363 – Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians.
632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as king (shah) of the Persian Empire. He becomes the last ruler of the Sasanian dynasty (modern Iran).
1407 – Ming–Hồ War: Retired King Hồ Quý Ly and his son King Hồ Hán Thương of Hồ dynasty are captured by the Ming armies.
1487 – Battle of Stoke Field: King Henry VII of England defeats the leaders of a Yorkist rebellion in the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses.
1586 – Mary, Queen of Scots, recognizes Philip II of Spain as her heir and successor.
1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: New England colonial troops under the command of William Pepperrell capture the Fortress of Louisbourg in Louisbourg, New France (Old Style date).
1746 – War of the Austrian Succession: Austria and Sardinia defeat a Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Piacenza.
1755 – French and Indian War: The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians.
1779 – Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.
1795 – French Revolutionary Wars: In what became known as Cornwallis’s Retreat, a British Royal Navy squadron led by Vice Admiral William Cornwallis strongly resists a much larger French Navy force and withdraws largely intact, setting up the French Navy defeat at the Battle of Groix six days later.
1811 – Survivors of an attack the previous day by Tla-o-qui-aht on board the Pacific Fur Company’s ship Tonquin, intentionally detonate a powder magazine on the ship, destroying it and killing about 100 attackers.
1815 – Battle of Ligny and Battle of Quatre Bras, two days before the Battle of Waterloo.
1819 – A major earthquake strikes the Kutch district of western India, killing over 1,543 people and raising a 6 m high, 6 km wide, ridge, extending for at least 80 km, that was known as the Allah Bund (“Dam of God”).
1836 – The formation of the London Working Men’s Association gives rise to the Chartist Movement.
1846 – The Papal conclave of 1846 elects Pope Pius IX, beginning the longest reign in the history of the papacy.
1858 – Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois.
1871 – The Universities Tests Act 1871 allows students to enter the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham without religious tests (except for those intending to study theology).
1883 – The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England, kills 183 children.
1884 – The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson’s “Switchback Railway”, opens in New York’s Coney Island amusement park.
1897 – A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
1903 – The Ford Motor Company is incorporated.
1903 – Roald Amundsen leaves Oslo, Norway, to commence the first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage.
1904 – Eugen Schauman assassinates Nikolay Bobrikov, Governor-General of Finland.
1904 – Irish author James Joyce begins a relationship with Nora Barnacle and subsequently uses the date to set the actions for his novel Ulysses; this date is now traditionally called “Bloomsday”.
1911 – IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.
1922 – General election in the Irish Free State: The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party wins a large majority.
1925 – The most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, Artek, is established.
1930 – Sovnarkom establishes decree time in the USSR.
1933 – The National Industrial Recovery Act is passed in the United States, allowing businesses to avoid antitrust prosecution if they establish voluntary wage, price, and working condition regulations on an industry-wide basis.
1940 – World War II: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l’État Français).
1940 – A Communist government is installed in Lithuania.
1944 – In a gross miscarriage of justice, George Junius Stinney Jr., age 14, becomes the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century after being convicted in a two-hour trial for the rape and murder of two teenage white girls.
1948 – Members of the Malayan Communist Party kill three British plantation managers in Sungai Siput; in response, British Malaya declares a state of emergency.
1955 – In a futile effort to topple Argentine President Juan Perón, rogue aircraft pilots of the Argentine Navy drop several bombs upon an unarmed crowd demonstrating in favor of Perón in Buenos Aires, killing 364 and injuring at least 800. At the same time on the ground, some soldiers attempt to stage a coup but are suppressed by loyal forces.
1958 – Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.
1961 – While on tour with the Kirov Ballet in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev defects from the Soviet Union.
1963 – Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
1972 – The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.
1976 – Soweto uprising: A non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa, turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd.
1977 – Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.
1981 – US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada’s former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.
1989 – Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary.
1997 – Fifty people are killed in the Daïat Labguer (M’sila) massacre in Algeria.
2000 – The Secretary-General of the UN reports that Israel has complied with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 22 years after its issuance, and completely withdrew from Lebanon. The Resolution does not encompass the Shebaa farms, which is claimed by Israel, Syria and Lebanon.
2010 – Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.
2012 – China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.
2012 – The United States Air Force’s robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission
2013 – A multi-day cloudburst, centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, causes devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
2016 – Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in Mainland China, opens to the public.
2019 – Upwards of 2,000,000 people participate in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the largest in Hong Kong’s history.
Births on June 16
1139 – Emperor Konoe of Japan (d. 1155)
1332 – Isabella de Coucy, English daughter of Edward III of England (d. 1379)
1454 – Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples (d. 1517)
1514 – John Cheke, English academic and politician, English Secretary of State (d. 1557)
1516 – Yang Jisheng, Ming dynasty official and Confucian martyr (d. 1555)
1583 – Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish politician, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (d. 1654)
1591 – Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, Greek-Italian physician, mathematician, and theorist (d. 1655)
1606 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier and politician (d. 1675)
1613 – John Cleveland, English poet and educator (d. 1658)
1625 – Samuel Chappuzeau, French scholar (d. 1701)
1633 – Jean de Thévenot, French linguist and botanist (d. 1667)
1644 – Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland (d. 1670)
1653 – James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, English nobleman (d. 1699)
1713 – Meshech Weare, American farmer, lawyer, and politician, 1st Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1786)
1723 – Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher and economist (d. 1790)
1738 – Mary Katherine Goddard, American publisher (d. 1816)
1754 – Salawat Yulayev, Russian poet (d. 1800)
1792 – John Linnell, English painter and engraver (d. 1882)
1801 – Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1868)
1806 – Edward Davy, English physician and chemist (d. 1885)
1813 – Otto Jahn, German archaeologist and philologist (d. 1869)
1820 – Athanase Josué Coquerel, Dutch-French preacher and theologian (d. 1875)
1821 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (d. 1908)
1826 – Constantin von Ettingshausen, Austrian geologist and botanist (d. 1897)
1829 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (d. 1909)
1836 – Wesley Merritt, American general and politician, Military Governor of the Philippines (d. 1910)
1837 – Ernst Laas, German philosopher and academic (d. 1885)
1838 – Frederic Archer, English organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1901)
1838 – Cushman Kellogg Davis, American lieutenant and politician, 7th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1900)
1840 – Ernst Otto Schlick, German engineer and author (d. 1913)
1850 – Max Delbrück, German chemist and academic (d. 1919)
1857 – Arthur Arz von Straußenburg, Austrian-Hungarian general (d. 1935)
1858 – Gustaf V of Sweden (d. 1950)
1863 – Francisco León de la Barra, Mexican politician and diplomat (d. 1939)
1866 – Germanos Karavangelis, Greek-Austrian metropolitan (d. 1935)
1874 – Arthur Meighen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1960)
1880 – Otto Eisenschiml, Austrian-American chemist and author (d. 1963)
1882 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian educator and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967)
1885 – Erich Jacoby, Estonian-Polish architect (d. 1941)
1888 – Alexander Friedmann, Russian physicist and mathematician (d. 1925)
1888 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (d. 1980)
1890 – Stan Laurel, English actor and comedian (d. 1965)
1896 – Murray Leinster, American author and screenwriter (d. 1976)
1897 – Georg Wittig, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
1899 – Helen Traubel, American operatic soprano (d. 1972)
1902 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
1902 – George Gaylord Simpson, American paleontologist and author (d. 1984)
1906 – Alan Fairfax, Australian cricketer (d. 1955)
1907 – Jack Albertson, American actor (d. 1981)
1909 – Archie Carr, American ecologist and zoologist (d. 1987)
1910 – Juan Velasco Alvarado, Peruvian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (d. 1977)
1912 – Albert Chartier, Canadian illustrator (d. 2004)
1912 – Enoch Powell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 1998)
1914 – Eleanor Sokoloff, American pianist and teacher
1915 – John Tukey, American mathematician and academic (d. 2000)
1915 – Marga Faulstich, German glass chemist (d. 1998)
1917 – Phaedon Gizikis, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (d. 1999)
1917 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (d. 2001)
1917 – Aurelio Lampredi, Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer (d. 1989)
1917 – Irving Penn, American photographer (d. 2009)
1920 – Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (d. 2002)
1920 – Raymond Lemieux, Canadian chemist and academic (d. 2002)
1920 – José López Portillo, Mexican lawyer and politician, 31st President of Mexico (d. 2004)
1920 – Hemanta Mukharjee, Indian singer and music director
1922 – Ilmar Kullam, Estonian basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
1923 – Ron Flockhart, Scottish race car driver (d. 1962)
1924 – Faith Domergue, American actress (d. 1999)
1925 – Jean d’Ormesson, French journalist and author (d. 2017)
1925 – Otto Muehl, Austrian-Portuguese painter and director (d. 2013)
1926 – Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemalan general and politician, 26th President of Guatemala (d. 2018)
1927 – Tom Graveney, English cricketer and sportscaster (d. 2015)
1927 – Herbert Lichtenfeld, German author and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1927 – Ariano Suassuna, Brazilian author and playwright (d. 2014)
1929 – Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait
1930 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (d. 2016)
1934 – Eileen Atkins, English actress and screenwriter
1934 – Roger Neilson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2003)
1935 – Jim Dine, American painter and illustrator
1937 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Bulgarian politician, 48th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
1937 – Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (d. 2010)
1938 – Thomas Boyd-Carpenter, English general
1938 – Torgny Lindgren, Swedish author and poet (d. 2017)
1938 – Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist, short story writer, critic, and poet
1939 – Billy “Crash” Craddock, American singer-songwriter
1940 – Māris Čaklais, Latvian poet, writer, and journalist (d. 2003)
1940 – Neil Goldschmidt, American lawyer and politician, 33rd Governor of Oregon
1941 – Rosalind Baker, Australian author
1941 – Lamont Dozier, American songwriter and producer
1941 – Tommy Horton, English golfer (d. 2017)
1941 – Mumtaz Hamid Rao, Pakistani journalist (d. 2011)
1942 – Giacomo Agostini, Italian motorcycle racer and manager
1942 – Eddie Levert, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician, and actor
1944 – Henri Richelet, French painter and etcher
1945 – Claire Alexander, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1945 – Lucienne Robillard, Canadian social worker and politician, 59th Secretary of State for Canada
1946 – Rick Adelman, American basketball player and coach
1946 – John Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever, English businessman and politician
1946 – Karen Dunnell, English statistician and academic
1946 – Tom Harrell, American trumpet player and composer
1946 – Neil MacGregor, Scottish historian and curator
1946 – Iain Matthews, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Jodi Rell, American politician, 87th Governor of Connecticut
1946 – Mark Ritts, American actor, puppeteer, and producer (d. 2009)
1946 – Derek Sanderson, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1946 – Simon Williams, English actor and playwright
1947 – Tom Malone, American trombonist, composer, and producer
1947 – Buddy Roberts, American wrestler (d. 2012)
1947 – Al Cowlings, American ex-NFL player and close friend of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson
1947 – Tom Wyner, English-American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1948 – Ron LeFlore, American baseball player and manager
1949 – Paulo Cézar Caju, Brazilian footballer
1949 – Ralph Mann, American hurdler and author
1950 – Mithun Chakraborty, Indian actor and politician
1950 – Michel Clair, Canadian lawyer and politician
1950 – Jerry Petrowski, American politician and farmer
1951 – Charlie Dominici, American singer and guitarist
1951 – Roberto Durán, Panamanian boxer
1952 – George Papandreou, Greek sociologist and politician, 182nd Prime Minister of Greece
1952 – Gino Vannelli, Canadian singer-songwriter
1953 – Valerie Mahaffey, American actress
1953 – Ian Mosley, English drummer
1954 – Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (d. 2014)
1954 – Garry Roberts, Irish guitarist
1955 – Grete Faremo, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Defence
1955 – Laurie Metcalf, American actress
1955 – Artemy Troitsky, Russian journalist and critic
1957 – Ian Buchanan, Scottish-American actor
1957 – Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian, Scottish lawyer and judge
1958 – Darrell Griffith, American basketball player
1958 – Ulrike Tauber, German swimmer
1958 – Warren Rodwell, Australian soldier, educator and musician
1959 – The Ultimate Warrior, American wrestler (d. 2014)
1960 – Peter Sterling, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1961 – Can Dündar, Turkish journalist and author
1961 – Robbie Kerr, Australian cricketer
1961 – Steve Larmer, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 – Margus Metstak, Estonian basketball player and coach
1962 – Wally Joyner, American baseball player and coach
1962 – Arnold Vosloo, South African-American actor
1962 – Anthony Wong, Hong Kong singer
1963 – The Sandman, American wrestler
1964 – Danny Burstein, American actor and singer
1965 – Michael Richard Lynch, Irish computer scientist and entrepreneur; co-founded HP Autonomy
1965 – Richard Madaleno, American politician
1966 – Mark Occhilupo, Australian surfer
1966 – Olivier Roumat, French rugby player
1966 – Phil Vischer, American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-created VeggieTales
1966 – Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower and coach
1967 – Charalambos Andreou, Cypriot footballer
1967 – Jürgen Klopp, German footballer and manager
1968 – Adam Schmitt, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
1969 – Shami Chakrabarti, English lawyer and academic
1969 – Mark Crossley, English-Welsh footballer and manager
1970 – Younus AlGohar, Pakistani poet and academic, co-founded Messiah Foundation International
1970 – Clifton Collins Jr., American actor
1970 – Cobi Jones, American soccer player and manager
1970 – Phil Mickelson, American golfer
1971 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper and producer (d. 1996)
1972 – Kiko Loureiro, Brazilian guitarist
1973 – Eddie Cibrian, American actor
1974 – Glenicia James, Saint Lucian cricketer
1975 – Anthony Carter, American basketball player and coach
1977 – Craig Fitzgibbon, Australian rugby league player and coach
1977 – Duncan Hames, English accountant and politician
1977 – Kerry Wood, American baseball player
1978 – Daniel Brühl, Spanish-German actor
1978 – Dainius Zubrus, Lithuanian ice hockey player
1978 – Fish Leong, Malaysian singer
1980 – Brandon Armstrong, American basketball player
1980 – Phil Christophers, German-English rugby player
1980 – Henry Perenara, New Zealand rugby league player and referee
1980 – Martin Stranzl, Austrian footballer
1980 – Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
1981 – Benjamin Becker, German tennis player
1981 – Kevin Bieksa, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Alexandre Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Ola Kvernberg, Norwegian violinist
1981 – Miguel Villalta, Peruvian footballer
1982 – May Andersen, Danish model and actress
1982 – Missy Peregrym, Canadian model and actress
1983 – Armend Dallku, Albanian footballer
1984 – Rick Nash, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Dan Ryckert, American writer and entertainer
1984 – Steven Whittaker, Scottish footballer
1986 – Rodrigo Defendi, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Urby Emanuelson, Dutch footballer
1986 – Fernando Muslera, Uruguayan footballer
1987 – Diana DeGarmo, American singer-songwriter and actress
1987 – Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Norwegian footballer
1987 – Christian Tshimanga Kabeya, Belgian footballer
1988 – Keshia Chante, Canadian singer
1988 – Jermaine Gresham, American football player
1990 – John Newman, English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer
1991 – Joe McElderry, English singer-songwriter
1991 – Siya Kolisi, South African rugby player
1991 – Matt Moylan, Australian rugby league player
1992 – Vladimir Morozov, Russian swimmer
1993 – Park Bo-gum, South Korean actor
1993 – Gnash, American singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ and record producer
1994 – Grete-Lilijane Küppas, Estonian footballer
1994 – Rezar, Albanian professional wrestler
1995 – Euan Aitken, Australian rugby league player
1995 – Joseph Schooling, Singaporean swimmer
1995 – Akira Ioane, New Zealand rugby Union player
2000 – Bianca Andreescu, Canadian tennis player
Deaths on June 16
840 – Rorgon I, Frankish nobleman (or 839)
924 – Li Cunshen, general of Later Tang (b. 862)
956 – Hugh the Great, Frankish nobleman (b. 898)
1185 – Richeza of Poland, queen of León (b. c. 1140)
1286 – Hugh de Balsham, English bishop
1332 – Adam de Brome, founder of Oriel College, Oxford
1361 – Johannes Tauler, German mystic theologian
1397 – Philip of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier (b. 1358)
1424 – Johannes Ambundii, archbishop of Riga
1468 – Jean Le Fèvre de Saint-Remy, Burgundian historian and author (b. 1395)
1487 – John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (b. c. 1463)
1540 – Konrad von Thüngen, German nobleman (b. c. 1466)
1622 – Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1555)
1626 – Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, German Protestant military leader (b. 1599)
1666 – Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1st Baronet, English poet and diplomat, English Ambassador to Spain (b. 1608)
1722 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (b. 1650)
1743 – Louise-Françoise de Bourbon, eldest daughter of King Louis XIV of France (b. 1673)
1752 – Joseph Butler, English bishop and philosopher (b. 1692)
1762 – Anne Russell, Countess of Jersey (formerly Duchess of Bedford) (b. c.1705)
1777 – Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset, French poet and playwright (b. 1709)
1779 – Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1712)
1804 – Johann Adam Hiller, German composer and conductor (b. 1728)
1824 – Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, French lawyer and politician (b. 1739)
1849 – Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette, German theologian and scholar (b. 1780)
1850 – William Lawson, English-Australian explorer and politician (b. 1774)
1858 – John Snow, English epidemiologist and physician (b. 1813)
1862 – Hidenoyama Raigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 9th Yokozuna (b. 1808)
1869 – Charles Sturt, Indian-English botanist and explorer (b. 1795)
1872 – Norman MacLeod, Scottish minister and author (b. 1812)
1878 – Crawford Long, American surgeon and pharmacist (b. 1815)
1878 – Kikuchi Yōsai, Japanese painter (b. 1781)
1881 – Josiah Mason, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1795)
1885 – Wilhelm Camphausen, German painter and academic (b. 1818)
1886 – Alexander Stuart, Scottish-Australian politician, 9th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1824)
1902 – Ernst Schröder, German mathematician and academic (b. 1841)
1918 – Bazil Assan, Romanian engineer and explorer (b. 1860)
1925 – Chittaranjan Das, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1870)
1929 – Bramwell Booth, English 2nd General of The Salvation Army (b. 1856)
1929 – Vernon Louis Parrington, American historian and scholar (b. 1871)
1930 – Ezra Fitch, American lawyer and businessman, co-founded Abercrombie & Fitch (b. 1866)
1930 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American inventor, co-invented the gyrocompass (b. 1860)
1939 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1905)
1940 – DuBose Heyward, American author (b. 1885)
1944 – Marc Bloch, French historian and academic (b. 1886)
1945 – Aris Velouchiotis, Greek general (b. 1905)
1946 – Gordon Brewster, Irish cartoonist (b 1889)
1952 – Andrew Lawson, Scottish-American geologist and academic (b. 1861)
1953 – Margaret Bondfield, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (b. 1873)
1955 – Ozias Leduc, Canadian painter (b. 1864)
1958 – Pál Maléter, Hungarian general and politician, Minister of Defence of Hungary (b. 1917)
1958 – Imre Nagy, Hungarian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1895)
1959 – George Reeves, American actor and director (b. 1914)
1961 – Marcel Junod, Swiss physician and anesthesiologist (b. 1904)
1967 – Reginald Denny, English actor (b. 1891)
1969 – Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, English field marshal and politician, 17th Governor General of Canada (b. 1891)
1970 – Sydney Chapman, English mathematician and geophysicist (b. 1888)
1970 – Brian Piccolo, American football player (b. 1943)
1971 – John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, Scottish broadcaster, co-founded BBC (b. 1889)
1974 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (b. 1894)
1977 – Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1912)
1979 – Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Ghanaian general and politician, 6th Head of state of Ghana (b. 1931)
1979 – Nicholas Ray, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
1981 – Thomas Playford IV, Australian politician, 33rd Premier of South Australia (b. 1896)
1982 – James Honeyman-Scott, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1956)
1984 – Lew Andreas, American football player and coach (b. 1895)
1984 – Erni Krusten, Estonian author and poet (b. 1900)
1986 – Maurice Duruflé, French organist and composer (b. 1902)
1987 – Marguerite de Angeli, American author and illustrator (b. 1889)
1988 – Miguel Piñero, Puerto Rican-American actor and playwright (b. 1946)
1993 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer and soldier (b. 1913)
1994 – Kristen Pfaff, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1967)
1996 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster and game show host (b. 1913)
1997 – Dal Stivens, Australian soldier and author (b. 1911)
1998 – Fred Wacker, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1918)
1999 – Screaming Lord Sutch, English singer and activist (b. 1940)
2003 – Pierre Bourgault, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1934)
2003 – Georg Henrik von Wright, Finnish–Swedish philosopher and author (b. 1916)
2004 – Thanom Kittikachorn, Thai field marshal and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1911)
2004 – Jacques Miquelon, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1911)
2005 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican-American author and critic (b. 1906)
2008 – Mario Rigoni Stern, Italian soldier and author (b. 1921)
2010 – Marc Bazin, Haitian lawyer and politician, 49th President of Haiti (b. 1932)
2010 – Maureen Forrester, Canadian singer and academic (b. 1930)
2010 – Ronald Neame, English director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
2011 – Östen Mäkitalo, Swedish engineer and academic (b. 1938)
2012 – Nils Karlsson, Swedish skier (b. 1917)
2012 – Jorge Lankenau, Mexican banker and businessman (b. 1944)
2012 – Sławomir Petelicki, Polish general (b. 1946)
2012 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (b. 1945)
2013 – Sam Farber, American businessman, co-founded OXO (b. 1924)
2013 – Hans Hass, Austrian biologist and diver (b. 1919)
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
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)
350 – The Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
713 – The Byzantine emperor Philippicus is blinded, deposed and sent into exile by conspirators of the Opsikion army in Thrace. He is succeeded by Anastasios II, who begins the reorganization of the Byzantine army.
1140 – The French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.
1326 – The Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.
1539 – Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.
1608 – Samuel de Champlain completes his third voyage to New France at Tadoussac, Quebec.
1621 – The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland.
1658 – Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France.
1665 – James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England), defeats the Dutch fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.
1781 – Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by Banastre Tarleton.
1839 – In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War.
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races): Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor: Union forces attack Confederate troops in Hanover County, Virginia.
1866 – The Fenians are driven out of Fort Erie, Ontario back into the United States.
1885 – In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, the Cree leader, Big Bear, escapes the North-West Mounted Police.
1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon.
1916 – The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.
1935 – One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa.
1937 – The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson.
1940 – World War II: The Luftwaffe bombs Paris.
1940 – World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.
1940 – Franz Rademacher proposes plans to make Madagascar the “Jewish homeland”, an idea that had first been considered by 19th century journalist Theodor Herzl.
1941 – World War II: The Wehrmacht razes the Greek village of Kandanos to the ground and murders 180 of its inhabitants.
1942 – World War II: Japan begins the Aleutian Islands Campaign by bombing Unalaska Island.
1943 – In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines clash with Latino youths in the Zoot Suit Riots.
1950 – Herzog and Lachenal of the French Annapurna expedition become the first climbers to reach the summit of an 8,000-metre peak.
1962 – At Paris Orly Airport, Air France Flight 007 overruns the runway and explodes when the crew attempts to abort takeoff, killing 130.
1963 – Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.
1965 – The launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Ed White, a crew member, performs the first American spacewalk.
1969 – Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half.
1973 – A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.
1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.
1980 – An explosive device is detonated at the Statue of Liberty. The FBI suspects Croatian nationalists.
1980 – The 1980 Grand Island tornado outbreak hits Nebraska, causing five deaths and $300 million (equivalent to $931 million in 2019) worth of damage.
1982 – The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street; he survives but is left paralysed.
1984 – Operation Blue Star, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6, with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.
1989 – The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.
1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Kyūshū, Japan, killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.
1992 – Aboriginal land rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (No 2), a case brought by Eddie Mabo.
1998 – After suffering a mechanical failure, a high speed train derails at Eschede, Germany, killing 101 people.
2006 – The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro’s formal declaration of independence.
2012 – A plane carrying 153 people on board crashes in a residential neighborhood in Lagos, Nigeria, killing everyone on board and 10 people on the ground.
2012 – The pageant for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II takes place on the River Thames.
2013 – The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.
2013 – At least 119 people are killed in a fire at a poultry farm in Jilin Province in northeastern China.
2015 – An explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana, killing more than 200 people.
2017 – London Bridge attack: Eight people are murdered and dozens of civilians are wounded by Islamist terrorists. Three of the attackers are shot dead by the police.
2019 – Khartoum massacre: In Sudan, over 100 people are killed when security forces accompanied by Janjaweed militiamen storm and open fire on a sit-in protest.
Births on June 3
20 BC – Sejanus, Roman soldier and bodyguard (d. 31 AD)
1139 – Conon of Naso, Basilian abbot (d. 1236)
1421 – Giovanni di Cosimo de’ Medici, Italian noble (d. 1463)
1454 – Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania (1474–1523) (d. 1523)
1537 – João Manuel, Prince of Portugal (d. 1554)
1540 – Charles II, Archduke of Austria (d. 1590)
1554 – Pietro de’ Medici, Italian noble (d. 1604)
1576 – Giovanni Diodati, Swiss-Italian minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1649)
1594 – César, Duke of Vendôme, French nobleman (d. 1665)
1603 – Pietro Paolini, Italian painter (d. 1681)
1635 – Philippe Quinault, French playwright and composer (d. 1688)
1636 – John Hale, American minister (d. 1700)
1659 – David Gregory, Scottish-English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1708)
1662 – Willem van Mieris, Dutch painter (d. 1747)
1723 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician, geologist, and botanist (d. 1788)
1726 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist and physician (d. 1797)
1736 – Ignaz Fränzl, German violinist and composer (d. 1811)
1770 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentinian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1820)
1808 – Jefferson Davis, American colonel and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1889)
1818 – Louis Faidherbe, French general and politician, Governor of Senegal (d. 1889)
1819 – Anton Anderledy, Swiss religious leader, 23rd Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1892)
1819 – Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (d. 1891)
1832 – Charles Lecocq, French pianist and composer (d. 1918)
1843 – Frederick VIII of Denmark (d. 1912)
1844 – Garret Hobart, American lawyer and politician, 24th Vice President of the United States (d. 1899)
1844 – Detlev von Liliencron, German poet and author (d. 1909)
1852 – Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic (d. 1896)
1853 – Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist and academic (d. 1942)
1864 – Otto Erich Hartleben, German poet and playwright (d. 1905)
1864 – Ransom E. Olds, American businessman, founded Oldsmobile and REO Motor Car Company (d. 1950)
1865 – George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1936)
1866 – George Howells Broadhurst, English-American director and manager (d. 1952)
1873 – Otto Loewi, German-American pharmacologist and psychobiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
1877 – Raoul Dufy, French painter and illustrator (d. 1953)
1879 – Alla Nazimova, Ukrainian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1945)
1879 – Raymond Pearl, American biologist and botanist (d. 1940)
1879 – Vivian Woodward, English footballer and soldier (d. 1954)
1881 – Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter and set designer (d. 1964)
1890 – Baburao Painter, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1954)
1897 – Memphis Minnie, American singer-songwriter (d. 1973)
1899 – Georg von Békésy, Hungarian-American biophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
1900 – Adelaide Ames, American astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
1900 – Leo Picard, German-Israeli geologist and academic (d. 1997)
1901 – Maurice Evans, English actor (d. 1989)
1901 – Zhang Xueliang, Chinese general and warlord (d. 2001)
1903 – Eddie Acuff, American actor (d. 1956)
1904 – Charles R. Drew, American physician and surgeon (d. 1950)
1904 – Jan Peerce, American tenor and actor (d. 1984)
1905 – Martin Gottfried Weiss, German SS officer (d. 1946)
1906 – R. G. D. Allen, English economist, mathematician, and statistician (d. 1983)
1906 – Josephine Baker, French actress, singer, and dancer; French Resistance operative (d. 1975)
1906 – Walter Robins, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1968)
1907 – Paul Rotha, English director and producer (d. 1984)
1910 – Paulette Goddard, American actress and model (d. 1990)
1911 – Ellen Corby, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1999)
1913 – Pedro Mir, Dominican poet and author (d. 2000)
1914 – Ignacio Ponseti, Spanish physician and orthopedist (d. 2009)
1917 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (d. 1969)
1918 – Patrick Cargill, English actor and producer (d. 1996)
1918 – Lili St. Cyr, American dancer (d. 1999)
1921 – Forbes Carlile, Australian pentathlete and coach (d. 2016)
1921 – Jean Dréjac, French singer and composer (d. 2003)
1922 – Alain Resnais, French director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
1923 – Igor Shafarevich, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 2017)
1924 – Karunanidhi, Indian screenwriter and politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 2018)
1924 – Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian-American actress (d. 1991)
1924 – Bernard Glasser, American director and producer (d. 2014)
1924 – Jimmy Rogers, American singer and guitarist (d. 1997)
1924 – Torsten Wiesel, Swedish neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1925 – Tony Curtis, American actor (d. 2010)
1925 – Thomas Winning, Scottish cardinal (d. 2001)
1926 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997)
1926 – Flora MacDonald, Canadian banker and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Communications (d. 2015)
1927 – Boots Randolph, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2007)
1928 – Donald Judd, American sculptor and painter (d. 1994)
1928 – John Richard Reid, New Zealand cricketer
1929 – Werner Arber, Swiss microbiologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate
1929 – Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (d. 2017)
1930 – Marion Zimmer Bradley, American author and poet (d. 1999)
1930 – George Fernandes, Indian journalist and politician, Minister of Defence for India (d. 2019)
1930 – Dakota Staton, American singer (d. 2007)
1930 – Abbas Zandi, Iranian wrestler (d. 2017)
1930 – Ben Wada, Japanese director and producer (d. 2011)
1930 – Joe Coulombe, founder of Trader Joe’s (d. 2020)
1931 – Françoise Arnoul, Algerian-French actress
1931 – Raúl Castro, Cuban commander and politician, 18th President of Cuba
1931 – John Norman, American philosopher and author
1931 – Lindy Remigino, American runner and coach (d. 2018)
1933 – Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahranian king (d. 1999)
1936 – Larry McMurtry, American novelist and screenwriter
1936 – Colin Meads, New Zealand rugby player and coach (d. 2017)
1937 – Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, French race car driver
1939 – Frank Blevins, English-Australian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Premier of South Australia (d. 2013)
1939 – Steve Dalkowski, American baseball player (d. 2020)
1939 – Ian Hunter, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1942 – Curtis Mayfield, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1999)
1943 – Billy Cunningham, American basketball player and coach
1944 – Thomas Burns, British bishop
1944 – Edith McGuire, American sprinter and educator
1944 – Eddy Ottoz, Italian hurdler and coach
1945 – Hale Irwin, American golfer and architect
1945 – Ramon Jacinto, Filipino singer, guitarist, and businessman, founded the Rajah Broadcasting Network
1945 – Bill Paterson, Scottish actor
1946 – Michael Clarke, American drummer (d. 1993)
1946 – Eddie Holman, American pop/R&B/gospel singer
1946 – Penelope Wilton, English actress
1947 – John Dykstra, American special effects artist and producer
455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.
1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later.
1615 – The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.
1676 – Franco-Dutch War: France ensured the supremacy of its naval fleet for the remainder of the war with its victory in the Battle of Palermo.
1692 – Bridget Bishop is the first person to be tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts; she was found guilty and later hanged.
1763 – Pontiac’s Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison’s attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.
1774 – Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act is enacted, allowing a governor in colonial America to house British soldiers in uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings if suitable quarters are not provided.
1793 – French Revolution: François Hanriot, leader of the Parisian National Guard, arrests 22 Girondists selected by Jean-Paul Marat, setting the stage for the Reign of Terror.
1805 – Napoleonic Wars: A Franco-Spanish fleet recaptures Diamond Rock, an uninhabited island at the entrance to the bay leading to Fort-de-France, from the British.
1835 – P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.
1848 – The Slavic congress in Prague begins.
1866 – The Fenians defeat Canadian forces at Ridgeway and Fort Erie, but the raids end soon after.
1896 – Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his wireless telegraph.
1909 – Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
1910 – Charles Rolls, a co-founder of Rolls-Royce Limited, becomes the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane.
1919 – Anarchists simultaneously set off bombs in eight separate U.S. cities.
1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
1941 – World War II: German paratroopers murder Greek civilians in the villages of Kondomari and Alikianos.
1946 – Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum, King Umberto II of Italy is exiled.
1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised.
1955 – The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.
1962 – During the FIFA World Cup, police had to intervene multiple times in fights between Chilean and Italian players in one of the most violent games in football history.
1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed.
1966 – Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.
1967 – Luis Monge is executed in Colorado’s gas chamber, in the last pre-Furman execution in the United States.
1967 – Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into riots, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group Movement 2 June.
1979 – Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
1983 – After an emergency landing because of an in-flight fire, twenty-three passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 797 are killed when a flashover occurs as the plane’s doors open. Because of this incident, numerous new safety regulations are put in place.
1990 – The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 66 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12.
1997 – In Denver, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died. He was executed four years later.
2003 – Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
2012 – Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
2014 – Telangana officially becomes the 29th state of India, formed from ten districts of northwestern Andhra Pradesh.
Births on June 2
1305 – Abu Sa’id Bahadur Khan, ruler of Ilkhanate (d. 1335)
1423 – Ferdinand I of Naples (d. 1494)
1489 – Charles, Duke of Vendôme (d. 1537)
1535 – Pope Leo XI (d. 1605)
1602 – Rudolf Christian, Count of East Frisia, Ruler of East Frisia (d. 1628)
1621 – Rutger von Ascheberg, Courland-born soldier in Swedish service (d. 1693)
1621 – (baptized) Isaac van Ostade, Dutch painter (d. 1649)
1638 – Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (d. 1709)
1644 – William Salmon, English medical writer (d. 1713)
1739 – Jabez Bowen, American colonel and politician, 45th Deputy Governor of Rhode Island (d. 1815)
1740 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and politician (d. 1814)
1743 – Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian occultist and explorer (d. 1795)
1773 – John Randolph of Roanoke, American planter and politician, 8th United States Ambassador to Russia (d. 1833)
1774 – William Lawson, English-Australian explorer and politician (d. 1850)
1813 – Daniel Pollen, Irish-New Zealand politician, 9th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1896)
1823 – Gédéon Ouimet, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of Quebec (d. 1905)
1835 – Pope Pius X (d. 1914)
1838 – Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg (d. 1900)
1840 – Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (d. 1928)
1840 – Émile Munier, French artist (d. 1895)
1857 – Edward Elgar, English composer and educator (d. 1934)
1857 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
1861 – Concordia Selander, Swedish actress and manager (d. 1935)
1863 – Felix Weingartner, Croatian-Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1942)
1865 – George Lohmann, English cricketer (d. 1901)
1865 – Adelaide Casely-Hayford, Sierra Leone Creole advocate and activist for cultural nationalism (d. 1960)
1869 – Jack O’Connor, American baseball player and manager (d. 1937)
1875 – Charles Stewart Mott, American businessman and politician, 50th Mayor of Flint, Michigan (d. 1973)
1878 – Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (d. 1912)
1881 – Walter Egan, American golfer (d. 1971)
1891 – Thurman Arnold, American lawyer and judge (d. 1969)
1891 – Takijirō Ōnishi, Japanese admiral and pilot (d. 1945)
1899 – Lotte Reiniger, German animator and director (d. 1981)
1899 – Edwin Way Teale, American environmentalist and photographer (d. 1980)
1904 – Frank Runacres, English painter and educator (d. 1974)
1904 – Johnny Weissmuller, Hungarian-American swimmer and actor (d. 1984)
1907 – Dorothy West, American journalist and author (d. 1998)
1907 – John Lehmann, English poet and publisher (d. 1987)
1910 – Hector Dyer, American sprinter (d. 1990)
1911 – Joe McCluskey, American runner (d. 2002)
1913 – Barbara Pym, English author (d. 1980)
1913 – Elsie Tu, English-Hong Kong educator and politician (d. 2015)
1914 – Johnny Bulla, American golfer (d. 2003)
1915 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian spy (d. 1992)
1917 – Heinz Sielmann, German photographer and director (d. 2006)
1918 – Ruth Atkinson, Canadian-American illustrator (d. 1997)
1918 – Kathryn Tucker Windham, American journalist and author (d. 2011)
1919 – Nat Mayer Shapiro, American painter (d. 2005)
1920 – Frank G. Clement, American lawyer and politician, 41st Governor of Tennessee (d. 1969)
1920 – Yolande Donlan, American-English actress (d. 2014)
1920 – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-German author and critic (d. 2013)
1920 – Tex Schramm, American businessman (d. 2003)
1920 – Johnny Speight, English screenwriter and producer (d. 1998)
1921 – Betty Freeman, American photographer and philanthropist (d. 2009)
1921 – Ernie Royal, American trumpet player (d. 1983)
1921 – Sigmund Sternberg, Hungarian-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
1921 – András Szennay, Hungarian priest (d. 2012)
1922 – Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1922 – Carmen Silvera, Canadian-English actress (d. 2002)
1923 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
1924 – June Callwood, Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2007)
1926 – Chiyonoyama Masanobu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 41st Yokozuna (d. 1977)
1926 – Milo O’Shea, Irish-American actor (d. 2013)
1927 – W. Watts Biggers, American author, screenwriter, and animator (d. 2013)
1927 – Colin Brittan, English footballer (d. 2013)
1927 – Christopher Slade, English lawyer and judge
1928 – Erzsi Kovács, Hungarian singer (d. 2014)
1928 – Rafael A. Lecuona, Cuban-American gymnast and academic (d. 2014)
1928 – Ron Reynolds, English footballer (d. 1999)
1929 – Norton Juster, American architect, author, and academic
1929 – Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player (d. 2007)
1930 – Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1999)
1933 – Jerry Lumpe, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
1933 – Lew “Sneaky Pete” Robinson, drag racer (d. 1971)
1934 – Johnny Carter, American singer (d. 2009)
1935 – Carol Shields, American-Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2003)
1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king of Castile and León.
1298 – Residents of Riga and Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Livonian Order in the Battle of Turaida.
1495 – A monk, John Cor, records the first known batch of Scotch whisky
1533 – Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England.
1535 – Combined forces loyal to Charles V attack and expel the Ottomans from Tunis during the Conquest of Tunis.
1648 – The Roundheads defeat the Cavaliers at the Battle of Maidstone in the Second English Civil War.
1649 – Start of the Sumuroy Revolt: Filipinos in Northern Samar led by Agustin Sumuroy revolt against Spanish colonial authorities.
1670 – In Dover, England, Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France sign the Secret Treaty of Dover, which will force England into the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
1676 – Battle of Öland: allied Danish-Dutch forces defeat the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, during the Scanian War (1675–79).
1679 – The Scottish Covenanters defeat John Graham of Claverhouse at the Battle of Drumclog.
1773 – Wolraad Woltemade rescues 14 sailors at the Cape of Good Hope from the sinking ship De Jonge Thomas by riding his horse into the sea seven times. He drowned on his eighth attempt.
1779 – The court-martial for malfeasance of Benedict Arnold, a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, begins.
1792 – Kentucky is admitted as the 15th state of the United States.
1794 – The battle of the Glorious First of June is fought, the first naval engagement between Britain and France during the French Revolutionary Wars.
1796 – Tennessee is admitted as the 16th state of the United States.
1812 – War of 1812: U.S. President James Madison asks the Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom.
1813 – Capture of USS Chesapeake.
1815 – Napoleon promulgates a revised Constitution after it passes a plebiscite.
1831 – James Clark Ross becomes the first European at the North Magnetic Pole.
1849 – Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey declared the Territory of Minnesota officially established.
1855 – The American adventurer William Walker conquers Nicaragua.
1857 – Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal is published.
1861 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fairfax Court House is fought.
1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: The Battle of Seven Pines (or the Battle of Fair Oaks) ends inconclusively, with both sides claiming victory.
1868 – The Treaty of Bosque Redondo is signed, allowing the Navajo to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico.
1879 – Napoléon Eugène, the last dynastic Bonaparte, is killed in the Anglo-Zulu War.
1890 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine to count census returns.
1913 – The Greek–Serbian Treaty of Alliance is signed, paving the way for the Second Balkan War.
1916 – Louis Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
1918 – World War I: Western Front: Battle of Belleau Wood: Allied Forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord engage Imperial German Forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.
1922 – The Royal Ulster Constabulary is founded.
1929 – The 1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America is held in Buenos Aires.
1930 – The Deccan Queen is introduced as first intercity train between Bombay VT (Now Mumbai CST) and Poona (Pune) to run on electric locomotives.
1939 – First flight of the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.
1941 – World War II: The Battle of Crete ends as Crete capitulates to Germany.
1941 – The Farhud, a massive pogrom in Iraq, starts and as a result, many Iraqi Jews are forced to leave their homes.
1943 – BOAC Flight 777 is shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German Junkers Ju 88s, killing British actor Leslie Howard and leading to speculation that it was actually an attempt to kill British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
1946 – Ion Antonescu, “Conducator” (“Leader”) of Romania during World War II, is executed.
1950 – The Chinchaga fire ignites. By September, it would become the largest single fire on record in North America.
1958 – Charles de Gaulle comes out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months.
1961 – The Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada merge to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the largest bank merger in Canadian history.
1962 – Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel.
1964 – Kenya becomes a republic with Jomo Kenyatta (1897 – 22 August 1978) as its first President (1964 to 1978).
1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine.
1975 – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was founded by Jalal Talabani, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fuad Masum and others.
1978 – The first international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed.
1979 – The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power.
1988 – European Central Bank is founded in Brussels.
1988 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty comes into effect.
1990 – Cold War: George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production.
1993 – Dobrinja mortar attack: Thirteen are killed and 133 wounded when Serb mortar shells are fired at a soccer game in Dobrinja, west of Sarajevo.
1994 – Republic of South Africa becomes a Commonwealth republic.
1999 – American Airlines Flight 1420 slides and crashes while landing at Little Rock National Airport, killing 11 people on a flight from Dallas to Little Rock.
2001 – Nepalese royal massacre: Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shoots and kills several members of his family including his father and mother.
2001 – Dolphinarium discotheque massacre: A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 at a disco in Tel Aviv.
2004 – Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols is sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of a parole, breaking a Guinness World Record.
2008 – A fire on the back lot of Universal Studios breaks out, destroying the attraction King Kong Encounter and a large archive of master tapes for music and film, the full extent of which was not revealed until 2019.
2009 – Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 passengers and crew are killed.
2009 – General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth largest United States bankruptcy in history.
2011 – A rare tornado outbreak occurs in New England; a strong EF3 tornado strikes Springfield, Massachusetts, during the event, killing four people.
2011 – Space Shuttle Endeavour makes its final landing after 25 flights.
2015 – A ship carrying 458 people capsizes on Yangtze river in China’s Hubei province, killing 400 people.
Births on June 1
1134 – Geoffrey, Count of Nantes (d. 1158)
1300 – Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, English politician, Lord Marshal of England (d. 1338)
1451 – Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney (d. 1508)
1460 – Enno I, Count of East Frisia, German noble (d. 1491)
1480 – Tiedemann Giese, Polish bishop (d. 1550)
1498 – Maarten van Heemskerck, Dutch painter (d. 1574)
1522 – Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert, Dutch writer and scholar (d. 1590)
1563 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Secretary of State for England (d. 1612)
1612 – Frans Post, Dutch painter (d. 1680)
1633 – Geminiano Montanari, Italian astronomer and academic (d. 1687)
1637 – Jacques Marquette, French missionary and explorer (d. 1675)
1653 – Georg Muffat, French organist and composer (d. 1704)
1675 – Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist and playwright (d. 1755)
1762 – Edmund Ignatius Rice, Irish priest and missionary, founded the Irish Christian Brothers (d. 1844)
1765 – Christiane Vulpius, mistress and wife of Johann Wolfgang Goethe (d. 1816)
1770 – Friedrich Laun, German author (d. 1849)
1790 – Ferdinand Raimund, Austrian actor and playwright (d. 1836)
1796 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, French physicist and engineer (d. 1832)
1800 – Edward Deas Thomson, Australian educator and politician, Chief Secretary of New South Wales (d. 1879)
1801 – Brigham Young, American religious leader, 2nd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1877)
1804 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (d. 1857)
1808 – Henry Parker, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of New South Wales (d. 1881)
1815 – Otto of Greece (d. 1862)
1819 – Francis V, Duke of Modena (d. 1875)
1822 – Clementina Maude, Viscountess Hawarden, English portrait photographer (d. 1865)
1825 – John Hunt Morgan, American general (d. 1864)
1831 – John Bell Hood, American general (d. 1879)
1833 – John Marshall Harlan, American lawyer, judge, and politician, Attorney General of Kentucky (d. 1911)
1843 – Henry Faulds, Scottish physician and missionary, developed fingerprinting (d. 1930)
1844 – John J. Toffey, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1911)
1869 – Richard Wünsch, German philologist (d. 1915)
1873 – Elena Alistar, Bessarabian politician (d. 1955)
1874 – Yury Nikolaevich Voronov, Russian botanist (d. 1931)
1878 – John Masefield, English author and poet (d. 1967)
1879 – Max Emmerich, American triathlete and gymnast (d. 1956)
1882 – Nicolae Bivol, Moldovan businessman and politician, Mayor of Chișinău (d. 1940)
1887 – Clive Brook, English actor (d. 1974)
1889 – James Daugherty, American author, illustrator, and painter (d. 1974)
1889 – Charles Kay Ogden, English linguist and philosopher (d. 1957)
1890 – Frank Morgan, American actor (d. 1949)
1892 – Amanullah Khan, sovereign of the Kingdom of Afghanistan, (d. 1960)
1899 – Edward Charles Titchmarsh, English mathematician and academic (d. 1963)
1901 – Hap Day, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and manager (d. 1990)
1901 – Tom Gorman, Australian rugby league player (d. 1978)
1901 – John Van Druten, English-American playwright and director (d. 1957)
1903 – Vasyl Velychkovsky, Ukrainian-Canadian bishop and martyr (d. 1973)
1903 – Hans Vogt, Norwegian linguist and academic (d. 1986)
1905 – Robert Newton, English-American actor (d. 1956)
1907 – Jan Patočka, Czech philosopher (d. 1977)
1907 – Frank Whittle, English airman and engineer, developed the jet engine (d. 1996)
1908 – Julie Campbell Tatham, American author (d. 1999)
1909 – Yechezkel Kutscher, Slovakian-Israeli philologist and linguist (d. 1971)
1910 – Gyula Kállai, Hungarian communist leader, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Hungary (d. 1996)
1912 – Herbert Tichy, Austrian geologist, author, and mountaineer (d. 1987)
1913 – Bill Deedes, English journalist and politician (d. 2007)
1915 – John Randolph, American actor (d. 2004)
1916 – Jean Jérôme Hamer, Belgian Cardinal (d. 1996)
1917 – William Standish Knowles, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
1920 – Robert Clarke, American actor and producer (d. 2005)
1921 – Nelson Riddle, American composer and bandleader (d. 1985)
1922 – Joan Caulfield, American model and actress (d. 1991)
1922 – Povel Ramel, Swedish singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2007)
1924 – William Sloane Coffin, American minister and activist (d. 2006)
1925 – Dilia Díaz Cisneros, Venezuelan teacher (d. 2017)
1926 – Johnny Berry, English footballer (d. 1994)
1926 – Andy Griffith, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1926 – Marilyn Monroe, American model and actress (d. 1962)
1926 – George Robb, English international footballer and teacher (d. 2011)
1926 – Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (d. 2015)
1928 – Georgy Dobrovolsky, Ukrainian pilot and astronaut (d. 1971)
1928 – Steve Dodd, Australian actor and composer (d. 2014)
1928 – Bob Monkhouse, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1929 – Nargis, Indian actress (d. 1981)<ref”>Dilip Kumar (28 July 2014). Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow. Hay House, Inc. p. 137. ISBN 978-93-81398-96-8.</ref>
1929 – James H. Billington, American academic and Thirteenth Librarian of Congress (d. 2018)
1930 – John Lemmon, English logician and philosopher (d. 1966)
1930 – Richard Levins, American ecologist and geneticist (d. 2016)
1930 – Matt Poore, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2020)
1930 – Edward Woodward, English actor (d. 2009)
1931 – Walter Horak, Austrian footballer (d. 2019)
1932 – Frank Cameron, New Zealand cricketer
1932 – Christopher Lasch, American historian and critic (d. 1994)
1933 – Haruo Remeliik, Palauan politician, 1st President of Palau (d. 1985)
1933 – Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2010)
1934 – Pat Boone, American singer-songwriter and actor
1934 – Peter Masterson, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1934 – Doris Buchanan Smith, American author (d. 2002)
1935 – Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, English architect, founded Foster and Partners
1935 – Reverend Ike, American minister and television host (d. 2009)
1935 – Jack Kralick, American baseball player (d. 2012)
1935 – Percy Adlon, German director, screenwriter and producer
1935 – John C. Reynolds, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2013)
1936 – Anatoly Albul, Soviet and Russian wrestler (d. 2013)
1936 – André Bourbeau, Canadian politician (d. 2018)
1936 – Bekim Fehmiu, Bosnian actor (d. 2010)
1936 – Gerald Scarfe, English illustrator and animator
1937 – Morgan Freeman, American actor and producer
1937 – Rosaleen Linehan, Irish actress
1937 – Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist and author (d. 2015)
1939 – Cleavon Little, American actor and comedian (d. 1992)
1940 – René Auberjonois, American actor (d. 2019)
1940 – Katerina Gogou, Greek writer and actress (d. 1993)
1940 – Kip Thorne, American physicist, astronomer, and academic
1941 – Dean Chance, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
1941 – Toyo Ito, Japanese architect, designed the Torre Realia BCN and Hotel Porta Fira
1941 – Alexander V. Zakharov, Russian physicist and astronomer
1942 – Parveen Kumar, Pakistani-English physician and academic
1943 – Orietta Berti, Italian singer and actress
1943 – Richard Goode, American pianist
1943 – Lorrie Wilmot, South African cricketer (d. 2004)
1944 – Colin Blakemore, British neurobiologist
1944 – Robert Powell, English actor
1945 – Jim McCarty, American blues rock guitarist
1945 – Linda Scott, American singer
1945 – Lydia Shum, Chinese-Hong Kong actress (d. 2008)
1945 – Kerry Vincent, Australian chef and author
1945 – Frederica von Stade, American soprano and actress
1946 – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
1947 – Ron Dennis, English businessman, founded the McLaren Group
1947 – Jonathan Pryce, Welsh actor and singer
1947 – Ronnie Wood, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1948 – Powers Boothe, American actor (d. 2017)
1948 – Tomáš Halík, Czech Roman Catholic priest, philosopher, theologian and scholar
1948 – Michel Plasse, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2006)
1948 – Juhan Viiding, Estonian poet and actor (d. 1995)
1950 – Perrin Beatty, Canadian businessman and politician
1950 – Charlene, American singer-songwriter
1950 – Jean Lambert, English educator and politician
1950 – Michael McDowell, American author and screenwriter (d. 1999)
1952 – Şenol Güneş, Turkish footballer and manager
1952 – David Lan, South African-English director and playwright
1952 – Mihaela Loghin, Romanian shot putter
1953 – Ronnie Dunn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – Ted Field, American entrepreneur and race car driver
1954 – Jill Black, English lawyer and judge
1955 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2016)
1955 – Lorraine Moller, New Zealand runner
1955 – Tony Snow, American journalist, 26th White House Press Secretary (d. 2008)
1956 – Patrick Besson, French writer and journalist
1956 – Lisa Hartman Black, American actress
1956 – Petra Morsbach, German author
1958 – Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Mongolian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Mongolia
1958 – Gennadiy Valyukevich, Belarusian triple jumper (d. 2019)
1959 – Martin Brundle, English racing driver and sportscaster
1959 – Alan Wilder, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
1960 – Simon Gallup, English musician (The Cure)
1960 – Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2012)
1960 – Sergey Kuznetsov, Russian footballer and manager
1960 – Giorgos Lillikas, Cypriot politician, 8th Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs
1960 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (d. 2006)
1961 – Paul Coffey, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 – Mark Curry, American actor
1961 – Werner Günthör, Swiss shot putter and bobsledder
1961 – John Huston, American golfer
1961 – Peter Machajdík, Slovakian-German pianist and composer
1963 – Vital Borkelmans, Belgian footballer
1963 – Miles J. Padgett, Scottish physicist and academic
1963 – David Westhead, English actor and producer
1965 – Larisa Lazutina, Russian skier
1965 – Olga Nazarova, Russian sprinter
1965 – Nigel Short, English chess player and journalist
1966 – Greg Schiano, American football player and coach
1968 – Jason Donovan, Australian actor and singer
1968 – Jeff Hackett, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Mathias Rust, German aviator
1969 – Luis García Postigo, former Mexican footballer
1969 – Teri Polo, American actress
1970 – Georgie Gardner, Australian journalist and television host
1970 – Alexi Lalas, American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster
1971 – Mario Cimarro, Cuban-American actor and singer
1973 – Frédérik Deburghgraeve, Belgian swimmer
1973 – Adam Garcia, Australian actor
1973 – Derek Lowe, American baseball player
1973 – Heidi Klum, German-American model, fashion designer, and producer
1974 – Alanis Morissette, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress
1974 – Michael Rasmussen, Danish cyclist
1974 – Sarah Teather, English politician
1974 – Akis Zikos, Greek footballer and coach
1975 – Michal Grošek, Czech-Swiss ice hockey player and coach
1975 – Frauke Petry, German politician
1975 – Ēriks Rags, Latvian javelin thrower
1976 – Marlon Devonish, English sprinter and coach
1976 – Kōhei Murakami, Japanese actor
1977 – Andrea Bogart, American actress
1977 – Arsen Gitinov, Russian and Kyrgyzstani freestyle wrestler
1977 – Danielle Harris, American actress
1977 – Brad Wilkerson, American baseball player and coach
1977 – Sarah Wayne Callies, American actress
1978 – Antonietta Di Martino, Italian high jumper
1978 – Matthew Hittinger, American poet and author
1979 – Santana Moss, American football player
1979 – Markus Persson, Swedish game designer, founded Mojang
1981 – Brandi Carlile, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1981 – Amy Schumer, American actress
1981 – Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan-American baseball player
1981 – Aleksei Mikhailovich Uvarov, Russian footballer
1982 – Justine Henin, Belgian tennis player
1983 – Tetyana Hamera-Shmyrko, Ukrainian runner
1983 – Tõnis Sahk, Estonian long jumper
1984 – Jean Beausejour, Chilean footballer
1984 – Olivier Tielemans, Dutch racing driver
1985 – Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopian runner
1985 – Mário Hipólito, Angolan footballer
1985 – Dinesh Karthik, Indian cricketer
1985 – Nick Young, American basketball player
1985 – Sam Young, American basketball player
1986 – Moses Ndiema Masai, Kenyan runner
1986 – Chinedu Obasi, Nigerian footballer
1986 – Ben Smith, New Zealand rugby player
1987 – Zoltán Harsányi, Slovakian footballer
1987 – Jerel McNeal, American basketball player
1987 – Yarisley Silva, Cuban pole vaulter
1988 – Javier Hernández, Mexican footballer
1989 – Nataliya Goncharova, Ukrainian/Russian volleyball player
1989 – Sammy Alex Mutahi, Kenyan runner
1990 – Miller Bolaños, Ecuadoran footballer
1990 – Kennie Chopart, Danish footballer
1990 – Carlota Ciganda, Spanish golfer
1990 – Martin Pembleton, English footballer
1990 – Bianca Perie, Romanian hammer thrower
1991 – Tyrone Roberts, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Sam Anas, American ice hockey player
1994 – Kagayaki Taishi, Japanese sumo wrestler
1996 – Edvinas Gertmonas, Lithuanian footballer
1996 – Tom Holland, English actor
1999 – Dmitri Aliev, Russian figure skater
Deaths on June 1
195 BC – Emperor Gaozu of Han (b. 256 BC)
193 – Didius Julianus, Roman Emperor (b. 133)
352 – Ran Min, “Heavenly Prince” (Tian Wang) during the Sixteen Kingdoms
654 – Pyrrhus, patriarch of Constantinople
829 – Li Tongjie, general of the Tang Dynasty
847 – Xiao, empress of the Tang Dynasty
896 – Theodosius Romanus, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
932 – Thietmar, duke of Saxony
1146 – Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess regent of Brittany (b. 1068)
1186 – Minamoto no Yukiie, Japanese warlord
1220 – Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (b. 1176)
1310 – Marguerite Porete, French mystic
1354 – Kitabatake Chikafusa (b. 1293)
1434 – King Wladislaus II of Poland
1571 – John Story, English martyr (b. 1504)
1616 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shogun (b. 1543)
1625 – Honoré d’Urfé, French author and poet (b. 1568)
1639 – Melchior Franck, German composer (b. 1579)
1660 – Mary Dyer, English-American martyr (b. 1611)
Earliest day on which Canadian Forces Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Canada)
Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Lithuania)
Earliest day on which June Holiday can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in June. (Ireland)
Earliest day on which Labour Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Friday in June. (The Bahamas)
Earliest day on which Teacher’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Hungary)
Earliest day on which the Queen’s Birthday can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in June. (New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji)
Earliest day on which Seamen’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Iceland)
Earliest day on which Western Australia Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Western Australia)
Global Day of Parents (International)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Samoa from New Zealand in 1962.
Madaraka Day (Kenya)
National Maritime Day (Mexico)
National Tree Planting Day (Cambodia)
Pancasila Day (Indonesia)
President’s Day (Palau)
The beginning of Crop over, celebrated until the first Monday of August. (Barbados)
585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of Halys, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
621 – Battle of Hulao: Li Shimin, the son of the Chinese emperor Gaozu, defeats the numerically superior forces of Dou Jiande near the Hulao Pass (Henan). This victory decides the outcome of the civil war that followed the Sui dynasty’s collapse in favour of the Tang dynasty.
1533 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
1588 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port.)
1644 – English Civil War: Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby.
1754 – French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
1802 – In Guadeloupe, 400 rebellious slaves, led by Louis Delgrès, blow themselves up rather than submit to Napoleon’s troops.
1830 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which denies Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocates them.
1871 – The Paris Commune falls after two months.
1892 – In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
1907 – The first Isle of Man TT race was held.
1918 – The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the First Republic of Armenia declare their independence.
1926 – The 28 May 1926 coup d’état: Ditadura Nacional is established in Portugal to suppress the unrest of the First Republic.
1932 – In the Netherlands, construction of the Afsluitdijk is completed and the Zuiderzee bay is converted to the freshwater IJsselmeer.
1934 – Near Callander, Ontario, Canada, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne; they will be the first quintuplets to survive infancy.
1936 – Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
1937 – Volkswagen, the German automobile manufacturer is founded.
1940 – World War II: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium.
1940 – World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War.
1948 – Daniel François Malan is elected as Prime Minister of South Africa. He later goes on to implement Apartheid.
1958 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
1961 – Peter Benenson’s article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
1974 – Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.
1975 – Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.
1977 – In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 people inside.
1979 – Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.
1987 – A West German pilot, Mathias Rust, who was 18 years old, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia.
1991 – The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.
1995 – The 7.0 Mw Neftegorsk earthquake shook the former Russian settlement of Neftegorsk with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured. The settlement was not rebuilt.
1996 – U.S. President Bill Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
1998 – Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Pakistan celebrates Youm-e-Takbir annually.
1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.
2002 – The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.
2003 – Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor-General of Australia following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.
2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq’s interim government.
2008 – The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.
2010 – In West Bengal, India, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment and subsequent collision kills 148 passengers.
2011 – Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year.
Births on May 28
1140 – Xin Qiji, Chinese poet, general, and politician (d. 1207)
1371 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1419)
1524 – Selim II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1574)
1588 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (d. 1672)
1589 – Robert Arnauld d’Andilly, French writer (d. 1674)
1663 – António Manoel de Vilhena, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (d. 1736)
1676 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1754)
1692 – Geminiano Giacomelli, Italian composer (d. 1740)
1738 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (d. 1814)
1759 – William Pitt the Younger, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1806)
1763 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (d. 1811)
1764 – Edward Livingston, American jurist and politician, 11th United States Secretary of State (d. 1836)
1779 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and composer (d. 1852)
1807 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American paleontologist and geologist (d. 1873)
1818 – P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (d. 1893)
1836 – Friedrich Baumfelder, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1916)
1836 – Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist and academic (d. 1918)
1837 – George Ashlin, Irish architect, co-designed St Colman’s Cathedral (d. 1921)
1837 – Tony Pastor, American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner (d. 1908)
1841 – Sakaigawa Namiemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 14th Yokozuna (d. 1887)
1853 – Carl Larsson, Swedish painter and author (d. 1919)
1858 – Carl Richard Nyberg, Swedish inventor and businessman, developed the blow torch (d. 1939)
1872 – Marian Smoluchowski, Polish physicist and mountaineer (d. 1917)
1878 – Paul Pelliot, French sinologist and explorer (d. 1945)
1879 – Milutin Milanković, Serbian mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (d. 1958)
1883 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (d. 1966)
1883 – Clough Williams-Ellis, English-Welsh architect, designed the Portmeirion Village (d. 1978)
1884 – Edvard Beneš, Czech academic and politician, 2nd President of Czechoslovakia (d. 1948)
1886 – Santo Trafficante, Sr., Italian-American mobster (d. 1954)
1888 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian journalist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1942)
1888 – Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot, English author and educator (d. 1947)
1888 – Jim Thorpe, American decathlete, football player, and coach (d. 1953)
1889 – Richard Réti, Slovak-Czech chess player and author (d. 1929)
1892 – Minna Gombell, American actress (d. 1973)
1900 – Tommy Ladnier, American trumpet player (d. 1939)
1903 – S. L. Kirloskar, Indian businessman, founded Kirloskar Group (d. 1994)
1906 – Henry Thambiah, Sri Lankan lawyer, judge, and diplomat, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada (d. 1997)
1908 – Léo Cadieux, Canadian journalist and politician, 17th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2005)
1908 – Ian Fleming, English journalist and author, created James Bond (d. 1964)
1909 – Red Horner, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
1910 – Georg Gaßmann, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 1987)
1910 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (d. 2003)
1910 – T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
1911 – Bob Crisp, South African cricketer (d. 1994)
1911 – Thora Hird, English actress (d. 2003)
1911 – Fritz Hochwälder, Austrian playwright (d. 1986)
1912 – Herman Johannes, Indonesian scientist, academic, and politician (d. 1992)
1912 – Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (d. 1981)
1912 – Patrick White, Australian novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)
1914 – W. G. G. Duncan Smith, English captain and pilot (d. 1996)
1915 – Joseph Greenberg, American linguist and academic (d. 2001)
1916 – Walker Percy, American novelist and essayist (d. 1990)
1917 – Barry Commoner, American biologist, academic, and politician (d. 2012)
1918 – Johnny Wayne, Canadian comedian (d. 1990)
1921 – D. V. Paluskar, Indian Hindustani classical musician (d. 1955)
1921 – Heinz G. Konsalik, German journalist and author (d. 1999)
1921 – Tom Uren, Australian soldier, boxer, and politician (d. 2015)
1922 – Lou Duva, American boxer, trainer, and manager (d. 2017)
1922 – Roger Fisher, American author and academic (d. 2012)
1922 – Tuomas Gerdt, Finnish soldier
1923 – György Ligeti, Hungarian-Austrian composer and educator (d. 2006)
1923 – N. T. Rama Rao, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician, 10th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 1996)
1924 – Edward du Cann, English naval officer and politician (d. 2017)
1924 – Paul Hébert, Canadian actor (d. 2017)
1925 – Bülent Ecevit, Turkish journalist, scholar, and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2006)
1925 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German opera singer and conductor (d. 2012)
1928 – Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (d. 2015)
1929 – Patrick McNair-Wilson, English politician
1930 – Edward Seaga, American-Jamaican academic and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 2019)
1931 – Carroll Baker, American actress
1931 – Gordon Willis, American cinematographer (d. 2014)
1932 – Tim Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, English politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
1933 – John Karlen, American actor
1933 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress and activist (d. 2010)
1936 – Claude Forget, Canadian academic and politician
1936 – Ole K. Sara, Norwegian politician (d. 2013)
1936 – Betty Shabazz, American educator and activist (d. 1997)
1938 – Jerry West, American basketball player, coach, and executive
1939 – Maeve Binchy, Irish novelist (d. 2012)
1940 – David William Brewer, English politician, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London
1940 – Shlomo Riskin, American rabbi and academic, founded the Lincoln Square Synagogue
1941 – Beth Howland, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
1942 – Stanley B. Prusiner, American neurologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1943 – Terry Crisp, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1944 – Faith Brown, English actress and singer
1944 – Rudy Giuliani, American lawyer and politician, 107th mayor of New York City
1944 – Gladys Knight, American singer-songwriter and actress
1944 – Rita MacNeil, Canadian singer and actress (d. 2013)
1944 – Gary Stewart, American singer-songwriter (d. 2003)
1944 – Billy Vera, American singer-songwriter and actor
1945 – Patch Adams, American physician and author, founded the Gesundheit! Institute
1945 – John N. Bambacus, American military veteran (USMC) and politician
1945 – John Fogerty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1945 – Jean Perrault, Canadian politician, Mayor of Sherbrooke, Quebec
1945 – Helena Shovelton, English physician
1946 – Bruce Alexander, English actor
1946 – Skip Jutze, American baseball player
1946 – Janet Paraskeva, Welsh politician
1946 – K. Satchidanandan, Indian poet and critic
1946 – William Shawcross, English journalist and author
1947 – Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and academic
1947 – Lynn Johnston, Canadian author and illustrator
1947 – Leland Sklar, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1948 – Michael Field, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Tasmania
1948 – Pierre Rapsat, Belgian singer and songwriter (d. 2002)
1949 – Martin Kelner, English journalist, author, comedian, singer, actor and radio presenter
1949 – Wendy O. Williams, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (d. 1998)
1952 – Roger Briggs, American pianist, composer, conductor, and educator
1953 – Pierre Gauthier, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
1954 – João Carlos de Oliveira, Brazilian jumper (d. 1999)
1954 – Youri Egorov, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1988)
1954 – Charles Saumarez Smith, English historian and academic
1954 – Péter Szilágyi, Hungarian conductor and politician (d. 2013)
1954 – John Tory, Canadian lawyer and politician, 65th Mayor of Toronto
1955 – Laura Amy Schlitz, American author and librarian
1955 – Mark Howe, American ice hockey player and coach
1956 – Jerry Douglas, American guitarist and producer
1956 – Jeff Dujon, Jamaican cricketer
1956 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1980)
1956 – Peter Wilkinson, English admiral
1957 – Colin Barnes, English footballer
1957 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player and manager
1957 – Ben Howland, American basketball player and coach
1959 – Risto Mannisenmäki, Finnish racing driver
1960 – Mark Sanford, American military veteran (USAF) and politician, 115th Governor of South Carolina
1960 – Mary Portas, English journalist and author
1963 – Houman Younessi, Australian-American biologist and academic
1964 – Jeff Fenech, Australian boxer and trainer
1964 – Armen Gilliam, American basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
1964 – Zsa Zsa Padilla, Filipino singer and actress
1964 – Phil Vassar, American singer-songwriter
1965 – Chris Ballew, American singer-songwriter and bass player
1965 – Mary Coughlan, Irish politician
1966 – Roger Kumble, American director, screenwriter, and playwright
1966 – Miljenko Jergović, Bosnian novelist and journalist
1966 – Gavin Robertson, Australian cricketer
1967 – Glen Rice, American basketball player
1968 – Kylie Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1969 – Mike DiFelice, American baseball player and manager
1969 – Rob Ford, Canadian politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (d. 2016)
1970 – Glenn Quinn, American actor (d. 2002)
1971 – Isabelle Carré, French actress and singer
1971 – Ekaterina Gordeeva, Russian figure skater and sportscaster
1971 – Marco Rubio, American lawyer and politician
1972 – Doriva, Brazilian footballer and manager
1972 – Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist and manager
1973 – Marco Paulo Faria Lemos, Portuguese footballer and manager
1974 – Hans-Jörg Butt, German footballer
1974 – Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistani cricketer
1975 – Maura Johnston, American journalist, critic, and academic
1976 – Steven Bell, Australian rugby league player
1976 – Zaza Enden, Georgian-Turkish wrestler, basketball player, and coach
1976 – Roberto Goretti, Italian footballer
1976 – Glenn Morrison, Australian rugby league player and coach
1977 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American talk show host and author
1978 – Jake Johnson, American actor
1979 – Abdulaziz al-Omari, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of American Airlines Flight 11 (d. 2001)
1979 – Ronald Curry, American football player and coach
1980 – Miguel Pérez, Spanish footballer
1980 – Lucy Shuker, English tennis player
1981 – Daniel Cabrera, Dominican-American baseball player
1981 – Eric Ghiaciuc, American football player
1981 – Adam Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1982 – Alexa Davalos, French-American actress
1982 – Jhonny Peralta, Dominican-American baseball player
1983 – Steve Cronin, American soccer player
1983 – Humberto Sánchez, Dominican-American baseball player
1983 – Roman Atwood, American YouTube star
1985 – Colbie Caillat, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1985 – Pablo Andrés González, Argentinian footballer
1985 – Kostas Mendrinos, Greek footballer
1985 – Carey Mulligan, English actress and singer
1986 – Berrick Barnes, Australian rugby player
1986 – Seth Rollins, American wrestler
1986 – Ingmar Vos, Dutch decathlete
1987 – T.J. Yates, American football player
1988 – NaVorro Bowman, American football player
1988 – Percy Harvin, American football player
1988 – Craig Kimbrel, American baseball player
1990 – Kyle Walker, English international footballer, right-back
1991 – Sharrif Floyd, American football player
1991 – Alexandre Lacazette, French footballer
1991 – Kail Piho, Estonian skier
1992 – Tom Carroll, English footballer
1993 – Daniel Alvaro, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Bárbara Luz, Portuguese tennis player
1994 – John Stones, English footballer
1994 – Son Yeon-jae, South Korean gymnast
1998 – Dahyun, Korean singer
1999 – Cameron Boyce, American actor (d. 2019)
2000 – Phil Foden, English footballer
Deaths on May 28
576 – Germain of Paris, French bishop and saint (b. 496)
741 – Ucha’an K’in B’alam, Mayan king
926 – Kong Qian, official of Later Tang
926 – Li Jiji, prince of Later Tang
1023 – Wulfstan, English archbishop
1279 – William Wishart, English bishop
1327 – Robert Baldock, Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor of England
1357 – Afonso IV of Portugal (b. 1291)
1427 – Henry IV, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (b. 1397)
1556 – Saitō Dōsan, Japanese samurai (b. 1494)
1626 – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk (b. 1561)
1651 – Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent, English politician (b. 1594)
1672 – John Trevor, Welsh politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (b. 1626)
1747 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French author (b. 1715)
1750 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1720)
1787 – Leopold Mozart, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1719)
1805 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian cellist and composer (b. 1743)
1808 – Richard Hurd, English bishop (b. 1720)
1811 – Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1742)
1831 – William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk, Scottish-English admiral (b. 1756)
1843 – Noah Webster, American lexicographer (b. 1758)
1849 – Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1820)
1864 – Simion Bărnuțiu, Romanian historian and politician (b. 1808)
1878 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
1904 – Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader (b. 1846)
1916 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian economist, journalist, and poet (b. 1856)
1927 – Boris Kustodiev, Russian painter and stage designer (b. 1878)
1937 – Alfred Adler, Austrian-Scottish ophthalmologist and psychologist (b. 1870)
1946 – Carter Glass, American publisher and politician, 47th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1858)
1947 – August Eigruber, Austrian-German politician (b. 1907)
1952 – Philippe Desranleau, Canadian archbishop (b. 1882)
1953 – Tatsuo Hori, Japanese author and poet (b. 1904)
1964 – Terry Dillon, American football player (b. 1941)
1968 – Fyodor Okhlopkov, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1908)
1971 – Audie Murphy, American soldier and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1925)
1972 – Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
1975 – Ezzard Charles, American boxer (b. 1921)
1976 – Zainul Abedin, Bangladeshi painter and sculptor (b. 1914)
1980 – Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician and academic (b. 1895)
1981 – Mary Lou Williams, American pianist and composer (b. 1910)
1981 – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish cardinal (b. 1901)
1982 – H. Jones, English colonel, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1940)
1983 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American soldier and politician, 72nd Mayor of Albany (b. 1909)
1984 – Eric Morecambe, English actor and comedian (b. 1926)
1986 – Edip Cansever, Turkish poet and author (b. 1928)
1988 – Sy Oliver, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (b. 1910)
1990 – Julius Eastman, American composer (b. 1940)
1994 – Julius Boros, American golfer (b. 1920)
1994 – Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American author and academic (b. 1916)
1998 – Phil Hartman, Canadian-American actor and comedian (b. 1948)
1999 – Michael Barkai, Israeli commander (b. 1935)
1999 – B. Vittalacharya, Indian director and producer (b. 1920)
2000 – George Irving Bell, American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer (b. 1926)
2001 – Joe Moakley, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
2001 – Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist and philosopher (b. 1946)
2002 – Mildred Benson, American journalist and author (b. 1905)
TDFR Republic Day, celebrates the declaration of independence of the First Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918. (Azerbaijan and Armenia)
1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens.At least 600 Jews are killed.
1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
1153 – Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.
1199 – John is crowned King of England.
1257 – Richard of Cornwall, and his wife, Sanchia of Provence, are crowned King and Queen of the Germans at Aachen Cathedral.
1644 – Manchu regent Dorgon defeats rebel leader Li Zicheng of the Shun dynasty at the Battle of Shanhai Pass, allowing the Manchus to enter and conquer the capital city of Beijing.
1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.
1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland; Irish rebel leaders defeat and kill a detachment of militia.
1799 – War of the Second Coalition: Austrian forces defeat the French at Winterthur, Switzerland.
1813 – War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification.
1863 – American Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson.
1874 – The first group of Dorsland trekkers under the leadership of Gert Alberts leaves Pretoria.
1883 – Alexander III is crowned Tsar of Russia.
1896 – The F4-strength St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado hits in St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing at least 255 people and causing over $10–million in damage.
1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
1917 – Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church.
1919 – The NC-4 aircraft arrives in Lisbon after completing the first transatlantic flight.
1927 – The Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.
1930 – The 1,046 feet (319 m) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.
1933 – New Deal: The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission.
1933 – The Walt Disney Company releases the cartoon Three Little Pigs, with its hit song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”
1935 – New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).
1937 – In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.
1940 – World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive.
1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an “unlimited national emergency”.
1941 – World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men.
1942 – World War II: In Operation Anthropoid, Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.
1958 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
1960 – In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celâl Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office.
1962 – The Centralia mine fire is ignited in the town’s landfill above a coal mine.
1965 – Vietnam War: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam.
1967 – Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census.
1967 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.
1971 – The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.
1971 – Pakistani forces massacre over 200 civilians, mostly Bengali Hindus, in the Bagbati massacre.
1975 – Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, in North Yorkshire, England, kills 33 – the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom.
1980 – The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.
1984 – The Danube-Black Sea canal is opened, in a ceremony attended by the Ceaușescus. It had been under construction since the 1950s.
1996 – First Chechen War: the Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire.
1997 – The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak occurs, spawning multiple tornadoes in Central Texas, including the F5 that killed 27 in Jarrell.
1998 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
2001 – Members of the Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf seize twenty hostages from an affluent island resort on Palawan in the Philippines; the hostage crisis would not be resolved until June 2002.
2006 – The 6.4 Mw Yogyakarta earthquake shakes central Java with an MSK intensity of VIII (Damaging), leaving more than 5,700 dead and 37,000 injured.
2016 – Barack Obama is the first president of United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and meet Hibakusha.
2017 – Andrew Scheer takes over after Rona Ambrose as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
2018 – Maryland Flood Event: A flood occurs throughout the Patapsco Valley causing one death and destroying the entire first floors of buildings on Main Street in Ellicott City and causing cars to overturn.
Births on May 27
742 – Emperor Dezong of Tang (d. 805)
1332 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian historian and theologian (d. 1406)
1378 – Zhu Quan, Chinese military commander, historian and playwright (d. 1448)
1519 – Girolamo Mei, Italian historian and theorist (d. 1594)
1537 – Louis IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Marburg (d. 1604)
1576 – Caspar Schoppe, German author and scholar (d. 1649)
1584 – Michael Altenburg, German theologian and composer (d. 1640)
1601 – Antoine Daniel, French-Canadian missionary and saint (d. 1648)
1626 – William II, Prince of Orange (d. 1650)
1627 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (d. 1693)
1651 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (d. 1729)
1652 – Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine of Germany (d. 1722)
1738 – Nathaniel Gorham, American merchant and politician, 14th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1796)
1756 – Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria (d. 1825)
1774 – Francis Beaufort, Irish hydrographer and officer in the Royal Navy (d. 1857)
1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1877)
1814 – John Rudolph Niernsee, Viennese-born American architect (d.1885)
1815 – Henry Parkes, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1896)
1818 – Amelia Bloomer, American journalist and activist (d. 1894)
1819 – Julia Ward Howe, American poet and songwriter (d. 1910)
1827 – Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (d. 1892)
1832 – Zenas Ferry Moody, American surveyor and politician, 7th Governor of Oregon (d. 1917)
1836 – Jay Gould, American businessman and financier (d. 1892)
1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, American police officer (d. 1876)
1852 – Billy Barnes, English cricketer (d. 1899)
1857 – Theodor Curtius, German chemist (d. 1928)
1860 – Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portuguese politician, 7th President of Portugal (d. 1941)
1863 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (d. 1921)
1867 – Arnold Bennett, English author and playwright (d. 1931)
1868 – Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian poet and author (d. 1924)
1871 – Georges Rouault, French painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
1875 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (d. 1942)
1876 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 1945)
1876 – William Stanier, English engineer (d. 1965)
1878 – Anna Cervin, Swedish artist (d. 1972)
1879 – Karl Bühler, German-American linguist and psychologist (d. 1963)
1879 – Hans Lammers, German judge and politician (d. 1962)
1883 – Jessie Arms Botke, American painter (d. 1971)
1884 – Max Brod, Czech journalist, author, and composer (d. 1968)
1887 – Frank Woolley, English cricketer (d. 1978)
1888 – Louis Durey, French composer (d. 1979)
1891 – Claude Champagne, Canadian violinist, pianist, and composer (d. 1965)
1891 – Jaan Kärner, Estonian poet and author (d. 1958)
1894 – Louis-Ferdinand Céline, French physician and author (d. 1961)
1894 – Dashiell Hammett, American detective novelist and screenwriter (d. 1961)
1895 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian educator and politician, 13th Premier of Manitoba (d. 1995)
1897 – John Cockcroft, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
1897 – Dink Templeton, American rugby player and coach (d. 1962)
1898 – David Crosthwait, American engineer, inventor and writer (d. 1976)
1899 – Johannes Türn, Estonian chess and draughts player (d. 1993)
1900 – Lotte Toberentz, German overseer of the Nazi Uckermark concentration camp (d. 1964)
1900 – Uładzimir Žyłka, Belarusian poet and translator (d. 1933)
1904 – Chūhei Nambu, Japanese jumper and journalist (d. 1997)
1906 – Buddhadasa, Thai monk and philosopher (d. 1993)
1906 – Harry Hibbs, English footballer (d. 1984)
1906 – Antonio Rosario Mennonna, Italian bishop (d. 2009)
1907 – Nicolas Calas, Greek-American poet and critic (d. 1988)
1907 – Rachel Carson, American biologist, environmentalist, and author (d. 1964)
1909 – Dolores Hope, American singer and philanthropist (d. 2011)
1911 – Hubert Humphrey, American journalist and politician, 38th Vice President of the United States (d. 1978)
1911 – Teddy Kollek, Hungarian-Israeli politician, Mayor of Jerusalem (d. 2007)
1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (d. 1993)
1912 – John Cheever, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1982)
1912 – Sam Snead, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 2002)
1912 – Terry Moore, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1995)
1915 – Ester Soré, Chilean singer-songwriter (d. 1996)
1915 – Herman Wouk, American novelist (d. 2019)
1917 – Harry Webster, English engineer (d. 2007)
1918 – Yasuhiro Nakasone, Japanese commander and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2019)
1921 – Bob Godfrey, Australian-English animator, director, and voice actor (d. 2013)
1922 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (d. 2015)
1922 – Christopher Lee, English actor (d. 2015)
1922 – John D. Vanderhoof, American banker and politician, 37th Governor of Colorado (d. 2013)
1923 – Henry Kissinger, German-American political scientist and politician, 56th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate
1923 – Sumner Redstone, American businessman and philanthropist
1924 – Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (d. 2014)
1924 – John Sumner, English-Australian director, founded the Melbourne Theatre Company (d. 2013)
1925 – Tony Hillerman, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
1927 – Jüri Randviir, Estonian chess player and journalist (d. 1996)
1928 – Thea Musgrave, Scottish-American composer and educator
1930 – John Barth, American novelist and short story writer
1930 – William S. Sessions, American civil servant and judge, 8th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
1930 – Eino Tamberg, Estonian composer and educator (d. 2010)
1931 – André Barbeau, French-Canadian neurologist (d. 1986)
1931 – John Chapple, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Gibraltar
1931 – Bernard Fresson, French actor (d. 2002)
1931 – Faten Hamama, Egyptian actress and producer (d. 2015)
1931 – Philip Kotler, American author and professor
1933 – Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian businessman (d. 2008)
1933 – Manfred Sommer, Spanish author and illustrator (d. 2007)
1934 – Ray Daviault, Canadian-American baseball player
1934 – Harlan Ellison, American author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
1935 – Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
1935 – Mal Evans, British road manager of The Beatles (d. 1976)
1935 – Jerry Kindall, American baseball player and coach (d. 2017)
1935 – Ramsey Lewis, American jazz pianist and composer
1935 – Lee Meriwether, American model and actress, Miss America 1955
1936 – Benjamin Bathurst, English admiral
1936 – Louis Gossett, Jr., American actor and producer
1936 – Marcel Masse, Canadian educator and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 2014)
1937 – Allan Carr, American playwright and producer (d. 1999)
1939 – Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns, English courtier and businessman
1939 – Yves Duhaime, Canadian captain and politician
1939 – Sokratis Kokkalis, Greek businessman
1939 – Gerald Ronson, English businessman and philanthropist
1939 – Lionel Sosa, Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive
1939 – Don Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
1940 – Mike Gibson, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2015)
1942 – Lee Baca, American police officer
1942 – Piers Courage, English racing driver (d. 1970)
1942 – Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1942 – Robin Widdows, English racing driver
1943 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (d. 2015)
1943 – Bruce Weitz, American actor
1944 – Chris Dodd, American lawyer and politician
1944 – Ingrid Roscoe, English historian and politician, Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire
1944 – Alain Souchon, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1945 – Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish bassist and composer (d. 2005)
1946 – John Williams, English motorcycle racer (d. 1978)
1947 – Peter DeFazio, American politician
1947 – Marty Kristian, German-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1947 – Branko Oblak, Slovenian footballer and coach
1947 – Riivo Sinijärv, Estonian politician, 19th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1948 – Wubbo de Boer, Dutch civil servant (d. 2017)
1948 – Pete Sears, English bass player
1948 – Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart, American occultist and author (d. 2014)
1949 – Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, English politician
1949 – Christa Vahlensieck, German runner
1950 – Dee Dee Bridgewater, American singer-songwriter and actress
1950 – Makis Dendrinos, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
1951 – John Conteh, English boxer
1954 – Pauline Hanson, Australian businesswoman, activist, and politician
1954 – Jackie Slater, American football player and coach
1955 – Eric Bischoff, American wrestler, manager, and producer
1955 – Richard Schiff, American actor, director, and producer
1955 – Ian Tracey, English organist and conductor
1956 – Cynthia McFadden, American journalist
1956 – Rosemary Squire, English producer and manager, co-founded Ambassador Theatre Group
1956 – Giuseppe Tornatore, Italian director and screenwriter
1957 – Dag Terje Andersen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Labour
1957 – Nitin Gadkari, Indian lawyer and politician, Indian Minister of Transport
1957 – Eddie Harsch, Canadian-American keyboard player and bass player (d. 2016)
1957 – Siouxsie Sioux, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
1958 – Nick Anstee, English accountant and politician, 682nd Lord Mayor of London
1958 – Neil Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter and musician
1958 – Jesse Robredo, Filipino politician, 23rd Filipino Secretary of the Interior (d. 2012)
1960 – Gaston Therrien, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
1961 – José Luíz Barbosa, Brazilian runner and coach
1961 – Peri Gilpin, American actress
1962 – Marcelino Bernal, Mexican footballer
1962 – Ray Borner, Australian basketball player
1962 – Steven Brill, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1962 – Anthony A. Hyman, Israeli-English biologist and academic
1962 – David Mundell, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
1962 – Ravi Shastri, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
1963 – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban pianist and composer
1963 – Maria Walliser, Swiss skier
1964 – Adam Carolla, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Pat Cash, Australian-English tennis player and sportscaster
1966 – Heston Blumenthal, English chef and author
1967 – Paul Gascoigne, English international footballer, midfielder, coach, and manager
1967 – Eddie McClintock, American actor
1968 – Jeff Bagwell, American baseball player and coach
1968 – Rebekah Brooks, English journalist
1968 – Harun Erdenay, Turkish basketball player and coach
1968 – Frank Thomas, American baseball player and sportscaster
1969 – Todd Hundley, American baseball player
1969 – Jeremy Mayfield, American race car driver
1969 – Craig Federighi, American computer scientist and engineer
1970 – Michele Bartoli, Italian cyclist
1970 – Tim Farron, English educator and politician
1970 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor
1970 – Alex Archer, American-born Australian musician
1971 – Mathew Batsiua, Nauruan politician
1971 – Paul Bettany, English actor
1971 – Wayne Carey, Australian footballer and coach
1971 – Kaur Kender, Estonian author
1971 – Lisa Lopes, American rapper and dancer (d. 2002)
1971 – Lee Sharpe, English footballer
1971 – Grant Stafford, South African tennis player
1971 – Sophie Walker, British politician, leader of the Women’s Equality Party
1971 – Petroc Trelawny, British radio and television broadcaster
1972 – Todd Demsey, American golfer
1972 – Antonio Freeman, American football player
1972 – Maxim Sokolov, Russian ice hockey player
1973 – Jack McBrayer, American actor and comedian
1973 – Tana Umaga, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1973 – Yorgos Lanthimos, Greek film video, and theatre director, producer and screenwriter
1974 – Skye Edwards, British singer-songwriter
1974 – Denise van Outen, English actress, singer, and television host
1974 – Derek Webb, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1974 – Danny Wuerffel, American football player
1975 – André 3000, American rapper
1975 – Michael Hussey, Australian cricketer
1975 – Jamie Oliver, English chef and author
1975 – Feryal Özel, Turkish astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic
1976 – Marcel Fässler, Swiss racing driver
1977 – Abderrahmane Hammad, Algerian high jumper
1977 – Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan cricketer
1978 – Adin Brown, American soccer player
1979 – Michael Buonauro, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
1979 – Mile Sterjovski, Australian footballer
1980 – Craig Buntin, Canadian figure skater
1981 – Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
1981 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
1984 – Blake Ahearn, American basketball player
1984 – Miguel González, Mexican baseball pitcher
1985 – Chiang Chien-ming, Taiwanese baseball player
1985 – Roberto Soldado, Spanish footballer
1986 – Conor Cummins, Manx motorcycle racer
1986 – Bamba Fall, Senegalese basketball player
1986 – Lasse Schöne, Danish footballer
1987 – Gervinho, Ivorian footballer
1987 – Bella Heathcote, Australian actress
1987 – Eric Kolelas, French-English actor and director
1987 – Bora Paçun, Turkish basketball player
1987 – Matt Prior, Australian rugby league player
1987 – Martina Sablikova, Czech speed skater and cyclist
1988 – Vontae Davis, American football player
1988 – Irina Davydova, Russian hurdler
1988 – Garrett Richards, American baseball pitcher
1988 – Tyler Sash, American football player (d. 2015)
1989 – Igor Morozov, Estonian footballer
1990 – Yenew Alamirew, Ethiopian runner
1990 – Chris Colfer, American actor and singer
1990 – Marcus Kruger, Swedish ice hockey player
1991 – Sebastien Dewaest, Belgian footballer
1991 – Tim Lafai, Samoan rugby league player
1991 – Ksenia Pervak, Russian tennis player
1991 – Eneli Vals, Estonian footballer
1992 – Aaron Brown, Canadian sprinter
1992 – Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, Canadian canoer
Deaths on May 27
366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 325)
398 – Murong Bao, emperor of the Xianbei state Later Yan (b. 355)
475 – Eutropius, bishop of Orange
866 – Ordoño I of Asturias (b. 831)
927 – Simeon I of Bulgaria first Bulgarian Emperor (b. 864)
1039 – Dirk III, Count of Holland (b. 981)
1045 – Bruno of Würzburg, imperial chancellor of Italy (b. c. 1005)
1178 – Godfrey van Rhenen, bishop of Utrecht
1240 – William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey (b. 1166)
1444 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English commander (b. 1404)
1508 – Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1452)
1508 – Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (b. 1452)
1525 – Thomas Müntzer, German mystic and theologian (b. 1488)
1541 – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (b. 1473)
1564 – John Calvin, French pastor and theologian (b. 1509)
1610 – François Ravaillac, French assassin of Henry IV of France (b. 1578)
1624 – Diego Ramírez de Arellano, Spanish sailor and cosmographer (b. c. 1580)
1637 – John Boteler, 1st Baron Boteler of Brantfield, English politician (b. c. 1566)
1661 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, Scottish general and politician (b. 1607)
17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire takes place. The Sasanids defeat the Armenians militarily but guarantee them freedom to openly practice Christianity.
946 – King Edmund I of England is murdered by a thief whom he personally attacks while celebrating St Augustine’s Mass Day.
961 – King Otto I elects his 6-year-old son Otto II as heir apparent and co-ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom. He is crowned at Aachen, and placed under the tutelage of his grandmother Matilda.
1135 – Alfonso VII of León and Castile is crowned in León Cathedral as Imperator totius Hispaniae (Emperor of all of Spain).
1293 – An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, killing about 23,000.
1328 – William of Ockham, the Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena, and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
1573 – The Battle of Haarlemmermeer, a naval engagement in the Dutch War of Independence.
1637 – Pequot War: A combined English and Mohegan force under John Mason attacks a village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Pequots.
1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claim victory in the Battle of Montijo.
1736 – The Battle of Ackia was fought near the present site of Tupelo, Mississippi. British and Chickasaw soldiers repelled a French and Choctaw attack on the then-Chickasaw village of Ackia.
1770 – The Orlov Revolt, an attempt to revolt against the Ottoman Empire before the Greek War of Independence, ends in disaster for the Greeks.
1783 – A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut, celebrated the end of fighting in the American Revolution.
1805 – Napoléon Bonaparte assumes the title of King of Italy and is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy in Milan Cathedral, the gothic cathedral in Milan.
1821 – Establishment of the Peloponnesian Senate by the Greek rebels.
1822 – One hundred sixteen people die in the Grue Church fire, the biggest fire disaster in Norway’s history.
1857 – Dred Scott is emancipated by the Blow family, his original owners.
1864 – Montana is organized as a United States territory.
1865 – American Civil War: The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
1868 – The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote.
1869 – Boston University is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
1879 – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
1896 – Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
1896 – Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
1897 – Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
1897 – The original manuscript of William Bradford’s history, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is returned to the Governor of Massachusetts by the Bishop of London after being taken during the American Revolutionary War.
1900 – Thousand Days’ War: The Colombian Conservative Party turns the tide of war in their favor with victory against the Colombian Liberal Party in the Battle of Palonegro.
1908 – The first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East was made at Masjed Soleyman in southwest Persia. The rights to the resource were quickly acquired by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
1917 – Several powerful tornadoes rip through Illinois, including the city of Mattoon.
1918 – The Democratic Republic of Georgia is established.
1923 – The first 24 Hours of Le Mans was held and has since been run annually in June.
1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
1936 – In the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, Tommy Henderson begins speaking on the Appropriation Bill. By the time he sits down in the early hours of the following morning, he had spoken for ten hours.
1937 – Walter Reuther and members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) clashed with Ford Motor Company security guards at the River Rouge Complex complex in Dearborn, Michigan, during the Battle of the Overpass.
1938 – In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session.
1940 – World War II: Operation Dynamo: In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.
1940 – World War II: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison.
1942 – World War II: The Battle of Gazala takes place.
1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 80-557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
1966 – British Guiana gains independence, becoming Guyana.
1967 – The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
1968 – H-dagurinn in Iceland: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight
1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
1970 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army slaughters at least 71 Hindus in Burunga, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
1972 – The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
1981 – Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
1983 – The 7.8 Mw Sea of Japan earthquake shakes northern Honshu with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). A destructive tsunami is generated that leaves about 100 people dead.
1986 – The European Community adopts the European flag.
1991 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes the first elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era.
1991 – Lauda Air Flight 004 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes in the Phu Toei National Park in Thailand, killing all 223 people on board.
1998 – The Supreme Court of the United States rules in New Jersey v. New York that Ellis Island, the historic gateway for millions of immigrants, is mainly in the state of New Jersey, not New York.
1998 – The first “National Sorry Day” was held in Australia, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people.
2002 – The tugboat Robert Y. Love collides with a support pier of Interstate 40 on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, resulting in 14 deaths and 11 others injured.
2004 – United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
2008 – Severe flooding begins in eastern and southern China that will ultimately cause 148 deaths and force the evacuation of 1.3 million.
Births on May 26
1264 – Koreyasu, Japanese prince and shōgun (d. 1326)
1478 – Clement VII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1534)
1562 – James III, margrave of Baden-Hachberg (d. 1590)
1566 – Mehmed III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1603)
1602 – Philippe de Champaigne, Dutch-French painter (d. 1674)
1623 – William Petty, English economist and philosopher (d. 1687)
1650 – John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire (d. 1722)
1667 – Abraham de Moivre, French-English mathematician and theorist (d. 1754)
1669 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (d. 1722)
1700 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (d. 1760)
1799 – August Kopisch, German poet and painter (d. 1853)
1822 – Edmond de Goncourt, French author and critic, founded the Académie Goncourt (d. 1896)
1863 – Bob Fitzsimmons, English-New Zealand boxer (d. 1917)
1865 – Robert W. Chambers, American author and illustrator (d. 1933)
1867 – Mary of Teck, English-born queen consort of the United Kingdom (d. 1953)
1873 – Olaf Gulbransson, Norwegian painter and illustrator (d. 1958)
1876 – Percy Perrin, English cricketer (d. 1945)
1880 – W. Otto Miessner, American composer and educator (d. 1967)
1881 – Adolfo de la Huerta, Mexican politician and provisional president, 1920 (d. 1955)
1883 – Mamie Smith, American singer, actress, dancer, and pianist (d. 1946)
1886 – Al Jolson, American singer and actor (d. 1950)
1887 – Ba U, 2nd President of Burma (d. 1963)
1893 – Eugene Aynsley Goossens, English conductor and composer (d. 1962)
1895 – Dorothea Lange, American photographer and journalist (d. 1965)
1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian-American actor and singer (d. 1971)
1898 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1990)
1898 – Christfried Burmeister, Estonian speed skater (d. 1965)
1899 – Antonio Barrette, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968)
1899 – Muriel McQueen Fergusson, Canadian lawyer and politician, Canadian Speaker of the Senate (d. 1997)
1900 – Karin Juel, Swedish singer, actor, and writer (d. 1976)
1904 – George Formby, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1961)
1904 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1983)
1904 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (d. 2002)
1907 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (d. 2006)
1907 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1979)
1908 – Robert Morley, English actor (d. 1992)
1908 – Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, Vietnamese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam (d. 1976)
1909 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1994)
1909 – Adolfo López Mateos, Mexican politician, 48th President of Mexico (d. 1969)
1910 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian-Israeli martial artist, boxer, and gymnast (d. 1998)
1911 – Maurice Baquet, French actor and cellist (d. 2005)
1911 – Henry Ephron, American playwright, screenwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
1912 – János Kádár, Hungarian mechanic and politician, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1989)
1912 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (d. 1980)
1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (d. 1994)
1913 – Pierre Daninos, French author (d. 2005)
1913 – Karin Ekelund, Swedish actress (d. 1976)
1913 – Josef Manger, German weightlifter (d. 1991)
1914 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2009)
1915 – Vernon Alley, American bassist (d. 2004)
1915 – Antonia Forest, English author (d. 2003)
1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist and author (d. 1972)
1919 – Rubén González, Cuban pianist (d. 2003)
1920 – Jack Cheetham, South African cricketer (d. 1980)
1920 – Peggy Lee, American singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2002)
1921 – Inge Borkh, German soprano (d. 2018)
1922 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (d. 2009)
1923 – James Arness, American actor (d. 2011)
1923 – Roy Dotrice, English actor (d. 2017)
1925 – Carmen Montejo, Cuban-Mexican actress (d. 2013)
1925 – Alec McCowen, English actor (d. 2017)
1926 – Miles Davis, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
1927 – Jacques Bergerac, French actor and businessman (d. 2014)
1928 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, author, and assisted suicide activist (d. 2011)
1929 – J. F. Ade Ajayi, Nigerian historian and academic (d. 2014)
1929 – Ernie Carroll, Australian television personality and producer
1929 – Hans Freeman, Australian bioinorganic chemist and protein crystallographer (d. 2008)
1929 – John Jackson, English lawyer and businessman
1929 – Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (d. 1998)
1930 – Karim Emami, Indian-Iranian lexicographer and critic (d. 2005)
1933 – Edward Whittemore, American soldier and author (d. 1995)
1935 – Eero Loone, Estonian philosopher and academic
1936 – David Stevens, Baron Stevens of Ludgate, English politician
1937 – Manorama, Indian actress and singer (d. 2015)
1937 – Paul E. Patton, American politician, 59th Governor of Kentucky
1938 – William Bolcom, American pianist and composer
1938 – Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Russian author and playwright
1938 – K. Bikram Singh, Indian director and producer (d. 2013)
1938 – Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano and actress
1939 – Brent Musburger, American sportscaster
1939 – Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
1940 – Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Canadian academic and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec
1940 – Levon Helm, American singer-songwriter, drummer, producer, and actor (d. 2012)
1941 – Aldrich Ames, American CIA officer and criminal
1941 – Jim Dobbin, Scottish microbiologist and politician (d. 2014)
1941 – Cliff Drysdale, South African tennis player and sportscaster
1941 – Imants Kalniņš, Latvian composer
1943 – Erica Terpstra, Dutch swimmer, journalist, and politician
1944 – Phil Edmonston, American-Canadian journalist and politician
1944 – Jan Kinder, Norwegian ice hockey player (d. 2013)
1944 – Sam Posey, American race car driver and journalist
1945 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian lawyer and politician, 17th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (d. 2012)
1945 – Alistair MacDuff, English lawyer and judge
1945 – Garry Peterson, Canadian-American drummer
1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian gymnast and coach
1946 – Mick Ronson, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1993)
1947 – Carol O’Connell, American author and painter
1947 – Glenn Turner, New Zealand cricketer
1948 – Stevie Nicks, American singer-songwriter
1949 – Jeremy Corbyn, British journalist and politician
1949 – Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer, developed the first wiki
1949 – Pam Grier, American actress
1949 – Anne McGuire, Scottish educator and politician
1949 – Philip Michael Thomas, American actor
1949 – Hank Williams Jr., American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Ramón Calderón, Spanish lawyer and businessman
1951 – Lou van den Dries, Dutch mathematician
1951 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut, founded Sally Ride Science (d. 2012)
1951 – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Irish educator and politician
1952 – David Meece, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1953 – Kay Hagan, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
1953 – Don McAllister, English footballer and manager
1953 – Michael Portillo, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Defence
1953 – Dan Roundfield, American basketball player (d. 2012)
1954 – Alan Hollinghurst, English novelist, poet, short story writer, and translator
1954 – Denis Lebel, Canadian businessman and politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Transport
1955 – Masaharu Morimoto, Japanese-American chef
1955 – Paul Stoddart, Australian businessman
1955 – Wesley Walker, American football player and educator
1956 – Neil Parish, English politician
1956 – Fiona Shackleton, English lawyer
1957 – Diomedes Díaz, Colombian singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1957 – François Legault, Canadian businessman and politician
1957 – Roberto Ravaglia, Italian race car driver
1958 – Ronnie Black, American golfer
1958 – Arto Bryggare, Finnish hurdler and politician
1958 – Margaret Colin, American actress
1959 – Ole Bornedal, Danish actor, director, and producer
1960 – Doug Hutchison, American actor
1960 – Dean Lukin, Australian weightlifter
1960 – Masahiro Matsunaga, Japanese race car driver
1960 – Rob Murphy, American baseball player
1960 – Romas Ubartas, Lithuanian discus thrower
1961 – Steve Pate, American golfer
1961 – Tarsem Singh, Indian-American director, producer, and screenwriter
1962 – Black, English singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
1962 – Genie Francis, Canadian-American actress
1962 – Bobcat Goldthwait, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1963 – Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright and novelist
1963 – Claude Legault, Canadian actor and screenwriter
1963 – Mary Nightingale, English journalist
1963 – Jamie Spence, English golfer
1964 – Caitlín R. Kiernan, Irish-American paleontologist and author
1964 – Lenny Kravitz, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor
1964 – Argiris Pedoulakis, Greek basketball player and coach
1965 – Hazel Irvine, Scottish sportscaster and journalist
1966 – Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
1966 – Zola Budd, South African runner
1967 – Philip Treacy, Irish milliner, hat designer
1967 – Mika Yamamoto, Japanese journalist (d. 2012)
1968 – Fernando León de Aranoa, Spanish director, producer, and screenwriter
1968 – Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
1968 – Steve Sedgley, English footballer and manager
1969 – John Baird, Canadian politician, 10th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1969 – Siri Lindley, American triathlete and coach
1969 – Dominic Mohan, English journalist
1970 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese illustrator
1971 – Zaher Andary, Lebanese footballer
1971 – Matt Stone, American actor, animator, screenwriter, producer, and composer
567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.
1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo, Spain, back from the Moors.
1420 – Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.
1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.
1644 – Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.
1659 – Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.
1660 – Charles II lands at Dover at the invitation of the Convention Parliament, which marks the end of the Cromwell-proclaimed Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland and begins the Restoration of the British monarchy.
1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.
1787 – After a delay of 11 days, the United States Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia after a quorum of seven states is secured.
1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: Battle of Carlow begins; executions of suspected rebels at Carnew and at Dunlavin Green take place.
1809 – Chuquisaca Revolution: Patriot revolt in Chuquisaca (modern-day Sucre) against the Spanish Empire, sparking the Latin American wars of independence.
1810 – May Revolution: Citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the “May Week”, starting the Argentine War of Independence.
1819 – The Argentine Constitution of 1819 is promulgated.
1833 – The Chilean Constitution of 1833 is promulgated.
1865 – In Mobile, Alabama, around 300 people are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.
1878 – Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore opens at the Opera Comique in London.
1895 – Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of “committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons” and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
1895 – The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Jingsong as its president.
1914 – The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Home Rule Bill for devolution in Ireland.
1925 – Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching human evolution in Tennessee.
1926 – Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the government of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, which is in government-in-exile in Paris.
1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University breaks three world records and ties a fourth at the Big Ten Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1938 – Spanish Civil War: The bombing of Alicante kills 313 people.
1940 – World War II: The German 2nd Panzer Division captures the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer; the surrender of the last French and British troops marks the end of the Battle of Boulogne.
1946 – The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their Emir.
1953 – Nuclear weapons testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.
1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.
1955 – In the United States, a night-time F5 tornado strikes the small city of Udall, Kansas, killing 80 and injuring 273. It is the deadliest tornado to ever occur in the state and the 23rd deadliest in the U.S.
1955 – First ascent of Mount Kangchenjunga: A British expedition led by Charles Evans, Joe Brown and George Band reaches the summit of the third-highest mountain in the world (8,586 meters); Norman Hardie and Tony Streather join them the following day.
1961 – Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces, before a special joint session of the U.S. Congress, his goal to initiate a project to put a “man on the Moon” before the end of the decade.
1963 – The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
1966 – Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.
1968 – The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated.
1973 – In protest against the dictatorship in Greece, the captain and crew on Greek naval destroyer Velos mutiny and refuse to return to Greece, instead anchoring at Fiumicino, Italy.
1977 – Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in theaters.
1977 – The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare’s work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966.
1978 – The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor injuries.
1979 – John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer, is executed in Florida; he is the first person to be executed in the state after the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1976.
1979 – American Airlines Flight 191: A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, killing all 271 on board and two people on the ground.
1981 – In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
1982 – Falklands War: HMS Coventry is sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks.
1985 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
1986 – The Hands Across America event takes place.
1997 – A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koroma.
1999 – The United States House of Representatives releases the Cox Report which details the People’s Republic of China’s nuclear espionage against the U.S. over the prior two decades.
2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon: Israel withdraws its army from Lebanese territory (with the exception of the disputed Shebaa farms zone) 18 years after the invasion of 1982.
2001 – Erik Weihenmayer becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, with Dr. Sherman Bull.
2002 – China Airlines Flight 611 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes into the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all 225 people on board.
2008 – NASA’s Phoenix lander touches down in the Green Valley region of Mars to search for environments suitable for water and microbial life.
2009 – North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device, after which Pyongyang also conducts several missile tests, building tensions in the international community.
2011 – Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
2012 – The SpaceX Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to successfully rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station.
2013 – Suspected Maoist rebels kill at least 28 people and injure 32 others in an attack on a convoy of Indian National Congress politicians in Chhattisgarh, India.
2013 – A gas cylinder explodes on a school bus in the Pakistani city of Gujrat, killing at least 18 people.
2018 – The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable in the European Union.
2018 – Ireland votes to repeal the Eighth Amendment of their constitution that prohibits abortion in all but a few cases, choosing to replace it with the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.
2020 – George Floyd, a black man, is killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest when he is restrained in a prone position face-down on the ground for several minutes, provoking protests across the United States and elsewhere around the world.
Births on May 25
1048 – Emperor Shenzong of Song (d. 1085)
1320 – Toghon Temür, Mongolian emperor (d. 1370)
1334 – Emperor Sukō of Japan (d. 1398)
1416 – Jakobus (“James”), Count of Lichtenburg (d. 1480)
1417 – Catherine of Cleves, Duchess consort regent of Guelders (d. 1479)
1550 – Camillus de Lellis, Italian saint and nurse (d. 1614)
1606 – Charles Garnier, French missionary and saint (d. 1649)
1661 – Claude Buffier, Polish-French historian and philosopher (d. 1737)
1713 – John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
1725 – Samuel Ward, American politician, 31st Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island (d. 1776)
1783 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, American farmer and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1841)
1791 – Minh Mạng, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1841)
1803 – Edward Bulwer-Lytton, English author, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1873)
1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (d. 1882)
1818 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian and academic (d. 1897)
1818 – Louise de Broglie, Countess d’Haussonville, French essayist and biographer (d. 1882)
1830 – Trebor Mai (né Robert Williams), Welsh poet (d. 1877)
1846 – Naim Frashëri, Albanian-Turkish poet and translator (d. 1900)
1848 – Johann Baptist Singenberger, Swiss composer, educator, and publisher (d. 1924)
1852 – William Muldoon, American wrestler and trainer (d. 1933)
1856 – Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, Algerian-French general (d. 1942)
1860 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist and academic (d. 1944)
1865 – John Mott, American evangelist and saint, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
1865 – Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
1867 – Anders Peter Nielsen, Danish target shooter (d. 1950)
1869 – Robbie Ross, Canadian journalist and art critic (d. 1918)
1869 – Mathilde Verne, English pianist and educator (d. 1936)
1878 – Bill Robinson, American actor and dancer (d. 1949)
1879 – Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Canadian-English businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1964)
1879 – William Stickney, American golfer (d. 1944)
1880 – Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist and academic (d. 1967)
1882 – Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)
1883 – Carl Johan Lind, Swedish hammer thrower (d. 1965)
1886 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian soldier and activist (d. 1945)
1886 – Philip Murray, Scottish-American miner and labor leader (d. 1952)
1887 – Padre Pio, Italian priest and saint (d. 1968)
1888 – Miles Malleson, English actor and screenwriter (d. 1969)
1889 – Günther Lütjens, German admiral (d. 1941)
1889 – Igor Sikorsky, Russian-American aircraft designer, founded Sikorsky Aircraft (d. 1972)
1893 – Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, American country musician (d. 1968)
1897 – Alan Kippax, Australian cricketer (d. 1972)
1897 – Gene Tunney, American boxer and soldier (d. 1978)
1898 – Bennett Cerf, American publisher and television game show panelist; co-founded Random House (d. 1971)
1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, author, and flute player (d. 1976)
1900 – Alain Grandbois, Canadian poet and author (d. 1975)
1907 – U Nu, Burmese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Burma (d. 1995)
1908 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (d. 1963)
1909 – Alfred Kubel, German politician, 5th Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (d. 1999)
1912 – Dean Rockwell, American commander, wrestler, and coach (d. 2005)
1913 – Heinrich Bär, German colonel and pilot (d. 1957)
1913 – Richard Dimbleby, English journalist and producer (d. 1965)
1916 – Brian Dickson, Canadian captain, lawyer, and politician, 15th Chief Justice of Canada (d. 1998)
1916 – Giuseppe Tosi, Italian discus thrower (d. 1981)
1917 – Steve Cochran, American film, television and stage actor (d. 1965)
1917 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, and academic (d. 2015)
1920 – Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner and diplomat (d. 1992)
1921 – Hal David, American songwriter and composer (d. 2012)
1921 – Kitty Kallen, American singer (d. 2016)
1921 – Jack Steinberger, German-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
1922 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)
1924 – István Nyers, French-Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)
1925 – Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet and author (d. 1974)
1925 – Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)
1925 – Eldon Griffiths, English journalist and politician (d. 2014)
1925 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (d. 2000)
1925 – Claude Pinoteau, French film director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1926 – Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)
1926 – William Bowyer, English painter and academic (d. 2015)
1926 – Phyllis Gotlieb, Canadian author and poet (d. 2009)
1926 – Bill Sharman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
1926 – David Wynne, English sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
1927 – Robert Ludlum, American soldier and author (d. 2001)
1927 – Norman Petty, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 1984)
1929 – Beverly Sills, American soprano and actress (d. 2007)
1930 – Sonia Rykiel, French fashion designer (d. 2016)
1931 – Herb Gray, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2014)
1931 – Georgy Grechko, Russian engineer and astronaut (d. 2017)
1931 – Irwin Winkler, American director and producer
1932 – John Gregory Dunne, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2003)
1932 – K. C. Jones, American basketball player and coach
1933 – Sarah Marshall, English-American actress (d. 2014)
1933 – Basdeo Panday, Trinidadian lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
1933 – Ray Spencer, English footballer (d. 2016)
1933 – Jógvan Sundstein, Faroese accountant and politician, 7th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1935 – John Ffowcs Williams, Welsh engineer and academic
1935 – Cookie Gilchrist, American football player (d. 2011)
1935 – W. P. Kinsella, Canadian novelist and short story writer (d. 2016)
1935 – Victoria Shaw, Australian-born American actress (d. 1988)
1936 – Tom T. Hall, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1936 – Rusi Surti, Indian cricketer (d. 2013)
1937 – Tom Phillips, English painter and academic
1938 – Raymond Carver, American short story writer and poet (d. 1988)
1938 – Margaret Forster, English historian, author, and critic (d. 2016)
1938 – Geoffrey Robinson, English businessman and politician
1939 – Dixie Carter, American actress and singer (d. 2010)
1939 – Ian McKellen, English actor
1940 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese photographer
1941 – Rudolf Adler, Czech filmmaker:88
1941 – Uta Frith, German developmental psychologist
1941 – Vladimir Voronin, Moldovan economist and politician, 3rd President of Moldova
1943 – Jessi Colter, American singer-songwriter and pianist
1943 – John Palmer, English keyboard player
1943 – Leslie Uggams, American actress and singer
1944 – Digby Anderson, English journalist and philosopher
1944 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
1944 – Charlie Harper, English singer-songwriter and producer
1944 – Robert MacPherson, American mathematician and academic
1944 – Frank Oz, English-born American puppeteer, filmmaker, and actor
1944 – Chris Ralston, English rugby player
1946 – Bill Adam, Scottish-Canadian racing driver
1946 – David A. Hargrave, American game designer, created Arduin (d. 1988)
1947 – Karen Valentine, American actress
1947 – Catherine G. Wolf, American psychologist and computer scientist
1948 – Bülent Arınç, Turkish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
1948 – Marianne Elliott, Northern Irish historian, author, and academic
1948 – Klaus Meine, German rock singer-songwriter
1949 – Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-American novelist, short story writer, and essayist
1949 – Barry Windsor-Smith, English painter and illustrator
1950 – Robby Steinhardt, American rock violinist and singer
1951 – Bob Gale, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1952 – Jeffrey Bewkes, American businessman
1952 – Nick Fotiu, American ice hockey player and coach
1952 – David Jenkins, Trinidadian-Scottish runner
1952 – Al Sarrantonio, American author and publisher
1952 – Gordon H. Smith, American businessman and politician
1953 – Eve Ensler, American playwright and producer
1953 – Daniel Passarella, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
1953 – Stan Sakai, Japanese-American author and illustrator
1953 – Gaetano Scirea, Italian footballer (d. 1989)
1954 – John Beck, English footballer, midfielder and manager
1954 – Murali, Indian actor, producer, and politician (d. 2009)
1955 – Alistair Burt, English lawyer and politician
1956 – Stavros Arnaoutakis, Greek politician
1956 – Larry Hogan, American politician, 62nd Governor of Maryland
1956 – David P. Sartor, American composer and conductor
1957 – Alastair Campbell, English journalist and author
1957 – Edward Lee, American author
1957 – Robert Picard, Canadian ice hockey player
1958 – Dorothy Straight, American children’s author
1958 – Paul Weller, English singer, songwriter and musician
1959 – Julian Clary, English comedian, actor, and author
1959 – Manolis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician
1959 – Rick Wamsley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1960 – Amy Klobuchar, American lawyer and politician
1960 – Anthea Turner, English journalist and television host
1962 – Ric Nattress, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
1963 – George Hickenlooper, American director and producer (d. 2010)
1963 – Mike Myers, Canadian-American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Ludovic Orban, Romanian engineer, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Romania
1964 – David Shaw, Canadian-American ice hockey player
1965 – Yahya Jammeh, Gambian colonel and politician, President of the Gambia
1967 – Luc Nilis, Belgian footballer and manager
1967 – Mark Rosewater, Head designer of Magic: the Gathering
1968 – Kendall Gill, American basketball player, boxer, and sportscaster
1969 – Glen Drover, Canadian guitarist and songwriter
1969 – Anne Heche, American actress
1969 – Karen Bernstein, Canadian voice actress
1969 – Stacy London, American journalist and author
1970 – Robert Croft, Welsh-English cricketer and sportscaster
1970 – Jamie Kennedy, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1971 – Stefano Baldini, Italian runner
1971 – Marco Cappato, Italian politician
1972 – Karan Johar, Indian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1972 – Octavia Spencer, American actress and author
1973 – Daz Dillinger, American rapper and producer
1973 – Molly Sims, American model and actress
1974 – Dougie Freedman, Scottish footballer and manager
1974 – Frank Klepacki, American drummer and composer
1974 – Miguel Tejada, Dominican-American baseball player
1975 – Blaise Nkufo, Congolese-Swiss footballer
1976 – Stefan Holm, Swedish high jumper
1976 – Erki Pütsep, Estonian cyclist
1976 – Ethan Suplee, American actor
1976 – Cillian Murphy, Irish actor
1976 – Miguel Zepeda, Mexican footballer
1977 – Andre Anis, Estonian footballer
1977 – Alberto Del Rio, Mexican-American mixed martial artist and wrestler
1978 – Adam Gontier, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1978 – Brian Urlacher, American football player
1979 – Carlos Bocanegra, American international soccer player, defender and Sports Executive
1979 – Sayed Moawad, Egyptian footballer
1979 – Caroline Ouellette, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1979 – Sam Sodje, English-Nigerian footballer
1979 – Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player
1979 – Chris Young, American baseball pitcher
1980 – David Navarro, Spanish footballer
1981 – Michalis Pelekanos, Greek basketball player
1981 – Matt Utai, New Zealand rugby league player
1982 – Adam Boyd, English footballer
1982 – Daniel Braaten, Norwegian footballer
1982 – Ryan Gallant, American skateboarder
1982 – Roger Guerreiro, Polish footballer
1982 – Justin Hodges, Australian rugby league player
1982 – Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenyan runner
1982 – Jason Kubel, American baseball player
1982 – Stacey Pensgen, American figure skater and meteorologist
1982 – Luke Webster, Australian footballer
1984 – Luke Ball, Australian footballer
1984 – Kyle Brodziak, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – A. J. Foyt IV, American race car driver
1984 – Shawne Merriman, American football player
1985 – Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress
1985 – Demba Ba, French footballer
1985 – Gert Kams, Estonian footballer
1985 – Roman Reigns, American football player and wrestler
1986 – Edewin Fanini, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Yoan Gouffran, French footballer
1986 – Takahiro Hōjō, Japanese actor and musician
1986 – Geraint Thomas, Welsh cyclist
1987 – Timothy Derijck, Belgian footballer
1987 – Yves De Winter, Belgian footballer
1987 – Moritz Stehling, German footballer
1987 – Kamil Stoch, Polish ski jumper
1988 – Dávid Škutka, Slovak footballer
1988 – Cameron van der Burgh, South African swimmer
1990 – Bo Dallas, American wrestler
1990 – Nikita Filatov, Russian ice hockey player
1993 – James Porter, English cricketer
1994 – Matt Murray, Canadian ice hockey player
1994 – Aly Raisman, American gymnast
1995 – Kagiso Rabada, South African cricketer
1996 – David Pastrňák, Czech ice hockey player
Deaths on May 25
675 – Li Hong, Chinese prince (b. 652)
709 – Aldhelm, English-Latin bishop, poet, and scholar (b. 639)
803 – Higbald of Lindisfarne, English bishop
912 – Xue Yiju, chancellor of Later Liang
916 – Flann Sinna, king of Meath
939 – Yao Yanzhang, general of Chu
986 – Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi, Muslim astronomer (b. 903)
992 – Mieszko I of Poland (b. 935)
1085 – Pope Gregory VII (b. 1020)
1261 – Pope Alexander IV (b. 1185)
1452 – John Stafford, English archbishop and politician
1983 – Jack Stewart, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1917)
1986 – Chester Bowles, American journalist and politician, 22nd Under Secretary of State (b. 1901)
1990 – Vic Tayback, American actor (b. 1930)
1995 – Élie Bayol, French racing driver (b. 1914)
1995 – Krešimir Ćosić, Croatian basketball player and coach, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer 1996 (b. 1948)
1995 – Dany Robin, French actress (b. 1927)
1996 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian and author (b. 1929)
2003 – Sloan Wilson, American author and poet (b. 1920)
2004 – Roger Williams Straus, Jr., American publisher, co-founded Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing Company (b. 1917)
2005 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (b. 1929)
2005 – Robert Jankel, English businessman, founded Panther Westwinds (b. 1938)
2005 – Graham Kennedy, Australian television host and actor (b. 1934)
2005 – Ismail Merchant, Indian-born film producer and director (b. 1936)
2005 – Zoran Mušič, Slovene painter and illustrator (b. 1909)
2007 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor, comedian, and director (b. 1931)
2008 – J. R. Simplot, American businessman, founded Simplot (b. 1909)
2009 – Haakon Lie, Norwegian politician (b. 1905)
2010 – Alexander Belostenny, Ukrainian basketball player (b. 1959)
2010 – Michael H. Jordan, American businessman (b. 1936)
2010 – Alan Hickinbotham, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1925)
2010 – Gabriel Vargas, Mexican painter and illustrator (b. 1915)
2010 – Jarvis Williams, American football player and coach (b. 1965)
2011 – Terry Jenner, Australian cricketer and coach (b. 1944)
2012 – William Hanley, American author and screenwriter (b. 1931)
2012 – Peter D. Sieruta, American author and critic (b. 1958)
2012 – Lou Watson, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
2013 – Mahendra Karma, Indian politician (b. 1950)
2013 – Nand Kumar Patel, Indian politician (b. 1953)
2014 – David Allen, English cricketer (b. 1935)
2014 – Marcel Côté, Canadian economist and politician (b. 1942)
2014 – Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and politician, 1st President of Poland (b. 1923)
2014 – Herb Jeffries, American singer and actor (b. 1913)
2014 – Toaripi Lauti, Tuvaluan educator and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Tuvalu (b. 1928)
2014 – Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (b. 1954)
2015 – George Braden, Canadian lawyer and politician, 2nd Premier of the Northwest Territories (b. 1949)
2015 – Robert Lebel, Canadian bishop (b. 1924)
2019 – Claus von Bülow, Danish-British socialite (b.1926)
Holidays and observances on May 25
Africa Day (African Union)
African Liberation Day (African Union, Rastafari)
Christian feast day:
Aldhelm
Bede
Canius
Dionysius of Milan
Dúnchad mac Cinn Fáelad
Gerard of Lunel
Madeleine Sophie Barat
Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
Maximus (Mauxe) of Évreux
Pope Boniface IV
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Urban I
Zenobius of Florence
May 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Arbor Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Venezuela)
Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Hungary)
Earliest day on which Holiday of Saint Etchmiadzin can fall, while July 27 is the latest; celebrated on the 64th day after Easter. (Armenia)
Earliest day on which Memorial Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Monday in May. (United States)
Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Algeria, Dominican Republic, France (First Sunday of June, if Pentecost occurs on this day), Haiti, Mauritius, Morocco, Sweden, Tunisia)
Earliest day on which Turkmen Carpet Day can fall, while May 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in May. (Turkmenistan)
First National Government / National Day (Argentina)
Geek Pride Day (geek culture)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Jordan from the United Kingdom in 1946.
Last bell (Russia, post-Soviet countries)
Liberation Day (Lebanon)
International Missing Children’s Day and its related observances:
National Missing Children’s Day (United States),
National Tap Dance Day (United States)
Towel Day in honour of the work of the writer Douglas Adams
