Charlotte Barnum, American mathematician and social activist (d. 1934)
    • 1863 – Léon Gérin, Canadian lawyer, sociologist, and civil servant (d. 1951)
    • 1864 – Louis Richardet, Swiss target shooter (d. 1923)
    • 1864 – Ante Trumbić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 27th Mayor of Split (d. 1938)
    • 1866 – Erik Satie, French pianist and composer (d. 1925)
    • 1868 – Horace Elgin Dodge, American businessman, co-founded Dodge (d. 1920)
    • 1868 – Panagis Tsaldaris, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1936)
    • 1870 – Newton Moore, Australian politician, 8th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1936)
    • 1873 – Henri Barbusse, French author and journalist (d. 1935)
    • 1873 – Dorothy Richardson, English author and journalist (d. 1957)
    • 1874 – George Sheldon, American diver (d. 1907)
    • 1882 – Karl Burman, Estonian architect and painter (d. 1965)
    • 1886 – Alfonso XIII of Spain, Spanish monarch (d. 1941)
    • 1888 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (d. 1965)
    • 1889 – Dorothy Gibson, American actress and singer (d. 1946)
    • 1889 – Alfonso Reyes, Mexican author (d. 1959)
    • 1891 – Napoleon Zervas, Greek general and politician (d. 1957)
    • 1893 – Frederick McKinley Jones, American inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1961)
    • 1895 – Saul Adler, Belarusian-English captain and parasitologist (d. 1966)
    • 1895 – Reinhold Saulmann, Estonian sprinter and bandy player (d. 1936)
    • 1897 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
    • 1898 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (d. 1992)
    • 1899 – Carmen de Icaza, Spanish writer (d. 1979)
    • 1901 – Werner Egk, German pianist and composer (d. 1983)
    • 1903 – Cool Papa Bell, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
    • 1904 – Marie-Anne Desmarest, French author (d. 1973)
    • 1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian-American soprano and educator (d. 1989)
    • 1909 – Julius Sumner Miller, American physicist and academic (d. 1987)
    • 1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-American model (d. 1992)
    • 1911 – Maureen O’Sullivan, Irish-American actress (d. 1998)
    • 1912 – Archibald Cox, American lawyer and politician, 31st United States Solicitor General (d. 2004)
    • 1912 – Ace Parker, American baseball and football player (d. 2013)
    • 1912 – Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner, American inventor (d. 2006)
    • 1913 – Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver and author (d. 2007)
    • 1914 – Robert N. Thompson, American-Canadian chiropractor and politician (d. 1997)
    • 1918 – Joan Benham, English actress (d. 1981)
    • 1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish operatic soprano (d. 2005)
    • 1919 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
    • 1919 – Merle Miller, American author and screenwriter (d. 1986)
    • 1919 – Gustav Naan, Russian-Estonian physicist and philosopher (d. 1994)
    • 1920 – Harry Männil, Estonian-Venezuelan businessman, co-founded ACO Group (d. 2010)
    • 1921 – Dennis Brain, English composer (d. 1957)
    • 1921 – Bob Merrill, American composer and screenwriter (d. 1998)
    • 1922 – Jean Rédélé, French racing driver, founded Alpine (d. 2007)
    • 1923 – Michael Beetham, English commander and pilot (d. 2015)
    • 1924 – Roy Bentley, English footballer (d. 2018)
    • 1924 – Francis Tombs, Baron Tombs, English engineer and politician (d. 2020)
    • 1926 – David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie, English-Scottish soldier and politician
    • 1926 – Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
    • 1926 – Franz Sondheimer, German-English chemist and academic (d. 1981)
    • 1929 – Branko Zebec, Yugoslav football player and coach (d. 1988)
    • 1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader, founded Heaven’s Gate (d. 1997)
    • 1931 – Dewey Redman, American saxophonist (d. 2006)
    • 1932 – Rodric Braithwaite, English soldier and diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia
    • 1932 – Peter Burge, Australian cricketer (d. 2001)
    • 1933 – Yelena Gorchakova, Russian javelin thrower (d. 2002)
    • 1934 – Friedrich-Wilhelm Kiel, German educator and politician
    • 1934 – Earl Morrall, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
    • 1934 – Ronald Wayne, American computer scientist, co-founded Apple Inc.
    • 1935 – Dennis Potter, English voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
    • 1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and director (d. 2010)
    • 1937 – Hazel R. O’Leary, American lawyer and politician, 7th United States Secretary of Energy
    • 1938 – Jason Bernard, American actor (d. 1996)
    • 1938 – Marcia Freedman, Israeli activist
    • 1938 – Pervis Jackson, American R&B bass singer (d. 2008)
    • 1939 – Hugh Dykes, Baron Dykes, English politician
    • 1939 – Gary Paulsen, American author
    • 1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist and academic
    • 1940 – Reynato Puno, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 22nd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
    • 1941 – David Cope, American composer and author
    • 1941 – Ben Nelson, American lawyer and politician, 37th Governor of Nebraska
    • 1942 – Taj Mahal, American blues singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1943 – Sirajuddin of Perlis, Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
    • 1943 – Johnny Warren, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2004)
    • 1944 – Jesse Winchester, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2014)
    • 1945 – B.S. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer
    • 1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player and coach
    • 1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German singer-songwriter and drummer
    • 1947 – Stephen Platten, English bishop
    • 1948 – Dick Gaughan, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1949 – Bill Bruford, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
    • 1949 – Keith, American pop singer
    • 1950 – Howard Ashman, American playwright and composer (d. 1991)
    • 1950 – Keith Bradley, Baron Bradley, English accountant and politician
    • 1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian economist and politician, 2nd President of Slovenia (d. 2008)
    • 1950 – Alan Johnson, English politician, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
    • 1950 – Valeriya Novodvorskaya, Russian journalist and politician (d. 2014)
    • 1951 – Simon Hughes, English lawyer and politician
    • 1952 – Howard Hampton, Canadian lawyer and politician
    • 1954 – Michael Roberts, South African-English jockey
    • 1955 – Bill Paxton, American actor and director (d. 2017)
    • 1955 – David Townsend, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2005)
    • 1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
    • 1956 – Annise Parker, American politician
    • 1956 – Bob Saget, American comedian, actor, and television host
    • 1956 – Dave Sim, Canadian cartoonist and author
    • 1957 – Pascual Pérez, Dominican baseball player (d. 2012)
    • 1958 – Paul Di’Anno, English rock singer-songwriter
    • 1959 – Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
    • 1960 – Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter, actor, and producer
    • 1960 – Simon Fuller, English talent manager and producer, created the Idols series
    • 1961 – Enya, Irish singer-songwriter and producer
    • 1961 – Jamil Azzaoui, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
    • 1961 – Justin King, English businessman
    • 1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish journalist and author
    • 1962 – Andrew Farrar, Australian rugby league player and coach
    • 1962 – Craig Ferguson, Scottish-American comedian, actor, and talk show host
    • 1962 – Jane Moore, English journalist and author
    • 1962 – Rosalind Picard, American computer scientist and engineer, co-founded Affectiva
    • 1963 – Jon Koncak, American basketball player
    • 1963 – Page McConnell, American keyboard player and songwriter
    • 1964 – Stratos Apostolakis, Greek footballer and coach
    • 1964 – Mauro Martini, Italian race car driver
    • 1964 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (d. 1999)
    • 1965 – Trent Reznor, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer
    • 1965 – Jeremy Vine, English journalist and author
    • 1966 – Qusay Hussein, Iraqi soldier and politician (d. 2003)
    • 1966 – Mark Kratzmann, Australian tennis player and coach
    • 1966 – Danny Manning, American basketball player and coach
    • 1966 – Gilles Quénéhervé, French sprinter
    • 1967 – Nancy Benoit, American professional wrestling valet and model (d. 2007)
    • 1967 – Mohamed Nasheed, Maldivian lawyer and politician 4th President of the Maldives
    • 1967 – Patrick Ortlieb, Austrian skier
    • 1968 – Dave Abbruzzese, American rock drummer and songwriter
    • 1969 – Keith Hill, English footballer and manager
    • 1970 – Hubert Davis, American basketball player and coach
    • 1970 – Jordan Knight, American singer-songwriter and actor
    • 1970 – Matt Lindland, American mixed martial artist, wrestler, and politician
    • 1970 – Jodie Rogers, Australian diver
    • 1970 – René Vilbre, Estonian director and screenwriter
    • 1971 – Mark Connors, Australian rugby player
    • 1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster
    • 1971 – Stella Jongmans, Dutch athlete
    • 1971 – Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Dutch royal
    • 1971 – Gina Raimondo, Governor of Rhode Island
    • 1972 – Barry Hayles, English born Jamaican international footballer
    • 1973 – Josh Homme, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
    • 1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
    • 1974 – Wiki González, Venezuelan baseball player
    • 1974 – Eddie Lewis, American international soccer player
    • 1975 – Marcelinho Paraíba, Brazilian footballer
    • 1975 – Alex Wright, German wrestler
    • 1976 – Kandi Burruss, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
    • 1976 – Shayne Dunley, Australian rugby league player
    • 1976 – José Guillén, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1976 – Daniel Komen, Kenyan runner
    • 1976 – Wang Leehom, American-Taiwanese singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
    • 1976 – Mayte Martínez, Spanish runner
    • 1976 – Kirsten Vlieghuis, Dutch freestyle swimmer
    • 1978 – John Foster, American baseball player and coach
    • 1978 – Paddy Kenny, English footballer
    • 1978 – Carlos Peña, Dominican-American baseball player
    • 1978 – Magdalena Zděnovcová, Czech tennis player
    • 1979 – David Jarolím, Czech footballer
    • 1979 – Wayne Thomas, English footballer
    • 1980 – Davor Džalto, Bosnian historian and philosopher
    • 1980 – Fredrik Kessiakoff, Swedish cyclist
    • 1980 – Alistair Overeem, Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer
    • 1980 – Ariën van Weesenbeek, Dutch drummer
    • 1981 – Beñat Albizuri, Spanish cyclist
    • 1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
    • 1981 – Lim Jeong-hee, South Korean singer
    • 1981 – Chris Skidmore, English historian and politician
    • 1981 – Giannis Taralidis, Greek footballer
    • 1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
    • 1982 – Dan Hardy, English mixed martial artist
    • 1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
    • 1982 – Tony Parker, French-American basketball player
    • 1982 – Chloe Smith, English politician
    • 1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
    • 1983 – Chris Henry, American football player (d. 2009)
    • 1983 – Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
    • 1983 – Kevin Kingston, Australian rugby league player
    • 1983 – Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
    • 1984 – Christian Bolaños, Costa Rican footballer
    • 1984 – Christine Ohuruogu, English runner
    • 1984 – Christine Robinson, Canadian water polo player
    • 1984 – Passenger, English singer-songwriter and musician
    • 1985 – Teófilo Gutiérrez, Colombian footballer
    • 1985 – Derek Hough, American actor, singer, and dancer
    • 1985 – Christine Nesbitt, Canadian speed skater
    • 1985 – Todd Redmond, American baseball player
    • 1985 – Matt Ryan, American football player
    • 1986 – Marius Činikas, Lithuanian footballer
    • 1986 – Timo Simonlatser, Estonian skier
    • 1986 – Jodie Taylor, English footballer
    • 1987 – Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norwegian cyclist
    • 1987 – Aleandro Rosi, Italian footballer
    • 1988 – Nikki Reed, American actress, singer, and screenwriter
    • 1988 – Jennison Myrie-Williams, English footballer
    • 1989 – Mose Masoe, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1989 – Rain Raadik, Estonian basketball player
    • 1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
    • 1990 – Fabian Giefer, German footballer
    • 1990 – Charlie Gubb, New Zealand rugby league player
    • 1990 – Katrina Hart, English runner
    • 1990 – Guido Pella, Argentine tennis player
    • 1991 – Johanna Konta, Australian-English tennis player
    • 1991 – Adil Omar, Pakistani rapper and music producer
    • 1991 – Abigail Raye, Canadian field hockey player

    Deaths on May 17

    • 528 – Empress Dowager Hu of Northern Wei
    • 528 – Yuan Yong, imperial prince of Northern Wei
    • 528 – Yuan Zhao, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 526)
    • 896 – Liu Jianfeng, Chinese warlord
    • 924 – Li Maozhen, Chinese warlord and king (b. 856)
    • 946 – Al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, Fatimid caliph (b. 893)
    • 1299 – Daumantas of Pskov, Lithuanian prince (b. c. 1240)
    • 1336 – Go-Fushimi, emperor of Japan (b. 1288)
    • 1365 – Louis II, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)
    • 1395 – Konstantin Dejanović/Constantine Dragaš, Serbian ruler (b. 1355)
    • 1464 – Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English politician (b. 1427)
    • 1510 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)
    • 1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, Welsh politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1478)
    • 1536 – George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford, English courtier and diplomat, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1504)
    • 1536 – William Brereton, English courtier (b. 1487)
    • 1536 – Henry Norris, English courtier (b. 1482)
    • 1546 – Philipp von Hutten, German explorer (b. 1511)
    • 1551 – Shin Saimdang, South Korean poet and calligraphist (b. 1504)
    • 1558 – Francisco de Sá de Miranda, Portuguese poet (b. 1485)
    • 1575 – Matthew Parker, English archbishop and academic (b. 1504)
    • 1606 – False Dmitriy I, pretender to the Russian throne (b. 1582)
    • 1607 – Anna d’Este, French princess (b. 1531)
    • 1626 – Joan Pau Pujol, Catalan organist and composer (b. 1570)
    • 1643 – Giovanni Picchi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1571)
    • 1727 – Catherine I of Russia (b. 1684)
    • 1729 – Samuel Clarke, English clergyman and philosopher (b. 1675)
    • 1765 – Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (b. 1713)
    • 1797 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French playwright and composer (b. 1719)
    • 1801 – William Heberden, English physician and scholar (b. 1710)
    • 1807 – John Gunby, American general (b. 1745)
    • 1809 – Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (b. 1722)
    • 1822 – Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French general and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of France (b. 1766)
    • 1829 – John Jay, American politician and diplomat, 1st Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)
    • 1838 – René Caillié, French explorer and author (b. 1799)
    • 1838 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French bishop and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1754)
    • 1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish priest and author (b. 1757)
    • 1868 – Kondō Isami, Japanese commander (b. 1834)
    • 1875 – John C. Breckinridge, American lawyer and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States, Confederate States general (b. 1821)
    • 1879 – Asa Packer, American businessman, founded Lehigh University (b. 1805)
    • 1880 – Ziya Pasha, Greek author and translator (b. 1826)
    • 1886 – John Deere, American blacksmith and businessman, founded the Deere & Company (b. 1804)
    • 1888 – Giacomo Zanella, Italian priest and poet (b. 1820)
    • 1911 – Frederick August Otto Schwarz, German-American businessman, founded FAO Schwarz (b. 1836)
    • 1916 – Boris Borisovich Golitsyn, Russian physicist and seismologist (b. 1862)
    • 1917 – Clara Ayres, American nurse (b. 1880)
    • 1917 – Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (b. 1829)
    • 1919 – Guido von List, Austrian-German journalist, author, and poet (b. 1848)
    • 1921 – Karl Mantzius, Danish actor and director (b. 1860)
    • 1922 – Dorothy Levitt, English racing driver and journalist (b. 1882)
    • 1927 – Harold Geiger, American pilot and lieutenant (b. 1884)
    • 1934 – Cass Gilbert, American architect (b. 1859)
    • 1935 – Paul Dukas, French composer, critic, and educator (b. 1865)
    • 1936 – Panagis Tsaldaris, Greek lawyer and politician, 124th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1868)
    • 1938 – Jakob Ehrlich, Czech-Austrian academic and politician (b. 1877)
    • 1943 – Johanna Elberskirchen, German author and activist (b. 1864)
    • 1947 – George Forbes, New Zealand farmer and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
    • 1951 – William Birdwood, Anglo-Indian field marshal (b. 1865)
    • 1960 – Jules Supervielle, Uruguayan-French poet and author (b. 1884)
    • 1963 – John Wilce, American football player, coach, and physician (b. 1888)
    • 1964 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1895)
    • 1974 – Ernest Nash, German-American photographer and scholar (b. 1898)
    • 1977 – Charles E. Rosendahl, American admiral and pilot (b. 1892)
    • 1980 – Gündüz Kılıç, Turkish football player and coach (b. 1918)
    • 1985 – Abe Burrows, American director, composer, and author (b. 1910)
    • 1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, sociologist, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
    • 1992 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (b. 1903)
    • 1995 – Toe Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1912)
    • 1996 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1966)
    • 1999 – Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian trumpet player and producer (b. 1949)
    • 1999 – Lembit Oll, Estonian chess Grandmaster (b. 1966)
    • 2000 – Donald Coggan, English archbishop (b. 1909)
    • 2001 – Jacques-Louis Lions, French mathematician (b. 1928)
    • 2001 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (b. 1908)
    • 2002 – László Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1927)
    • 2002 – Aşık Mahzuni Şerif, Turkish poet and composer (b. 1940)
    • 2004 – Jørgen Nash, Danish poet and painter (b. 1920)
    • 2004 – Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)
    • 2004 – Ezzedine Salim, Iraqi politician (b. 1943)
    • 2005 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (b. 1934)
    • 2006 – Cy Feuer, American director, producer, and composer (b. 1911)
    • 2007 – Lloyd Alexander, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
    • 2007 – T. K. Doraiswamy, Indian poet and author (b. 1921)
    • 2009 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan journalist, author, and poet (b. 1920)
    • 2009 – Jung Seung-hye, South Korean journalist and producer (b. 1965)
    • 2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1924)
    • 2010 – Walasse Ting, Chinese-American painter and poet (b. 1929)
    • 2011 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1936)
    • 2012 – Gideon Ezra, Israeli geographer and politician, Israeli Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (b. 1937)
    • 2012 – Patrick Mafisango, Congolese-Rwandan footballer (b. 1980)
    • 2012 – Donna Summer, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
    • 2013 – Philippe Gaumont, French cyclist (b. 1973)
    • 2013 – Peter Schulz, German politician, Mayor of Hamburg (b. 1930)
    • 2013 – Ken Venturi, American golfer and sportscaster (b. 1931)
    • 2013 – Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentine general and politician, 42nd President of Argentina (b. 1925)
    • 2014 – Gerald Edelman, American biologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
    • 2014 – C. P. Krishnan Nair, Indian businessman, founded The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts (b. 1922)
    • 2014 – Douangchay Phichit, Laotian politician (b. 1944)
    • 2014 – Thongbanh Sengaphone, Laotian politician (b. 1953)
    • 2017 – Todor Veselinović, Serbian football player and manager (b. 1930)
    • 2019 – Herman Wouk, American author (b. 1915)
    • 2020 – Lucky Peterson, American blues singer, keyboardist and guitarist (b. 1964)

    Holidays and observances on May 17

    • Birthday of the Raja (Perlis)
    • Christian feast day:
      • Giulia Salzano
      • Paschal Baylon
      • William Hobart Hare (Episcopal Church (USA))
      • Restituta
      • May 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Children’s Day (Norway)
    • Constitution Day (Nauru)
    • Norwegian Constitution Day
    • The earliest date on which Trinity Sunday can fall, while June 20 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. (Western Christianity)
    • Feast of ‘Aẓamat (Bahá’í Faith, day shifts with March Equinox, see List of observances set by the Baháʼí calendar)
    • Galician Literature Day or Día das Letras Galegas (Galicia)
    • National Day Against Homophobia (Canada)
    • International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia also known as IDAHOT
    • Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
    • Navy Day (Argentina)
    • World Hypertension Day
    • World Information Society Day (International)