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American Civil War

June 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 524 – The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.
  • 841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine.
  • 1258 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Acre, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet sailing to relieve Acre.
  • 1530 – At the Diet of Augsburg the Augsburg Confession is presented to the Holy Roman Emperor by the Lutheran princes and Electors of Germany.
  • 1658 – Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Rio Nuevo during the Anglo-Spanish War.
  • 1678 – Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy when she graduates from the University of Padua.
  • 1741 – Maria Theresa is crowned Queen of Hungary.
  • 1786 – Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.
  • 1788 – Virginia becomes the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
  • 1848 – A photograph of the June Days uprising becomes the first known instance of photojournalism.
  • 1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
  • 1900 – The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.
  • 1906 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White.
  • 1910 – The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of women or girls for “immoral purposes”; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come.
  • 1910 – Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer.
  • 1913 – American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913.
  • 1935 – Colombia–Soviet Union relations are established.
  • 1938 – Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland.
  • 1940 – World War II: The French armistice with Germany comes into effect.
  • 1943 – The Holocaust: Jews in the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland stage an uprising against the Nazis.
  • 1943 – The left-wing German Jewish exile Arthur Goldstein is murdered in Auschwitz.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic countries, begins.
  • 1944 – World War II: United States Navy and British Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.
  • 1944 – The final page of the comic Krazy Kat is published, exactly two months after its author George Herriman died.
  • 1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published.
  • 1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
  • 1960 – Cold War: Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.
  • 1975 – Mozambique achieves independence from Portugal.
  • 1975 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a state of internal emergency in India.
  • 1976 – Missouri Governor Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, formally apologizing on behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had caused to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
  • 1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
  • 1981 – Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington.
  • 1991 – Slovenia and Croatia declare their independence by referendum from Yugoslavia.
  • 1993 – Kim Campbell is sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
  • 1996 – The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen.
  • 1997 – An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.
  • 1997 – The National Hockey League approved expansion franchises for Nashville (1998), Atlanta (1999), Columbus (2000), and Minneapolis-Saint Paul (2000).
  • 1998 – In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.
  • 2017 – The World Health Organization estimates that Yemen has over 200,000 cases of cholera.

Births on June 25

  • 1242 – Beatrice of England (d. 1275)
  • 1328 – William de Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English commander (d. 1397)
  • 1371 – Joanna II of Naples (d. 1435)
  • 1484 – Bartholomeus V. Welser, German banker (d. 1561)
  • 1526 – Elisabeth Parr, Marchioness of Northampton (d. 1565)
  • 1560 – Wilhelm Fabry, German surgeon (d. 1634)
  • 1568 – Gunilla Bielke, Queen of Sweden (d. 1597)
  • 1612 – John Albert Vasa, Polish cardinal (d. 1634)
  • 1709 – Francesco Araja, Italian composer (d. 1762)
  • 1715 – Joseph Foullon de Doué, French soldier and politician, Controller-General of Finances (d. 1789)
  • 1755 – Natalia Alexeievna of Russia (d. 1776)
  • 1799 – David Douglas, Scottish-English botanist and explorer (d. 1834)
  • 1814 – Gabriel Auguste Daubrée, French geologist and engineer (d. 1896)
  • 1825 – James Farnell, Australian politician, 8th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1888)
  • 1852 – Antoni Gaudí, Spanish architect, designed the Park Güell (d. 1926)
  • 1858 – Georges Courteline, French author and playwright (d. 1929)
  • 1860 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer and conductor (d. 1956)
  • 1863 – Émile Francqui, Belgian soldier and diplomat (d. 1935)
  • 1864 – Walther Nernst, German chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
  • 1866 – Eloísa Díaz, Chilean doctor and Chile’s first female physician (d. 1950)
  • 1874 – Rose O’Neill, American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer (d. 1944)
  • 1884 – Géza Gyóni, Hungarian soldier and poet (d. 1917)
  • 1884 – Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, German-French art collector and historian (d. 1979)
  • 1886 – Henry H. Arnold, American general (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – George Abbott, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1995)
  • 1887 – Frigyes Karinthy, Hungarian author, poet, and journalist (d. 1938)
  • 1892 – Shirō Ishii, Japanese microbiologist and general (d. 1959)
  • 1894 – Hermann Oberth, Romanian-German physicist and engineer (d. 1989)
  • 1898 – Kay Sage, American painter and poet (d. 1963)
  • 1900 – Marta Abba, Italian actress (d. 1988)
  • 1900 – Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian/Soviet astronomer (d. 1969)
  • 1900 – Georgia Hale, American silent film actress and real estate investor (d. 1985)
  • 1900 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, English admiral and politician, 44th Governor-General of India (d. 1979)
  • 1901 – Harold Roe Bartle, American businessman and politician, 47th Mayor of Kansas City (d. 1974)
  • 1902 – Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu of Japan (d. 1953)
  • 1903 – George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 1950)
  • 1903 – Anne Revere, American actress (d. 1990)
  • 1905 – Rupert Wildt, German-American astronomer and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1907 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
  • 1908 – Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – William Howard Stein, American chemist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
  • 1912 – William T. Cahill, American lawyer and politician, 46th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1996)
  • 1913 – Cyril Fletcher, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (d. 1990)
  • 1917 – Nils Karlsson, Swedish skier (d. 2012)
  • 1917 – Claude Seignolle, French author (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – P. H. Newby, English soldier and author (d. 1997)
  • 1920 – Lassie Lou Ahern, American actress (d. 2018)
  • 1921 – Celia Franca, English-Canadian ballerina and choreographer, founded the National Ballet of Canada (d. 2007)
  • 1922 – Johnny Smith, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Sam Francis, American soldier and painter (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Dorothy Gilman, American author (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Jamshid Amouzegar, 43rd Prime Minister of Iran (d. 2016)
  • 1924 – Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1924 – Dimitar Isakov, Bulgarian football player
  • 1924 – Madan Mohan, Iraqi-Indian composer and director (d. 1975)
  • 1924 – William J. Castagna, American lawyer and judge
  • 1925 – Clifton Chenier, American singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 1987)
  • 1925 – June Lockhart, American actress
  • 1925 – Clay Evans, American Baptist pastor (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Robert Venturi, American architect and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Virginia Patton, American actress and businesswoman
  • 1926 – Margaret Anstee, English diplomat (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian author and poet (d. 1973)
  • 1926 – Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Stig Sollander, Swedish Alpine skier (d. 2019)
  • 1927 – Antal Róka, Hungarian runner (d. 1970)
  • 1927 – Chuck Smith, American pastor, founded the Calvary Chapel (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Arnold Wolfendale, English astronomer and academic
  • 1928 – Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, Russian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – John A. Wickham Jr., United States Army general
  • 1928 – Michel Brault, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Peyo, Belgian author and illustrator, created The Smurfs (d. 1992)
  • 1928 – Bill Russo, American pianist and composer (d. 2003)
  • 1928 – Alex Toth, American animator and screenwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Eric Carle, American author and illustrator
  • 1929 – Francesco Marchisano, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
  • 1931 – V. P. Singh, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of India (d. 2008)
  • 1932 – Peter Blake, English painter and illustrator
  • 1932 – Tim Parnell, English race car driver (d. 2017)
  • 1932 – George Sluizer, French-Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Álvaro Siza Vieira, Portuguese architect, designed the Porto School of Architecture
  • 1934 – Jean Geissinger, American baseball player (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Jack W. Hayford, American minister and author
  • 1934 – Beatriz Sheridan, Mexican actress and director (d. 2006)
  • 1935 – Ray Butt, English television producer and director (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – Salihu Ibrahim, Nigerian Army Officer (d. 2018)
  • 1935 – Taufiq Ismail, Indonesian poet and activist
  • 1935 – Larry Kramer, American author, playwright, and activist, co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis (d. 2020)
  • 1935 – Don Demeter, American professional baseball player
  • 1935 – Tony Lanfranchi, English race car driver (d. 2004)
  • 1935 – Judy Howe, American artistic gymnast
  • 1935 – Charles Sheffield, English-American mathematician, physicist, and author (d. 2002)
  • 1936 – B. J. Habibie, Indonesian engineer and politician, 3rd President of Indonesia (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Bert Hölldobler, German biologist and entomologist
  • 1937 – Eddie Floyd, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter
  • 1937 – Derek Foster, Baron Foster of Bishop Auckland, English politician (d. 2019)
  • 1937 – Doreen Wells, English ballerina and actress
  • 1939 – Allen Fox, American tennis player and coach
  • 1940 – Judy Amoore, Australian runner
  • 1940 – Mary Beth Peil, American actress and singer
  • 1940 – A. J. Quinnell, English-Maltese author (d. 2005)
  • 1940 – Clint Warwick, English bass player (d. 2004)
  • 1941 – Denys Arcand, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1941 – John Albert Raven, Scottish academic and ecologist
  • 1942 – Nikiforos Diamandouros, Greek academic and politician
  • 1942 – Willis Reed, American basketball player, coach, and manager
  • 1942 – Michel Tremblay, Canadian author and playwright
  • 1944 – Robert Charlebois, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1944 – Gary David Goldberg, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1945 – Carly Simon, American singer-songwriter
  • 1945 – Baba Gana Kingibe, Nigerian politician
  • 1945 – Harry Womack, American singer (d. 1974)
  • 1946 – Roméo Dallaire, Dutch-Canadian general and politician
  • 1946 – Allen Lanier, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1946 – Ian McDonald, English guitarist and saxophonist
  • 1947 – John Hilton, English table tennis player
  • 1947 – John Powell, American discus thrower
  • 1947 – Jimmie Walker, American actor and comedian
  • 1949 – Richard Clarke, Irish archbishop
  • 1949 – Patrick Tambay, French race car driver
  • 1949 – Yoon Joo-sang, South Korean actor
  • 1950 – Marcello Toninelli, Italian author and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Eva Bayer-Fluckiger, Swiss mathematician and academic
  • 1952 – Péter Erdő, Hungarian cardinal
  • 1952 – Tim Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter
  • 1952 – Martin Gerschwitz, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1952 – Alan Green, Northern Irish sportscaster
  • 1952 – Kristina Abelli Elander, Swedish artist
  • 1953 – Olivier Ameisen, French-American cardiologist and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1953 – Ian Davis, Australian cricketer
  • 1954 – Mario Lessard, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1954 – David Paich, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
  • 1954 – Lina Romay, Spanish actress (d. 2012)
  • 1954 – Daryush Shokof, Iranian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Sonia Sotomayor, American lawyer and judge
  • 1955 – Vic Marks, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Anthony Bourdain, American chef and author (d. 2018)
  • 1956 – Frank Paschek, German long jumper
  • 1956 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2004)
  • 1956 – Craig Young, Australian rugby player and coach
  • 1957 – Greg Millen, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1958 – George Becali, Romanian businessman, politician
  • 1959 – Lutz Dombrowski, German long jumper and educator
  • 1959 – Jari Puikkonen, Finnish ski jumper
  • 1959 – Bobbie Vaile, Australian astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1996)
  • 1960 – Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, English-Scottish journalist and author
  • 1960 – Brian Hayward, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1960 – Craig Johnston, South African-Australian footballer and photographer
  • 1960 – Laurent Rodriguez, French rugby player
  • 1961 – Timur Bekmambetov, Kazakh director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Ricky Gervais, English comedian, actor, director, producer and singer
  • 1963 – John Benjamin Hickey, American actor
  • 1963 – Yann Martel, Spanish-Canadian author
  • 1963 – Doug Gilmour, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
  • 1963 – George Michael, English singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
  • 1963 – Mike Stanley, American baseball player
  • 1964 – Dell Curry, American basketball player and coach
  • 1964 – Phil Emery, Australian cricketer
  • 1964 – Johnny Herbert, English race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1964 – John McCrea, American singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1964 – Greg Raymer, American poker player and lawyer
  • 1965 – Napole Polutele, French politician
  • 1965 – Kerri Pottharst, Australian beach volleyball player
  • 1965 – Joseph Hii Teck Kwong, Malaysian bishop
  • 1966 – Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese-American basketball player
  • 1967 – Tracey Spicer, Australian journalist
  • 1968 – Adrian Garvey, Zimbabwean-South African rugby player
  • 1968 – Vaios Karagiannis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Hunter Foster, American actor and singer
  • 1969 – Zim Zum, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1970 – Ariel Gore, American journalist and author
  • 1970 – Roope Latvala, Finnish guitarist
  • 1970 – Erki Nool, Estonian decathlete and politician
  • 1970 – Aaron Sele, American baseball player and scout
  • 1971 – Karen Darke, English cyclist and author
  • 1971 – Jason Gallian, Australian-English cricketer and educator
  • 1971 – Rod Kafer, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Neil Lennon, Northern Irish-Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Michael Tucker, American baseball player
  • 1972 – Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1972 – Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Libyan engineer and politician
  • 1973 – René Corbet, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1973 – Milan Hnilička, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1973 – Jamie Redknapp, English footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Nisha Ganatra, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Glen Metropolit, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Kiur Aarma, Estonian journalist and producer
  • 1975 – Linda Cardellini, American actress
  • 1975 – Albert Costa, Spanish tennis player and coach
  • 1975 – Vladimir Kramnik, Russian chess player
  • 1975 – Michele Merkin, American model and television host
  • 1976 – José Cancela, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1976 – Iestyn Harris, Welsh rugby player and coach
  • 1976 – Carlos Nieto, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
  • 1976 – Neil Walker, American swimmer
  • 1978 – Aramis Ramírez, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1978 – Luke Scott, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Marcus Stroud, American football player
  • 1979 – Marko Albert, Estonian swimmer and triathlete
  • 1979 – Richard Hughes, Scottish footballer
  • 1979 – Busy Philipps, American actress
  • 1981 – Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper
  • 1982 – Rain, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1982 – Mikhail Youzhny, Russian tennis player
  • 1983 – Todd Cooper, English swimmer
  • 1983 – Marc Janko, Austrian footballer
  • 1984 – Lauren Bush, American model and fashion designer
  • 1985 – Karim Matmour, Algerian footballer
  • 1986 – Aya Matsuura, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1986 – Seda Tokatlıoğlu, Turkish volleyball player
  • 1988 – Jhonas Enroth, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Miguel Layún, Mexican footballer
  • 1988 – Therese Johaug, Norwegian cross-country skier
  • 1989 – Jack Cork, English footballer
  • 1989 – Edgar Morais, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1989 – Rafael Morais, Portuguese actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1990 – Andi Eigenmann, Filipino actress
  • 1991 – Liisi Rist, Estonian cyclist
  • 1991 – Anna Zaja, German tennis player
  • 1996 – Pietro Fittipaldi, Brazilian-American race car driver
  • 1996 – Sione Mata’utia, Australian rugby league player
  • 1996 – Lele Pons, Latina-American Internet personality
  • 1998 – Kyle Chalmers, Australian swimmer
  • 2006 – Mckenna Grace, American actress

Deaths on June 25

  • 635 – Gao Zu, Chinese emperor (b. 566)
  • 841 – Gerard of Auvergne, Frankish nobleman
  • 841 – Ricwin of Nantes, Frankish nobleman
  • 891 – Sunderolt, German archbishop
  • 931 – An Chonghui, Chinese general
  • 1014 – Æthelstan Ætheling, son of Æthelred the Unready
  • 1031 – Sheng Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 972)
  • 1134 – Niels, king of Denmark (b. 1065)
  • 1218 – Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, French politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1160)
  • 1291 – Eleanor of Provence, queen of England (b. 1223)
  • 1337 – Frederick III, king of Sicily (b. 1272)
  • 1394 – Dorothea of Montau, German hermitess (b. 1347)
  • 1483 – Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, English courtier and translator (b. 1440)
  • 1483 – Richard Grey, half brother of Edward V of England (b. 1458)
  • 1522 – Franchinus Gaffurius, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1451)
  • 1533 – Mary Tudor, queen of France (b. 1496)
  • 1579 – Hatano Hideharu, Japanese warlord (b. 1541)
  • 1593 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and archaeologist (b. 1541)
  • 1634 – John Marston, English poet and playwright (b. 1576)
  • 1638 – Juan Pérez de Montalbán, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1602)
  • 1665 – Sigismund Francis, archduke of Austria (b. 1630)
  • 1669 – François de Vendôme, duke of Beaufort (b. 1616)
  • 1671 – Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian priest and astronomer (b. 1598)
  • 1673 – Charles de Batz-Castelmore d’Artagnan, French captain (b. 1611)
  • 1686 – Simon Ushakov, Russian painter and educator (b. 1626)
  • 1715 – Jean-Baptiste du Casse, French admiral and politician (b. 1646)
  • 1767 – Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer and theorist (b. 1681)
  • 1798 – Thomas Sandby, English cartographer, painter, and architect (b. 1721)
  • 1822 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German composer, critic, and jurist (b. 1776)
  • 1835 – Ebenezer Pemberton, American educator (b. 1746)
  • 1838 – François-Nicolas-Benoît Haxo, French general and engineer (b. 1774)
  • 1861 – Abdülmecid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1823)
  • 1866 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist and paleontologist (b. 1803)
  • 1868 – Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist and neurophysiologist (b. 1811)
  • 1870 – David Heaton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
  • 1875 – Antoine-Louis Barye, French sculptor (b. 1796)
  • 1876 – James Calhoun, American lieutenant (b. 1845)
  • 1876 – Boston Custer, American civilian army contractor (b. 1848)
  • 1876 – George Armstrong Custer, American general (b. 1839)
  • 1876 – Thomas Custer, American officer, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1845)
  • 1876 – Myles Keogh, Irish-American officer (b. 1840)
  • 1882 – François Jouffroy, French sculptor (b. 1806)
  • 1884 – Hans Rott, Austrian organist and composer (b. 1858)
  • 1886 – Jean-Louis Beaudry, Canadian businessman and politician, 11th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1809)
  • 1894 – Marie François Sadi Carnot, French engineer and politician, 5th President of France (b. 1837)
  • 1906 – Stanford White, American architect, designed the Washington Square Arch (b. 1853)
  • 1912 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch-British painter (b. 1836)
  • 1916 – Thomas Eakins, American painter, photographer, and sculptor (b. 1844)
  • 1917 – Géza Gyóni, Hungarian soldier and poet (b. 1884)
  • 1918 – Jake Beckley, American baseball player and coach (b. 1867)
  • 1922 – Satyendranath Dutta, Indian poet and author (b. 1882)
  • 1937 – Colin Clive, British actor (b. 1900)
  • 1939 – Richard Seaman, English race car driver (b. 1913)
  • 1943 – Arthur Goldstein, German Jewish left-wing activist (c. 1887)
  • 1944 – Dénes Berinkey, Hungarian jurist and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1871)
  • 1944 – Lucha Reyes, Mexican singer and actress (b. 1906)
  • 1947 – Jimmy Doyle, American boxer (b. 1924)
  • 1948 – William C. Lee, American general (b. 1895)
  • 1949 – Buck Freeman, American baseball player (b. 1871)
  • 1949 – James Steen, American water polo player (b. 1876)
  • 1950 – Maurice O’Sullivan, Irish police officer and author (b. 1904)
  • 1958 – Alfred Noyes, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1880)
  • 1959 – Charles Starkweather, American spree killer (b. 1938)
  • 1960 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
  • 1968 – Tony Hancock, English comedian and actor (b. 1924)
  • 1971 – John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, Scottish physician, biologist, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1880)
  • 1972 – Jan Matulka, Czech-American painter and illustrator (b. 1890)
  • 1974 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (b. 1893)
  • 1976 – Johnny Mercer, American singer-songwriter, co-founded Capitol Records (b. 1909)
  • 1977 – Olave Baden-Powell, British Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting leader (b. 1889)
  • 1977 – Endre Szervánszky, Hungarian pianist and composer (b. 1911)
  • 1979 – Dave Fleischer, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1894)
  • 1979 – Philippe Halsman, Latvian-American photographer (b. 1906)
  • 1981 – Felipe Cossío del Pomar, Peruvian painter and political activist (b. 1888)
  • 1983 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentinian pianist and composer (b. 1916)
  • 1984 – Michel Foucault, French historian and philosopher (b. 1926)
  • 1988 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1962)
  • 1990 – Ronald Gene Simmons, American sergeant and murderer (b. 1940)
  • 1992 – Jerome Brown, American football player (b. 1965)
  • 1995 – Warren E. Burger, Fifteenth Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1907)
  • 1995 – Ernest Walton, Irish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
  • 1996 – Arthur Snelling, English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to South Africa (b. 1914)
  • 1997 – Jacques Cousteau, French oceanographer and explorer (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – Jean Corbeil, Canadian politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Labour (b. 1934)
  • 2003 – Lester Maddox, American businessman and politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (b. 1915)
  • 2004 – Morton Coutts, New Zealand inventor (b. 1904)
  • 2005 – John Fiedler, American actor and voice artist (b. 1925)
  • 2005 – Kâzım Koyuncu, Turkish singer-songwriter and activist (b. 1971)
  • 2006 – Jaap Penraat, Dutch-American humanitarian (b. 1918)
  • 2007 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist and educator (b. 1933)
  • 2007 – Jeeva, Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1963)
  • 2008 – Lyall Watson, South African anthropologist and ethologist (b. 1939)
  • 2009 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (b. 1947)
  • 2009 – Michael Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actor (b. 1958)
  • 2009 – Sky Saxon, American singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
  • 2010 – Alan Plater, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1935)
  • 2010 – Richard B. Sellars, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1915)
  • 2011 – Annie Easley, American computer scientist and mathematician (b. 1933)
  • 2011 – Goff Richards, English composer and conductor (b. 1944)
  • 2011 – Margaret Tyzack, English actress (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – Shigemitsu Dandō, Japanese academic and jurist (b. 1913)
  • 2012 – Campbell Gillies, Scottish jockey (b. 1990)
  • 2012 – George Randolph Hearst, Jr., American businessman (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Lucella MacLean, American baseball player (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Edgar Ross, American boxer (b. 1949)
  • 2013 – George Burditt, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Catherine Gibson, Scottish swimmer (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Robert E. Gilka, American photographer and journalist (b. 1916)
  • 2013 – Harry Parker, American rower and coach (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Mildred Ladner Thompson, American journalist (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Green Wix Unthank, American soldier and judge (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Nigel Calder, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Ana María Matute, Spanish author and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Ivan Plyushch, Ukrainian agronomist and politician (b. 1941)
  • 2015 – Patrick Macnee, English actor (b. 1922)
  • 2015 – Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Egyptian-Armenian patriarch (b. 1940)
  • 2016 – Adam Small, South African writer of apartheid-period (b. 1936)
  • 2018 – Richard Benjamin Harrison, American businessman and reality television personality (b. 1941)
  • 2018 – David Goldblatt, South African photographer of apartheid-period (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances on June 25

  • Arbor Day (Philippines)
  • Christian feast day:
    • David of Munktorp
    • Eurosia
    • Maximus (Massimo) of Turin
    • Philipp Melanchthon (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
    • Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (Lutheran)
    • Prosper of Aquitaine
    • Prosper of Reggio
    • William of Montevergine
    • June 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975.
  • National Catfish Day (United States)
  • Statehood Day (Slovenia)
  • Statehood Day (Virginia)
  • Teacher’s Day (Guatemala)
  • World Vitiligo Day

June 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /
  • 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
  • 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
  • 1280 – The Spanish Reconquista: In the Battle of Moclín the Emirate of Granada ambush a superior pursuing force, killing most of them in a military disaster for the Kingdom of Castile.
  • 1305 – A peace treaty between the Flemish and the French is signed at Athis-sur-Orge.
  • 1314 – First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn (south of Stirling) begins.
  • 1532 – Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France sign the “Treaty of Closer Amity With France” (also known as the Pommeraye treaty), pledging mutual aid against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
  • 1565 – Dragut, commander of the Ottoman navy, dies during the Great Siege of Malta.
  • 1594 – The Action of Faial, Azores. The Portuguese carrack Cinco Chagas, loaded with slaves and treasure, is attacked and sunk by English ships with only 13 survivors out of over 700 on board.
  • 1611 – The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson’s fourth voyage sets Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never heard from again.
  • 1683 – William Penn signs a friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania.
  • 1713 – The French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada.
  • 1757 – Battle of Plassey: Three thousand British troops under Robert Clive defeat a 50,000-strong Indian army under Siraj ud-Daulah at Plassey.
  • 1758 – Seven Years’ War: Battle of Krefeld: British, Hanoverian, and Prussian forces defeat French troops at Krefeld in Germany.
  • 1760 – Seven Years’ War: Battle of Landeshut: Austria defeats Prussia.
  • 1780 – American Revolution: Battle of Springfield fought in and around Springfield, New Jersey (including Short Hills, formerly of Springfield, now of Millburn Township).
  • 1794 – Empress Catherine II of Russia grants Jews permission to settle in Kiev.
  • 1810 – John Jacob Astor forms the Pacific Fur Company.
  • 1812 – War of 1812: Great Britain revokes the restrictions on American commerce, thus eliminating one of the chief reasons for going to war.
  • 1860 – The United States Congress establishes the Government Printing Office.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: At Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant Confederate army.
  • 1868 – Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer”.
  • 1887 – The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada creating the nation’s first national park, Banff National Park.
  • 1894 – The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
  • 1913 – Second Balkan War: The Greeks defeat the Bulgarians in the Battle of Doiran.
  • 1914 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa takes Zacatecas from Victoriano Huerta.
  • 1917 – In a game against the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox pitcher Ernie Shore retires 26 batters in a row after replacing Babe Ruth, who had been ejected for punching the umpire.
  • 1919 – Estonian War of Independence: The decisive defeat of the Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cēsis; this date is celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia.
  • 1926 – The College Board administers the first SAT exam.
  • 1931 – Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine plane.
  • 1938 – The Civil Aeronautics Act is signed into law, forming the Civil Aeronautics Authority in the United States.
  • 1940 – Adolf Hitler goes on a three-hour tour of the architecture of Paris with architect Albert Speer and sculptor Arno Breker in his only visit to the city.
  • 1940 – Henry Larsen begins the first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
  • 1941 – The Lithuanian Activist Front declares independence from the Soviet Union and forms the Provisional Government of Lithuania; it lasts only briefly as the Nazis will occupy Lithuania a few weeks later.
  • 1942 – World War II: Germany’s latest fighter aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw 190, is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales.
  • 1946 – The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake strikes Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
  • 1947 – The United States Senate follows the United States House of Representatives in overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman’s veto of the Taft–Hartley Act.
  • 1951 – The ocean liner SS United States is christened and launched.
  • 1956 – The French National Assembly takes the first step in creating the French Community by passing the Loi Cadre, transferring a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa.
  • 1959 – Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany where he resumes a scientific career.
  • 1960 – The United States Food and Drug Administration declares Enovid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill in the world.
  • 1961 – The Antarctic Treaty System, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and limits military activity on the continent, its islands and ice shelves, comes into force.
  • 1967 – Cold War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey for the three-day Glassboro Summit Conference.
  • 1969 – Warren E. Burger is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court by retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren.
  • 1969 – IBM announces that effective January 1970 it will price its software and services separately from hardware thus creating the modern software industry.
  • 1972 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
  • 1972 – Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds.
  • 1973 – A fire at a house in Hull, England, which kills a six-year-old boy is passed off as an accident; it later emerges as the first of 26 deaths by fire caused over the next seven years by serial arsonist Peter Dinsdale.
  • 1985 – A terrorist bomb explodes at Narita International Airport near Tokyo. An hour later, the same group detonates a second bomb aboard Air India Flight 182, bringing the Boeing 747 down off the coast of Ireland killing all 329 aboard.
  • 1994 – NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility, a new state-of-the-art manufacturing building for the International Space Station, officially opens at Kennedy Space Center.
  • 2001 – The 8.4 Mw  southern Peru earthquake shakes coastal Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami followed, leaving at least 74 people dead, and 2,687 injured.
  • 2012 – Ashton Eaton breaks the decathlon world record at the United States Olympic Trials.
  • 2013 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first man to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a tight rope.
  • 2013 – Militants stormed a high-altitude mountaineering base camp near Nanga Parbat in Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan killing ten climbers, and a local guide.
  • 2014 – The last of Syria’s declared chemical weapons are shipped out for destruction.
  • 2016 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, by 52% to 48%.
  • 2017 – A series of terrorist attacks took place in Pakistan resulting in 96 deaths and wounded 200 others.

Births on June 23

  • 47 BC – Caesarion, Egyptian king (d. 30 BC)
  • 1385 – Stefan, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken (d. 1459)
  • 1433 – Francis II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1488)
  • 1456 – Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland (d. 1486)
  • 1489 – Charles II, Duke of Savoy, Italian nobleman (d. 1496)
  • 1534 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (d. 1582)
  • 1596 – Johan Banér, Swedish field marshal (d. 1641)
  • 1616 – Shah Shuja, Mughal prince (d. 1661)
  • 1625 – John Fell, English churchman and influential academic (d. 1686)
  • 1668 – Giambattista Vico, Italian jurist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1744)
  • 1683 – Étienne Fourmont, French orientalist and sinologist (d. 1745)
  • 1711 – Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Italian instrument maker (d. 1786)
  • 1716 – Fletcher Norton, 1st Baron Grantley, English lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales (d. 1789)
  • 1750 – Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, French geologist and academic (d. 1801)
  • 1763 – Joséphine de Beauharnais, French wife of Napoleon I (d. 1814)
  • 1799 – John Milton Bernhisel, American physician and politician (d. 1881)
  • 1800 – Karol Marcinkowski, Polish physician and activist (d. 1846)
  • 1824 – Carl Reinecke, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1910)
  • 1843 – Paul Heinrich von Groth, German scientist (d. 1927)
  • 1860 – Albert Giraud, Belgian poet and librarian (d. 1929)
  • 1863 – Sándor Bródy, Hungarian author and journalist (d. 1924)
  • 1877 – Norman Pritchard, Indian-English hurdler and actor (d. 1929)
  • 1879 – Huda Sha’arawi, Egyptian feminist and journalist (d. 1947)
  • 1884 – Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player and politician (d. 1979)
  • 1888 – Bronson M. Cutting, American publisher and politician (d. 1935)
  • 1889 – Anna Akhmatova, Ukrainian-Russian poet and author (d. 1966)
  • 1889 – Verena Holmes, English engineer (d. 1964)
  • 1894 – Harold Barrowclough, New Zealand military leader, lawyer and Chief Justice (d. 1972)
  • 1894 – Alfred Kinsey, American entomologist and sexologist (d. 1956)
  • 1894 – Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom (d. 1972)
  • 1899 – Amédée Gordini, Italian-born French race car driver and sports car manufacturer (d. 1979)
  • 1900 – Blanche Noyes, American aviator, winner of the 1936 Bendix Trophy Race (d. 1981)
  • 1901 – Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Turkish author, poet, and scholar (d. 1962)
  • 1903 – Paul Martin Sr., Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1904 – Quintin McMillan, South African cricketer (d. 1938)
  • 1905 – Jack Pickersgill, Canadian civil servant and politician, 35th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1997)
  • 1906 – Tribhuvan of Nepal (d. 1955)
  • 1907 – Dercy Gonçalves, Brazilian actress and singer (d. 2008)
  • 1907 – James Meade, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
  • 1909 – David Lewis, Russian-Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1981)
  • 1909 – Georges Rouquier, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
  • 1910 – Jean Anouilh, French playwright and screenwriter (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader, 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 2008)
  • 1910 – Milt Hinton, American bassist and photographer (d. 2000)
  • 1910 – Bill King, English commander and author (d. 2012)
  • 1910 – Lawson Little, American golfer (d. 1968)
  • 1912 – Alan Turing, English mathematician and computer scientist (d. 1954)
  • 1913 – William P. Rogers, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 55th United States Secretary of State (d. 2001)
  • 1915 – Frances Gabe, American artist and inventor (d. 2016)
  • 1916 – Len Hutton, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1990)
  • 1916 – Irene Worth, American actress (d. 2002)
  • 1916 – Al G. Wright, American bandleader and conductor
  • 1919 – Mohamed Boudiaf, Algerian politician, President of Algeria (d. 1992)
  • 1920 – Saleh Ajeery, Kuwaiti astronomer
  • 1921 – Paul Findley, American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1922 – Morris R. Jeppson, American lieutenant and physicist (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – Hal Laycoe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1998)
  • 1923 – Peter Corr, Irish-English footballer and manager (d. 2001)
  • 1923 – Elroy Schwartz, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Doris Johnson, American politician
  • 1923 – Jerry Rullo, American professional basketball player (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Giuseppina Tuissi, Italian communist and Partisan (d. 1945)
  • 1924 – Frank Bolle, American comic-strip artist, comic-book artist, and illustrator (d. 2020)
  • 1925 – Miriam Karlin, English actress (d. 2011)
  • 1925 – Art Modell, American businessman (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Anna Chennault, Chinese widow of Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – Lawson Soulsby, Baron Soulsby of Swaffham Prior, English microbiologist and parasitologist (d. 2017)
  • 1926 – Magda Herzberger, Romanian author, poet and composer, a survivor of the Holocaust
  • 1926 – Annette Mbaye d’Erneville, Senegalese writer
  • 1926 – Arnaldo Pomodoro, Italian sculptor
  • 1927 – Bob Fosse, American actor, dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 1987)
  • 1927 – John Habgood, Baron Habgood, English archbishop (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Jean Cione, American baseball player (d. 2010)
  • 1928 – Klaus von Dohnányi, German politician
  • 1928 – Michael Shaara, American author and academic (d. 1988)
  • 1929 – June Carter Cash, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (d. 2003)
  • 1929 – Mario Ghella, Italian racing cyclist
  • 1930 – Donn F. Eisele, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1987)
  • 1930 – John Elliott, English historian and academic
  • 1930 – Francis Newall, 2nd Baron Newall, English businessman and politician
  • 1930 – Anthony Thwaite, English poet, critic, and academic
  • 1930 – Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny, former First Lady of Ivory Coast
  • 1931 – Gunnar Uusi, Estonian chess player (d. 1981)
  • 1931 – Ola Ullsten, Swedish politician and diplomat (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Peter Millett, Baron Millett, English lawyer and judge
  • 1934 – Keith Sutton, English bishop (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Bill Torrey, Canadian businessman (d. 2018)
  • 1934 – Virbhadra Singh, Indian politician
  • 1935 – Maurice Ferré, Puerto Rican-American politician, 32nd Mayor of Miami
  • 1935 – Keith Burkinshaw, English footballer and manager
  • 1936 – Richard Bach, American novelist and essayist
  • 1936 – Costas Simitis, Greek economist, lawyer, and politician, 180th Prime Minister of Greece
  • 1937 – Martti Ahtisaari, Finnish captain and politician, 10th President of Finland, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1937 – Alan Haselhurst, English academic and politician
  • 1937 – Niki Sullivan, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1939 – Scott Burton, American sculptor (d. 1989)
  • 1940 – Adam Faith, English singer (d. 2003)
  • 1940 – George Feigley, American sex cult leader and two-time prison escapee (d. 2009)
  • 1940 – Derry Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
  • 1940 – Wilma Rudolph, American runner (d. 1994)
  • 1940 – Mike Shrimpton, New Zealand cricketer and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Stuart Sutcliffe, Scottish painter and musician (d. 1962)
  • 1940 – Diana Trask, Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1941 – Robert Hunter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – Roger McDonald, Australian author and screenwriter
  • 1941 – Keith Newton, English footballer (d. 1998)
  • 1942 – Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, English cosmologist and astrophysicist
  • 1943 – Patrick Bokanowski, French filmmaker
  • 1943 – Ellyn Kaschak, American psychologist and academic
  • 1943 – James Levine, American pianist and conductor
  • 1945 – Kjell Albin Abrahamson, Swedish journalist and author
  • 1945 – John Garang, Sudanese colonel and politician, President of Southern Sudan (d. 2005)
  • 1946 – Julian Hipwood, English polo player and coach
  • 1946 – Ted Shackelford, American actor
  • 1947 – Bryan Brown, Australian actor and producer
  • 1948 – Clarence Thomas, American lawyer and judge, United States Supreme Court Justice
  • 1949 – Gordon Bray, Australian journalist and sportscaster
  • 1949 – Sheila Noakes, Baroness Noakes, English accountant and politician
  • 1951 – Angelo Falcón, Puerto Rican-American political scientist, activist, and academic, founded the National Institute for Latino Policy
  • 1951 – Michèle Mouton, French race car driver and manager
  • 1951 – Raj Babbar, Indian actor and politician
  • 1953 – Armen Sarkissian, Armenian physicist, politician and current President of Armenia
  • 1955 – Pierre Corbeil, Canadian dentist and politician
  • 1955 – Glenn Danzig, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1955 – Jean Tigana, French footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Daniel J. Drucker, Canadian academic and educator
  • 1956 – Tony Hill, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Randy Jackson, American bass player and producer
  • 1957 – Dave Houghton, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
  • 1957 – Frances McDormand, American actress, winner of the Triple Crown of Acting
  • 1958 – John Hayes, English politician, Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change
  • 1960 – Donald Harrison, American saxophonist, composer, and producer
  • 1960 – Tatsuya Uemura, Japanese composer and programmer
  • 1961 – Richard Arnold, English lawyer and judge
  • 1961 – Zoran Janjetov, Serbian singer and illustrator
  • 1961 – LaSalle Thompson, American basketball player, coach, and manager
  • 1962 – Chuck Billy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1963 – Colin Montgomerie, Scottish golfer
  • 1964 – Nicolas Marceau, Canadian economist and politician
  • 1964 – Tara Morice, Australian actress and singer
  • 1964 – Joss Whedon, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Lou Yun, Chinese gymnast
  • 1965 – Paul Arthurs, English guitarist
  • 1965 – Sylvia Mathews Burwell, American government and non-profit executive
  • 1965 – Peter O’Malley, Australian golfer
  • 1966 – Chico DeBarge, American singer and pianist
  • 1969 – Martin Klebba, American actor, producer, and stuntman
  • 1970 – Robert Brooks, American football player
  • 1970 – Martin Deschamps, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1970 – Yann Tiersen, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – Fred Ewanuick, Canadian actor and producer
  • 1971 – Félix Potvin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1972 – Selma Blair, American actress
  • 1972 – Louis Van Amstel, Dutch dancer and choreographer
  • 1972 – Zinedine Zidane, French footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Joel Edgerton, Australian actor
  • 1974 – Mark Hendrickson, American basketball and baseball player
  • 1975 – Kevin Dyson, American football player and coach
  • 1975 – David Howell, English golfer
  • 1975 – Mike James, American basketball player
  • 1975 – KT Tunstall, Scottish singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1976 – Wade Barrett, American soccer player and manager
  • 1976 – Joe Becker, American guitarist and composer
  • 1976 – Savvas Poursaitidis, Greek-Cypriot footballer and scout
  • 1976 – Brandon Stokley, American football player
  • 1976 – Paola Suárez, Argentinian tennis player
  • 1976 – Emmanuelle Vaugier, Canadian actress and singer
  • 1976 – Patrick Vieira, French footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Miguel Ángel Angulo, Spanish footballer
  • 1977 – Hayden Foxe, Australian footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Jaan Jüris, Estonian ski jumper
  • 1977 – Jason Mraz, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1977 – Shaun O’Hara, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Memphis Bleek, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1978 – Frederic Leclercq, French heavy metal musician
  • 1978 – Matt Light, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1979 – LaDainian Tomlinson, American football player
  • 1980 – Becky Cloonan, American author and illustrator
  • 1980 – Melissa Rauch, American actress
  • 1980 – Ramnaresh Sarwan, Guyanese cricketer
  • 1980 – Francesca Schiavone, Italian tennis player
  • 1981 – Antony Costa, English singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Rolf Wacha, German rugby player
  • 1982 – Derek Boogaard, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2011)
  • 1983 – Brooks Laich, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – José Manuel Rojas, Chilean footballer
  • 1984 – Duffy, Welsh singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1984 – Takeshi Matsuda, Japanese swimmer
  • 1984 – Levern Spencer, Saint Lucian high jumper
  • 1985 – Marcel Reece, American football player
  • 1986 – Christy Altomare, American actress and singer songwriter
  • 1987 – Alessia Filippi, Italian swimmer
  • 1988 – Chet Faker, Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1988 – Chellsie Memmel, American gymnast
  • 1989 – Lisa Carrington, New Zealand flatwater canoeist
  • 1989 – Jordan Nolan, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Clevid Dikamona, French footballer
  • 1990 – Vasek Pospisil, Canadian tennis player
  • 1990 – Laura Ràfols, Spanish footballer
  • 1991 – Katie Armiger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1992 – Luiza Galiulina, Uzbekistani gymnast
  • 1992 – Nampalys Mendy, French footballer
  • 1993 – Tim Anderson, American baseball player
  • 1993 – Marvin Grumann, German footballer
  • 2004 – Alexandra Trusova, Russian figure skater

Deaths on June 23

  • AD 79 – Vespasian, Roman emperor (b. AD 9)
  • 679 – Æthelthryth, English saint (b. 636)
  • 947 – Li Congyi, prince of Later Tang (b. 931)
  • 947 – Wang, imperial consort of Later Tang
  • 960 – Feng Yanji, chancellor of Southern Tang (b. 903)
  • 994 – Lothair Udo I, count of Stade (b. 950)
  • 1018 – Henry I, margrave of Austria
  • 1137 – Adalbert of Mainz, German archbishop
  • 1222 – Constance of Aragon, Hungarian queen (b. 1179)
  • 1290 – Henryk IV Probus, duke of Wrocław and high duke of Kraków (b. c. 1258)
  • 1314 – Henry de Bohun, English knight
  • 1324 – Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (b. 1270)
  • 1343 – Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi, Italian cardinal (b. c. 1270)
  • 1356 – Margaret II, Holy Roman Empress (b. 1311)
  • 1537 – Pedro de Mendoza, Spanish conquistador (b. 1487)
  • 1565 – Dragut, Ottoman admiral (b. 1485)
  • 1582 – Shimizu Muneharu, Japanese commander (b. 1537)
  • 1615 – Mashita Nagamori, Japanese daimyō (b. 1545)
  • 1677 – William Louis, duke of Württemberg (b. 1647)
  • 1686 – William Coventry, English politician (b. 1628)
  • 1707 – John Mill, English theologian and author (b. 1645)
  • 1733 – Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Swiss paleontologist and scholar (b. 1672)
  • 1770 – Mark Akenside, English poet and physician (b. 1721)
  • 1775 – Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz, German adventurer and author (b. 1692)
  • 1779 – Mikael Sehul, Ethiopian warlord (b. 1691)
  • 1806 – Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and philosopher (b. 1723)
  • 1811 – Nicolau Tolentino de Almeida, Portuguese poet and author (b. 1740)
  • 1832 – Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet, Scottish geologist and geophysicist (b. 1761)
  • 1836 – James Mill, Scottish economist, historian, and philosopher (b. 1773)
  • 1848 – Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este, Electress of Bavaria (b. 1776)
  • 1856 – Ivan Kireyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (b. 1806)
  • 1881 – Matthias Jakob Schleiden, German botanist and academic (b. 1804)
  • 1891 – Wilhelm Eduard Weber, German physicist and academic (b. 1804)
  • 1891 – Samuel Newitt Wood, American lawyer and politician (b. 1825)
  • 1893 – William Fox, English-New Zealand lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1812)
  • 1893 – Theophilus Shepstone, English-South African politician (b. 1817)
  • 1914 – Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Indian guru and philosopher (b. 1838)
  • 1945 – Giuseppina Tuissi, Italian journalist and activist (b. 1923)
  • 1953 – Albert Gleizes, French painter (b. 1881)
  • 1954 – Salih Omurtak, Turkish general (b. 1889)
  • 1956 – Reinhold Glière, Russian composer and educator (b. 1875)
  • 1959 – Boris Vian, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
  • 1959 – Hidir Lutfi, Iraqi poet. (b. 1880)
  • 1969 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish runner (b. 1907)
  • 1970 – Roscoe Turner, American soldier and pilot (b. 1895)
  • 1973 – Gerry Birrell, Scottish race car driver (b. 1944)
  • 1980 – Sanjay Gandhi, Indian engineer and politician (b. 1946)
  • 1980 – Clyfford Still, American painter and academic (b. 1904)
  • 1989 – Werner Best, German police officer and jurist (b. 1903)
  • 1990 – Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Indian poet, actor, and politician (b. 1898)
  • 1992 – Eric Andolsek, American football player (b. 1966)
  • 1995 – Roger Grimsby, American journalist (b. 1928)
  • 1995 – Jonas Salk, American biologist and physician (b. 1914)
  • 1995 – Anatoli Tarasov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1918)
  • 1996 – Andreas Papandreou, Greek economist and politician, 174th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1919)
  • 1996 – Ray Lindwall, Australian cricketer and rugby player (b. 1921)
  • 1997 – Betty Shabazz, American educator and activist (b. 1936)
  • 1998 – Maureen O’Sullivan, Irish-American actress (b. 1911)
  • 2000 – Peter Dubovský, Slovak footballer (b. 1972)
  • 2002 – Pedro Alcázar, Panamanian boxer (b. 1975)
  • 2005 – Shana Alexander, American journalist and author (b. 1926)
  • 2005 – Manolis Anagnostakis, Greek poet and critic (b. 1925)
  • 2006 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter, founded Spelling Television (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Rod Beck, American baseball player (b. 1968)
  • 2008 – Claudio Capone, Italian-Scottish actor (b. 1952)
  • 2008 – Arthur Chung, Guyanese surveyor and politician, 1st President of Guyana (b. 1918)
  • 2008 – Marian Glinka, Polish actor and bodybuilder (b. 1943)
  • 2009 – Raymond Berthiaume, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1931)
  • 2009 – Ed McMahon, American game show host and announcer (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Jerri Nielsen, American physician and explorer (b. 1952)
  • 2010 – John Burton, Australian public servant and diplomat (b. 1915)
  • 2011 – Peter Falk, American actor (b. 1927)
  • 2011 – Dennis Marshall, Costa Rican footballer (b. 1985)
  • 2011 – Fred Steiner, American composer and conductor (b. 1923)
  • 2012 – James Durbin, English economist and statistician (b. 1923)
  • 2012 – Brigitte Engerer, French pianist and educator (b. 1952)
  • 2012 – Alan McDonald, Northern Ireland footballer and manager (b. 1963)
  • 2012 – Frank Chee Willeto, American soldier and politician, 4th Vice President of the Navajo Nation (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Walter J. Zable, American football player and businessman, founded the Cubic Corporation (b. 1915)
  • 2013 – Bobby Bland, American singer-songwriter (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Gary David Goldberg, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1944)
  • 2013 – Frank Kelso, American admiral and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Kurt Leichtweiss, German mathematician and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Darryl Read, English singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor (b. 1951)
  • 2013 – Sharon Stouder, American swimmer (b. 1948)
  • 2014 – Nancy Garden, American author (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Euros Lewis, Welsh cricketer (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Paula Kent Meehan, American businesswoman, co-founded Redken (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Miguel Facussé Barjum, Honduran businessman (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Nirmala Joshi, Indian nun, lawyer, and social worker (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Dick Van Patten, American actor (b. 1928)
  • 2016 – Ralph Stanley, American singer and banjo player (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on June 23

  • Christian feast day:
    • Æthelthryth
    • Marie of Oignies
    • Joseph Cafasso
    • June 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Feast of Raḥmat can fall, while June 24 is the latest. (Bahá’í Faith)
  • Father’s Day (Nicaragua, Poland)
  • Grand Duke’s Official Birthday (Luxembourg)
  • International Widows Day (international)
  • National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism (Canada)
  • Okinawa Memorial Day (Okinawa Prefecture)
  • St John’s Eve and the first day of the Midsummer celebrations [although this is not the real summer solstice; see June 20] (Roman Catholic Church, Europe):
    • Bonfires of Saint John (Spain)
    • First night of Festa de São João do Porto (Porto)
    • First day of Golowan Festival (Cornwall)
    • Jaaniõhtu (Estonia)
    • Jāņi (Latvia)
    • Kupala Night (Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine)
    • Last day of Drăgaica fair (Buzău, Romania)
  • United Nations Public Service Day (International)
  • Victory Day (Estonia)

June 23 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

This day usually marks the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, which is the day of the year with the most hours of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere and the fewest hours of daylight in the Southern Hemisphere.

June 21 in History

  • 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily (approximate date).
  • 1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mongols and Wuzong of the Yuan.
  • 1529 – French forces are driven out of northern Italy by Spain at the Battle of Landriano during the War of the League of Cognac.
  • 1582 – Sengoku period: Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful of the Japanese daimyōs, is forced to commit suicide by his own general Akechi Mitsuhide.
  • 1621 – Execution of 27 Czech noblemen on the Old Town Square in Prague as a consequence of the Battle of White Mountain.
  • 1734 – In Montreal in New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of setting the fire that destroyed much of the city.
  • 1749 – Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded.
  • 1768 – James Otis Jr. offends the King and Parliament in a speech to the Massachusetts General Court.
  • 1788 – New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
  • 1791 – King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during the French Revolution.
  • 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: The British Army defeats Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill.
  • 1813 – Peninsular War: Wellington defeats Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria.
  • 1824 – Greek War of Independence: Egyptian forces capture Psara in the Aegean Sea.
  • 1826 – Maniots defeat Egyptians under Ibrahim Pasha in the Battle of Vergas.
  • 1848 – In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell issue the Proclamation of Islaz and create a new republican government.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road begins.
  • 1898 – The United States captures Guam from Spain. The few warning shots fired by the U.S. naval vessels are misinterpreted as salutes by the Spanish garrison, which was unaware that the two nations were at war.
  • 1900 – Boxer Rebellion. China formally declares war on the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan, as an edict issued from the Empress Dowager Cixi.
  • 1915 – The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Guinn v. United States 238 US 347 1915, striking down Oklahoma grandfather clause legislation which had the effect of denying the right to vote to blacks.
  • 1919 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg general strike.
  • 1919 – Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet at Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed are the last casualties of World War I.
  • 1929 – An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico.
  • 1930 – One-year conscription comes into force in France.
  • 1940 – World War II: Italy begins an unsuccessful invasion of France.
  • 1942 – World War II: Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces.
  • 1942 – World War II: A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at Fort Stevens in one of only a handful of attacks by Japan against the United States mainland.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Okinawa ends when the organized resistance of Imperial Japanese Army forces collapses in the Mabuni area on the southern tip of the main island.
  • 1952 – The Philippine School of Commerce, through a republic act, is converted to Philippine College of Commerce, later to be the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
  • 1957 – Ellen Fairclough is sworn in as Canada’s first female Cabinet Minister.
  • 1963 – Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini is elected as Pope Paul VI.
  • 1964 – Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
  • 1970 – Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy in what was the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy to date.
  • 1973 – In its decision in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller test for determining whether something is obscene and not protected speech under the U.S. constitution.
  • 1978 – The original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Evita, based on the life of Eva Perón, opens at the Prince Edward Theatre, London.
  • 1982 – John Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
  • 1989 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, that American flag-burning is a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment.
  • 2000 – Section 28 (of the Local Government Act 1988), outlawing the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in the United Kingdom, is repealed in Scotland with a 99 to 17 vote.
  • 2001 – A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicts 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen.
  • 2004 – SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
  • 2005 – Edgar Ray Killen, who had previously been unsuccessfully tried for the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Mickey Schwerner, is convicted of manslaughter 41 years afterwards (the case had been reopened in 2004).
  • 2006 – Pluto’s newly discovered moons are officially named Nix and Hydra.
  • 2009 – Greenland assumes self-rule.
  • 2012 – A boat carrying more than 200 migrants capsizes in the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian island of Java and Christmas Island, killing 17 people and leaving 70 others missing.

Births on June 21

  • 598 – Pope Martin I (d. 656)
  • 906 – Abu Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir (d. 963)
  • 1002 – Pope Leo IX (d. 1054)
  • 1226 – Bolesław V the Chaste of Poland (d. 1279)
  • 1521 – John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev (d. 1580)
  • 1528 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1603)
  • 1535 – Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist (d. 1596)
  • 1630 – Samuel Oppenheimer, German Jewish banker and diplomat (d. 1703)
  • 1636 – Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d’Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, French noble (d. 1721)
  • 1639 – Increase Mather, American minister and author (d. 1723)
  • 1676 – Anthony Collins, English philosopher and author (d. 1729)
  • 1706 – John Dollond, English optician and astronomer (d. 1761)
  • 1710 – James Short, Scottish-English mathematician and optician (d. 1768)
  • 1712 – Luc Urbain de Bouëxic, comte de Guichen, French admiral (d. 1790)
  • 1730 – Motoori Norinaga, Japanese poet and scholar (d. 1801)
  • 1732 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German pianist and composer (d. 1791)
  • 1736 – Enoch Poor, American general (d. 1780)
  • 1741 – Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais (d. 1808)
  • 1750 – Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet, French sculptor and illustrator (d. 1818)
  • 1759 – Alexander J. Dallas, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1817)
  • 1763 – Pierre Paul Royer-Collard, French philosopher and academic (d. 1845)
  • 1764 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (d. 1840)
  • 1774 – Daniel D. Tompkins, American lawyer and politician, 6th Vice President of the United States (d. 1825)
  • 1781 – Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1840)
  • 1786 – Charles Edward Horn, English singer-songwriter (d. 1849)
  • 1792 – Ferdinand Christian Baur, German theologian and scholar (d. 1860)
  • 1797 – Wilhelm Küchelbecker, Russian poet and author (d. 1846)
  • 1802 – Karl Zittel, German theologian (d. 1871)
  • 1805 – Karl Friedrich Curschmann, German composer and singer (d. 1841)
  • 1805 – Charles Thomas Jackson, American physician and geologist (d. 1880)
  • 1811 – Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist and neurophysiologist (d. 1868)
  • 1814 – Anton Nuhn, German anatomist and academic (d. 1889)
  • 1823 – Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (d. 1873)
  • 1825 – Thomas Edward Cliffe Leslie, Irish economist and jurist (d. 1882)
  • 1825 – William Stubbs, English bishop and historian (d. 1901)
  • 1828 – Ferdinand André Fouqué, French geologist and academic (d. 1904)
  • 1828 – Nikolaus Nilles, German Catholic writer and teacher (d. 1907)
  • 1834 – Frans de Cort, Flemish poet and author (d. 1878)
  • 1836 – Luigi Tripepi, Italian theologian (d. 1906)
  • 1839 – Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1908)
  • 1845 – Samuel Griffith, Welsh-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Queensland (d. 1920)
  • 1845 – Arthur Cowper Ranyard, English astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1894)
  • 1846 – Marion Adams-Acton, Scottish-English author and playwright (d. 1928)
  • 1846 – Enrico Coleman, Italian painter (d. 1911)
  • 1850 – Daniel Carter Beard, American author and illustrator, co-founded the Boy Scouts of America (d. 1941)
  • 1858 – Giuseppe De Sanctis, Italian painter (d. 1924)
  • 1858 – Medardo Rosso, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1928)
  • 1859 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American-French painter and illustrator (d. 1937)
  • 1862 – Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai historian and author (d. 1943)
  • 1863 – Max Wolf, German astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
  • 1864 – Heinrich Wölfflin, Swiss historian and critic (d. 1945)
  • 1867 – Oscar Florianus Bluemner, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1938)
  • 1867 – William Brede Kristensen, Norwegian historian of religion (d. 1953)
  • 1868 – Edwin Stephen Goodrich, English zoologist and anatomist (d. 1946)
  • 1870 – Clara Immerwahr, Jewish-German chemist and academic (d. 1915)
  • 1870 – Anthony Michell, English-Australian engineer (d. 1959)
  • 1870 – Julio Ruelas, Mexican painter (d. 1907)
  • 1876 – Swami Kalyan Dev, philosopher  (d. 2004)
  • 1876 – Willem Hendrik Keesom, Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1956)
  • 1880 – Arnold Gesell, American psychologist and pediatrician (d. 1961)
  • 1880 – Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, English economist and civil servant (d. 1941)
  • 1881 – (O.S.) Natalia Goncharova, Russian painter, costume designer, and illustrator (d. 1962)
  • 1882 – Lluís Companys, Spanish lawyer and politician, 123rd President of Catalonia (d. 1940)
  • 1882 – Adrianus de Jong, Dutch fencer and soldier (d. 1966)
  • 1882 – Rockwell Kent, American painter and illustrator (d. 1971)
  • 1883 – Feodor Gladkov, Russian author and educator (d. 1958)
  • 1884 – Claude Auchinleck, English field marshal (d. 1981)
  • 1887 – Norman L. Bowen, Canadian geologist and petrologist (d. 1956)
  • 1889 – Ralph Craig, American sprinter and sailor (d. 1972)
  • 1891 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian architect and engineer, co-designed the Pirelli Tower and Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (d. 1979)
  • 1891 – Hermann Scherchen, German-Swiss viola player and conductor (d. 1966)
  • 1892 – Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian and academic (d. 1971)
  • 1893 – Alois Hába, Czech composer and educator (d. 1973)
  • 1894 – Milward Kennedy, English journalist and civil servant (d. 1968)
  • 1896 – Charles Momsen, American admiral, invented the Momsen lung (d. 1967)
  • 1898 – Donald C. Peattie, American botanist and author (d. 1964)
  • 1899 – Pavel Haas, Czech composer (d. 1944)
  • 1903 – Hermann Engelhard, German runner and coach (d. 1984)
  • 1903 – Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist, painter and illustrator (d. 2003)
  • 1905 – Jacques Goddet, French journalist (d. 2000)
  • 1905 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author (d. 1980)
  • 1908 – William Frankena, American philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Russian poet and author (d. 1971)
  • 1911 – Irving Fein, American producer and manager (d. 2012)
  • 1912 – Kazimierz Leski, Polish pilot and engineer (d. 2000)
  • 1912 – Mary McCarthy, American novelist and critic (d. 1989)
  • 1912 – Vishnu Prabhakar, Indian author and playwright (d. 2009)
  • 1913 – Madihe Pannaseeha Thero, Sri Lankan monk and scholar (d. 2003)
  • 1913 – Luis Taruc, Filipino political activist (d. 2005)
  • 1914 – William Vickrey, Canadian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
  • 1915 – Wilhelm Gliese, German soldier and astronomer (d. 1993)
  • 1916 – Joseph Cyril Bamford, English businessman, founded J. C. Bamford (d. 2001)
  • 1916 – Tchan Fou-li, Chinese photographer (d. 2018)
  • 1916 – Herbert Friedman, American physicist and astronomer (d. 2000)
  • 1916 – Buddy O’Connor, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1977)
  • 1918 – Robert A. Boyd, Canadian engineer (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – James Joll, English historian, author, and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1918 – Eddie Lopat, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1992)
  • 1918 – Dee Molenaar, American mountaineer (d. 2020)
  • 1918 – Robert Roosa, American economist and banker (d. 1993)
  • 1918 – Tibor Szele, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1955)
  • 1918 – Josephine Webb, American engineer
  • 1919 – Antonia Mesina, Italian martyr and saint (d. 1935)
  • 1919 – Gérard Pelletier, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1997)
  • 1919 – Vladimir Simagin, Russian chess player and coach (d. 1968)
  • 1919 – Paolo Soleri, Italian-American architect, designed the Cosanti (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Hans Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater (d. 2017)
  • 1921 – Judy Holliday, American actress and singer (d. 1965)
  • 1921 – Jane Russell, American actress and singer (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – William Edwin Self, American actor, producer, and production manager (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Burkinabé historian, politician and writer (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Jacques Hébert, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Pontus Hultén, Swedish art collector and historian (d. 2006)
  • 1924 – Ezzatolah Entezami, Iranian actor (d. 2018)
  • 1924 – Wally Fawkes, British-Canadian jazz clarinetist and a satirical cartoonist
  • 1924 – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Larisa Avdeyeva, Russian mezzo-soprano (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Stanley Moss, American poet, publisher, and art dealer
  • 1925 – Giovanni Spadolini, Italian journalist and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1994)
  • 1925 – Maureen Stapleton, American actress (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Fred Cone, American football player
  • 1926 – Conrad Hall, French-American cinematographer (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Carl Stokes, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Seychelles (d. 1996)
  • 1928 – Wolfgang Haken, German-American mathematician and academic
  • 1928 – Fiorella Mari, Brazilian-Italian actress
  • 1928 – Margit Bara, Hungarian actress (d. 2016)
  • 1929 – Alexandre Lagoya, Egyptian-Greek guitarist and composer (d. 1999)
  • 1930 – Gerald Kaufman, English journalist and politician, Shadow Foreign Secretary (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Mike McCormack, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Zlatko Grgić, Croatian-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1931 – Margaret Heckler, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
  • 1931 – David Kushnir, Israeli Olympic long-jumper
  • 1932 – Bernard Ingham, English journalist and civil servant
  • 1932 – Lalo Schifrin, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor
  • 1932 – O.C. Smith, American R&B/jazz singer (d. 2001)
  • 1933 – Bernie Kopell, American actor and comedian
  • 1935 – Françoise Sagan, French author and playwright (d. 2004)
  • 1937 – John Edrich, English cricketer and coach
  • 1938 – Don Black, English songwriter
  • 1938 – John W. Dower, American historian and author
  • 1938 – Michael M. Richter, German mathematician and computer scientist
  • 1940 – Mariette Hartley, American actress and television personality
  • 1940 – Michael Ruse, Canadian philosopher and academic
  • 1941 – Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Indian bishop
  • 1941 – Joe Flaherty, American-Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1941 – Lyman Ward, Canadian actor
  • 1942 – Clive Brooke, Baron Brooke of Alverthorpe, English businessman and politician
  • 1942 – Marjorie Margolies, American journalist and politician
  • 1942 – Henry S. Taylor, American author and poet
  • 1942 – Togo D. West, Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
  • 1943 – Eumir Deodato, Brazilian pianist, composer, and producer
  • 1943 – Diane Marleau, Canadian accountant and politician, Canadian Minister of Health (d. 2013)
  • 1943 – Brian Sternberg, American pole vaulter (d. 2013)
  • 1944 – Ray Davies, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1944 – Tony Scott, English-American director and producer (d. 2012)
  • 1945 – Robert Dewar, English-American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Adam Zagajewski, Polish author and poet
  • 1946 – Per Eklund, Swedish race car driver
  • 1946 – Kate Hoey, Northern Irish-British academic and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
  • 1946 – Brenda Holloway, American singer-songwriter
  • 1946 – Trond Kirkvaag, Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1946 – Malcolm Rifkind, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1946 – Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, Iraqi-British businessman, founded M&C Saatchi and Saatchi & Saatchi
  • 1947 – Meredith Baxter, American actress
  • 1947 – Shirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer, judge, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1947 – Michael Gross, American actor
  • 1947 – Joey Molland, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Wade Phillips, American football coach
  • 1947 – Fernando Savater, Spanish philosopher and author
  • 1948 – Jovan Aćimović, Serbian footballer and manager
  • 1948 – Ian McEwan, British novelist and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish author and translator
  • 1948 – Philippe Sarde, French composer and conductor
  • 1949 – John Agard, Guyanese-English author, poet, and playwright
  • 1949 – Derek Emslie, Lord Kingarth, Scottish lawyer and judge
  • 1950 – Anne Carson, Canadian poet and academic
  • 1950 – Joey Kramer, American rock drummer and songwriter (Aerosmith)
  • 1950 – Enn Reitel, Scottish actor and screenwriter
  • 1950 – Trygve Thue, Norwegian guitarist and record producer
  • 1950 – John Paul Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1951 – Jim Douglas, American academic and politician, 80th Governor of Vermont
  • 1951 – Terence Etherton, English lawyer and judge
  • 1951 – Alan Hudson, English footballer
  • 1951 – Nils Lofgren, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Lenore Manderson, Australian anthropologist and academic
  • 1951 – Mona-Lisa Pursiainen, Finnish sprinter (d. 2000)
  • 1952 – Judith Bingham, English singer-songwriter
  • 1952 – Jeremy Coney, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1952 – Patrick Dunleavy, English political scientist and academic
  • 1952 – Kōichi Mashimo, Japanese director and screenwriter
  • 1953 – Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani financier and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 2007)
  • 1954 – Már Guðmundsson, Icelandic economist, former Governor of Central Bank of Iceland
  • 1954 – Mark Kimmitt, American general and politician, 16th Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
  • 1954 – Robert Menasse, Austrian author and academic
  • 1955 – Tim Bray, Canadian software developer and businessman
  • 1955 – Michel Platini, French footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Rick Sutcliffe, American baseball player and broadcaster
  • 1957 – Berkeley Breathed, American author and illustrator
  • 1957 – Luis Antonio Tagle, Filipino cardinal
  • 1958 – Víctor Montoya, Bolivian journalist and author
  • 1958 – Gennady Padalka, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1959 – John Baron, English captain and politician
  • 1959 – Tom Chambers, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1959 – Marcella Detroit, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1959 – Kathy Mattea, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1960 – Kate Brown, American politician, 38th Governor of Oregon
  • 1960 – Karl Erjavec, Slovenian politician
  • 1961 – Manu Chao, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1961 – Sascha Konietzko, German keyboard player and producer
  • 1961 – Joko Widodo, Indonesian businessman and politician, 7th President of Indonesia
  • 1961 – Kip Winger, American rock singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1961 – Iztok Mlakar, Slovenian actor and singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Shōhei Takada, Japanese shogi player and theoretician
  • 1962 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1990)
  • 1963 – Dario Marianelli, Italian pianist and composer
  • 1963 – Mike Sherrard, American football player
  • 1964 – David Morrissey, English actor and director
  • 1964 – Dimitris Papaioannou, Greek director and choreographer
  • 1964 – Dean Saunders, Welsh footballer and manager
  • 1964 – Doug Savant, American actor
  • 1965 – David Beerling, English biologist and academic
  • 1965 – Yang Liwei, Chinese general, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1965 – Ewen McKenzie, Australian rugby player and coach
  • 1965 – Lana Wachowski, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Gretchen Carlson, American model and television journalist, Miss America 1989
  • 1967 – Jim Breuer, American comedian, actor, and producer
  • 1967 – Derrick Coleman, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Pierre Omidyar, French-American businessman, founded eBay
  • 1967 – Carrie Preston, American actress, director, and producer
  • 1967 – Yingluck Shinawatra, Thai businesswoman and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Thailand
  • 1968 – Sonique, English singer-songwriter and DJ
  • 1970 – Eric Reed, American pianist and composer
  • 1971 – Tyronne Drakeford, American football player
  • 1972 – Nobuharu Asahara, Japanese sprinter and long jumper
  • 1972 – Neil Doak, Northern Irish cricketer and rugby player
  • 1972 – Irene van Dyk, South African-New Zealand netball player
  • 1973 – Juliette Lewis, American actress and singer-songwriter
  • 1973 – John Mitchell, English guitarist, vocalist and songwriter
  • 1974 – Rob Kelly, American football player
  • 1974 – Craig Lowndes, Australian race car driver
  • 1974 – Flavio Roma, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Brian Simmons, American football player
  • 1976 – Shelley Craft, Australian television host
  • 1976 – Mike Einziger, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1976 – Nigel Lappin, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1977 – Michael Gomez, Irish boxer
  • 1977 – Al Wilson, American football player
  • 1978 – Thomas Blondeau, Flemish writer (d. 2013)
  • 1978 – Matt Kuchar, American golfer
  • 1978 – Cristiano Lupatelli, Italian footballer
  • 1978 – Gervase Markham, British software engineer (d. 2018)
  • 1978 – Dejan Ognjanović, Montenegrin footballer
  • 1978 – Rim’K, French rapper
  • 1979 – Kostas Katsouranis, Greek footballer
  • 1979 – Chris Pratt, American actor
  • 1980 – Michael Crocker, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1980 – Łukasz Cyborowski, Polish chess player
  • 1980 – Richard Jefferson, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Sendy Rleal, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Yann Danis, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Garrett Jones, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Brandon Flowers, American singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Brad Walker, American pole vaulter
  • 1982 – Lee Dae-ho, South Korean baseball player
  • 1982 – Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
  • 1982 – Jussie Smollett, American actor and singer
  • 1983 – Edward Snowden, American activist and academic
  • 1985 – Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter
  • 1985 – Sentayehu Ejigu, Ethiopian runner
  • 1985 – Byron Schammer, Australian footballer
  • 1986 – Kathleen O’Kelly-Kennedy, Australian wheelchair basketball player
  • 1986 – Hideaki Wakui, Japanese baseball player
  • 1987 – Pablo Barrera, Mexican footballer
  • 1987 – Sebastian Prödl, Austrian footballer
  • 1987 – Dale Thomas, Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Allyssa DeHaan, American basketball and volleyball player
  • 1988 – Paolo Tornaghi, Italian footballer
  • 1988 – Thaddeus Young, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Abubaker Kaki, Sudanese runner
  • 1990 – Ričardas Berankis, Lithuanian tennis player
  • 1990 – Lunar C, English rapper
  • 1990 – François Moubandje, Swiss footballer
  • 1990 – Håvard Nordtveit, Norwegian footballer
  • 1991 – Gaël Kakuta, French footballer
  • 1992 – MAX, American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer and model
  • 1994 – Başak Eraydın, Turkish tennis player
  • 1996 – Tyrone May, Australian rugby league player
  • 1997 – Rebecca Black, American singer-songwriter
  • 1997 – Derrius Guice, American football player
  • 2011 – Lil Bub, American celebrity cat

Deaths on June 21

  • 532 – Emperor Jiemin of Northern Wei, former Northern Wei emperor
  • 866 – Rodulf, Frankish archbishop
  • 868 – Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam of Shia Islam (b. 829)
  • 870 – Al-Muhtadi, Muslim caliph
  • 947 – Zhang Li, official of the Liao Dynasty
  • 1040 – Fulk III, Count of Anjou (b. 972)
  • 1171 – Walter de Luci, French-English monk (b. 1103)
  • 1208 – Philip of Swabia (b. 1177)
  • 1305 – Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (b. 1271)
  • 1359 – Erik Magnusson, king of Sweden (b. 1339)
  • 1377 – Edward III of England (b. 1312)
  • 1421 – Jean Le Maingre, French general (b. 1366)
  • 1527 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and author (b. 1469)
  • 1529 – John Skelton, English poet and educator (b. 1460)
  • 1547 – Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter and educator (b. 1485)
  • 1558 – Piero Strozzi, Italian general (b. 1510)
  • 1582 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1534)
  • 1585 – Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland (b. 1532)
  • 1591 – Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint (b. 1568)
  • 1596 – Jean Liebault, French agronomist and physician (b. 1535)
  • 1621 – Louis III, Cardinal of Guise (b. 1575)
  • 1621 – Kryštof Harant, Czech soldier and composer (b. 1564)
  • 1622 – Salomon Schweigger, German theologian (b. 1551)
  • 1631 – John Smith, English admiral and explorer (b. 1580)
  • 1652 – Inigo Jones, English architect, designed the Queen’s House and Wilton House (b. 1573)
  • 1661 – Andrea Sacchi, Italian painter (b. 1599)
  • 1737 – Matthieu Marais, French author, critic, and jurist (b. 1664)
  • 1738 – Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1674)
  • 1796 – Richard Gridley, American soldier and engineer (b. 1710)
  • 1824 – Étienne Aignan, French playwright and translator (b. 1773)
  • 1865 – Frances Adeline Seward, American wife of William H. Seward (b. 1824)
  • 1874 – Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist and astronomer (b. 1814)
  • 1876 – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician 8th President of Mexico (b. 1794)
  • 1880 – Theophilus H. Holmes, American general (b. 1804)
  • 1893 – Leland Stanford, American businessman and politician, 8th Governor of California (b. 1824)
  • 1908 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer and educator (b. 1844)
  • 1914 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
  • 1929 – Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, English sociologist, journalist, and academic (b. 1864)
  • 1934 – Thorne Smith, American author (b. 1892)
  • 1940 – Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1881)
  • 1940 – Édouard Vuillard, French painter (b. 1868)
  • 1951 – Charles Dillon Perrine, American astronomer (b. 1867)
  • 1951 – Gustave Sandras, French gymnast (b. 1872)
  • 1952 – Wop May, Canadian captain and pilot (b. 1896)
  • 1954 – Gideon Sundback, Swedish-American engineer, developed the zipper (b. 1880)
  • 1957 – Claude Farrère, French captain and author (b. 1876)
  • 1957 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
  • 1964 – James Chaney, American civil rights activist (b. 1943)
  • 1964 – Andrew Goodman, American civil rights activist (b. 1943)
  • 1964 – Michael Schwerner, American civil rights activist (b. 1939)
  • 1967 – Theodore Sizer, American professor of the history of art (b. 1892)
  • 1969 – Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (b. 1934)
  • 1970 – Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia (b. 1901)
  • 1970 – Piers Courage, English race car driver (b. 1942)
  • 1976 – Margaret Herrick, American librarian (b. 1902)
  • 1980 – Bert Kaempfert, German conductor and composer (b. 1923)
  • 1981 – Don Figlozzi, American illustrator and animator (b. 1909)
  • 1985 – Hector Boyardee, Italian-American chef and businessman, founded Chef Boyardee (b. 1897)
  • 1985 – Tage Erlander, Swedish lieutenant and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1901)
  • 1986 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1923)
  • 1987 – Madman Muntz, American engineer and businessman, founded the Muntz Car Company (b. 1914)
  • 1988 – Bobby Dodd, American football coach (b. 1908)
  • 1990 – Cedric Belfrage, English journalist and author, co-founded the National Guardian (b. 1904)
  • 1990 – June Christy, American singer (b. 1925)
  • 1992 – Ben Alexander, Australian rugby league player (b. 1971)
  • 1992 – Arthur Gorrie, Australian hobby shop proprietor (b. 1922)
  • 1992 – Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah, Bangladeshi poet, author, and playwright (b. 1956)
  • 1992 – Li Xiannian, Chinese captain and politician, 3rd President of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1909)
  • 1994 – William Wilson Morgan, American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1906)
  • 1997 – Shintaro Katsu, Japanese actor, singer, director, and producer (b. 1931)
  • 1997 – Fidel Velázquez Sánchez, Mexican trade union leader (b. 1900)
  • 1998 – Harry Cranbrook Allen, English historian (b. 1917)
  • 1998 – Anastasio Ballestrero, Italian cardinal (b. 1913)
  • 1998 – Al Campanis, American baseball player and manager (b. 1916)
  • 1999 – Kami, Japanese drummer (b. 1973)
  • 2000 – Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American pianist and composer (b. 1911)
  • 2001 – John Lee Hooker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1917)
  • 2001 – Soad Hosny, Egyptian actress and singer (b. 1942)
  • 2001 – Carroll O’Connor, American actor and producer (b. 1924)
  • 2002 – Timothy Findley, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1930)
  • 2003 – Roger Neilson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1934)
  • 2003 – Leon Uris, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
  • 2004 – Leonel Brizola, Brazilian engineer and politician, Governor of Rio de Janeiro (b. 1922)
  • 2004 – Ruth Leach Amonette, American businesswoman (b. 1916)
  • 2005 – Jaime Sin, Filipino cardinal (b. 1928)
  • 2006 – Jared C. Monti, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1975)
  • 2007 – Bob Evans, American businessman, founded Bob Evans Restaurants (b. 1918)
  • 2008 – Scott Kalitta, American race car driver (b. 1962)
  • 2010 – Russell Ash, English author (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Irwin Barker, Canadian actor and screenwriter (b. 1956)
  • 2010 – İlhan Selçuk, Turkish lawyer, journalist, and author (b. 1925)
  • 2011 – Robert Kroetsch, Canadian author and poet (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Richard Adler, American composer and producer (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Abid Hussain, Indian economist and diplomat, Indian Ambassador to the United States (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Sunil Janah, Indian photographer and journalist (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Anna Schwartz, American economist and author (b. 1915)
  • 2013 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Yozo Ishikawa, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Defense (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Walter Kieber, Austrian-Liechtenstein politician, 7th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Wong Ho Leng, Malaysian lawyer and politician (b. 1959)
  • 2015 – Darryl Hamilton, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1964)
  • 2015 – Veijo Meri, Finnish author and poet (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Remo Remotti, Italian actor, playwright, and poet (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, German soldier and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Gunther Schuller, American horn player, composer, and conductor (b. 1925)
  • 2016 – Pierre Lalonde, Canadian television host and singer (b. 1941)
  • 2018 – Charles Krauthammer, American columnist and conservative political commentator (b.1950)

Holidays and observances on June 21

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alban of Mainz
    • Aloysius Gonzaga
    • Engelmund of Velsen
    • Martin of Tongres
    • Onesimos Nesib (Lutheran)
    • June 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of the Martyrs (Togo)
  • Father’s Day (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Uganda, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates)
  • Go Skateboarding Day
  • International Yoga Day (international)
  • National Aboriginal Day (Canada)
  • Solstice-related observances (see also June 20):
    • Day of Private Reflection
    • International Surfing Day
    • National Day (Greenland)
    • We Tripantu, a winter solstice festival in the southern hemisphere. (Mapuche, southern Chile)
    • Willkakuti, an Andean-Amazonic New Year (Aymara)
    • Fête de la Musique
  • World Humanist Day (Humanism)
  • World Hydrography Day (international)

June 21 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer solstice sometimes occurs on this date, while the Winter solstice occurs in the Southern Hemisphere.

  • 451 – Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius’ battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.
  • 1180 – First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan.
  • 1620 – The Battle of Höchst takes place during the Thirty Years’ War.
  • 1631 – The Sack of Baltimore: The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.
  • 1652 – Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha is appointed Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
  • 1685 – Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater.
  • 1756 – A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
  • 1782 – The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.
  • 1787 – Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention to call the government the ‘United States’.
  • 1789 – Deputies of the French Third Estate take the Tennis Court Oath.
  • 1819 – The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail.
  • 1837 – Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.
  • 1840 – Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.
  • 1862 – Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
  • 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell installs the world’s first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
  • 1893 – Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.
  • 1895 – The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.
  • 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China.
  • 1900 – Baron Eduard Toll, leader of the Russian Polar Expedition of 1900, departs Saint Petersburg in Russia on the explorer ship Zarya, never to return.
  • 1921 – Workers of Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, begin a four-month strike.
  • 1942 – The Holocaust: Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
  • 1943 – The Detroit race riot breaks out and continues for three more days.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches Operation Bellicose, the first shuttle bombing raid of the war. Lancaster bombers damage the V-2 rocket production facilities at the Zeppelin Works while en route to an air base in Algeria.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”.
  • 1944 – Continuation War: The Soviet Union demands an unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses.
  • 1944 – The experimental MW 18014 V-2 rocket reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space.
  • 1945 – The United States Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip.
  • 1948 – The Deutsche Mark is introduced in Western Allied-occupied Germany. The Soviet Military Administration in Germany responded by imposing the Berlin Blockade four days later.
  • 1956 – A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people.
  • 1959 – A rare June hurricane strikes Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35.
  • 1960 – The Mali Federation gains independence from France (it later splits into Mali and Senegal).
  • 1963 – Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union and the United States sign an agreement to establish the so-called “red telephone” link between Washington and Moscow.
  • 1972 – Watergate scandal: An 18½-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.
  • 1973 – Snipers fire upon left-wing Peronists in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in what is known as the Ezeiza massacre. At least 13 are killed and more than 300 are injured.
  • 1973 – Aeroméxico Flight 229 crashes on approach to Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport, killing all 27 people on board.
  • 1975 – The film Jaws is released in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing film of that time and starting the trend of films known as “summer blockbusters”.
  • 1979 – ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
  • 1982 – The Argentine Corbeta Uruguay base on Southern Thule surrenders to Royal Marine commandos in the final action of the Falklands War.
  • 1990 – Asteroid Eureka is discovered.
  • 1990 – The 7.4 Mw  Manjil–Rudbar earthquake affects northern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 35,000–50,000, and injuring 60,000–105,000.
  • 1991 – German Bundestag votes to move seat of government from the former West German capital of Bonn to the present capital Berlin.
  • 1994 – The 1994 Imam Reza shrine bomb explosion in Iran leaves at least 25 dead and 70 to 300 injured.
  • 2003 – The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Births on June 20

  • 1005 – Ali az-Zahir, Fatimid caliph of Egypt (d. 1036)
  • 1389 – John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, English statesman (d. 1435)
  • 1469 – Gian Galeazzo Sforza, duke of Milan (d. 1494)
  • 1566 – Sigismund III Vasa, Polish and Swedish king (d. 1632)
  • 1583 – Jacob De la Gardie, Swedish soldier and politician, Lord High Constable of Sweden (d. 1652)
  • 1634 – Charles Emmanuel II, duke of Savoy (d. 1675)
  • 1642 – George Hickes, English minister and scholar (d. 1715)
  • 1647 – John George III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1691)
  • 1717 – Jacques Saly, French sculptor and painter (d. 1776)
  • 1723 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1816)
  • 1737 – Tokugawa Ieharu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1786)
  • 1754 – Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, princess of Baden (d. 1832)
  • 1756 – Joseph Martin Kraus, German-Swedish composer and educator (d. 1792)
  • 1761 – Jacob Hübner, German entomologist and author (d. 1826)
  • 1763 – Wolfe Tone, Irish rebel leader (d. 1798)
  • 1770 – Moses Waddel, American minister and academic (d. 1840)
  • 1771 – Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist, and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright (d. 1820)
  • 1771 – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (d. 1848)
  • 1777 – Jean-Jacques Lartigue, Canadian bishop (d. 1840)
  • 1778 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac, French politician, 7th Prime Minister of France (d. 1832)
  • 1786 – Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French poet and author (d. 1859)
  • 1796 – Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso, Italian cardinal (d. 1878)
  • 1808 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1888)
  • 1809 – Isaak August Dorner, German theologian and academic (d. 1884)
  • 1813 – Joseph Autran, French poet and author (d. 1877)
  • 1819 – Jacques Offenbach, German-French cellist and composer (d. 1880)
  • 1847 – Gina Krog, Norwegian suffragist and women’s rights activist (d. 1916)
  • 1855 – Richard Lodge, English historian and academic (d. 1936)
  • 1858 – Charles W. Chesnutt, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1932)
  • 1860 – Alexander Winton, Scottish-American race car driver and engineer (d. 1932)
  • 1860 – Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, footballer, and coach (d. 1937)
  • 1861 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
  • 1865 – George Redmayne Murray, English biologist and physician (d. 1939)
  • 1866 – James Burns, English cricketer (d. 1957)
  • 1869 – Laxmanrao Kirloskar, Indian businessman, founded the Kirloskar Group (d. 1956)
  • 1870 – Georges Dufrénoy, French painter and academic (d. 1943)
  • 1872 – George Carpenter, American 5th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1948)
  • 1875 – Reginald Punnett, English geneticist, statistician, and academic (d. 1967)
  • 1882 – Daniel Sawyer, American golfer (d. 1937)
  • 1884 – Mary R. Calvert, American astronomer and author (d. 1974)
  • 1884 – Johannes Heinrich Schultz, German psychiatrist and psychotherapist (d. 1970)
  • 1885 – Andrzej Gawroński, Polish linguist and academic (d. 1927)
  • 1887 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
  • 1889 – John S. Paraskevopoulos, Greek-South African astronomer and academic (d. 1951)
  • 1891 – Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Italian soprano (d. 1951)
  • 1891 – John A. Costello, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1976)
  • 1893 – Wilhelm Zaisser, German soldier and politician (d. 1958)
  • 1894 – Lloyd Hall, American chemist and academic (d. 1971)
  • 1896 – Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1982)
  • 1897 – Elisabeth Hauptmann, German author and playwright (d. 1973)
  • 1899 – Jean Moulin, French soldier and engineer (d. 1943)
  • 1903 – Sam Rabin, English wrestler, sculptor, and singer (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Lillian Hellman, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1984)
  • 1906 – Bob King, American high jumper and obstetrician (d. 1965)
  • 1907 – Jimmy Driftwood, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (d. 1998)
  • 1908 – Billy Werber, American baseball player (d. 2009)
  • 1908 – Gus Schilling, American actor (d. 1957)
  • 1909 – Errol Flynn, Australian-American actor (d. 1959)
  • 1910 – Josephine Johnson, American author and poet (d. 1990)
  • 1911 – Gail Patrick, American actress (d. 1980)
  • 1912 – Anthony Buckeridge, English author (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Jack Torrance, American shot putter and football player (d. 1969)
  • 1914 – Gordon Juckes, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1994)
  • 1914 – Muazzez İlmiye Çığ, Turkish archaeologist and academic
  • 1915 – Dick Reynolds, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – Terence Young, Chinese-English director and screenwriter (d. 1994)
  • 1916 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (d. 1973)
  • 1916 – T. Texas Tyler, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
  • 1917 – Helena Rasiowa, Austrian-Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1918 – George Lynch, American race car driver (d. 1997)
  • 1918 – Zoltán Sztáray, Hungarian-American author (d. 2011)
  • 1920 – Geoffrey Baker, English Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the British Army (d. 1980)
  • 1920 – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (d. 1954)
  • 1920 – Thomas Jefferson, American trumpet player (d. 1986)
  • 1921 – Byron Farwell, American historian and author (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – Pancho Segura, Ecuadorian tennis player (d. 2017)
  • 1923 – Peter Gay, German-American historian, author, and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – Jerzy Nowak, Polish actor and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Chet Atkins, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2001)
  • 1924 – Fritz Koenig, German sculptor and academic, designed The Sphere (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Doris Hart, American tennis player and educator (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Audie Murphy, American lieutenant and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1971)
  • 1926 – Rehavam Ze’evi, Israeli general and politician, 9th Israeli Minister of Tourism (d. 2001)
  • 1927 – Simin Behbahani, Iranian poet and activist (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Eric Dolphy, American saxophonist, flute player, and composer (d. 1964)
  • 1928 – Martin Landau, American actor and producer (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – Jean-Marie Le Pen, French intelligence officer and politician
  • 1928 – Asrat Woldeyes, Ethiopian surgeon and educator (d. 1999)
  • 1929 – Edgar Bronfman, Sr., Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
  • 1929 – Anne Weale, English journalist and author (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Edith Windsor, American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish sculptor and academic (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – John Waine, English bishop
  • 1931 – Olympia Dukakis, American actress
  • 1931 – James Tolkan, American actor and director
  • 1932 – Robert Rozhdestvensky, Russian poet and author (d. 1994)
  • 1933 – Danny Aiello, American actor (d. 2019)
  • 1933 – Claire Tomalin, English journalist and author
  • 1934 – Wendy Craig, English actress
  • 1935 – Jim Barker, American politician (d. 2005)
  • 1935 – Len Dawson, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1935 – Armando Picchi, Italian footballer and coach (d. 1971)
  • 1936 – Billy Guy, American singer (d. 2002)
  • 1936 – Enn Vetemaa, Estonian author and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1937 – Stafford Dean, English actor and singer
  • 1937 – Jerry Keller, American singer-songwriter
  • 1938 – Joan Kirner, Australian educator and politician, 42nd Premier of Victoria (d. 2015)
  • 1938 – Mickie Most, English music producer (d. 2003)
  • 1939 – Ramakant Desai, Indian cricketer (d. 1998)
  • 1939 – Budge Rogers, English rugby player and manager
  • 1940 – Eugen Drewermann, German priest and theologian
  • 1940 – John Mahoney, English actor (d. 2018)
  • 1941 – Stephen Frears, English actor, director, and producer
  • 1941 – Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut
  • 1942 – Neil Trudinger, Australian mathematician and theorist
  • 1942 – Brian Wilson, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1945 – Anne Murray, Canadian singer and guitarist
  • 1946 – Xanana Gusmão, Timorese soldier and politician, 1st President of East Timor
  • 1946 – David Kazhdan, Russian-Israeli mathematician and academic
  • 1946 – Bob Vila, American television host
  • 1946 – André Watts, American pianist and educator
  • 1947 – Dolores “LaLa” Brooks, American pop singer (The Crystals)
  • 1948 – Cirilo Flores, American bishop (d. 2014)
  • 1948 – Ludwig Scotty, Nauruan politician, 10th President of Nauru
  • 1949 – Alan Longmuir, Scottish bass player and songwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1949 – Lionel Richie, American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor
  • 1949 – Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 8th president of Sri Lanka
  • 1950 – Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi politician, 76th Prime Minister of Iraq
  • 1951 – Tress MacNeille, American actress and voice artist
  • 1951 – Sheila McLean, Scottish scholar and academic
  • 1951 – Paul Muldoon, Irish poet and academic
  • 1952 – John Goodman, American actor
  • 1952 – Vikram Seth, Indian author and poet
  • 1953 – Robert Crais, American author and screenwriter
  • 1953 – Raúl Ramírez, Mexican tennis player
  • 1953 – Willy Rampf, German engineer
  • 1954 – Allan Lamb, South African-English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1954 – Ilan Ramon, Israeli colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
  • 1955 – E. Lynn Harris, American author (d. 2009)
  • 1956 – Peter Reid, English footballer and manager
  • 1956 – Sohn Suk-hee, South Korean newscaster
  • 1958 – Kelly Johnson, English hard rock guitarist and songwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1960 – Philip M. Parker, American economist and author
  • 1960 – John Taylor, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor
  • 1963 – Kirk Baptiste, American sprinter
  • 1963 – Mark Ovenden, British author and broadcaster
  • 1964 – Pierfrancesco Chili, Italian motorcycle racer
  • 1964 – Silke Möller, German runner
  • 1966 – Boaz Yakin, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Nicole Kidman, American-Australian actress
  • 1967 – Dan Tyminski, American singer-songwriter
  • 1968 – Robert Rodriguez, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1969 – Paulo Bento, Portuguese footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Misha Verbitsky, Russian mathematician and academic
  • 1969 – MaliVai Washington, American tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Andrea Nahles, German politician, German Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
  • 1970 – Athol Williams, South African poet and social philosopher
  • 1971 – Rodney Rogers, American basketball player and coach
  • 1971 – Jeordie White, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and bass player
  • 1972 – Alexis Alexoudis, Greek footballer
  • 1973 – Chino Moreno, American singer-songwriter
  • 1975 – Joan Balcells, Spanish tennis player
  • 1975 – Daniel Zítka, Czech footballer
  • 1976 – Juliano Belletti, Brazilian footballer
  • 1976 – Carlos Lee, Panamanian baseball player
  • 1977 – Gordan Giriček, Croatian basketball player
  • 1977 – Amos Lee, American singer-songwriter
  • 1978 – Frank Lampard, English footballer
  • 1978 – Jan-Paul Saeijs, Dutch footballer
  • 1979 – Charles Howell III, American golfer
  • 1980 – Franco Semioli, Italian footballer
  • 1980 – Tika Sumpter, American actress
  • 1980 – Fabian Wegmann, German cyclist
  • 1981 – Brede Hangeland, Norwegian footballer
  • 1982 – Aleksei Berezutski, Russian footballer
  • 1982 – Vasili Berezutski, Russian footballer
  • 1982 – Example, English singer/rapper
  • 1983 – Josh Childress, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Darren Sproles, American football player
  • 1984 – Hassan Adams, American basketball player
  • 1985 – Saki Aibu, Japanese actress
  • 1985 – Aurélien Chedjou, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1985 – Matt Flynn, American football player
  • 1986 – Dreama Walker, American actress
  • 1987 – A-fu, Taiwanese singer and songwriter
  • 1987 – Carsten Ball, Australian tennis player
  • 1987 – Asmir Begović, Bosnian footballer
  • 1987 – Joseph Ebuya, Kenyan runner
  • 1987 – Kierra Sheard, American gospel singer
  • 1989 – Christopher Mintz-Plasse, American actor
  • 1989 – Javier Pastore, Argentinian footballer
  • 1989 – Terrelle Pryor, American football player
  • 1990 – DeQuan Jones, American basketball player
  • 1991 – Kalidou Koulibaly, Senegalese footballer
  • 1991 – Rick ten Voorde, Dutch footballer
  • 1993 – Sead Kolašinac, Bosnian footballer
  • 1994 – Leonard Williams, American football player
  • 1995 – Caroline Weir, Scottish footballer
  • 1996 – Sam Bennett, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1997 – Bálint Kopasz, Hungarian sprint canoeist

Deaths on June 20

  • 465 – Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei (b. 440)
  • 656 – Uthman ibn Affan, Rashidun caliph (b. 577)
  • 840 – Louis the Pious, Carolingian emperor (b. 778)
  • 930 – Hucbald, Frankish monk and music theorist
  • 981 – Adalbert, archbishop of Magdeburg
  • 1176 – Mikhail of Vladimir, Russian prince
  • 1351 – Margareta Ebner, German nun and mystic (b. 1291)
  • 1405 – Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, fourth son of King Robert II of Scotland (b. 1343)
  • 1597 – Willem Barentsz, Dutch cartographer and explorer (b. 1550)
  • 1605 – Feodor II of Russia (b. 1589)
  • 1668 – Heinrich Roth, German missionary and scholar (b. 1620)
  • 1776 – Benjamin Huntsman, English businessman (b. 1704)
  • 1787 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German viol player and composer (b. 1723)
  • 1800 – Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, German mathematician and academic (b. 1719)
  • 1810 – Axel von Fersen the Younger, Swedish general and politician (b. 1755)
  • 1815 – Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (b. 1766)
  • 1820 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentinian general, economist, and politician (b. 1770)
  • 1837 – William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1765)
  • 1840 – Pierre Claude François Daunou, French historian and politician (b. 1761)
  • 1847 – Juan Larrea, Argentinian captain and politician (b. 1782)
  • 1869 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese commander (b. 1835)
  • 1870 – Jules de Goncourt, French historian and author (b. 1830)
  • 1872 – Élie Frédéric Forey, French general (b. 1804)
  • 1875 – Joseph Meek, American police officer and politician (b. 1810)
  • 1888 – Johannes Zukertort, Polish-English chess player (b. 1842)
  • 1906 – John Clayton Adams, English painter (b. 1840)
  • 1909 – Friedrich Martens, Estonian-Russian historian, lawyer, and diplomat (b. 1845)
  • 1925 – Josef Breuer, Austrian physician and psychologist (b. 1842)
  • 1929 – Emmanouil Benakis, Greek merchant and politician, 35th Mayor of Athens (b. 1843)
  • 1945 – Bruno Frank, German author, poet, and playwright (b. 1878)
  • 1947 – Bugsy Siegel, American mobster (b. 1906)
  • 1952 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (b. 1898)
  • 1958 – Kurt Alder, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
  • 1963 – Raphaël Salem, Greek-French mathematician and academic (b. 1898)
  • 1965 – Bernard Baruch, American financier and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1966 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1894)
  • 1974 – Horace Lindrum, Australian snooker player (b. 1912)
  • 1975 – Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Hatian anthropologist (b. 1898)
  • 1978 – Mark Robson, Canadian-American director and producer (b. 1913)
  • 1984 – Estelle Winwood, English actress (b. 1883)
  • 1995 – Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and educator (b. 1911)
  • 1997 – Cahit Külebi, Turkish poet and author (b. 1917)
  • 1999 – Clifton Fadiman, American game show host, author, and critic (b. 1902)
  • 2001 – Gina Cigna, French-Italian soprano (b. 1900)
  • 2002 – Erwin Chargaff, Austrian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1905)
  • 2002 – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Jim Bacon, Australian politician, 41st Premier of Tasmania (b. 1950)
  • 2005 – Larry Collins, American journalist, historian, and author (b. 1929)
  • 2005 – Jack Kilby, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
  • 2010 – Roberto Rosato, Italian footballer (b. 1943)
  • 2010 – Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (b. 1916)
  • 2011 – Ryan Dunn, American television personality (b. 1977)
  • 2012 – Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States. (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – LeRoy Neiman, American painter (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss of Köstritz (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Andrew Sarris, American critic (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – Ingvar Rydell, Swedish footballer (b. 1922)
  • 2015 – Angelo Niculescu, Romanian footballer and manager (b. 1921)
  • 2015 – Miriam Schapiro, Canadian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
  • 2017 – Prodigy, American music artist (b. 1974)

Holidays and observances on June 20

  • Christian feast day:
    • Adalbert of Magdeburg
    • Florentina
    • John of Matera
    • Blessed Margareta Ebner
    • Methodius of Olympus
    • Pope Silverius
    • June 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of the National Flag (Argentina)
  • The earliest date for the summer solstice in the Northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern hemisphere, and its related observance:
    • Earliest day on which Day of the Finnish Flag can fall, while June 26 is the latest; celebrated on Saturday of Midsummer’s Day (Finland)
    • International Surfing Day (on or near Summer solstice)
    • Litha / Midsummer celebrations in the northern hemisphere, Yule in the southern hemisphere.
  • Gas Sector Day (Azerbaijan)
  • Martyrs’ Day (Eritrea)
  • West Virginia Day (West Virginia)
  • World Refugee Day (International)

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 17

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

Deaths on June 17

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

Holidays and observances on June 17

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 15

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

Deaths on June 15

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

Holidays and observances on June 15

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

June 15 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 14

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

Deaths on June 14

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

Holidays and observances on June 14

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

June 14 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors.
  • 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of France, an inter-faith debate, known as the Disputation of Paris, starts between a Christian monk and four rabbis.
  • 1381 – Peasants’ Revolt: In England, rebels assemble at Blackheath, just outside London.
  • 1418 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Parisians slaughter Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and his suspected sympathizers, along with all prisoners, foreign bankers, and students and faculty of the College of Navarre.
  • 1429 – Hundred Years’ War: On the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
  • 1550 – The city of Helsinki, Finland (belonging to Sweden at the time) is founded by King Gustav I of Sweden.
  • 1653 – First Anglo-Dutch War: The Battle of the Gabbard begins, lasting until the following day.
  • 1665 – Thomas Willett is appointed the first mayor of New York City.
  • 1758 – French and Indian War: Siege of Louisbourg: James Wolfe’s attack at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, commences
  • 1772 – French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne and 25 of his men killed by Māori in New Zealand.
  • 1775 – American Revolution: British general Thomas Gage declares martial law in Massachusetts. The British offer a pardon to all colonists who lay down their arms. There would be only two exceptions to the amnesty: Samuel Adams and John Hancock, if captured, were to be hanged.
  • 1776 – The Virginia Declaration of Rights is adopted.
  • 1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battle of Ballynahinch.
  • 1817 – The earliest form of bicycle, the dandy horse, is driven by Karl von Drais.
  • 1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Isma’il Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom.
  • 1830 – Beginning of the Invasion of Algiers: Thiry-four thousand French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch.
  • 1864 – American Civil War, Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: Ulysses S. Grant gives the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee a victory when he pulls his Union troops from their position at Cold Harbor, Virginia and moves south.
  • 1898 – Philippine Declaration of Independence: General Emilio Aguinaldo declares the Philippines’ independence from Spain.
  • 1899 – New Richmond tornado: The eighth deadliest tornado in U.S. history kills 117 people and injures around 200.
  • 1914 – Massacre of Phocaea: Turkish irregulars slaughter 50 to 100 Greeks and expel thousands of others in an ethnic cleansing operation in the Ottoman Empire.
  • 1921 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky orders the use of chemical weapons against the Tambov Rebellion, bringing an end to the peasant uprising.
  • 1935 – A ceasefire is negotiated between Bolivia and Paraguay, ending the Chaco War.
  • 1939 – Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures’ Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.
  • 1939 – The Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, New York.
  • 1940 – World War II: Thirteen thousand British and French troops surrender to Major General Erwin Rommel at Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
  • 1942 – Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.
  • 1943 – The Holocaust: Germany liquidates the Jewish Ghetto in Brzeżany, Poland (now Berezhany, Ukraine). Around 1,180 Jews are led to the city’s old Jewish graveyard and shot.
  • 1944 – World War II: Operation Overlord: American paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division secure the town of Carentan, Normandy, France.
  • 1954 – Pope Pius XII canonises Dominic Savio, who was 14 years old at the time of his death, as a saint, making him at the time the youngest unmartyred saint in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2017, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged ten and nine at the time of their deaths, are declared saints.
  • 1963 – NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers is murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith during the civil rights movement.
  • 1964 – Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.
  • 1967 – The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.
  • 1975 – India, Judge Jagmohanlal Sinha of the city of Allahabad ruled that India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had used corrupt practices to win her seat in the Indian Parliament, and that she should be banned from holding any public office. Mrs. Gandhi sent word that she refused to resign.
  • 1979 – Bryan Allen wins the second Kremer prize for a man powered flight across the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross.
  • 1987 – The Central African Republic’s former emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa is sentenced to death for crimes he had committed during his 13-year rule.
  • 1987 – Cold War: At the Brandenburg Gate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
  • 1988 – Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 46, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, crashes short of the runway at Libertador General José de San Martín Airport, killing all 22 people on board.
  • 1990 – Russia Day: The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty.
  • 1991 – Russians first democratically elected Boris Yeltsin as the President of Russia.
  • 1991 – Kokkadichcholai massacre: The Sri Lankan Army massacres 152 minority Tamil civilians in the village of Kokkadichcholai near the eastern province town of Batticaloa.
  • 1993 – An election takes place in Nigeria and is won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. Its results are later annulled by the military Government of Ibrahim Babangida.
  • 1994 – Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman are murdered outside Simpson’s home in Los Angeles. Her estranged husband, O.J. Simpson is later charged with the murders, but is acquitted by a jury.
  • 1997 – Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London.
  • 1999 – Kosovo War: Operation Joint Guardian begins when a NATO-led United Nations peacekeeping force (KFor) enters the province of Kosovo in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
  • 2009 – Analog television stations (excluding low-powered stations) switch to digital television following the DTV Delay Act.
  • 2009 – A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to wide-ranging local and international protests.
  • 2016 – Forty-nine civilians are killed and 58 others injured in an attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida; the gunman, Omar Mateen, is killed in a gunfight with police.
  • 2017 – American student Otto Warmbier returns home in a coma after spending 17 months in a North Korean prison and dies a week later.
  • 2018 – United States President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea held the first meeting between leaders of their two countries in Singapore.

Births on June 12

  • 950 – Reizei, Japanese emperor (d. 1011)
  • 1107 – Gao Zong, Chinese emperor (d. 1187)
  • 1161 – Constance, Duchess of Brittany (d. 1201)
  • 1519 – Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1574)
  • 1561 – Anna of Württemberg, German princess (d. 1616)
  • 1564 – John Casimir, Duke of Saxe-Coburg (d. 1633)
  • 1573 – Robert Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Sussex, soldier (d. 1629)
  • 1577 – Paul Guldin, Swiss astronomer and mathematician (d. 1643)
  • 1580 – Adriaen van Stalbemt, Flemish painter (d. 1662)
  • 1653 – Maria Amalia of Courland, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1711)
  • 1686 – Marie-Catherine Homassel Hecquet, French writer (d. 1764)
  • 1711 – Louis Legrand, French priest and theologian (d. 1780)
  • 1760 – Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai, French author, playwright, journalist, and politician (d. 1797)
  • 1771 – Patrick Gass, American sergeant (Lewis and Clark Expedition) and author (d. 1870)
  • 1775 – Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (d. 1851)
  • 1777 – Robert Clark, American physician and politician (d. 1837)
  • 1795 – John Marston, American sailor (d. 1885)
  • 1798 – Samuel Cooper, American general (d. 1876)
  • 1800 – Samuel Wright Mardis, American politician (d. 1836)
  • 1802 – Harriet Martineau, English sociologist and author (d. 1876)
  • 1806 – John A. Roebling, German-American engineer, designed the Brooklyn Bridge (d. 1869)
  • 1807 – Ante Kuzmanić, Croatian physician and journalist (d. 1879)
  • 1812 – Edmond Hébert, French geologist and academic (d. 1890)
  • 1819 – Charles Kingsley, English priest, historian, and author (d. 1875)
  • 1827 – Johanna Spyri, Swiss author, best known for Heidi (d. 1901)
  • 1831 – Robert Herbert, English-Australian politician, 1st Premier of Queensland (d. 1905)
  • 1841 – Watson Fothergill, English architect, designed the Woodborough Road Baptist Church (d. 1928)
  • 1843 – David Gill, Scottish-English astronomer and author (d. 1914)
  • 1851 – Oliver Lodge, English physicist and academic (d. 1940)
  • 1857 – Maurice Perrault, Canadian architect, engineer, and politician, 15th Mayor of Longueuil (d. 1909)
  • 1858 – Harry Johnston, English botanist and explorer (d. 1927)
  • 1858 – Henry Scott Tuke, English painter and photographer (d. 1929)
  • 1861 – William Attewell, English cricketer and umpire (d. 1927)
  • 1864 – Frank Chapman, American ornithologist, photographer, and author (d. 1945)
  • 1877 – Thomas C. Hart, American admiral and politician (d. 1971)
  • 1883 – Fernand Gonder, French pole vaulter (d. 1969)
  • 1883 – Robert Lowie, Austrian-American anthropologist and academic (d. 1957)
  • 1888 – Zygmunt Janiszewski, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1920)
  • 1890 – Egon Schiele, Austrian soldier and painter (d. 1918)
  • 1892 – Djuna Barnes, American novelist, journalist, and playwright (d. 1982)
  • 1895 – Eugénie Brazier, French chef (d. 1977)
  • 1897 – Anthony Eden, English soldier and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1977)
  • 1899 – Fritz Albert Lipmann, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
  • 1899 – Weegee, Ukrainian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1968)
  • 1902 – Hendrik Elias, Belgian lawyer and politician, Mayor of Ghent (d. 1973)
  • 1905 – Ray Barbuti, American sprinter and football player (d. 1988)
  • 1906 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet (d. 1977)
  • 1908 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian broadcaster (d. 1988)
  • 1908 – Marina Semyonova, Russian ballerina and educator (d. 2010)
  • 1908 – Otto Skorzeny, German SS officer (d. 1975)
  • 1910 – Bill Naughton, Irish-English playwright and author (d. 1992)
  • 1912 – Bill Cowley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1993)
  • 1912 – Carl Hovland, American psychologist and academic (d. 1961)
  • 1913 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian general (d. 1996)
  • 1913 – Desmond Piers, Canadian admiral (d. 2005)
  • 1914 – William Lundigan, American actor (d. 1975)
  • 1914 – Go Seigen, Chinese-Japanese Go player (d. 2014)
  • 1915 – Priscilla Lane, American actress (d. 1995)
  • 1915 – Christopher Mayhew, English soldier and politician (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – David Rockefeller, American banker and businessman (d. 2017)
  • 1916 – Irwin Allen, American director and producer (d. 1991)
  • 1916 – Raúl Héctor Castro, Mexican-American politician and diplomat, 14th Governor of Arizona (d. 2015)
  • 1918 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer (d. 2001)
  • 1918 – Georgia Louise Harris Brown, American architect (d. 1999)
  • 1918 – Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer, Sri Lankan-Australian mathematician and academic (d. 2001)
  • 1919 – Uta Hagen, German-American actress and educator (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Dave Berg, American soldier and cartoonist (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2000)
  • 1921 – Luis García Berlanga, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1921 – Christopher Derrick, English author, critic, and academic (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – James Archibald Houston, Canadian author and illustrator (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Margherita Hack, Italian astrophysicist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – George H. W. Bush, American lieutenant and politician, 41st President of the United States (d. 2018)
  • 1924 – Grete Dollitz, German-American guitarist and radio host (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Vic Damone, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Petros Molyviatis, Greek politician and diplomat, Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs
  • 1928 – Richard M. Sherman, American composer and director
  • 1929 – Brigid Brophy, English author and critic (d. 1995)
  • 1929 – Anne Frank, German-Dutch diarist; victim of the Holocaust (d. 1945)
  • 1929 – Jameel Jalibi, Pakistani linguist and academic
  • 1929 – John McCluskey, Baron McCluskey, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Solicitor General for Scotland (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – Jim Burke, Australian cricketer (d. 1979)
  • 1930 – Donald Byrne, American chess player (d. 1976)
  • 1930 – Innes Ireland, Scottish race car driver and engineer (d. 1993)
  • 1930 – Jim Nabors, American actor and singer (d. 2017)
  • 1931 – Trevanian, American author and scholar (d. 2005)
  • 1931 – Rona Jaffe, American novelist (d. 2005)
  • 1932 – Mimi Coertse, South African soprano and producer
  • 1932 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian runner (d. 2002)
  • 1933 – Eddie Adams, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
  • 1934 – John A. Alonzo, American actor and cinematographer (d. 2001)
  • 1934 – Kevin Billington, English director and producer
  • 1935 – Ian Craig, Australian cricketer (d. 2014)
  • 1935 – Paul Kennedy, English lawyer and judge
  • 1937 – Vladimir Arnold, Russian-French mathematician and academic (d. 2010)
  • 1937 – Klaus Basikow, German footballer and manager (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Antal Festetics, Hungarian-Austrian biologist and zoologist
  • 1937 – Chips Moman, American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1938 – Jean-Marie Doré, Guinean lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Guinea (d. 2016)
  • 1938 – Tom Oliver, English-Australian actor
  • 1939 – Ron Lynch, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1939 – Frank McCloskey, American sergeant and politician (d. 2003)
  • 1940 – Jacques Brassard, Canadian educator and politician
  • 1941 – Marv Albert, American sportscaster
  • 1941 – Chick Corea, American pianist and composer
  • 1941 – Roy Harper, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1941 – Reg Presley, English singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Lucille Roybal-Allard, American politician
  • 1942 – Len Barry, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1942 – Bert Sakmann, German physiologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1945 – Pat Jennings, Irish footballer and coach
  • 1946 – Michel Bergeron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1946 – Bobby Gould, English footballer and manager
  • 1946 – Catherine Bréchignac, French physicist and academic
  • 1948 – Hans Binder, Austrian race car driver
  • 1948 – Herbert Meyer, German footballer
  • 1948 – Len Wein, American comic book writer and editor (d. 2017)
  • 1949 – Jens Böhrnsen, German judge and politician
  • 1949 – Marc Tardif, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1949 – John Wetton, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (d. 2017)
  • 1950 – Oğuz Abadan, Turkish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1950 – Michael Fabricant, English politician
  • 1950 – Sonia Manzano, American actress of Puerto Rican descent, noted for playing Maria on Sesame Street
  • 1950 – Bun E. Carlos, American drummer
  • 1951 – Brad Delp, American musician and singer (d. 2007)
  • 1951 – Andranik Margaryan, Armenian engineer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 2007)
  • 1952 – Spencer Abraham, American academic and politician, 10th United States Secretary of Energy
  • 1952 – Junior Brown, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – Pete Farndon, English bass player and songwriter (d. 1983)
  • 1953 – Rocky Burnette, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – Tim Razzall, Baron Razzall, English lawyer and politician
  • 1956 – Terry Alderman, Australian cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1957 – Timothy Busfield, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1957 – Javed Miandad, Pakistani cricketer and coach
  • 1958 – Meredith Brooks, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1959 – John Linnell, American singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1959 – Scott Thompson, Canadian actor and comedian
  • 1960 – Joe Kopicki, American basketball player and coach
  • 1962 – Jordan Peterson, Canadian psychologist, professor and cultural critic
  • 1963 – Philippe Bugalski, French race car driver (d. 2012)
  • 1963 – Warwick Capper, Australian footballer, coach, and actor
  • 1963 – Tim DeKay, American actor
  • 1963 – Jerry Lynn, American wrestler
  • 1964 – Derek Higgins, Irish race car driver
  • 1964 – Kent Jones, American journalist
  • 1964 – Paula Marshall, American actress
  • 1964 – Peter Such, Scottish-born, English cricketer
  • 1965 – Adrian Toole, Australian rugby league player
  • 1965 – Gwen Torrence, American sprinter
  • 1965 – Cathy Tyson, English actress
  • 1966 – Marc Glanville, Australian rugby league player
  • 1966 – Tom Misteli, Swiss cell biologist
  • 1967 – Aivar Kuusmaa, Estonian basketball player and coach
  • 1967 – Frances O’Connor, English-Australian actress
  • 1968 – Scott Aldred, American baseball player and coach
  • 1968 – Htay Kywe, Burmese activist
  • 1968 – Bobby Sheehan, American bass player and songwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1969 – Zsolt Daczi, Hungarian guitarist (d. 2007)
  • 1969 – Héctor Garza, Mexican wrestler (d. 2013)
  • 1969 – Mathieu Schneider, American ice hockey player
  • 1969 – Heinz-Christian Strache, Austrian politician
  • 1971 – Mark Henry, American weightlifter and wrestler
  • 1971 – Ryan Klesko, American baseball player
  • 1971 – Jérôme Romain, Caribbean-Dominican triple jumper and coach
  • 1973 – Jason Caffey, American basketball player and coach
  • 1973 – Darryl White, Australian footballer
  • 1974 – Flávio Conceição, Brazilian footballer
  • 1974 – Hideki Matsui, Japanese baseball player
  • 1974 – Jason Mewes, American actor and producer
  • 1974 – Kerry Kittles, American basketball player
  • 1975 – Bryan Alvarez, American wrestler and journalist
  • 1975 – Stéphanie Szostak, French-American actress
  • 1976 – Antawn Jamison, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1976 – Ray Price, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1976 – Thomas Sørensen, Danish footballer
  • 1977 – Wade Redden, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1977 – Kenny Wayne Shepherd, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Lewis Moody, English rugby player
  • 1979 – Dallas Clark, American football player
  • 1979 – Martine Dugrenier, Canadian wrestler
  • 1979 – Diego Milito, Argentine footballer
  • 1979 – Robyn, Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer
  • 1979 – Earl Watson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1980 – Marco Bortolami, Italian rugby player
  • 1980 – Larry Foote, American football player
  • 1980 – Ifet Taljević, German footballer
  • 1981 – Raitis Grafs, Latvian basketball player
  • 1981 – Paul Hasleby, Australian footballer
  • 1981 – Adriana Lima, Brazilian model and actress
  • 1982 – Ben Blackwell, American drummer
  • 1982 – Diem Brown, German-American journalist and activist (d. 2014)
  • 1982 – Jason David, American football player
  • 1982 – Shailaja Pujari, Indian weightlifter
  • 1982 – James Tomlinson, English cricketer
  • 1983 – Bryan Habana, South African rugby player
  • 1983 – Alexander Pipa, German rugby player
  • 1983 – Christine Sinclair, Canadian soccer player
  • 1984 – James Kwalia, Kenyan-Qatari runner
  • 1984 – Bruno Soriano, Spanish footballer
  • 1985 – Blake Ross, American computer programmer, co-created Mozilla Firefox
  • 1985 – Sam Thaiday, Australian rugby league player
  • 1985 – Kendra Wilkinson, American model, actress, and author
  • 1985 – Chris Young, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1986 – Salim Mehajer, Australian politician
  • 1986 – Harry Taylor, Australian footballer
  • 1987 – Seyi Ajirotutu, American football player
  • 1987 – Antonio Barragán, Spanish footballer
  • 1988 – Artūrs Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
  • 1988 – Eren Derdiyok, Swiss footballer
  • 1988 – Mauricio Isla, Chilean footballer
  • 1988 – Dave Melillo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1988 – Dakota Morton, Canadian actor and radio host
  • 1989 – Emma Eliasson, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Ibrahim Jeilan, Ethiopian runner
  • 1990 – Jrue Holiday, American basketball player
  • 1990 – Kevin López, Spanish runner
  • 1990 – David Worrall, English footballer
  • 1991 – Avisail García, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1992 – Philippe Coutinho, Brazilian footballer

Deaths on June 12

  • 796 – Hisham I, Muslim emir (b. 757)
  • 816 – Pope Leo III (b. 750)
  • 918 – Æthelflæd, Mercian daughter of Alfred the Great (b. 870)
  • 1020 – Lyfing, English archbishop (b. 999)
  • 1036 – Tedald, Italian bishop (b. 990)
  • 1144 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian theologian (b. 1075)
  • 1152 – Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1114)
  • 1266 – Henry II, Prince of Anhalt-Aschersleben (b. 1215)
  • 1294 – John I of Brienne, Count of Eu
  • 1418 – Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (b. 1360)
  • 1435 – John FitzAlan, 14th Earl of Arundel, English commander (b. 1408)
  • 1478 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua (b. 1412)
  • 1524 – Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, Spanish conquistador (b. 1465)
  • 1560 – Ii Naomori, Japanese warrior (b. 1506)
  • 1560 – Imagawa Yoshimoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1519)
  • 1565 – Adrianus Turnebus, French philologist and scholar (b. 1512)
  • 1567 – Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, English politician, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1490)
  • 1647 – Thomas Farnaby, English scholar and educator (b. 1575)
  • 1668 – Charles Berkeley, 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge, English politician (b. 1599)
  • 1675 – Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy (b. 1634)
  • 1734 – James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, French-English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1670)
  • 1758 – Prince Augustus William of Prussia (b. 1722)
  • 1772 – Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French explorer (b. 1724)
  • 1778 – Philip Livingston, American merchant and politician (b. 1716)
  • 1816 – Pierre Augereau, French general (b. 1757)
  • 1818 – Egwale Seyon, Ethiopian emperor
  • 1841 – Konstantinos Nikolopoulos, Greek composer, archaeologist, and philologist (b. 1786)
  • 1900 – Lucretia Peabody Hale, American journalist and author (b. 1820)
  • 1904 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach (b. 1836)
  • 1912 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1822)
  • 1917 – Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan-American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (b. 1853)
  • 1932 – Theo Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1852)
  • 1937 – Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Russian general (b. 1893)
  • 1944 – Erich Marcks, German general (b. 1891)
  • 1946 – Médéric Martin, Canadian politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1869)
  • 1952 – Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (b. 1875)
  • 1957 – Jimmy Dorsey, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (The Dorsey Brothers and The California Ramblers) (b. 1904)
  • 1962 – John Ireland, English composer and educator (b. 1879)
  • 1963 – Medgar Evers, American soldier and activist (b. 1925)
  • 1966 – Hermann Scherchen, German viola player and conductor (b. 1891)
  • 1968 – Herbert Read, English poet and critic (b. 1893)
  • 1969 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Ukrainian-Russian painter and sculptor (b. 1899)
  • 1972 – Edmund Wilson, American critic, essayist, and editor (b. 1895)
  • 1972 – Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar, Indian writer and documentary filmmaker (b. 1909)
  • 1976 – Gopinath Kaviraj, Indian philosopher and scholar (b. 1887)
  • 1978 – Guo Moruo, Chinese historian, author, and poet (b. 1892)
  • 1978 – Georg Siimenson, Estonian footballer (b. 1912)
  • 1980 – Billy Butlin, South African-English businessman, founded the Butlins Company (b. 1899)
  • 1980 – Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime minister of Japan (b. 1910)
  • 1980 – Milburn Stone, American actor (b. 1904)
  • 1982 – Ian McKay, English sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1953)
  • 1982 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian-German ethologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
  • 1983 – Norma Shearer, Canadian-American actress (b. 1902)
  • 1989 – Bruce Hamilton, Australian public servant (b. 1911)
  • 1990 – Terence O’Neill, Baron O’Neill of the Maine, English captain and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (b. 1914)
  • 1994 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-French rabbi and author (b. 1902)
  • 1995 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist (b. 1920)
  • 1995 – Pierre Russell, American basketball player (b. 1949)
  • 1997 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1924)
  • 1998 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and educator (b. 1924)
  • 1998 – Theresa Merritt, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
  • 1999 – J. F. Powers, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1917)
  • 2000 – Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
  • 2000 – Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, Brazilian criminal (b. 1978)
  • 2002 – Bill Blass, American fashion designer, founded Bill Blass Limited (b. 1922)
  • 2002 – Zena Sutherland, American reviewer of children’s literature (b. 1915)
  • 2003 – Gregory Peck, American actor and political activist (b. 1916)
  • 2005 – Scott Young, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1918)
  • 2006 – Nicky Barr, Australian rugby player and fighter pilot (b. 1915)
  • 2006 – György Ligeti, Romanian-Hungarian composer and educator (b. 1923)
  • 2006 – Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian businessman and art collector (b. 1923)
  • 2008 – Miroslav Dvořák, Czech ice hockey player (b. 1951)
  • 2008 – Derek Tapscott, Welsh footballer and manager (b. 1932)
  • 2010 – Al Williamson, American illustrator (b. 1931)
  • 2011 – René Audet, Canadian bishop (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Carl Gardner, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Hector Bianciotti, Argentinian-French journalist and author (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Henry Hill, American mobster (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Margarete Mitscherlich-Nielsen, Danish-German psychoanalyst and author (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – Medin Zhega, Albanian footballer and manager (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Elinor Ostrom, American political scientist and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Pahiño, Spanish footballer (b. 1923)
  • 2012 – Frank Walker, Australian judge and politician, 41st Attorney General of New South Wales (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Teresita Barajuen, Spanish nun (b. 1908)
  • 2013 – Jason Leffler, American race car driver (b. 1975)
  • 2013 – Joseph A. Unanue, American sergeant and businessman (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Nabil Hemani, Algerian footballer (b. 1979)
  • 2014 – Dan Jacobson, South African-English author and critic (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Frank Schirrmacher, German journalist (b. 1959)
  • 2015 – Fernando Brant, Brazilian journalist, poet, and composer (b. 1946)
  • 2015 – Frederick Pei Li, Chinese-American physician and academic (b. 1940)
  • 2015 – Patrick Lennox Tierney, American historian and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2016 – Omar Mateen, American mass murderer (b. 1986)
  • 2016 – George Voinovich, American politician (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Janet Waldo, American actress and voice artist (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances on June 12

  • Chaco Armistice Day (Paraguay)
  • Christian feast day:
    • 108 Martyrs of World War II
    • Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor and Nazarius
    • Blessed Hildegard Burjan
    • Enmegahbowh (Episcopal Church)
    • Eskil
    • First Ecumenical Council (Lutheran)
    • Gaspar Bertoni
    • John of Sahagún
    • Onuphrius
    • Pope Leo III
    • Ternan
    • June 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Dia dos Namorados (Brazil)
  • Helsinki Day (Finland)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Philippines from Spain in 1898.
  • June 12 Commemoration (Lagos State)
  • Loving Day (United States)
  • Russia Day (Russia)
  • World Day Against Child Labour, and its related observances:
    • Children’s Day (Haiti)

June 12 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 10- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock (clepsydra) called Rokoku. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu.
  • 1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem.
  • 1329 – The Battle of Pelekanon results in a Byzantine defeat by the Ottoman Empire.
  • 1523 – Copenhagen is surrounded by the army of Frederick I of Denmark, as the city will not recognise him as the successor of Christian II of Denmark.
  • 1539 – Council of Trent: Pope Paul III sends out letters to his bishops, delaying the Council due to war and the difficulty bishops had traveling to Venice.
  • 1596 – Willem Barents and Jacob van Heemskerk discover Bear Island.
  • 1619 – Thirty Years’ War: Battle of Záblatí, a turning point in the Bohemian Revolt.
  • 1624 – Signing of the Treaty of Compiègne between France and the Netherlands.
  • 1692 – Salem witch trials: Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts, for “certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries”.
  • 1719 – Jacobite risings: Battle of Glen Shiel
  • 1782 – King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) is crowned.
  • 1786 – A landslide dam on the Dadu River created by an earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China.
  • 1793 – The Jardin des Plantes museum opens in Paris. A year later, it becomes the first public zoo.
  • 1793 – French Revolution: Following the arrests of Girondin leaders, the Jacobins gain control of the Committee of Public Safety installing the revolutionary dictatorship.
  • 1805 – First Barbary War: Yusuf Karamanli signs a treaty ending the hostilities between Tripolitania and the United States.
  • 1829 – The first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on the Thames in London.
  • 1838 – Myall Creek massacre: Twenty-eight Aboriginal Australians are murdered.
  • 1854 – The United States Naval Academy graduates its first class of students.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Big Bethel: Confederate troops under John B. Magruder defeat a much larger Union force led by General Ebenezer W. Pierce in Virginia.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Brice’s Crossroads: Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis in Mississippi.
  • 1868 – Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia is assassinated.
  • 1871 – Sinmiyangyo: Captain McLane Tilton leads 109 US Marines in a naval attack on Han River forts on Kanghwa Island, Korea.
  • 1878 – League of Prizren is established, to oppose the decisions of the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of San Stefano, as a consequence of which the Albanian lands in the Balkans were being partitioned and given to the neighbor states of Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece.
  • 1886 – Mount Tarawera in New Zealand erupts, killing 153 people and burying the famous Pink and White Terraces. Eruptions continue for three months creating a large, 17 km long fissure across the mountain peak.
  • 1898 – Spanish–American War: In the Battle of Guantánamo Bay, U.S. Marines begin the American invasion of Spanish-held Cuba.
  • 1916 – The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire was declared by Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca.
  • 1918 – The Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István sinks off the Croatian coast after being torpedoed by an Italian MAS motorboat; the event is recorded by camera from a nearby vessel.
  • 1924 – Fascists kidnap and kill Italian Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti in Rome.
  • 1935 – Dr. Robert Smith takes his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio, United States, by him and Bill Wilson.
  • 1935 – Chaco War ends: A truce is called between Bolivia and Paraguay who had been fighting since 1932.
  • 1940 – World War II: The Kingdom of Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.
  • 1940 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounces Italy’s actions in his “Stab in the Back” speech at the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia.
  • 1940 – World War II: Military resistance to the German occupation of Norway ends.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Lidice massacre is perpetrated as a reprisal for the assassination of Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.
  • 1944 – World War II: Six hundred forty-two men, women and children massacred at Oradour-sur-Glane, France.
  • 1944 – World War II: In Distomo, Boeotia, Greece, 218 men, women and children are massacred by German troops.
  • 1944 – In baseball, 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the youngest player ever in a major-league game.
  • 1945 – Australian Imperial Forces land in Brunei Bay to liberate Brunei.
  • 1947 – Saab produces its first automobile.
  • 1957 – John Diefenbaker leads the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to a stunning upset in the 1957 Canadian federal election, ending 22 years of Liberal Party government.
  • 1963 – The Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex, was signed into law by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program.
  • 1964 – United States Senate breaks a 75-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, leading to the bill’s passage.
  • 1967 – The Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire.
  • 1977 – James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee. He is recaptured three days later.
  • 1980 – The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a call to fight from their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela.
  • 1982 – Lebanon War: The Syrian Arab Army defeats the Israeli Defense Forces in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub.
  • 1990 – British Airways Flight 5390 lands safely at Southampton Airport after a blowout in the cockpit causes the captain to be partially sucked from the cockpit. There are no fatalities.
  • 1991 – Eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard is kidnapped in South Lake Tahoe, California; she would remain a captive until 2009.
  • 1994 – China conducts a nuclear test for DF-31 warhead at Area C (Beishan), Lop Nur, its prominence being due to the Cox Report.
  • 1996 – Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without the participation of Sinn Féin.
  • 1997 – Before fleeing his northern stronghold, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen’s family members.
  • 1999 – Kosovo War: NATO suspends its airstrikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo.
  • 2001 – Pope John Paul II canonizes Lebanon’s first female saint, Saint Rafqa.
  • 2002 – The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom.
  • 2003 – The Spirit rover is launched, beginning NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover mission.
  • 2009 – James Wenneker von Brunn, who was 88-years-old, opened fire inside the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and fatally shot Museum Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Other security guards returned fire, wounding von Brunn, who was apprehended.
  • 2019 – An Agusta A109E Power crashed onto the AXA Equitable Center on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, which sparked a fire on the top of the building. The pilot of the helicopter was killed.

Births on June 10

  • 867 – Emperor Uda of Japan (d. 931)
  • 940 – Abu al-Wafa’ Buzjani, Persian mathematician and astronomer (d. 998)
  • 1213 – Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi, Persian poet and philosopher (d. 1289)
  • 1465 – Mercurino Gattinara, Italian statesman and jurist (d. 1530)
  • 1513 – Louis, Duke of Montpensier (1561–1582) (d. 1582)
  • 1557 – Leandro Bassano, Italian painter (d. 1622)
  • 1632 – Esprit Fléchier, French bishop and author (d. 1710)
  • 1688 – James Francis Edward Stuart, claimant to the English and Scottish throne (d. 1766)
  • 1713 – Princess Caroline of Great Britain (d. 1757)
  • 1716 – Carl Gustaf Ekeberg, Swedish physician and explorer (d. 1784)
  • 1753 – William Eustis, American physician and politician, 12th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
  • 1804 – Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist and herpetologist (d. 1884)
  • 1819 – Gustave Courbet, French-Swiss painter and sculptor (d. 1877)
  • 1825 – Sondre Norheim, Norwegian-American skier (d. 1897)
  • 1832 – Edwin Arnold, English poet and journalist (d. 1904)
  • 1832 – Nicolaus Otto, German engineer (d. 1891)
  • 1832 – Stephen Mosher Wood, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1920)
  • 1835 – Rebecca Latimer Felton, American educator and politician (d. 1930)
  • 1839 – Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg, Danish lawyer and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1912)
  • 1840 – Theodor Philipsen, Danish painter (d. 1920)
  • 1843 – Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1900)
  • 1854 – Sarah Grand, Irish feminist writer (d. 1943)
  • 1859 – Emanuel Nobel, Swedish-Russian businessman (d. 1932)
  • 1862 – Mrs. Leslie Carter, American actress (d. 1937)
  • 1863 – Louis Couperus, Dutch author and poet (d. 1923)
  • 1864 – Ninian Comper, Scottish architect (d. 1960)
  • 1865 – Frederick Cook, American physician and explorer (d. 1940)
  • 1880 – André Derain, French painter and sculptor (d. 1954)
  • 1882 – Nils Økland, Norwegian Esperantist and teacher (d. 1969)
  • 1884 – Leone Sextus Tollemache, English captain (d. 1917)
  • 1886 – Sessue Hayakawa, Japanese actor and producer (d. 1973)
  • 1891 – Al Dubin, Swiss-American songwriter (d. 1945)
  • 1895 – Hattie McDaniel, American actress (d. 1952)
  • 1897 – Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1918)
  • 1898 – Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt (d. 1983)
  • 1899 – Stanisław Czaykowski, Polish race car driver (d. 1933)
  • 1901 – Frederick Loewe, Austrian-American composer (d. 1988)
  • 1904 – Lin Huiyin, Chinese architect and poet (d. 1955)
  • 1907 – Fairfield Porter, American painter and critic (d. 1975)
  • 1907 – Dicky Wells, American jazz trombonist (d. 1985)[n 1]
  • 1909 – Lang Hancock, Australian soldier and businessman (d. 1992)
  • 1910 – Frank Demaree, American baseball player and manager (d. 1958)
  • 1910 – Howlin’ Wolf, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976)
  • 1911 – Ralph Kirkpatrick, American harpsichord player and musicologist (d. 1984)
  • 1911 – Terence Rattigan, English playwright and screenwriter (d. 1977)
  • 1912 – Jean Lesage, Canadian lawyer and politician, 11th Premier of Quebec (d. 1980)
  • 1913 – Tikhon Khrennikov, Russian pianist and composer (d. 2007)
  • 1913 – Benjamin Shapira, German-Israeli biochemist and academic (d. 1993)
  • 1914 – Oktay Rıfat Horozcu, Turkish poet and playwright (d. 1988)
  • 1915 – Saul Bellow, Canadian-American novelist, essayist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
  • 1916 – Peride Celal, Turkish author (d. 2013)
  • 1916 – William Rosenberg, American entrepreneur, founded Dunkin’ Donuts (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Patachou, French singer and actress (d. 2015)
  • 1918 – Barry Morse, English-Canadian actor and director (d. 2008)
  • 1919 – Haidar Abdel-Shafi, Palestinian physician and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1919 – Kevin O’Flanagan, Irish footballer, rugby player, and physician (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
  • 1921 – Jean Robic, French cyclist (d. 1980)
  • 1922 – Judy Garland, American singer, actress, and vaudevillian (d. 1969)
  • 1922 – Bill Kerr, South African-Australian actor (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Paul Brunelle, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Robert Maxwell, Czech-English captain, publisher, and politician (d. 1991)
  • 1924 – Friedrich L. Bauer, German mathematician, computer scientist, and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Leo Gravelle, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Nat Hentoff, American historian, author, and journalist (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – James Salter, American novelist and short-story writer (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Lionel Jeffries, English actor, screenwriter and film director (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Claudio Gilberto Froehlich, Brazilian zoologist
  • 1927 – László Kubala, Hungarian footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2002)
  • 1927 – Lin Yang-kang, Chinese politician, 29th Vice Premier of the Republic of China (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Johnny Orr, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Eugene Parker, American astrophysicist and academic
  • 1928 – Maurice Sendak, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
  • 1929 – James McDivitt, American general, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1929 – Ian Sinclair, Australian farmer and politician, 42nd Australian Minister for Defence
  • 1929 – Thomas Taylor, Baron Taylor of Blackburn, British Labour Party politician (d. 2016)
  • 1929 – E. O. Wilson, American biologist, author, and academic
  • 1930 – Aranka Siegal, Czech-American author and Holocaust survivor
  • 1930 – Carmen Cozza, American baseball and football player (d. 2018)
  • 1930 – Chen Xitong, Chinese politician, 8th Mayor of Beijing (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Bryan Cartledge, English academic and diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia
  • 1931 – João Gilberto, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Pierre Cartier, French mathematician and academic
  • 1933 – Chuck Fairbanks, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1934 – Peter Gibson, English lawyer and judge
  • 1934 – Tom Pendry, Baron Pendry, English politician
  • 1935 – Vic Elford, English race car driver
  • 1935 – Lu Jiaxi, Chinese self-taught mathematician (d. 1983)
  • 1935 – Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 2015)
  • 1938 – Rahul Bajaj, Indian businessman and politician
  • 1938 – Violetta Villas, Belgian-Polish singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2011)
  • 1938 – Vasanti N. Bhat-Nayak, Indian mathematician and academic (d. 2009)
  • 1940 – Augie Auer, American-New Zealand meteorologist (d. 2007)
  • 1940 – John Stevens, English drummer (d. 1994)
  • 1941 – Mickey Jones, American drummer (d. 2018)
  • 1941 – Shirley Owens, American singer
  • 1941 – Jürgen Prochnow, German actor
  • 1941 – David Walker, Australian race car driver
  • 1942 – Gordon Burns, Northern Irish journalist
  • 1942 – Chantal Goya, French singer and actress
  • 1942 – Arthur Hamilton, Lord Hamilton, Scottish lawyer and judge
  • 1942 – Preston Manning, Canadian politician
  • 1943 – Simon Jenkins, English journalist and author
  • 1944 – Ze’ev Friedman, Polish-Israeli weightlifter (d. 1972)
  • 1944 – Rick Price, English rock bass player
  • 1947 – Michel Bastarache, Canadian businessman, lawyer, and jurist
  • 1947 – Ken Singleton, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1947 – Robert Wright, English air marshal
  • 1950 – Elías Sosa, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1951 – Dan Fouts, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1951 – Tony Mundine, Australian boxer
  • 1951 – Burglinde Pollak, German pentathlete
  • 1952 – Kage Baker, American author (d. 2010)
  • 1953 – Eileen Cooper, English painter and academic
  • 1953 – John Edwards, American lawyer and politician
  • 1953 – Garry Hynes, Irish director and producer
  • 1953 – Christine St-Pierre, Canadian journalist and politician
  • 1954 – Moya Greene, Canadian businesswoman
  • 1954 – Rich Hall, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Annette Schavan, German theologian and politician
  • 1955 – Andrew Stevens, American actor and producer
  • 1958 – Yu Suzuki, Japanese game designer and producer
  • 1959 – Carlo Ancelotti, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1959 – Ernie C, American heavy metal guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1959 – Eliot Spitzer, American lawyer and politician, 54th Governor of New York
  • 1960 – Nandamuri Balakrishna, Indian film actor and politician
  • 1961 – Kim Deal, American singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1961 – Maxi Priest, English singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Gina Gershon, American actress, singer and author
  • 1962 – Anderson Bigode Herzer, Brazilian poet and author (d. 1982)
  • 1962 – Wong Ka Kui, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1993)
  • 1962 – Tzi Ma, Hong Kong American character actor
  • 1962 – Brent Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1963 – Brad Henry, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Oklahoma
  • 1963 – Jeanne Tripplehorn, American actress
  • 1965 – Susanne Albers, German computer scientist and academic
  • 1965 – Elizabeth Hurley, English model, actress, and producer
  • 1965 – Joey Santiago, American alternative rock musician
  • 1966 – David Platt, English footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Emma Anderson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Darren Robinson, American rapper (d. 1995)
  • 1968 – Bill Burr, American comedian and actor
  • 1968 – Derek Dooley, American football player and coach
  • 1969 – Craig Hancock, Australian rugby league player
  • 1969 – Ronny Johnsen, Norwegian footballer
  • 1969 – Kate Snow, American journalist
  • 1970 – Mike Doughty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1970 – Katsuhiro Harada, Japanese game designer, director, and producer
  • 1970 – Alex Santos, Filipino journalist
  • 1970 – Shane Whereat, Australian rugby league player
  • 1970 – Sarah Wixey, Welsh sport shooter
  • 1971 – JoJo Hailey, American singer
  • 1971 – Bobby Jindal, American journalist and politician, 55th Governor of Louisiana
  • 1971 – Bruno N’Gotty, French footballer
  • 1971 – Erik Rutan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1972 – Steven Fischer, American director and producer
  • 1972 – Radmila Šekerinska, Macedonian politician, Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
  • 1972 – Eric Upashantha, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1973 – Faith Evans, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1973 – Flesh-n-Bone, American rapper and actor
  • 1973 – Pokey Reese, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Henrik Pedersen, Danish footballer
  • 1976 – Alari Lell, Estonian footballer
  • 1976 – Esther Ouwehand, Dutch politician
  • 1976 – Stefan Postma, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1976 – Hadi Saei, Iranian martial artist
  • 1977 – Adam Darski, Polish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1977 – Mike Rosenthal, American football player and coach
  • 1978 – Raheem Brock, American football player
  • 1979 – Evgeni Borounov, Russian ice dancer and coach
  • 1979 – Kostas Louboutis, Greek footballer
  • 1980 – Matuzalém, Brazilian footballer
  • 1980 – Ovie Mughelli, American football player
  • 1980 – Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
  • 1980 – Daniele Seccarecci, Italian bodybuilder (d. 2013)
  • 1980 – James Walsh, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pianist
  • 1981 – Mat Jackson, English race car driver
  • 1981 – Albie Morkel, South African cricketer
  • 1981 – Andrey Yepishin, Russian sprinter
  • 1982 – Tara Lipinski, American figure skater
  • 1982 – Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland
  • 1982 – Ana Lúcia Souza, Brazilian ballerina and journalist
  • 1983 – Jade Bailey, Barbadian athlete
  • 1983 – Marion Barber III, American football player
  • 1983 – Aaron Davey, Australian footballer
  • 1983 – Leelee Sobieski, American actress and producer
  • 1983 – Steve von Bergen, Swiss footballer
  • 1984 – Johanna Kedzierski, German sprinter
  • 1984 – Dirk Van Tichelt, Belgian martial artist
  • 1985 – Richard Chambers, Irish rower
  • 1985 – Kaia Kanepi, Estonian tennis player
  • 1985 – Kristina Lundberg, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Dane Nielsen, Australian rugby league player
  • 1985 – Andy Schleck, Luxembourger cyclist
  • 1985 – Vasilis Torosidis, Greek footballer
  • 1985 – Kreesha Turner, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1986 – Al Alburquerque, Dominican baseball player
  • 1986 – Marco Andreolli, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Martin Harnik, German-Austrian footballer
  • 1987 – Amobi Okoye, Nigerian-American football player
  • 1988 – Jeff Teague, American basketball player
  • 1989 – DeAndre Kane, American basketball player
  • 1989 – David Miller, South African cricketer
  • 1989 – Mustapha Carayol, Gambian footballer
  • 1989 – Alexandra Stan, Romanian singer-songwriter, dancer, and model
  • 1991 – Alexa Scimeca Knierim, American figure skater
  • 1992 – Kate Upton, American model and actress

Deaths on June 10

  • 323 BC – Alexander the Great, Macedonian king (b. 356 BC)
  • AD 38 – Julia Drusilla, Roman sister of Caligula (b. 16 AD)
  • 223 – Liu Bei, Chinese emperor (b. 161)
  • 779 – Emperor Daizong of Tang (b. 727)
  • 754 – Abul Abbas al-Saffah, Muslim caliph (b. 721)
  • 871 – Odo I, Frankish nobleman
  • 903 – Cheng Rui, Chinese warlord
  • 932 – Dong Zhang, Chinese general
  • 942 – Liu Yan, emperor of Southern Han (b. 889)
  • 1075 – Ernest, Margrave of Austria (b. 1027)
  • 1141 – Richenza of Northeim (b. 1087)
  • 1190 – Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1122)
  • 1261 – Matilda of Brandenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b. 1210)
  • 1338 – Kitabatake Akiie, Japanese governor (b. 1318)
  • 1364 – Agnes of Austria (b. 1281)
  • 1424 – Ernest, Duke of Austria (b. 1377)
  • 1437 – Joan of Navarre, Queen of England (b. 1370)
  • 1468 – Idris Imad al-Din, supreme leader of Tayyibi Isma’ilism, scholar and historian (b. 1392)
  • 1552 – Alexander Barclay, English poet and author (b. 1476)
  • 1556 – Martin Agricola, German composer and theorist (b. 1486)
  • 1580 – Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet (b. 1524–25)
  • 1604 – Isabella Andreini, Italian actress (b. 1562)
  • 1607 – John Popham, English politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1531)
  • 1654 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (b. 1598)
  • 1680 – Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna, Swedish lawyer and politician (b. 1635)
  • 1692 – Bridget Bishop, Colonial Massachusetts woman hanged as a witch during the Salem witch trials (b. 1632)
  • 1735 – Thomas Hearne, English historian and author (b. 1678)
  • 1753 – Joachim Ludwig Schultheiss von Unfriedt, German architect (b. 1678)
  • 1776 – Hsinbyushin, Burmese king (b. 1736)
  • 1776 – Leopold Widhalm, Austrian instrument maker (b. 1722)
  • 1791 – Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte, French admiral (b. 1720)
  • 1799 – Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Caribbean-French violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1745)
  • 1811 – Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden (b. 1728)
  • 1831 – Hans Karl von Diebitsch, German-Russian field marshal (b. 1785)
  • 1836 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1775)
  • 1849 – Thomas Robert Bugeaud, French general and politician (b. 1784)
  • 1849 – Robert Brown, Scottish botanist (b. 1773)
  • 1868 – Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia (b. 1823)
  • 1899 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (b. 1855)
  • 1901 – Robert Williams Buchanan, Scottish poet, author, and playwright (b. 1841)
  • 1902 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan priest and poet (b. 1845)
  • 1906 – Richard Seddon, English-New Zealand politician, 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1845)
  • 1909 – Edward Everett Hale, American minister, historian, and author (b. 1822)
  • 1914 – Ödön Lechner, Hungarian architect (b. 1845)
  • 1918 – Arrigo Boito, Italian author, poet, and composer (b. 1842)
  • 1923 – Pierre Loti, French soldier and author (b. 1850)
  • 1924 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian lawyer and politician (b. 1885)
  • 1926 – Antoni Gaudí, Spanish architect, designed the Park Güell (b. 1852)
  • 1930 – Adolf von Harnack, German historian and theologian (b. 1851)
  • 1934 – Frederick Delius, English composer and educator (b. 1862)
  • 1936 – John Bowser, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of Victoria (b. 1856)
  • 1937 – Robert Borden, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1854)
  • 1939 – Albert Ogilvie, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1890)
  • 1940 – Marcus Garvey, Jamaican journalist and activist, founded the Black Star Line (b. 1887)
  • 1944 – Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch mathematician and academic (b. 1910)
  • 1946 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (b. 1878)
  • 1947 – Alexander Bethune, Canadian businessman and politician, 12th Mayor of Vancouver (b. 1852)
  • 1949 – Sigrid Undset, Danish-Norwegian novelist, essayist, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
  • 1955 – Margaret Abbott, Indian-American golfer (b. 1876)
  • 1958 – Angelina Weld Grimké, American journalist, poet, and playwright (b. 1880)
  • 1959 – Zoltán Meskó, Hungarian politician (b. 1883)
  • 1963 – Timothy Birdsall, English cartoonist (b. 1936)
  • 1965 – Vahap Özaltay, Turkish footballer and manager (b. 1908)
  • 1967 – Spencer Tracy, American actor (b. 1900)
  • 1971 – Michael Rennie, English actor (b. 1909)
  • 1973 – William Inge, American playwright and novelist (b. 1913)
  • 1974 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1900)
  • 1976 – Adolph Zukor, American film producer, co-founded Paramount Pictures (b. 1873)
  • 1982 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1945)
  • 1984 – Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, Turkish author and poet (b. 1901)
  • 1986 – Merle Miller, American author and playwright (b. 1919)
  • 1987 – Elizabeth Hartman, American actress (b. 1943)
  • 1988 – Louis L’Amour, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1908)
  • 1991 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (b. 1902)
  • 1992 – Hachidai Nakamura, Chinese-Japanese pianist and composer (b. 1931)
  • 1993 – Les Dawson, English comedian, actor, writer and presenter (b. 1931)
  • 1996 – George Hees, Canadian soldier, football player, and politician (b. 1910)
  • 1996 – Jo Van Fleet, American actress (b. 1915)
  • 1998 – Jim Hearn, American baseball player (b. 1921)
  • 1998 – Hammond Innes, English soldier and author (b. 1914)
  • 2000 – Hafez al-Assad, Syrian general and politician, 18th President of Syria (b. 1930)
  • 2000 – Brian Statham, English cricketer (b. 1930)
  • 2001 – Leila Pahlavi, Princess of Iran (b. 1970)
  • 2002 – John Gotti, American mobster (b. 1940)
  • 2003 – Donald Regan, American colonel and politician, 11th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1918)
  • 2003 – Bernard Williams, English philosopher and academic (b. 1929)
  • 2003 – Phil Williams, Welsh academic and politician (b. 1939)
  • 2004 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (b. 1930)
  • 2004 – Odette Laure, French actress and singer (b. 1917)
  • 2004 – Xenophon Zolotas, Greek economist and politician, 177th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1904)
  • 2005 – Curtis Pitts, American aircraft designer, designed the Pitts Special (b. 1915)
  • 2007 – Augie Auer, American-New Zealand meteorologist (b. 1940)
  • 2008 – Chinghiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyzstani author and diplomat (b. 1928)
  • 2009 – Stelios Skevofilakas, Greek footballer (b. 1940)
  • 2010 – Basil Schott, American archbishop (b. 1939)
  • 2010 – Sigmar Polke, German painter and photographer (b. 1941)
  • 2011 – Brian Lenihan Jnr, Irish lawyer and politician, 25th Irish Minister for Finance (b. 1959)
  • 2012 – Piero Bellugi, Italian conductor (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Warner Fusselle, American sportscaster (b. 1944)
  • 2012 – Will Hoebee, Dutch songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
  • 2012 – Georges Mathieu, French painter and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Joshua Orwa Ojode, Kenyan politician (b. 1958)
  • 2012 – George Saitoti, Kenyan economist and politician, 6th Vice-President of Kenya (b. 1945)
  • 2012 – Sudono Salim, Chinese-Indonesian businessman, founded Bank Central Asia (b. 1916)
  • 2012 – Gordon West, English footballer (b. 1943)
  • 2013 – Doug Bailey, American political consultant (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Enrique Orizaola, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Barbara Vucanovich, American lawyer and politician (b. 1921)
  • 2014 – Marcello Alencar, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 57th Governor of Rio de Janeiro (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Gary Gilmour, Australian cricketer and manager (b. 1951)
  • 2014 – Robert M. Grant, American theologian and academic (b. 1917)
  • 2014 – Jack Lee, American radio host and politician (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Robert Chartoff, American film producer and philanthropist (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Wolfgang Jeschke, German author and publisher (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1994)
  • 2016 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1928)
  • 2017 – Julia Perez, Indonesian singer and actress (b. 1980)
  • 2018 – Neal E. Boyd, American singer, winner of the 2008 season of America’s Got Talent (b. 1975)
  • 2020 – Claudell Washington, American baseball player (b. 1954)

Holidays and observances on June 10

  • Abolition Day (French Guiana)
  • Army Day (Jordan)
  • World Art Nouveau Day (Worldwide)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Bardo
    • Getulius, Amancius and Cerealus
    • Guardian Angel of Portugal
    • John of Tobolsk (Russian Orthodox Church)
    • Landry of Paris
    • Maurinus of Cologne
    • Maximus of Aveia (or of Aquila)
    • Maximus of Naples
    • Olivia
    • June 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Navy Day (Italy)
  • Portugal Day, also Day of Camões (Portugal and the Portuguese communities)
  • Reconciliation Day (Republic of the Congo)

June 10- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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)

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