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1972

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 8

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

Deaths on June 8

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

Holidays and observances on June 8

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

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

On This Day

June 7- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire).
  • 879 – Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state.
  • 1002 – Henry II, a cousin of Emperor Otto III, is elected and crowned King of Germany.
  • 1099 – First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins.
  • 1420 – Troops of the Republic of Venice capture Udine, ending the independence of the Patria del Friuli.
  • 1494 – Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divides the New World between the two countries.
  • 1628 – The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document, is granted the Royal Assent by Charles I and becomes law.
  • 1654 – Louis XIV is crowned King of France.
  • 1692 – Port Royal, Jamaica, is hit by a catastrophic earthquake; in just three minutes, 1,600 people are killed and 3,000 are seriously injured.
  • 1776 – Richard Henry Lee presents the “Lee Resolution” to the Continental Congress. The motion is seconded by John Adams and will lead to the United States Declaration of Independence.
  • 1788 – French Revolution: Day of the Tiles: Civilians in Grenoble toss roof tiles and various objects down upon royal troops.
  • 1800 – David Thompson reaches the mouth of the Saskatchewan River in Manitoba.
  • 1810 – The newspaper Gazeta de Buenos Ayres is first published in Argentina.
  • 1832 – The Great Reform Act of England and Wales receives royal assent.
  • 1832 – Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada.
  • 1862 – The United States and the United Kingdom agree in the Lyons–Seward Treaty to suppress the African slave trade.
  • 1863 – During the French intervention in Mexico, Mexico City is captured by French troops.
  • 1866 – One thousand eight hundred Fenian raiders are repelled back to the United States after looting and plundering the Saint-Armand and Frelighsburg areas of Canada East.
  • 1880 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Arica, the assault and capture of Morro de Arica (Arica Cape), ends the Campaña del Desierto (Desert Campaign).
  • 1892 – Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to leave his seat in the “whites-only” car of a train; he lost the resulting court case, Plessy v. Ferguson.
  • 1899 – American Temperance crusader Carrie Nation begins her campaign of vandalizing alcohol-serving establishments by destroying the inventory in a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas.
  • 1905 – Norway’s parliament dissolves its union with Sweden. The vote was confirmed by a national plebiscite on August 13 of that year.
  • 1906 – Cunard Line’s RMS Lusitania is launched from the John Brown Shipyard, Glasgow (Clydebank), Scotland.
  • 1917 – World War I: Battle of Messines: Allied soldiers detonate a series of mines underneath German trenches at Messines Ridge, killing 10,000 German troops.
  • 1919 – Sette Giugno: Nationalist riots break out in Valletta, the capital of Malta. British soldiers fire into the crowd, killing four people.
  • 1929 – The Lateran Treaty is ratified, bringing Vatican City into existence.
  • 1938 – The Douglas DC-4E makes its first test flight.
  • 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Japanese forces. Five hundred to nine hundred thousand civilians are killed.
  • 1940 – King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav and the Norwegian government leave Tromsø and go into exile in London. They return exactly five years later.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway ends in American victory.
  • 1942 – World War II: Aleutian Islands Campaign: Imperial Japanese soldiers begin occupying the American islands of Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska.
  • 1944 – World War II: The steamer Danae, carrying 350 Cretan Jews and 250 Cretan partisans, is sunk without survivors off the shore of Santorini.
  • 1944 – World War II: Battle of Normandy: At Ardenne Abbey, members of the SS Division Hitlerjugend massacre 23 Canadian prisoners of war.
  • 1945 – King Haakon VII of Norway returns from exactly five years in exile during World War II.
  • 1946 – The United Kingdom’s BBC returns to broadcasting its television service, which has been off air for seven years because of the Second World War.
  • 1948 – Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada take place.
  • 1948 – Edvard Beneš resigns as President of Czechoslovakia rather than signing the Ninth-of-May Constitution, making his nation a Communist state.
  • 1955 – Lux Radio Theatre signs off the air permanently. The show launched in New York in 1934, and featured radio adaptations of Broadway shows and popular films.
  • 1962 – The Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS) sets fire to the University of Algiers library building, destroying about 500,000 books.
  • 1965 – The Supreme Court of the United States hands down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, prohibiting the states from criminalizing the use of contraception by married couples.
  • 1967 – Six-Day War: Israeli soldiers enter Jerusalem.
  • 1971 – The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
  • 1971 – The Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service raids the home of Ken Ballew for illegal possession of hand grenades.
  • 1977 – Five hundred million people watch the high day of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II begin on television.
  • 1981 – The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq’s Osiraq nuclear reactor during Operation Opera.
  • 1982 – Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public; the bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier is kept off-limits.
  • 1989 – Surinam Airways Flight 764 crashes on approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname because of pilot error, killing 176 of 187 aboard.
  • 1991 – Mount Pinatubo erupts, generating an ash column 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) high.
  • 2000 – The United Nations defines the Blue Line as the border between Israel and Lebanon.
  • 2013 – A bus catches fire in the Chinese city of Xiamen, killing at least 47 people and injuring more than 34 others.
  • 2013 – A gunman opens fire at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, after setting a house on fire nearby, killing six people, including the suspect.
  • 2014 – At least 37 people are killed in an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s South Kivu province.

Births on June 7

  • 1003 – Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia (d. 1048)
  • 1402 – Ichijō Kaneyoshi, Japanese noble (d. 1481)
  • 1422 – Federico da Montefeltro, Italian condottiero (d. 1482)
  • 1502 – John III of Portugal (d. 1557)
  • 1529 – Étienne Pasquier, French lawyer and jurist (d. 1615)
  • 1687 – Gaetano Berenstadt, Italian actor and singer (d. 1734)
  • 1702 – Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden (d. 1761)
  • 1757 – Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1806)
  • 1761 – John Rennie the Elder, Scottish engineer (d. 1821)
  • 1770 – Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1828)
  • 1778 – Beau Brummell, English cricketer and fashion designer (d. 1840)
  • 1811 – James Young Simpson, Scottish obstetrician (d. 1870)
  • 1831 – Amelia Edwards, English journalist and author (d. 1892)
  • 1837 – Alois Hitler, Austrian civil servant (d. 1903)
  • 1840 – Carlota of Mexico (d. 1927)
  • 1845 – Leopold Auer, Hungarian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1930)
  • 1847 – George Washington Ball, American legislator from Iowa (d. 1915)
  • 1848 – Paul Gauguin, French painter and sculptor (d. 1903)
  • 1851 – Ture Malmgren, Swedish journalist and politician (d. 1922)
  • 1861 – Robina Nicol, New Zealand photographer and suffragist (d. 1942)
  • 1862 – Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
  • 1863 – Bones Ely, American baseball player and manager (d. 1952)
  • 1868 – Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish painter and architect (d. 1928)
  • 1877 – Roelof Klein, Dutch-American rower and engineer (d. 1960)
  • 1879 – Knud Rasmussen, Danish anthropologist and explorer (d. 1933)
  • 1879 – Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 1963)
  • 1884 – Ester Claesson, Swedish landscape architect (d. 1931)
  • 1883 – Sylvanus Morley, American archaeologist and scholar (d. 1948)
  • 1886 – Henri Coandă, Romanian engineer, designed the Coandă-1910 (d. 1972)
  • 1888 – Clarence DeMar, American runner and educator (d. 1958)
  • 1892 – Leo Reise, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1975)
  • 1893 – Gillis Grafström, Swedish figure skater and architect (d. 1938)
  • 1894 – Alexander P. de Seversky, Georgian-American pilot and engineer, co-designed the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (d. 1974)
  • 1896 – Douglas Campbell, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1990)
  • 1896 – Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
  • 1896 – Imre Nagy, Hungarian soldier and politician, 44th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1958)
  • 1897 – George Szell, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (d. 1970)
  • 1899 – Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-Irish author and critic (d. 1973)
  • 1902 – Georges Van Parys, French composer (d. 1971)
  • 1902 – Herman B Wells, American banker, author, and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1905 – James J. Braddock, American lieutenant and boxer (d. 1974)
  • 1906 – Glen Gray, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1963)
  • 1907 – Sigvard Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (d. 2002)
  • 1909 – Virginia Apgar, American anesthesiologist and pediatrician, developed the Apgar test (d. 1974)
  • 1909 – Peter W. Rodino, American captain, lawyer, and politician (d. 2005)
  • 1909 – Jessica Tandy, English-American actress (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Arthur Gardner, American actor and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1910 – Mike Sebastian, American football player and coach (d. 1989)
  • 1910 – Bradford Washburn, American mountaineer, photographer, and cartographer (d. 2007)
  • 1910 – Marion Post Wolcott, American photographer (d. 1990)
  • 1911 – Brooks Stevens, American engineer and designer, designed the Wienermobile (d. 1995)
  • 1912 – Jacques Hélian, French bandleader (d. 1986)
  • 1917 – Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (d. 2000)
  • 1917 – Dean Martin, American singer, actor, and producer (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Georges Marchais, French mechanic and politician (d. 1997)
  • 1921 – Myrtle Edwards, Australian cricketer and softball player (d. 2010)
  • 1921 – Brian Talboys, New Zealand politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – Leo Reise, Jr., Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – Jules Deschênes, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2000)
  • 1925 – Ernestina Herrera de Noble, Argentine publisher and executive (d. 2017)
  • 1926 – Jean-Noël Tremblay, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2020)
  • 1927 – Charles de Tornaco, Belgian race car driver (d. 1953)
  • 1927 – Paul Salamunovich, American conductor and educator (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Dave Bowen, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 1995)
  • 1928 – James Ivory, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1928 – Randolph Turpin, English boxer (d. 1966)
  • 1929 – Ernie Roth, American wrestling manager (d. 1983)
  • 1929 – John Turner, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1931 – Virginia McKenna, English actress and author
  • 1932 – Per Maurseth, Norwegian historian, academic, and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Romeo Galán, Argentine athlete
  • 1935 – Harry Crews, American novelist, playwright, short story writer, and essayist (d. 2012)
  • 1935 – Shyama, Indian actress (d. 2017)
  • 1936 – Bert Sugar, American author and boxing historian (d. 2012)
  • 1938 – Ian St John, Scottish international footballer, forward and manager
  • 1939 – Yuli Turovsky, Russian-Canadian cellist, conductor and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1940 – Tom Jones, Welsh singer and actor
  • 1940 – Ronald Pickup, English actor
  • 1944 – Annette Lu, Taiwanese lawyer and politician, 8th Vice President of the Republic of China
  • 1944 – Clarence White, American guitarist and singer (d. 1973)
  • 1945 – Gilles Marotte, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
  • 1945 – John Olsen, Australian politician, 42nd Premier of South Australia
  • 1945 – Wolfgang Schüssel, Austrian lawyer and politician, 26th Chancellor of Austria
  • 1947 – Don Money, American baseball player and coach
  • 1947 – Thurman Munson, American baseball player (d. 1979)
  • 1948 – Jim Walton, American businessman
  • 1952 – Liam Neeson, Irish-American actor
  • 1952 – Orhan Pamuk, Turkish-American novelist, screenwriter, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1953 – Johnny Clegg, English- born South African singer-songwriter, guitarist and anthropologist (d. 2019)
  • 1954 – Louise Erdrich, American novelist and poet
  • 1955 – William Forsythe, American actor and producer
  • 1955 – Tim Richmond, American race car driver (d. 1989)
  • 1956 – L.A. Reid, American songwriter and producer, co-founded LaFace Records
  • 1957 – Juan Luis Guerra, Dominican singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1957 – Paddy McAloon, English singer-songwriter
  • 1958 – Prince, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor (d. 2016)
  • 1958 – Surakiart Sathirathai, Thai politician and diplomat
  • 1959 – Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States, 50th Governor of Indiana
  • 1960 – Hirohiko Araki, Japanese manga artist and creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
  • 1960 – Bill Prady, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1961 – Dave Catching, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1962 – Thierry Hazard, French singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Takuya Kurosawa, Japanese race car driver
  • 1963 – Gordon Gano, American musician
  • 1964 – Gia Carides, Australian actress
  • 1964 – Graeme Labrooy, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1965 – Mick Foley, American wrestler, actor, and author
  • 1965 – Jean-Pierre François, French footballer and singer
  • 1965 – Damien Hirst, English painter and art collector
  • 1966 – Eric Kretz, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
  • 1966 – Tom McCarthy, American director, screenwriter and actor
  • 1966 – Stéphane Richer, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1967 – Dave Navarro, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1970 – Helen Baxendale, English actress
  • 1970 – Cafu, Brazilian footballer
  • 1970 – Andrei Kovalenko, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1970 – Mike Modano, American ice hockey player
  • 1972 – Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
  • 1974 – Bear Grylls, English adventurer, author, and television host
  • 1975 – Allen Iverson, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Necro, American rapper, producer, and director
  • 1976 – Mirsad Türkcan, Turkish basketball player
  • 1977 – Marcin Baszczyński, Polish footballer
  • 1978 – Mini Andén, Swedish-American model, actress, and producer
  • 1978 – Bill Hader, Two-time Emmy winning American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
  • 1979 – Kevin Hofland, Dutch footballer
  • 1979 – Anna Torv, Australian actress
  • 1980 – Ed Moses, American swimmer
  • 1981 – Stephen Bywater, English footballer
  • 1981 – Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
  • 1981 – Kevin Kyle, Scottish footballer
  • 1983 – Milan Jurčina, Slovak ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Piotr Małachowski, Polish discus thrower
  • 1984 – Ari Koivunen, Finnish singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Eri Yanetani, Japanese snowboarder
  • 1985 – Arkadiusz Piech, Polish footballer
  • 1985 – Charlie Simpson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1985 – Richard Thompson, Trinidadian sprinter
  • 1986 – Keegan Bradley, American golfer
  • 1988 – Michael Cera, Canadian actor
  • 1988 – Milan Lucic, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Iggy Azalea, Australian rapper
  • 1990 – T. J. Brodie, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Allison Schmitt, American swimmer
  • 1991 – Cenk Tosun, Turkish professional footballer
  • 1991 – Fetty Wap, American rapper
  • 1992 – Sara Niemietz, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1992 – Mathias Gehrt, Danish professional footballer
  • 1992 – Alípio, Brazilian footballer
  • 1993 – George Ezra, English singer, songwriter and guitarist

Deaths on June 7

  • 555 – Vigilius, Pope of the Catholic Church (b. 500)
  • 862 – Al-Muntasir, Abbasid caliph (b. 837)
  • 929 – Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders (b. 877)
  • 940 – Qian Hongzun, heir apparent of Wuyue (b. 925)
  • 951 – Lu Wenji, Chinese chancellor (b. 876)
  • 1329 – Robert the Bruce, Scottish king (b. 1274)
  • 1337 – William I, Count of Hainaut (b. 1286)
  • 1341 – An-Nasir Muhammad, Egyptian sultan (b. 1285)
  • 1358 – Ashikaga Takauji, Japanese shōgun (b. 1305)
  • 1394 – Anne of Bohemia, English queen (b. 1366)
  • 1492 – Casimir IV Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 (b. 1427)
  • 1594 – Rodrigo Lopez, physician of Queen Elizabeth (b. 1525)
  • 1618 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English politician, Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1577)
  • 1660 – George II Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania (b. 1621)
  • 1711 – Henry Dodwell, Irish scholar and theologian (b. 1641)
  • 1779 – William Warburton, English bishop and critic (b. 1698)
  • 1792 – Benjamin Tupper, American general and surveyor (b. 1738)
  • 1810 – Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver and etcher (b. 1765)
  • 1826 – Joseph von Fraunhofer, German optician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1787)
  • 1840 – Frederick William III of Prussia (b. 1770)
  • 1843 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German lyric poet (b. 1770)
  • 1853 – Norbert Provencher, Canadian missionary and bishop (b. 1787)
  • 1854 – Charles Baudin, French admiral (b. 1792)
  • 1859 – David Cox, English painter (b. 1783)
  • 1861 – Patrick Brontë, Anglo-Irish priest and author (b. 1777)
  • 1863 – Antonio Valero de Bernabé, Latin American liberator (b. 1790)
  • 1866 – Chief Seattle, American tribal chief (b. 1780)
  • 1879 – William Tilbury Fox, English dermatologist and academic (b. 1836)
  • 1896 – Pavlos Carrer, Greek composer (b. 1829)
  • 1911 – Maurice Rouvier, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1842)
  • 1915 – Charles Reed Bishop, American banker and politician, founded the First Hawaiian Bank (b. 1822)
  • 1916 – Émile Faguet, French author and critic (b. 1847)
  • 1927 – Archie Birkin, English motorcycle racer (b. 1905)
  • 1927 – Edmund James Flynn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 10th Premier of Quebec (b. 1847)
  • 1932 – John Verran, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of South Australia (b. 1856)
  • 1933 – Dragutin Domjanić, Croatian lawyer, judge, and poet (b. 1875)
  • 1936 – Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (b. 1875)
  • 1937 – Jean Harlow, American actress and singer (b. 1911)
  • 1942 – Alan Blumlein, English engineer (b. 1903)
  • 1945 – Kitaro Nishida, Japanese philosopher and academic (b. 1870)
  • 1954 – Alan Turing, English mathematician and computer scientist (b. 1912)
  • 1956 – John Willcock, Australian politician, 15th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1879)
  • 1961 – Reginald Fletcher, 1st Baron Winster, English navy officer and politician, Secretary of State for Transport (b. 1885)
  • 1963 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (b. 1894)
  • 1965 – Judy Holliday, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
  • 1966 – Jean Arp, German-French sculptor, painter, and poet (b. 1886)
  • 1967 – Anatoly Maltsev, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1909)
  • 1967 – Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, critic, and satirist (b. 1893)
  • 1968 – Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (b. 1907)
  • 1970 – E. M. Forster, English novelist, short story writer, essayist (b. 1879)
  • 1978 – Charles Moran, American race car driver (b. 1906)
  • 1978 – Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
  • 1979 – Asa Earl Carter, American Ku Klux Klan leader (b. 1925)
  • 1980 – Elizabeth Craig, Scottish journalist and economist (b. 1883)
  • 1980 – Philip Guston, Canadian-American painter and educator (b. 1913)
  • 1980 – Henry Miller, American novelist and essayist (b. 1891)
  • 1985 – Klaudia Taev, Estonian opera singer and educator (b. 1906)
  • 1987 – Cahit Zarifoğlu, Turkish poet and author (b. 1940)
  • 1988 – Martin Sommer, German SS officer (b. 1915)
  • 1989 – Chico Landi, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1907)
  • 1989 – William McLean Hamilton, Canadian politician, Postmaster General of Canada (b. 1919)
  • 1992 – Bill France Sr., American race car driver and businessman, co-founded NASCAR (b. 1909)
  • 1993 – Dražen Petrović, Croatian basketball player, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer 2002 (b. 1964)
  • 1995 – Hsuan Hua, Chinese monk and educator (b. 1918)
  • 1995 – Charles Ritchie, Canadian diplomat, High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom (b. 1906)
  • 1996 – Max Factor, Jr., American businessman (b. 1904)
  • 1997 – Jacques Canetti, French music executive and talent agent (b. 1909)
  • 2001 – Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Bolivian politician, 52nd President of Bolivia (b. 1907)
  • 2001 – Carole Fredericks, French singer (Fredericks Goldman Jones) (b. 1952)
  • 2001 – Betty Neels, English nurse and author (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – Signe Hasso, Swedish-American actress (b. 1915)
  • 2002 – B. D. Jatti, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th Vice President of India (b. 1912)
  • 2002 – Lilian, Princess of Réthy (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Quorthon, Swedish musician (b. 1966)
  • 2008 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino actor and producer (b. 1953)
  • 2008 – Jim McKay, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Dino Risi, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1916)
  • 2009 – Hugh Hopper, English bass player and songwriter (b. 1945)
  • 2011 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Phillip V. Tobias, South African paleontologist and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Bob Welch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Pierre Mauroy, French educator and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Fernandão, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1978)
  • 2014 – Dora Akunyili, Nigerian academic and politician (b. 1954)
  • 2014 – Epainette Mbeki, South African activist (b. 1916)
  • 2015 – Christopher Lee, English actor (b. 1922)
  • 2015 – Sheikh Razzak Ali, Bangladeshi journalist and politician (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on June 7

  • Anniversary of the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation (Slovakia)
  • Birthday of Prince Joachim (Denmark)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Antonio Maria Gianelli
    • Colmán of Dromore
    • Landulf of Yariglia (Asti)
    • Meriasek
    • Paul I of Constantinople
    • Robert of Newminster
    • Chief Seattle (Lutheran Church)
    • Blessed Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran La Louvière
    • June 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
    • Commemoration Day of St John the Forerunner (Armenian Apostolic Church)
    • Pioneers of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Battle of Arica Day (Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile)
  • Flag Day (Peru)
  • Journalist Day (Argentina)
  • Sette Giugno (Malta)
  • Union Dissolution Day (Independence Day of Norway)

June 7- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 6

pre-19th century

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

19th century

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

1901–1930

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

1931–1945

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

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

1946–2000

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

Deaths

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

Holidays and observances on June 6

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

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

On This Day

June 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights.
  • 1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles of Salerno.
  • 1288 – The Battle of Worringen ends the War of the Limburg Succession, with John I, Duke of Brabant, being one of the more important victors.
  • 1610 – The masque Tethys’ Festival is performed at Whitehall Palace to celebrate the investiture of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
  • 1644 – The Qing dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor take Beijing during the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
  • 1798 – The Battle of New Ross: The attempt to spread the United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated.
  • 1817 – The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched.
  • 1829 – HMS Pickle captures the armed slave ship Voladora off the coast of Cuba.
  • 1832 – The June Rebellion breaks out in Paris in an attempt to overthrow the monarchy of Louis Philippe.
  • 1837 – Houston is incorporated by the Republic of Texas.
  • 1849 – Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy by the signing of a new constitution.
  • 1851 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper.
  • 1862 – As the Treaty of Saigon is signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, the guerrilla leader Trương Định decides to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.
  • 1873 – Sultan Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar closes the great slave market under the terms of a treaty with Great Britain.
  • 1883 – The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.
  • 1888 – The Rio de la Plata earthquake takes place.
  • 1893 – The trial of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her father and step-mother begins in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
  • 1900 – Second Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria.
  • 1915 – Denmark amends its constitution to allow women’s suffrage.
  • 1916 – Louis Brandeis is sworn in as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court; he is the first American Jew to hold such a position.
  • 1916 – World War I: The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire breaks out.
  • 1917 – World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as “Army registration day”.
  • 1940 – World War II: After a brief lull in the Battle of France, the Germans renew the offensive against the remaining French divisions south of the River Somme in Operation Fall Rot (“Case Red”).
  • 1941 – World War II: Four thousand Chongqing residents are asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing.
  • 1942 – World War II: The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
  • 1944 – World War II: More than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
  • 1945 – The Allied Control Council, the military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.
  • 1946 – A fire in the La Salle Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, kills 61 people.
  • 1947 – Cold War: Marshall Plan: In a speech at Harvard University, the United States Secretary of State George Marshall calls for economic aid to war-torn Europe.
  • 1949 – Thailand elects Orapin Chaiyakan, the first female member of Thailand’s Parliament.
  • 1956 – Elvis Presley introduces his new single, “Hound Dog”, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
  • 1959 – The first government of Singapore is sworn in.
  • 1963 – The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, resigns in a sex scandal known as the “Profumo affair”.
  • 1963 – Movement of 15 Khordad: Protests against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In several cities, masses of angry demonstrators are confronted by tanks and paratroopers.
  • 1964 – DSV Alvin is commissioned.
  • 1967 – The Six-Day War begins: Israel launches surprise strikes against Egyptian air-fields in response to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces on the Israeli border.
  • 1968 – Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.
  • 1975 – The Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six-Day War.
  • 1975 – The United Kingdom holds its first country-wide referendum on membership of the European Economic Community (EEC).
  • 1976 – The Teton Dam in Idaho, United States, collapses.
  • 1981 – The “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that five people in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, in what turns out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS.
  • 1983 – More than 100 people are killed when the Russian river cruise ship Aleksandr Suvorov collides with a girder of the Ulyanovsk Railway Bridge. The collision caused a freight train to derail, further damaging the vessel yet the ship remained afloat and was eventually restored and returned to service.
  • 1984 – Operation Blue Star: Under orders from India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, the Indian Army begins an invasion of the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion.
  • 1989 – The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
  • 1993 – Portions of the Holbeck Hall Hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK, fall into the sea following a landslide.
  • 1995 – The Bose–Einstein condensate is first created.
  • 1997 – The Second Republic of the Congo Civil War begins.
  • 1998 – A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants. The strike lasts seven weeks.
  • 2000 – The Six-Day War in Kisangani begins in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Ugandan and Rwandan forces. A large part of the city is destroyed.
  • 2001 – Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm causes $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the second costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.
  • 2003 – A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50 °C (122 °F) in the region.
  • 2004 – Noël Mamère, Mayor of Bègles, celebrates marriage for two men for the first time in France.
  • 2006 – Serbia declares independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
  • 2009 – After 65 straight days of civil disobedience, at least 31 people are killed in clashes between security forces and indigenous people near Bagua, Peru.
  • 2013 – A building collapse in Philadelphia kills six and wounds 14 other people.
  • 2015 – An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.0 struck Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia killing 18 people, including hikers and mountain guides on Mount Kinabalu, after mass landslides that occurred during the earthquake. This is the strongest earthquake to strike Malaysia since 1975.
  • 2017 – Montenegro becomes the 29th member of the NATO.
  • 2017 – Six Arab countries—Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates—cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.

Births on June 5

  • 1341 – Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, son of King Edward III of England and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1402)
  • 1412 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, Italian ruler (d. 1478)
  • 1493 – Justus Jonas, German priest and academic (d. 1555)
  • 1523 – Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1573)
  • 1554 – Benedetto Giustiniani, Italian clergyman (d. 1621)
  • 1587 – Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English colonial administrator and admiral (d. 1658)
  • 1596 – Peter Wtewael, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1660)
  • 1640 – Pu Songling, Chinese author (d. 1715)
  • 1646 – Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1684)
  • 1660 – Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (d. 1744)
  • 1757 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (d. 1808)
  • 1760 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (d. 1852)
  • 1771 – Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (d. 1851)
  • 1781 – Christian Lobeck, German scholar and academic (d. 1860)
  • 1801 – William Scamp, English architect and engineer (d. 1872)
  • 1819 – John Couch Adams, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1892)
  • 1830 – Carmine Crocco, Italian soldier (d. 1905)
  • 1850 – Pat Garrett, American sheriff (d. 1908)
  • 1862 – Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930)
  • 1868 – James Connolly, Scottish-born Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)
  • 1870 – Bernard de Pourtalès, Swiss captain and sailor (d. 1935)
  • 1876 – Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (d. 1957)
  • 1877 – Willard Miller, Canadian-American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1959)
  • 1878 – Pancho Villa, Mexican general and politician, Governor of Chihuahua (d. 1923)
  • 1879 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1985)
  • 1883 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1946)
  • 1884 – Ralph Benatzky, Czech-Swiss composer (d. 1957)
  • 1884 – Ivy Compton-Burnett, English author (d. 1969)
  • 1884 – Frederick Lorz, American runner (d. 1914)
  • 1892 – Jaan Kikkas, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1944)
  • 1894 – Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian-English publisher and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1895 – William Boyd, American actor and producer (d. 1972)
  • 1895 – William Roberts, English soldier and painter (d. 1980)
  • 1898 – Salvatore Ferragamo, Italian shoe designer, founded Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. (d. 1960)
  • 1898 – Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, playwright, and director (d. 1936)
  • 1899 – Otis Barton, American diver, engineer, and actor, designed the bathysphere (d. 1992)
  • 1899 – Theippan Maung Wa, Burmese writer (d. 1942)
  • 1900 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Arthur Powell Davies, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1957)
  • 1905 – Wayne Boring, American illustrator (d. 1987)
  • 1912 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (d. 2003)
  • 1912 – Eric Hollies, English cricketer (d. 1981)
  • 1913 – Conrad Marca-Relli, American-Italian painter and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Beatrice de Cardi, English archaeologist and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1916 – Sid Barnes, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
  • 1916 – Eddie Joost, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1919 – Richard Scarry, American-Swiss author and illustrator (d. 1994)
  • 1920 – Marion Motley, American football player and coach (d. 1999)
  • 1920 – Cornelius Ryan, Irish-American journalist and author (d. 1974)
  • 1922 – Paul Couvret, Dutch-Australian soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Sheila Sim, English actress (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Jorge Daponte, Argentinian racing driver (d. 1963)
  • 1923 – Roger Lebel, Canadian actor (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Daniel Pinkham, American organist and composer (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Lou Brissie, American baseball player and scout (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Art Donovan, American football player and radio host (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Bill Hayes, American actor and singer
  • 1926 – Paul Soros, Hungarian-American engineer and businessman (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Robert Lansing, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1928 – Umberto Maglioli, Italian racing driver (d. 1999)
  • 1928 – Tony Richardson, English-American director and producer (d. 1991)
  • 1930 – Alifa Rifaat, Egyptian author (d. 1996)
  • 1931 – Yves Blais, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1998)
  • 1931 – Jacques Demy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
  • 1931 – Jerzy Prokopiuk, Polish anthropologist and philosopher
  • 1932 – Christy Brown, Irish painter and author (d. 1981)
  • 1932 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded the 99 Cents Only Stores (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Bata Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Icelandic triple jumper, painter, and educator (d. 2019)
  • 1934 – Bill Moyers, American journalist, 13th White House Press Secretary
  • 1937 – Hélène Cixous, French author, poet, and critic
  • 1938 – Moira Anderson, Scottish singer
  • 1938 – Karin Balzer, German hurdler (d. 2019)
  • 1938 – Roy Higgins, Australian jockey (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Joe Clark, Canadian journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1939 – Margaret Drabble, English novelist, biographer, and critic
  • 1941 – Martha Argerich, Argentinian pianist
  • 1941 – Erasmo Carlos, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1941 – Spalding Gray, American writer, actor, and monologist (d. 2004)
  • 1941 – Robert Kraft, American businessman, founded The Kraft Group
  • 1941 – Jeff Rooker, Baron Rooker, English academic and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
  • 1941 – Gudrun Sjödén, Swedish designer
  • 1942 – Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatoguinean lieutenant and politician, 2nd President of Equatorial Guinea
  • 1943 – Abraham Viruthakulangara, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – Whitfield Diffie, American cryptographer and academic
  • 1945 – John Carlos, American runner and football player
  • 1945 – André Lacroix, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1946 – John Du Cann, English guitarist (d. 2001)
  • 1946 – Bob Grant, Australian rugby league player
  • 1946 – Patrick Head, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Williams F1
  • 1946 – Wanderléa, Brazilian singer and television host
  • 1947 – Laurie Anderson, American singer-songwriter and violinist
  • 1947 – Tom Evans, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1983)
  • 1947 – David Hare, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
  • 1947 – Freddie Stone, American singer, guitarist, and pastor
  • 1949 – Ken Follett, Welsh author
  • 1949 – Elizabeth Gloster, English lawyer and judge
  • 1949 – Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee, Scottish politician
  • 1950 – Ronnie Dyson, American singer and actor (d. 1990)
  • 1950 – Abraham Sarmiento, Jr., Filipino journalist and activist (d. 1977)
  • 1951 – Suze Orman, American financial adviser, author, and television host
  • 1952 – Pierre Bruneau, Canadian journalist and news anchor
  • 1952 – Carole Fredericks, American singer (d. 2001)
  • 1952 – Nicko McBrain, English drummer and songwriter
  • 1953 – Kathleen Kennedy, American film producer, co-founded Amblin Entertainment
  • 1954 – Alberto Malesani, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1954 – Phil Neale, English cricketer, coach, and manager
  • 1954 – Nancy Stafford, American model and actress
  • 1955 – Edino Nazareth Filho, Brazilian footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Richard Butler, English singer-songwriter
  • 1956 – Kenny G, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1957 – Charles Nolan, American fashion designer (d. 2011)
  • 1958 – Avigdor Lieberman, Moldavian-Israeli soldier and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
  • 1958 – Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, Comorian businessman and politician, President of Comoros
  • 1959 – Mark Ella, Australian rugby player
  • 1959 – Werner Schildhauer, German runner
  • 1960 – Boris Dugan, Estonian footballer and coach
  • 1960 – Claire Fox, English author and academic
  • 1961 – Anke Behmer, German heptathlete
  • 1961 – Mary Kay Bergman, American voice actress (d. 1999)
  • 1961 – Anthony Burger, American singer and pianist (d. 2006)
  • 1961 – Aldo Costa, Italian engineer
  • 1961 – Ramesh Krishnan, Indian tennis player and coach
  • 1962 – Jeff Garlin, American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Tõnis Lukas, Estonian historian and politician, 34th Estonian Minister of Education
  • 1964 – Lisa Cholodenko, American director and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Karl Sanders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Michael E. Brown, American astronomer and author
  • 1965 – Sandrine Piau, French soprano
  • 1965 – Alfie Turcotte, American ice hockey player
  • 1967 – Matt Bullard, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Joe DeLoach, American sprinter
  • 1967 – Ray Lankford, American baseball player
  • 1967 – Ron Livingston, American actor
  • 1968 – Ed Vaizey, English lawyer and politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
  • 1969 – Brian McKnight, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1970 – Martin Gélinas, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1971 – Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress
  • 1971 – Alex Mooney, American politician
  • 1971 – Takaya Tsubobayashi, Japanese racing driver
  • 1971 – Mark Wahlberg, American model, actor, producer, and rapper
  • 1972 – Yogi Adityanath, Indian priest and politician
  • 1972 – Paweł Kotla, Polish conductor and academic
  • 1973 – Lamon Brewster, American boxer
  • 1973 – Gella Vandecaveye, Belgian martial artist
  • 1974 – Mervyn Dillon, Trinidadian cricketer
  • 1974 – Scott Draper, Australian tennis player and golfer
  • 1974 – Russ Ortiz, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuanian-American basketball player
  • 1975 – Duncan Patterson, English drummer and keyboard player
  • 1975 – Sandra Stals, Belgian runner
  • 1976 – Giannis Giannoulis, Canadian basketball player
  • 1976 – Torry Holt, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Liza Weil, American actress
  • 1978 – Fernando Meira, Portuguese footballer
  • 1979 – Stefanos Kotsolis, Greek footballer
  • 1979 – Matthew Scarlett, Australian footballer
  • 1979 – Pete Wentz, American singer-songwriter, bass player, actor, and fashion designer
  • 1979 – Jason White, American race car driver
  • 1980 – Mike Fisher, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Antonio García, Spanish racing driver
  • 1981 – Serhat Akın, Turkish footballer
  • 1981 – Sébastien Lefebvre, Canadian singer and guitarist
  • 1982 – Ryan Dallas Cook, American trombonist (d. 2005)
  • 1983 – Marques Colston, American football player
  • 1984 – Robert Barbieri, Canadian-Italian rugby player
  • 1984 – Eric Traoré, Senegalese footballer
  • 1985 – Jeremy Abbott, American figure skater
  • 1985 – Ekaterina Bychkova, Russian tennis player
  • 1986 – Dave Bolland, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Vernon Gholston, American football player
  • 1987 – Marcus Thornton, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Alessandro Salvi, Italian footballer
  • 1989 – Cam Atkinson, American ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Megumi Nakajima, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1990 – Radko Gudas, Czech ice hockey defenceman
  • 1991 – Sören Bertram, German footballer
  • 1992 – Joazhiño Arroe, Peruvian footballer
  • 1992 – Emily Seebohm, Australian swimmer
  • 1993 – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Samoan-New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1995 – Troye Sivan, South African–born Australian singer-songwriter, actor, and YouTuber
  • 1995 – Ross Wilson, English table tennis player
  • 1997 – Sam Darnold, American football player
  • 1998 – Yulia Lipnitskaya, Russian figure skater

Deaths on June 5

  • 301 – Sima Lun, Chinese emperor (b. 249)
  • 535 – Epiphanius, patriarch of Constantinople
  • 567 – Theodosius I, patriarch of Alexandria
  • 708 – Jacob of Edessa, Syrian bishop (b. 640)
  • 754 – Eoban, bishop of Utrecht
  • 754 – Boniface, English missionary and martyr (b. 675)
  • 879 – Ya’qub ibn al-Layth, Persian emir (b. 840)
  • 928 – Louis the Blind, king of Provence
  • 1017 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (b. 976)
  • 1118 – Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Norman nobleman and politician (b. 1049)
  • 1296 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1245)
  • 1310 – Amalric, prince of Tyre
  • 1316 – Louis X, king of France (b. 1289)
  • 1383 – Dmitry of Suzdal, Russian grand prince (b. 1324)
  • 1400 – Frederick I, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
  • 1424 – Braccio da Montone, Italian nobleman (b. 1368)
  • 1434 – Yuri IV, Russian grand prince (b. 1374)
  • 1443 – Ferdinand, Portuguese prince (b. 1402)
  • 1445 – Leonel Power, English composer
  • 1530 – Mercurino Gattinara, Italian statesman and jurist (b. 1465)
  • 1568 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont (b. 1522)
  • 1625 – Orlando Gibbons, English organist and composer (b. 1583)
  • 1667 – Francesco Sforza Pallavicino, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1607)
  • 1716 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and academic (b. 1682)
  • 1722 – Johann Kuhnau, German organist and composer (b. 1660)
  • 1738 – Isaac de Beausobre, French pastor and theologian (b. 1659)
  • 1740 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, English politician and courtier (b. 1671)
  • 1791 – Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-Canadian general and politician, 22nd Governor of Quebec (b. 1718)
  • 1816 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (b. 1741)
  • 1825 – Odysseas Androutsos, Greek soldier (b. 1788)
  • 1826 – Carl Maria von Weber, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1786)
  • 1866 – John McDouall Stuart, Scottish explorer and surveyor (b. 1815)
  • 1899 – Antonio Luna, Filipino general (b. 1866)
  • 1900 – Stephen Crane, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1871)
  • 1906 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (b. 1842)
  • 1910 – O. Henry, American short story writer (b. 1862)
  • 1913 – Chris von der Ahe, German-American businessman (b. 1851)
  • 1916 – Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Irish-born British field marshal and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1850)
  • 1920 – Rhoda Broughton, Welsh-English author (b. 1840)
  • 1921 – Will Crooks, English trade unionist and politician (b. 1852)
  • 1921 – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (b. 1862)
  • 1930 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (b. 1880)
  • 1930 – Pascin, Bulgarian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
  • 1934 – Emily Dobson, Australian philanthropist (b. 1842)
  • 1934 – William Holman, English-Australian politician, 19th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1871)
  • 1947 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish-American actor and director (b. 1884)
  • 1967 – Arthur Biram, Israeli philologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1878)
  • 1967 – Harry Brown, Australian public servant (b. 1878)
  • 1993 – Conway Twitty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
  • 1996 – Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, Indian poet and scholar (b. 1933)
  • 1997 – J. Anthony Lukas, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
  • 1998 – Jeanette Nolan, American actress (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Sam Yorty, American soldier and politician, 37th Mayor of Los Angeles (b. 1909)
  • 1999 – Mel Tormé, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
  • 2000 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (b. 1925)
  • 2002 – Dee Dee Ramone, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1951)
  • 2003 – Jürgen Möllemann, German soldier and politician, 10th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1945)
  • 2003 – Manuel Rosenthal, French composer and conductor (b. 1904)
  • 2004 – Iona Brown, English violinist and conductor (b. 1941)
  • 2004 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – Adolfo Aguilar Zínser, Mexican scholar and politician (b. 1949)
  • 2006 – Frederick Franck, Dutch-American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1909)
  • 2006 – Edward L. Moyers, American businessman (b. 1928)
  • 2009 – Jeff Hanson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1978)
  • 2012 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Hal Keller, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Mihai Pătrașcu, Romanian-American computer scientist (b. 1982)
  • 2012 – Charlie Sutton, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Stanisław Nagy, Polish cardinal (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Irish republican activist and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Michel Ostyn, Belgian physiologist and physician (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, Iraqi commander (b. 1971)
  • 2014 – Don Davis, American songwriter and producer (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Reiulf Steen, Norwegian journalist and politician, Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Tariq Aziz, Iraqi journalist and politician, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1936)
  • 2015 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (b. 1938)
  • 2015 – Richard Johnson, English actor (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Roger Vergé, French chef and author (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Jerome Bruner, American psychologist (b. 1915)
  • 2017 – Andy Cunningham, English actor (b. 1950)
  • 2017 – Cheick Tioté, Ivorian footballer (b. 1986)
  • 2018 – Kate Spade, American fashion designer (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances on June 5

  • Arbor Day (New Zealand)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Boniface (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Dorotheus of Tyre
    • Genesius, Count of Clermont
    • Blessed Meinwerk
    • June 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Denmark)
  • Father’s Day (Denmark)
  • Feast of Núr, the first day of the fifth month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) (only if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz falls on March 21)
  • Indian Arrival Day (Suriname)
  • Khordad Movement Anniversary (Iran) (Only if March equinox falls on March 20)
  • Liberation Day (Seychelles)
  • President’s Day (Equatorial Guinea)
  • Reclamation Day (Azerbaijan)
  • World Day Against Speciesism (International)
  • World Environment Day (International)

June 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

On This Day

June 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
  • 713 – The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army.
  • 1140 – The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.
  • 1326 – The Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.
  • 1539 – Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.
  • 1608 – Samuel de Champlain completes his third voyage to New France at Tadoussac, Quebec.
  • 1621 – The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland.
  • 1658 – Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France.
  • 1665 – James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.
  • 1781 – Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by Banastre Tarleton.
  • 1839 – In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor: Union forces attack Confederate troops in Hanover County, Virginia.
  • 1866 – The Fenians are driven out of Fort Erie, Ontario back into the United States.
  • 1885 – In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police.
  • 1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.
  • 1916 – The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.
  • 1935 – One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa.
  • 1937 – The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson.
  • 1940 – World War II: The Luftwaffe bombs Paris.
  • 1940 – World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.
  • 1940 – Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the “Jewish homeland”, an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants.
  • 1942 – World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.
  • 1943 – In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines clash with Latino youths in the Zoot Suit Riots.
  • 1950 – Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.
  • 1962 – At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130.
  • 1963 – Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.
  • 1965 – The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk.
  • 1969 – Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half.
  • 1973 – A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.
  • 1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.
  • 1980 – An explosive device is detonated at the Statue of Liberty. The FBI suspects Croatian nationalists.
  • 1980 – The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $931 million in 2019) worth of damage.
  • 1982 – The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed.
  • 1984 – Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.
  • 1989 – The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.
  • 1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.
  • 1992 – Aboriginal land rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Eddie Mabo.
  • 1998 – After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.
  • 2006 – The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro’s formal declaration of independence.
  • 2012 – A plane carrying 153 people on board crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board and 10 people on the ground.
  • 2012 – The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames.
  • 2013 – The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.
  • 2013 – At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China.
  • 2015 – An explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana, killing more than 200 people.
  • 2017 – London Bridge attack: Eight people are murdered and dozens of civilians are wounded by Islamist terrorists. Three of the attackers are shot dead by the police.
  • 2019 – Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.

Births on June 3

  • 20 BC – Sejanus, Roman soldier and bodyguard (d. 31 AD)
  • 1139 – Conon of Naso, Basilian abbot (d. 1236)
  • 1421 – Giovanni di Cosimo de’ Medici, Italian noble (d. 1463)
  • 1454 – Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania (1474–1523) (d. 1523)
  • 1537 – João Manuel, Prince of Portugal (d. 1554)
  • 1540 – Charles II, Archduke of Austria (d. 1590)
  • 1554 – Pietro de’ Medici, Italian noble (d. 1604)
  • 1576 – Giovanni Diodati, Swiss-Italian minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1649)
  • 1594 – César, Duke of Vendôme, French nobleman (d. 1665)
  • 1603 – Pietro Paolini, Italian painter (d. 1681)
  • 1635 – Philippe Quinault, French playwright and composer (d. 1688)
  • 1636 – John Hale, American minister (d. 1700)
  • 1659 – David Gregory, Scottish-English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1708)
  • 1662 – Willem van Mieris, Dutch painter (d. 1747)
  • 1723 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician, geologist, and botanist (d. 1788)
  • 1726 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist and physician (d. 1797)
  • 1736 – Ignaz Fränzl, German violinist and composer (d. 1811)
  • 1770 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentinian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1820)
  • 1808 – Jefferson Davis, American colonel and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1889)
  • 1818 – Louis Faidherbe, French general and politician, Governor of Senegal (d. 1889)
  • 1819 – Anton Anderledy, Swiss religious leader, 23rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1892)
  • 1819 – Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (d. 1891)
  • 1832 – Charles Lecocq, French pianist and composer (d. 1918)
  • 1843 – Frederick VIII of Denmark (d. 1912)
  • 1844 – Garret Hobart, American lawyer and politician, 24th Vice President of the United States (d. 1899)
  • 1844 – Detlev von Liliencron, German poet and author (d. 1909)
  • 1852 – Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic (d. 1896)
  • 1853 – Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1942)
  • 1864 – Otto Erich Hartleben, German poet and playwright (d. 1905)
  • 1864 – Ransom E. Olds, American businessman, founded Oldsmobile and REO Motor Car Company (d. 1950)
  • 1865 – George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1936)
  • 1866 – George Howells Broadhurst, English-American director and manager (d. 1952)
  • 1873 – Otto Loewi, German-American pharmacologist and psychobiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
  • 1877 – Raoul Dufy, French painter and illustrator (d. 1953)
  • 1879 – Alla Nazimova, Ukrainian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1945)
  • 1879 – Raymond Pearl, American biologist and botanist (d. 1940)
  • 1879 – Vivian Woodward, English footballer and soldier (d. 1954)
  • 1881 – Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter and set designer (d. 1964)
  • 1890 – Baburao Painter, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1954)
  • 1897 – Memphis Minnie, American singer-songwriter (d. 1973)
  • 1899 – Georg von Békésy, Hungarian-American biophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Adelaide Ames, American astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
  • 1900 – Leo Picard, German-Israeli geologist and academic (d. 1997)
  • 1901 – Maurice Evans, English actor (d. 1989)
  • 1901 – Zhang Xueliang, Chinese general and warlord (d. 2001)
  • 1903 – Eddie Acuff, American actor (d. 1956)
  • 1904 – Charles R. Drew, American physician and surgeon (d. 1950)
  • 1904 – Jan Peerce, American tenor and actor (d. 1984)
  • 1905 – Martin Gottfried Weiss, German SS officer (d. 1946)
  • 1906 – R. G. D. Allen, English economist, mathematician, and statistician (d. 1983)
  • 1906 – Josephine Baker, French actress, singer, and dancer; French Resistance operative (d. 1975)
  • 1906 – Walter Robins, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1968)
  • 1907 – Paul Rotha, English director and producer (d. 1984)
  • 1910 – Paulette Goddard, American actress and model (d. 1990)
  • 1911 – Ellen Corby, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1913 – Pedro Mir, Dominican poet and author (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Ignacio Ponseti, Spanish physician and orthopedist (d. 2009)
  • 1917 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (d. 1969)
  • 1918 – Patrick Cargill, English actor and producer (d. 1996)
  • 1918 – Lili St. Cyr, American dancer (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – Forbes Carlile, Australian pentathlete and coach (d. 2016)
  • 1921 – Jean Dréjac, French singer and composer (d. 2003)
  • 1922 – Alain Resnais, French director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Igor Shafarevich, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 2017)
  • 1924 – Karunanidhi, Indian screenwriter and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 2018)
  • 1924 – Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian-American actress (d. 1991)
  • 1924 – Bernard Glasser, American director and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Jimmy Rogers, American singer and guitarist (d. 1997)
  • 1924 – Torsten Wiesel, Swedish neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1925 – Tony Curtis, American actor (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Thomas Winning, Scottish cardinal (d. 2001)
  • 1926 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997)
  • 1926 – Flora MacDonald, Canadian banker and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Boots Randolph, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2007)
  • 1928 – Donald Judd, American sculptor and painter (d. 1994)
  • 1928 – John Richard Reid, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1929 – Werner Arber, Swiss microbiologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1929 – Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Marion Zimmer Bradley, American author and poet (d. 1999)
  • 1930 – George Fernandes, Indian journalist and politician, Minister of Defence for India (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Dakota Staton, American singer (d. 2007)
  • 1930 – Abbas Zandi, Iranian wrestler (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Ben Wada, Japanese director and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1930 – Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe’s (d. 2020)
  • 1931 – Françoise Arnoul, Algerian-French actress
  • 1931 – Raúl Castro, Cuban commander and politician, 18th President of Cuba
  • 1931 – John Norman, American philosopher and author
  • 1931 – Lindy Remigino, American runner and coach (d. 2018)
  • 1933 – Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahranian king (d. 1999)
  • 1936 – Larry McMurtry, American novelist and screenwriter
  • 1936 – Colin Meads, New Zealand rugby player and coach (d. 2017)
  • 1937 – Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, French race car driver
  • 1939 – Frank Blevins, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of South Australia (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Steve Dalkowski, American baseball player (d. 2020)
  • 1939 – Ian Hunter, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Curtis Mayfield, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1999)
  • 1943 – Billy Cunningham, American basketball player and coach
  • 1944 – Thomas Burns, British bishop
  • 1944 – Edith McGuire, American sprinter and educator
  • 1944 – Eddy Ottoz, Italian hurdler and coach
  • 1945 – Hale Irwin, American golfer and architect
  • 1945 – Ramon Jacinto, Filipino singer, guitarist, and businessman, founded the Rajah Broadcasting Network
  • 1945 – Bill Paterson, Scottish actor
  • 1946 – Michael Clarke, American drummer (d. 1993)
  • 1946 – Eddie Holman, American pop/R&B/gospel singer
  • 1946 – Penelope Wilton, English actress
  • 1947 – John Dykstra, American special effects artist and producer
  • 1947 – Mickey Finn, English drummer (d. 2003)
  • 1948 – Jan Reker, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1950 – Frédéric François, Belgian-Italian singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Melissa Mathison, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1950 – Juan José Muñoz, Argentinian businessman (d. 2013)
  • 1950 – Larry Probst, American businessman
  • 1950 – Suzi Quatro, American-English singer-songwriter, bass player, producer, and actress
  • 1950 – Christos Verelis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of Transport and Communications
  • 1950 – Deniece Williams, American singer-songwriter
  • 1952 – Billy Powell, American keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1952 – David Richards, Welsh entrepreneur and businessman
  • 1954 – Dan Hill, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1954 – Susan Landau, American mathematician and engineer
  • 1956 – George Burley, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Danny Wilde, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1957 – Horst-Ulrich Hänel, German field hockey player
  • 1959 – Imbi Paju, Estonian-Finnish journalist and author
  • 1960 – Catherine Davani, first female Papua New Guinean judge (d. 2016)
  • 1960 – Tracy Grimshaw, Australian television host
  • 1960 – Carl Rackemann, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Lawrence Lessig, American lawyer, academic, and author, founded the Creative Commons
  • 1961 – Peter Vidmar, American gymnast
  • 1961 – Ed Wynne, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1962 – Susannah Constantine, English fashion designer, journalist, and author
  • 1962 – Dagmar Neubauer, German sprinter
  • 1963 – Rudy Demotte, Belgian politician, 8th Minister-President of the Walloon Region
  • 1963 – Toshiaki Karasawa, Japanese actor
  • 1964 – André Bellavance, Canadian politician
  • 1964 – Kerry King, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1964 – James Purefoy, English actor
  • 1965 – Hans Kroes, Dutch swimmer
  • 1965 – Michael Moore, British accountant and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1966 – Wasim Akram, Pakistani cricketer, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Anderson Cooper, American journalist and author
  • 1967 – Tamás Darnyi, Hungarian swimmer
  • 1969 – Takako Minekawa, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1969 – Dean Pay, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1971 – Luigi Di Biagio, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Mary Grigson, Australian cross-country mountain biker
  • 1972 – Julie Gayet, French actress
  • 1974 – Kelly Jones, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1974 – Serhiy Rebrov, Ukrainian international footballer and manager
  • 1975 – Jose Molina, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
  • 1976 – Nikos Chatzis, Greek basketball player
  • 1976 – Jamie McMurray, American race car driver
  • 1977 – Cris, Brazilian footballer
  • 1978 – Lyfe Jennings, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1979 – Luis Fernando López, Colombian race walker
  • 1979 – Christian Malcolm, Welsh sprinter
  • 1980 – Amauri, Brazilian-Italian footballer
  • 1981 – Sosene Anesi, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1982 – Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian pole vaulter
  • 1982 – Manfred Mölgg, Italian skier
  • 1983 – Pasquale Foggia, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Todd Reid, Australian tennis player (d. 2018)
  • 1985 – Papiss Cissé, Senegalese footballer
  • 1985 – Łukasz Piszczek, Polish footballer
  • 1986 – Al Horford, Dominican basketball player
  • 1986 – Micah Kogo, Kenyan runner
  • 1986 – Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player
  • 1986 – Adrián Vallés, Spanish race car driver
  • 1986 – Tomáš Verner, Czech ice skater
  • 1987 – Masami Nagasawa, Japanese actress
  • 1989 – Katie Hoff, American swimmer
  • 1991 – Lukasz Teodorczyk, Polish footballer
  • 1991 – Sami Vatanen, Finnish ice hockey defenceman
  • 1991 – Yordano Ventura, Dominican baseball player (d. 2017)
  • 1992 – Mario Götze, German footballer

Deaths on June 3

  • 628 – Liang Shidu, Chinese rebel leader
  • 800 – Staurakios, Byzantine general
  • 1052 – Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno
  • 1395 – Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria (b. 1350)
  • 1397 – William de Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English commander (b. 1328)
  • 1411 – Leopold IV, Duke of Austria (b. 1371)
  • 1453 – Loukas Notaras, last megas doux of the Byzantine Empire
  • 1511 – Ahmad ibn Abi Jum’ah, Islamic scholar, author of the Oran fatwa
  • 1548 – Juan de Zumárraga, Spanish-Mexican archbishop (b. 1468)
  • 1553 – Wolf Huber, Austrian painter, printmaker and architect (b. 1485)
  • 1594 – John Aylmer, English bishop and scholar (b. 1521)
  • 1605 – Jan Zamoyski, Polish nobleman (b. 1542)
  • 1615 – Sanada Yukimura, Japanese samurai (b. 1567)
  • 1640 – Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1584)
  • 1649 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (b. 1590)
  • 1657 – William Harvey, English physician and academic (b. 1578)
  • 1659 – Morgan Llwyd, Welsh minister and poet (b. 1619)
  • 1665 – Charles Weston, 3rd Earl of Portland, English noble (b. 1639)
  • 1780 – Thomas Hutchinson, American businessman and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1711)
  • 1826 – Nikolay Karamzin, Russian historian and poet (b. 1766)
  • 1858 – Julius Reubke, German pianist and composer (b. 1834)
  • 1861 – Stephen A. Douglas, American lawyer and politician, 7th Secretary of State of Illinois (b. 1813)
  • 1865 – Okada Izō, Japanese samurai (b. 1838)
  • 1875 – Georges Bizet, French pianist and composer (b. 1838)
  • 1877 – Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, Austrian botanist, composer, and publisher (b. 1800)
  • 1882 – Christian Wilberg, German painter and illustrator (b. 1839)
  • 1894 – Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German lawyer and jurist (b. 1812)
  • 1899 – Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer and educator (b. 1825)
  • 1900 – Mary Kingsley, English explorer and author (b. 1862)
  • 1902 – Vital-Justin Grandin, French-Canadian bishop and missionary (b. 1829)
  • 1906 – John Maxwell, American golfer (b. 1871)
  • 1921 – Coenraad Hiebendaal, Dutch rower and physician (b. 1879)
  • 1924 – Franz Kafka, Czech-Austrian lawyer and author (b. 1883)
  • 1928 – Li Yuanhong, Chinese general and politician, 2nd President of the Republic of China (b. 1864)
  • 1933 – William Muldoon, American wrestler (b. 1852)
  • 1938 – John Flanagan, Irish-American hammer thrower and tug of war competitor (b. 1873)
  • 1946 – Mikhail Kalinin, Russian civil servant and politician (b. 1875)
  • 1963 – Edmond Decottignies, French weightlifter (b. 1893)
  • 1963 – Pope John XXIII (b. 1881)
  • 1963 – Nâzım Hikmet Ran, Turkish poet, author, and playwright (b. 1902)
  • 1964 – Kâzım Orbay, Turkish general and politician, 9th Turkish Speaker of the Parliament (b. 1887)
  • 1964 – Frans Eemil Sillanpää, Finnish author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
  • 1969 – George Edwin Cooke, American soccer player (b. 1883)
  • 1970 – Hjalmar Schacht, Danish-German economist, banker, and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1971 – Heinz Hopf, German-Swiss mathematician and academic (b. 1894)
  • 1973 – Jean Batmale, French footballer and manager (b. 1895)
  • 1975 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (b. 1906)
  • 1975 – Eisaku Satō, Japanese lawyer and politician, 39th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1901)
  • 1977 – Archibald Hill, English physiologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
  • 1977 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
  • 1981 – Carleton S. Coon, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1904)
  • 1986 – Anna Neagle, English actress and singer (b. 1904)
  • 1987 – Will Sampson, American actor and painter (b. 1933)
  • 1989 – Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian religious leader and politician, 1st Supreme Leader of Iran (b. 1902)
  • 1990 – Robert Noyce, American physicist and businessman, co-founded the Intel Corporation (b. 1927)
  • 1991 – Brian Bevan, Australian rugby league player (b. 1924)
  • 1991 – Katia Krafft, French volcanologist and geologist (b. 1942)
  • 1991 – Maurice Krafft, French volcanologist and geologist (b. 1946)
  • 1991 – Lê Văn Thiêm, Vietnamese mathematician and academic (b. 1918)
  • 1992 – Robert Morley, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • 1994 – Puig Aubert, German-French rugby player and coach (b. 1925)
  • 1997 – Dennis James, American actor and game show host (b. 1917)
  • 2001 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-American actor and producer (b. 1915)
  • 2002 – Lew Wasserman, American talent agent and manager (b. 1913)
  • 2003 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian-American sculptor, designed the Marine Corps War Memorial (b. 1907)
  • 2005 – Harold Cardinal, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1945)
  • 2009 – David Carradine, American actor (b. 1936)
  • 2009 – Koko Taylor, American singer (b. 1928)
  • 2010 – John Hedgecoe, English photographer and author (b. 1932)
  • 2010 – Rue McClanahan, American actress (b. 1934)
  • 2011 – James Arness, American actor and producer (b. 1923)
  • 2011 – Andrew Gold, American singer, songwriter, musician and arranger (b. 1951)
  • 2011 – Bhajan Lal, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Haryana (b. 1930)
  • 2011 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and activist (b. 1928)
  • 2011 – Jan van Roessel, Dutch footballer (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Carol Ann Abrams, American producer, author, and academic (b. 1942)
  • 2012 – Rajsoomer Lallah, Mauritian lawyer and judge (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Roy Salvadori, English race car driver and manager (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Brian Talboys, New Zealand journalist and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Atul Chitnis, German-Indian technologist and journalist (b. 1962)
  • 2013 – Józef Czyrek, Polish economist and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Frank Lautenberg, American soldier and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Svyatoslav Belza, Russian journalist, author, and critic (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Gopinath Munde, Indian politician, 3rd Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1949)
  • 2015 – Avi Beker, Israeli political scientist and academic (b. 1951)
  • 2016 – Muhammad Ali, American boxer (b. 1942)

Holidays and observances on June 3

  • Christian feast day:
    • Charles Lwanga and Companions (Roman Catholic Church), and its related observances:
      • Martyrs’ Day (Uganda)
    • Clotilde
    • Kevin of Glendalough
    • Ovidius
    • Vladimirskaya (Russian Orthodox)
    • June 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Confederate Memorial Day (Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee, United States)
  • Economist day (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
  • Mabo Day (Australia)
  • Opium Suppression Movement Day (Taiwan)
  • World Bicycle Day

June 3 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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)

June 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day, Uncategorized /
  • 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 31- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day, Uncategorized

May 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometers.
  • 1381 – Beginning of the Peasants’ Revolt in England.
  • 1416 – The Council of Constance, called by Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.
  • 1431 – Hundred Years’ War: In Rouen, France, the 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. The Roman Catholic Church remembers this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.
  • 1434 – Hussite Wars: Battle of Lipany: Effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bořek of Miletínek defeat and almost annihilate Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.
  • 1510 – During the reign of the Zhengde Emperor, Ming dynasty rebel leader Zhu Zhifan is defeated by commander Qiu Yue, ending the Prince of Anhua rebellion.
  • 1536 – King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.
  • 1539 – In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
  • 1574 – Henry III becomes King of France.
  • 1588 – The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.
  • 1631 – Publication of Gazette de France, the first French newspaper.
  • 1635 – Thirty Years’ War: The Peace of Prague is signed.
  • 1642 – From this date all honors granted by Charles I of England are retroactively annulled by Parliament.
  • 1806 – Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel.
  • 1814 – The First Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1792 extent, and restoring the House of Bourbon to power.
  • 1815 – The East Indiaman Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, in present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives.
  • 1834 – Minister of Justice Joaquim António de Aguiar issues a law seizing “all convents, monasteries, colleges, hospices and any other houses” from the Catholic religious orders in Portugal, earning him the nickname of “The Friar-Killer”.
  • 1842 – John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert.
  • 1845 – The Fatel Razack coming from India, lands in the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad and Tobago carrying the first Indians to the country.
  • 1854 – The Kansas–Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
  • 1868 – Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern “Memorial Day”) is observed in the United States for the first time after a proclamation by John A. Logan, head of the Grand Army of the Republic (a veterans group).
  • 1876 – Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murad V.
  • 1883 – In New York City, a stampede on the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge killed twelve people.
  • 1899 – Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona.
  • 1911 – At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race.
  • 1913 – The Treaty of London is signed, ending the First Balkan War; Albania becomes an independent nation.
  • 1914 – The new, and then the largest, Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City.
  • 1922 – The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C..
  • 1925 – May Thirtieth Movement: Shanghai Municipal Police Force shoot and kill 13 protesting workers.
  • 1937 – Memorial Day massacre: Chicago police shoot and kill ten labor demonstrators.
  • 1941 – World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb the Athenian Acropolis and tear down the German flag.
  • 1942 – World War II: One thousand British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.
  • 1943 – The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp.
  • 1948 – A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
  • 1958 – Memorial Day: The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
  • 1959 – The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham.
  • 1961 – The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
  • 1963 – A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis is held outside South Vietnam’s National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem.
  • 1966 – Former Congolese Prime Minister, Évariste Kimba, and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.
  • 1967 – The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.
  • 1968 – Charles de Gaulle reappears publicly after his flight to Baden-Baden, Germany, and dissolves the French National Assembly by a radio appeal. Immediately after, less than one million of his supporters march on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is the turning point of May 1968 events in France.
  • 1971 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.
  • 1972 – The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom.
  • 1972 – In Ben Gurion Airport (at the time: Lod Airport), Israel, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
  • 1974 – The Airbus A300 passenger aircraft first enters service.
  • 1979 – Downeast Flight 46 crashes on approach to Knox County Regional Airport in Rockland, Maine, killing 17.
  • 1975 – European Space Agency is established.
  • 1982 – Cold War: Spain joins NATO.
  • 1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10-metre high “Goddess of Democracy” statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
  • 1990 – Croatian Parliament is constituted after the first free, multi-party elections, today celebrated as the National Day of Croatia.
  • 1998 – The 6.5 Mw  Afghanistan earthquake shook the Takhar Province of northern Afghanistan with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), killing around 4,000–4,500.
  • 1998 – Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt TNT equivalent.
  • 2003 – Depayin massacre: At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy are killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi flees the scene, but is arrested soon afterwards.
  • 2008 – Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted.
  • 2008 – TACA Flight 390 overshoots the runway at Toncontín International Airport, killing five people.
  • 2012 – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.
  • 2013 – Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage.
  • 2020 – The Crew Dragon Demo-2 launches from the Kennedy Space Center, becoming the first crewed rocket to launch from the United States since 2011.

Births on May 30

  • 1010 – Ren Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1063)
  • 1201 – Theobald IV, count of Champagne (d. 1253)
  • 1423 – Georg von Peuerbach, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1461)
  • 1464 – Barbara of Brandenburg, Bohemian queen (d. 1515)
  • 1580 – Fadrique de Toledo, 1st Marquis of Villanueva de Valdueza (d. 1634)
  • 1599 – Samuel Bochart, French Protestant biblical scholar (d. 1667)
  • 1623 – John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire (d. 1686)
  • 1686 – Antonina Houbraken, Dutch illustrator (d. 1736)
  • 1718 – Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1793)
  • 1719 – Roger Newdigate, English politician (d. 1806)
  • 1757 – Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1844)
  • 1768 – Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty, French general (d. 1815)
  • 1797 – Georg Amadeus Carl Friedrich Naumann, German mineralogist and geologist (d. 1873)
  • 1800 – Henri-Marie-Gaston Boisnormand de Bonnechose, French cardinal (d. 1883)
  • 1814 – Mikhail Bakunin, Russian philosopher and theorist (d. 1876)
  • 1814 – Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian-French mathematician and academic (d. 1894)
  • 1819 – William McMurdo, English general (d. 1894)
  • 1820 – Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Premier of Quebec (d. 1890)
  • 1835 – Alfred Austin, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1913)
  • 1844 – Félix Arnaudin, French poet and photographer (d. 1921)
  • 1845 – Amadeo I, Spanish king (d. 1890)
  • 1846 – Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweler (d. 1920)
  • 1862 – Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Azerbaijani philosopher and poet (d. 1911)
  • 1869 – Grace Andrews, American mathematician (d. 1951)
  • 1874 – Ernest Duchesne, French physician (d. 1912)
  • 1875 – Giovanni Gentile, Italian philosopher and academic (d. 1944)
  • 1879 – Colin Blythe, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1917)
  • 1879 – Konstantin Ramul, Estonian psychologist and academic (d. 1975)
  • 1881 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (d. 1968)
  • 1882 – Wyndham Halswelle, English runner and soldier (d. 1915)
  • 1883 – Sandy Pearce, Australian rugby league player (d. 1930)
  • 1884 – Siegmund Glücksmann, German soldier and politician (d. 1942)
  • 1885 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (d. 1942)
  • 1886 – Laurent Barré, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1964)
  • 1886 – Randolph Bourne, American theorist and author (d. 1918)
  • 1887 – Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian-American sculptor and illustrator (d. 1964)
  • 1887 – Emil Reesen, Danish pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1964)
  • 1890 – Roger Salengro, French soldier and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1936)
  • 1892 – Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (d. 1972)
  • 1894 – Hubertus van Mook, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1965)
  • 1895 – Maurice Tate, English cricketer (d. 1956)
  • 1896 – Howard Hawks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
  • 1897 – Frank Wise, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1986)
  • 1898 – John Gilroy, English artist and illustrator (d. 1985)
  • 1899 – Irving Thalberg, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1936)
  • 1901 – Alfred Karindi, Estonian pianist and composer (d. 1969)
  • 1901 – Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (d. 1979)
  • 1902 – Stepin Fetchit, American actor and dancer (d. 1985)
  • 1903 – Countee Cullen, American poet and author (d. 1946)
  • 1906 – Bruno Gröning, German mystic and author (d. 1959)
  • 1907 – Germaine Tillion, French anthropologist and academic (d. 2008)
  • 1908 – Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
  • 1908 – Mel Blanc, American voice actor (d. 1989)
  • 1909 – Jacques Canetti, French music executive and talent agent (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Freddie Frith, English motorcycle road racer (d. 1988)
  • 1909 – Benny Goodman, American clarinet player, songwriter, and bandleader (d. 1986)
  • 1910 – Harry Bernstein, English-American journalist and author (d. 2011)
  • 1912 – Julius Axelrod, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Erich Bagge, German physicist and academic (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (d. 1980)
  • 1912 – Millicent Selsam, American author and academic (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Joseph Stein, American playwright and author (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Akinoumi Setsuo, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 37th Yokozuna (d. 1979)
  • 1915 – Len Carney, English footballer and soldier (d. 1996)
  • 1916 – Justin Catayée, French soldier and politician (d. 1962)
  • 1916 – Mort Meskin, American illustrator (d. 1995)
  • 1918 – Pita Amor, Mexican poet and author (d. 2000)
  • 1918 – Bob Evans, American businessman, founded Bob Evans Restaurants (d. 2007)
  • 1919 – René Barrientos, Bolivian general and politician, 55th President of Bolivia (d. 1969)
  • 1920 – Franklin J. Schaffner, Japanese-American director and producer (d. 1989)
  • 1922 – Hal Clement, American author and educator (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Anthony Dryden Marshall, American CIA officer and diplomat (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – John Henry Marks, English physician and author
  • 1926 – Johnny Gimble, American country/western swing musician (Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys) (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Joan Birman, American mathematician
  • 1927 – Clint Walker, American actor and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Billy Wilson, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1993)
  • 1928 – Pro Hart, Australian painter (d. 2006)
  • 1928 – Agnès Varda, Belgian-French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
  • 1929 – Georges Gilson, French archbishop
  • 1930 – Mark Birley, English businessman, founded Annabel’s (d. 2007)
  • 1930 – Robert Ryman, American painter (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Larry Silverstein, American real estate magnate
  • 1932 – Ray Cooney, English actor and playwright
  • 1932 – Pauline Oliveros, American accordion player and composer (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Ivor Richard, Baron Richard, Welsh politician and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2018)
  • 1934 – Alexei Leonov, Russian general, pilot, and cosmonaut (d. 2019)
  • 1934 – Alketas Panagoulias, Greek footballer and manager (d. 2012)
  • 1935 – Ruta Lee, Canadian-American actress and dancer
  • 1935 – Guy Tardif, Canadian academic and politician (d. 2005)
  • 1936 – Keir Dullea, American actor
  • 1937 – Christopher Haskins, Anglo-Irish businessman, life peer, and British politician
  • 1937 – Rick Mather, American-English architect (d. 2013)
  • 1938 – Billie Letts, American author and educator (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Michael J. Pollard, American actor (d. 2019)
  • 1939 – Dieter Quester, Austrian race car driver
  • 1939 – Tim Waterstone, Scottish businessman, founded Waterstones
  • 1940 – Jagmohan Dalmiya, Indian cricket administrator (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Gilles Villemure, Canadian-American ice hockey player
  • 1942 – John Gladwin, English bishop
  • 1942 – Carole Stone, English journalist and author
  • 1943 – Anders Michanek, Swedish motorcycle racer
  • 1943 – Gale Sayers, American football player and philanthropist
  • 1944 – Lenny Davidson, English guitarist and songwriter (The Dave Clark Five)
  • 1944 – Meredith MacRae, American actress (d. 2000)
  • 1944 – Stav Prodromou, Greek-American engineer and businessman
  • 1945 – Gladys Horton, American singer (d. 2011)
  • 1946 – Allan Chapman, English historian and author
  • 1946 – Dragan Džajić, Serbian and Yugoslav footballer
  • 1947 – Jocelyne Bourassa, Canadian golfer
  • 1948 – Johan De Muynck, Belgian former professional road racing cyclist
  • 1948 – Michael Piller, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2005)
  • 1948 – David Thorpe, Australian rules footballer
  • 1949 – P.J. Carlesimo, American basketball player and coach
  • 1949 – Paul Coleridge, English lawyer and judge
  • 1949 – Bob Willis, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2019)
  • 1950 – Bertrand Delanoë, French politician, 14th Mayor of Paris
  • 1950 – Paresh Rawal, Indian actor, producer, and politician
  • 1950 – Joshua Rozenberg, English lawyer, journalist, and author
  • 1951 – Zdravko Čolić, Bosnian Serb singer-songwriter
  • 1951 – Fernando Lugo, Paraguayan bishop and politician, President of Paraguay
  • 1951 – Stephen Tobolowsky, American actor, singer, and director
  • 1952 – Daniel Grodnik, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1952 – Kerry Fraser, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and sportscaster
  • 1953 – Jim Hunter, Canadian skier
  • 1953 – Colm Meaney, Irish actor
  • 1955 – Topper Headon, English drummer and songwriter (The Clash)
  • 1955 – Jacqueline McGlade, English-Canadian biologist, ecologist, and academic
  • 1955 – Caroline Swift, English lawyer and judge
  • 1955 – Colm Tóibín, Irish novelist, poet, playwright, and critic
  • 1956 – Tim Lucas, American author, screenwriter, and critic
  • 1957 – Michael Clayton, Australian golfer
  • 1958 – Eugene Belliveau, Canadian football player
  • 1958 – Marie Fredriksson, Swedish singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2019)
  • 1958 – Steve Israel, American lawyer and politician
  • 1958 – Michael López-Alegría, Spanish-American captain, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1958 – Ted McGinley, American actor
  • 1959 – Phil Brown, English footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1959 – Randy Ferbey, Canadian curler
  • 1959 – Frank Vanhecke, Belgian politician
  • 1961 – Harry Enfield, English actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Bob Yari, Iranian-American director and producer
  • 1962 – Kevin Eastman, American author and illustrator, co-created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • 1962 – Richard Fuller, English lawyer and politician
  • 1962 – Tim Loughton, English businessman and politician
  • 1962 – Tonya Pinkins, American actress and singer
  • 1963 – Michel Langevin, Canadian drummer and songwriter
  • 1963 – Élise Lucet, French journalist
  • 1963 – Helen Sharman, English chemist and astronaut
  • 1964 – Wynonna Judd, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1964 – Andrea Montermini, Italian race car driver
  • 1964 – Tom Morello, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1965 – Troy Coker, Australian rugby player
  • 1965 – Billy Donovan, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Iginio Straffi, Italian animator and producer, founded Rainbow S.r.l.
  • 1966 – Thomas Häßler, German footballer and manager
  • 1966 – Stephen Malkmus, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Tim Burgess, English singer-songwriter
  • 1967 – Rechelle Hawkes, Australian hockey player
  • 1967 – Sven Pipien, German-American bass player
  • 1968 – Jason Kenney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 40th Canadian Minister of National Defence
  • 1968 – Zacarias Moussaoui, French citizen, sentenced to life in prison related to September 11 attacks
  • 1969 – Naomi Kawase, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1969 – Ryuhei Kitamura, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Paul Grayson, English rugby player and coach
  • 1971 – Duncan Jones, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Idina Menzel, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1971 – Jiří Šlégr, Czech ice hockey player and politician
  • 1971 – Adrian Vowles, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Manny Ramirez, Dominican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1974 – Big L, American rapper (d. 1999)
  • 1974 – Kostas Chalkias, Greek footballer
  • 1974 – CeeLo Green, American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor
  • 1974 – David Wilkie, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1975 – Evan Eschmeyer, American basketball player
  • 1975 – Brian Fair, American singer-songwriter
  • 1975 – Andy Farrell, English rugby player and coach
  • 1975 – Marissa Mayer, American computer scientist and businesswoman
  • 1976 – Radoslav Nesterović, Slovenian-Greek basketball player
  • 1976 – Magnus Norman, Swedish tennis player and coach
  • 1976 – Margaret Okayo, Kenyan runner
  • 1977 – Rachael Stirling, English actress
  • 1977 – Federico Vilar, Argentinian-Italian footballer
  • 1979 – Mike Bishai, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Clint Bowyer, American race car driver
  • 1979 – Francis Lessard, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Steven Gerrard, English international footballer, midfielder and manager
  • 1980 – Ilona Korstin, Russian basketball player
  • 1980 – Ryōgo Narita, Japanese author
  • 1981 – Devendra Banhart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1981 – Gianmaria Bruni, Italian race car driver
  • 1981 – Ahmad Elrich, Australian footballer
  • 1981 – Remy Ma, American rapper
  • 1981 – Lars Møller Madsen, Danish handball player
  • 1981 – Hisanori Takada, Japanese footballer
  • 1982 – Eddie Griffin, American basketball player (d. 2007)
  • 1982 – James Simpson-Daniel, English rugby player
  • 1984 – Sham Kwok Fai, Hong Kong footballer
  • 1984 – Matt Maguire, Australian footballer
  • 1984 – Alexander Sulzer, German ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Igor Kurnosov, Russian chess player (d. 2013)
  • 1985 – Igor Lewczuk, Polish footballer
  • 1985 – Aaron Volpatti, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Nikolay Bodurov, Bulgarian international footballer, centre-back
  • 1989 – Ailee, Korean-American singer and songwriter
  • 1989 – Lesia Tsurenko, Ukrainian tennis player
  • 1990 – Andrei Loktionov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1991 – Jonathan Fox, English swimmer
  • 1992 – Harrison Barnes, American basketball player
  • 1992 – Danielle Harold, English actress
  • 1994 – Scott Laughton, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths on May 30

  • 531 – Xiao Tong, prince of the Liang Dynasty (b. 501)
  • 727 – Hubertus, bishop Liège
  • 947 – Ma Xifan, king of Chu (b. 899)
  • 1035 – Baldwin IV, count of Flanders (b. 980)
  • 1159 – Władysław II the Exile, High Duke of Poland and Duke of Silesia (b. 1105)
  • 1252 – Ferdinand III, king of Castile and León (b. 1199)
  • 1347 – John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Knayth, English peer (b. 1290)
  • 1376 – Joan of Ponthieu, Dame of Epernon, French noblewoman
  • 1416 – Jerome of Prague, Czech martyr and theologian (b. 1379)
  • 1431 – Joan of Arc, French martyr and saint (b. 1412)
  • 1434 – Prokop the Great, Czech general (b. 1380)
  • 1469 – Lope de Barrientos, Castilian bishop (b. 1389)
  • 1472 – Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Pierre de Luxembourg (b. 1416)
  • 1574 – Charles IX of France (b. 1550)
  • 1593 – Christopher Marlowe, English poet and playwright (b. 1564)
  • 1606 – Guru Arjan Dev, fifth of the Sikh gurus (executed) (b. 1563)
  • 1640 – Peter Paul Rubens, German-Belgian painter (b. 1577)
  • 1696 – Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1638)
  • 1670 – John Davenport, English minister, co-founded the New Haven Colony (b. 1597)
  • 1712 – Andrea Lanzani, Italian painter (b. 1645)
  • 1718 – Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, Dutch-English general (b. 1670)
  • 1744 – Alexander Pope, English poet, essayist, and translator (b. 1688)
  • 1770 – François Boucher, French painter and set designer (b. 1703)
  • 1778 – Voltaire, French philosopher and author (b. 1694)
  • 1778 – José de la Borda, French/Spanish mining magnate in colonial Mexico (b. ca. 1700)
  • 1829 – Philibert Jean-Baptiste Curial, French general (b. 1774)
  • 1832 – James Mackintosh, Scottish historian, jurist, and politician (b. 1765)
  • 1855 – Mary Reibey, Australian businesswoman, (b. 1777)
  • 1892 – Mary Hannah Gray Clarke, American author, correspondent, and poet (b. 1835)
  • 1865 – John Catron, American lawyer and judge (b. 1786)
  • 1901 – Victor D’Hondt, Belgian mathematician, lawyer, and jurist (b. 1841)
  • 1911 – Milton Bradley, American businessman, founded the Milton Bradley Company (b. 1836)
  • 1912 – Wilbur Wright, American pilot and businessman, co-founded the Wright Company (b. 1867)
  • 1918 – Georgi Plekhanov, Russian philosopher and theorist (b. 1856)
  • 1925 – Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian and author (b. 1876)
  • 1926 – Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician and physicist (b. 1864)
  • 1934 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (b. 1848)
  • 1939 – Floyd Roberts, American race car driver (b. 1904)
  • 1941 – Prajadhipok, Thai king (b. 1893)
  • 1946 – Louis Slotin, Canadian physicist and chemist (b. 1910)
  • 1947 – Georg von Trapp, Austrian captain (b. 1880)
  • 1948 – József Klekl, Slovene-Hungarian priest and politician (b. 1874)
  • 1949 – Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, French cardinal (b. 1874)
  • 1951 – Hermann Broch, Austrian-American author (b. 1886)
  • 1953 – Dooley Wilson, American actor and singer (b. 1886)
  • 1955 – Bill Vukovich, American race car driver (b. 1918)
  • 1957 – Piero Carini, Italian race car driver (b. 1921)
  • 1960 – Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
  • 1961 – Rafael Trujillo, Dominican soldier and politician, 36th President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1891)
  • 1964 – Isaac Babalola Akinyele, Nigerian king (b. 1882)
  • 1964 – Eddie Sachs, American race car driver (b. 1927)
  • 1964 – Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-American physicist and engineer (b. 1898)
  • 1965 – Louis Hjelmslev, Danish linguist and academic (b. 1899)
  • 1967 – Claude Rains, English-American actor (b. 1889)
  • 1967 – Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Austrian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
  • 1971 – Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (b. 1886)
  • 1975 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (b. 1951)
  • 1975 – Tatsuo Shimabuku, Japanese martial artist, founded Isshin-ryū (b. 1908)
  • 1975 – Michel Simon, Swiss-born French actor (b. 1895)
  • 1976 – Max Carey, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1890)
  • 1976 – Mitsuo Fuchida, Japanese captain (b. 1902)
  • 1978 – Jean Deslauriers, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1909)
  • 1980 – Carl Radle, American bass player and producer (b. 1942)
  • 1981 – Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
  • 1981 – Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi general and politician, 7th President of Bangladesh (b. 1936)
  • 1982 – Albert Norden, German journalist and politician (b. 1904)
  • 1986 – Perry Ellis, American fashion designer, founded his own eponymous fashion brand (b. 1940)
  • 1993 – Sun Ra, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1914)
  • 1994 – Ezra Taft Benson, American religious leader, 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1899)
  • 1994 – Marcel Bich, Italian-French businessman, co-founded Société Bic (b. 1914)
  • 1994 – Agostino Di Bartolomei, Italian footballer (b. 1955)
  • 1995 – Ted Drake, English footballer and manager (b. 1912)
  • 1995 – Lofty England, English-Austrian engineer (b. 1911)
  • 1995 – Bobby Stokes, English footballer (b. 1951)
  • 1996 – Léon-Étienne Duval, French cardinal (b. 1903)
  • 1996 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (b. 1961)
  • 1999 – Kalju Lepik, Estonian poet and author (b. 1920)
  • 2000 – Tex Beneke, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general and historian (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Gérald Leblanc, Acadian poet (b. 1945)
  • 2005 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1958)
  • 2005 – Alma Ziegler, American baseball player and stenographer (b. 1918)
  • 2006 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2006 – David Lloyd, New Zealand biologist and academic (b. 1938)
  • 2006 – Robert Sterling, American actor (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Jean-Claude Brialy, Algerian-French actor and director (b. 1933)
  • 2007 – Birgit Dalland, Norwegian politician (b. 1907)
  • 2007 – Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, Indian poet and critic (b. 1927)
  • 2009 – Torsten Andersson, Swedish painter and illustrator (b. 1926)
  • 2009 – Susanna Haapoja, Finnish politician (b. 1966)
  • 2009 – Ephraim Katzir, Israeli biophysicist and politician, 4th President of Israel (b. 1916)
  • 2010 – Yuri Chesnokov, Russian volleyball player and coach (b. 1933)
  • 2010 – Dufferin Roblin, Canadian commander and politician, 14th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1917)
  • 2011 – Isikia Savua, Fijian police officer and diplomat (b. 1952)
  • 2011 – Saleem Shahzad, Pakistani journalist (b. 1970)
  • 2011 – Marek Siemek, Polish philosopher and historian (b. 1942)
  • 2011 – Clarice Taylor, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2011 – Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – John Fox, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1957)
  • 2012 – Andrew Huxley, English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Gerhard Pohl, German economist and politician (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Jack Twyman, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Jayalath Jayawardena, Sri Lankan physician and politician (b. 1953)
  • 2013 – Larry Jones, American football player and coach (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Hienadz Buraukin, Belarusian poet, journalist, and diplomat (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Henning Carlsen, Danish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Joan Lorring, British actress (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Leonidas Vasilikopoulos, Greek admiral (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (b. 1969)
  • 2015 – Joël Champetier, Canadian author and screenwriter (b. 1957)
  • 2015 – L. Tom Perry, American religious leader and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1922)
  • 2016 – Tom Lysiak, Polish-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1953)
  • 2016 – Rick MacLeish, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1950)
  • 2019 – Jason Marcano, Trinidadian footballer (b. 1983)

Holidays and observances on May 30

  • Anguilla Day, commemorates the beginning of the Anguillian Revolution in 1967. (Anguilla)
  • Canary Islands Day (Spain)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Earliest day on which Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary can fall, while July 3 is the latest; celebrated 20 days after Pentecost. (Catholic Church)
    • Ferdinand III of Castile
    • Isaac of Dalmatia
    • Joan of Arc
    • Joseph Marello
    • May 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Indian Arrival Day (Trinidad and Tobago)
  • Lod Massacre Remembrance Day (Puerto Rico)
  • Mother’s Day (Nicaragua)
  • Statehood Day (Croatia)

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