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

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

June 21 in History

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

Births on June 21

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

Deaths on June 21

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

Holidays and observances on June 21

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 17

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

Deaths on June 17

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

Holidays and observances on June 17

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 10

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

Deaths on June 10

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

Holidays and observances on June 10

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 8

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

Deaths on June 8

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

Holidays and observances on June 8

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 7

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

Deaths on June 7

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

Holidays and observances on June 7

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on June 4

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

Deaths on June 4

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

Holidays and observances on June 4

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on May 30

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

Deaths on May 30

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

Holidays and observances on May 30

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on May 26

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

Deaths on May 26

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

Holidays and observances on May 26

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

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

On This Day

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

  • 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
  • 1555 – Gemma Frisius, Dutch physician, mathematician, and cartographer (b. 1508)
  • 1555 – Henry II of Navarre (b. 1503)
  • 1595 – Valens Acidalius, German poet and critic (b. 1567)
  • 1595 – Philip Neri, Italian priest and saint (b. 1515)
  • 1607 – Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Italian Carmelite nun and mystic (b. 1566)
  • 1632 – Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1572)
  • 1667 – Gustaf Bonde, Finnish-Swedish politician, 5th Lord High Treasurer of Sweden (b. 1620)
  • 1681 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1600)
  • 1741 – Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German bishop and theologian (b. 1660)
  • 1786 – Peter III of Portugal (b. 1717)
  • 1789 – Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist and physician (b. 1751)
  • 1797 – John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (b. 1719)
  • 1805 – William Paley, English priest and philosopher (b. 1743)
  • 1849 – Benjamin D’Urban, English general and politician, Governor of British Guiana (b. 1777)
  • 1895 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman sociologist, historian, and jurist (b. 1822)
  • 1899 – Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (b. 1822)
  • 1912 – Austin Lane Crothers, American educator and politician, 46th Governor of Maryland (b. 1860)
  • 1917 – Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet and critic (b. 1891)
  • 1919 – Eliza Pollock, American archer (b. 1840)
  • 1919 – Madam C. J. Walker, American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company (b. 1867)
  • 1924 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1889)
  • 1926 – Symon Petliura, Ukrainian journalist and politician (b. 1879)
  • 1927 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1876)
  • 1930 – Randall Davidson, Scottish-English archbishop (b. 1848)
  • 1934 – Gustav Holst, English trombonist, composer, and educator (b. 1874)
  • 1937 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American-French painter and illustrator (b. 1859)
  • 1939 – Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer and academic (b. 1868)
  • 1942 – Emanuel Feuermann, Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (b. 1902)
  • 1943 – Nils von Dardel, Swedish painter (b. 1888)
  • 1948 – Witold Pilecki, Polish officer and Resistance leader (b. 1901)
  • 1951 – Paula von Preradović, Croatian poet and author (b. 1887)
  • 1954 – Robert Capa, Hungarian photographer and journalist (b. 1913)
  • 1957 – Leo Goodwin, American swimmer, diver, and water polo player (b. 1883)
  • 1968 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (b. 1881)
  • 1970 – Tom Patey, Scottish mountaineer and author (b. 1932)
  • 1977 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian author (b. 1904)
  • 1979 – Itzhak Bentov, Czech-Israeli engineer, mystic, and author (b. 1923)
  • 1979 – Amédée Gordini, Italian-born French racing driver and sports car manufacturer (b. 1899)
  • 1981 – Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian physicist and astronomer (b. 1912)
  • 1981 – Fredric Warburg, English author and publisher (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1904)
  • 1983 – Idris of Libya (b. 1889)
  • 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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on May 23

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

Deaths on May 23

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

Holidays and observances on May 23

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

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