Today June 14th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1276 – While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Song Dynasty court hold the coronation ceremony for the young prince Zhao Shi, making him Emperor Duanzong of Song.
1381 – Richard II in England meets leaders of Peasants Revolt on Blackheath. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance.
1645 – English Civil War: Battle of Naseby – 12,000 Royalist forces are beaten by 15,000 Parliamentarian soldiers.
1648 – Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts colony.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: the Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Army.
1777 – The Stars and Stripes is adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States.
1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,000-mile) journey in an open boat.
1789 – Whisky distilled from maize is first produced by American clergyman the Rev Elijah Craig. It is named Bourbon because Rev Craig lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky.
1800 – The French Army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy and re-conquers Italy.
1807 – Emperor Napoleon I s French Grande Armee defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Poland (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.
1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom.
1822 – Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society entitled Note on the application of machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables.
1839 – Henley Royal Regatta: the village of Henley, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, stages its first Regatta.
1846 – Bear Flag Revolt begins – Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.
1863 – American Civil War: Battle of Second Winchester – a Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.
1872 – Trade unions are legalised in Canada.
1900 – Hawaii becomes a United States territory.
1900 – The Reichstag approves a second law that allows the expansion of the German navy.
1907 – Norway adopts female suffrage.
1908 – Fourth German Navy Bill is passed authorising the financing the building of another four major warships.
1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown depart St. John s, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.
1926 – Brazil leaves the League of Nations
1934 – James J. Braddock scores one of the most upsetting victories in of his boxing career by beating John Corn Griffin – roughly marking the advent of his comeback to success and eventually winning World Heavyweight championship.
1937 – Pennsylvania becomes the first (and only) state of the United States to celebrate Flag Day officially as a state holiday.
1937 – U. S. House of Representatives passes the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act.
1938 – Action Comics issue one was released, introducing Superman.
1940 – World War II: Paris falls under German occupation, and Allied forces retreat.
1940 – A group of 728 Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first residents of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
1941 – Soviet mass deportations and murder of Estonians, Lithuanians and Latvians, the June deportation, begin.
1942 – Anne Frank begins to keep a diary.
1951 – UNIVAC I is dedicated by U.S. Census Bureau.
1952 – The keel is laid for the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus.
1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words under God into the United States Pledge of Allegiance.
1955 – Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
1959 – A group of Dominican exiles with leftist tendencies that departed from Cuba land in the Dominican Republic with the intent of deposing Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. Save for four of them, all were killed and/or executed by Trujillo s army. This feat would be the inspiration for a clandestine group that would seek to continue undermining Trujillo s power and would be called Movimiento Catorce de Junio (14th of June Movement).
1962 – Albert DeSalvo, better known as the Boston Strangler, murders Anna Slesers, his first victim.
1962 – The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris – later becoming the European Space Agency.
1962 – The New Mexico Supreme Court in the case of Montoya v. Bolack, 70 N.M. 196, prohibits state and local governments from denying Indians the right to vote because they live on a reservation.
1966 – The Vatican announces the abolition of the index librorum prohibitum (index of prohibited books), which was originally instituted in 1557.
1967 – Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched toward Venus.
1976 – The trial begins at Oxford Crown Court of Donald Neilson, the killer known as the Black Panther.
1982 – The Falklands War ends: Argentine forces in the capital Stanley unconditionally surrender to British forces.
1985 – TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Hezbollah shortly after take-off from Athens, Greece.
2001 – China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan form the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Births
1479 (O.S.) – Giglio Gregorio Giraldi, Italian poet (d. 1552)
1529 (O.S.) – Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (d. 1595)
1726 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist (d. 1797)
1736 – Charles Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist (d. 1806)
1796 – Nikolai Brashman, Russian mathematician (d. 1866)
1798 – František Palacký, Czech scholar and politician
1801 – Heber C. Kimball, American religious leader (d. 1868)
1811 – Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author (d. 1896)
1812 – Fernando Wood, New York City mayor (d. 1881)
1819 – Henry J. Gardner, 23rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1892)
1820 – John Bartlett, publisher of Bartlett s Familiar Quotations (d. 1905)
1832 – Nikolaus Otto, German engineer (d. 1891)
1855 – Robert La Follette, U.S. Senator (d. 1925)
1856 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician (d. 1922)
1864 – Alois Alzheimer, German physician (d. 1915)
1868 – Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1943)
1870 – Sophia of Prussia, consort of Constantine I of Greece (d. 1932)
1871 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish inventor (d. 1946)
1877 – Jane Bathori, French mezzo-soprano (d. 1970)
1890 – May Allison, American actress (d. 1989)
1893 – Siggie Nordstrom, Swedish singer (The Nordstrom Sisters) (d. 1980)
1894 – Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (d. 1924)
1895 – Jack Adams, Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager (d. 1968)
1899 – Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
1903 – Alonzo Church, American mathematician and logician (d. 1995)
1905 – Steve Broidy, American motion picture executive (d. 1991)
1906 – Margaret Bourke-White, American photojournalist (d. 1971)
1907 – Nicolas Bentley, British writer and illustrator (d. 1978)
1907 – Chico Landi, Brazilian racing driver (d. 1989)
1909 – Burl Ives, American musician (d. 1995)
1910 – Rudolf Kempe, German conductor (d. 1976)
1913 – Joe Morris, C.C., LL.D., Canadian trade unionist (d. 1996)
1914 – Pauline Moore, American actress (d. 2001)
1916 – Dorothy McGuire, American actress (d. 2001)
1917 – Atle Selberg, Norwegian mathematician
1919 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor (d. 1993)
1921 – Gene Barry, American actor
1922 – Kevin Roche, Irish architect
1925 – Pierre Salinger, John F. Kennedy s Press Secretary (d. 2004)
1926 – Hermann Kant, German author
1926 – Don Newcombe, baseball player
1928- Ernesto Che Guevara, Marxist Revolutionary (d. 1967)
1929 – Cy Coleman, American composer (d. 2004)
1931 – Junior Walker, Saxophonist and singer (Jr. Walker & the All Stars) (d. 1995)
1931 – Marla Gibbs, American actress
1932 – Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona
1933 – Jerzy Kosinski, Polish author (d. 1991)
1933 – Vladislav Rastorotsky, Soviet gymnastics coach
1936 – Renaldo Obie Benson, singer (The Four Tops) (d. 2005)
1936 – Irmelin Sandman Lilius, Finnish actor
1937 – Jørgen Leth, Danish film director
1939 – John F. MacArthur, American evangelist
1939 – Steny Hoyer, U.S. Congressman
1943 – Harold Wheeler, American composer
1943 – John Miles, British racing driver
1944 – Laurie Colwin, American author (d. 1992)
1944 – Joe Grifasi, American actor
1945 – Rod Argent, English musician (The Zombies)
1946 – Donald Trump, American businessman and entrepreneur
1947 – Barry Melton, American guitarist (Country Joe and the Fish)
1948 – Laurence Yep, American author
1949 – Jimmy Lea, British musician (Slade)
1949 – Harry Turtledove, American author
1949 – Alan White, British drummer (Yes)
1950 – Rowan Williams, 104th Archbishop of Canterbury
1951 – Paul Boateng, British politician
1952 – Pat Summitt, American basketball coach
1952 – Leon Wieseltier, American writer.
1953 – Janet Mackey, New Zealand politician
1954 – Will Patton, American actor
1955 – Michael D. Duvall, California State Assemblyman
1955 – Paul O Grady, British comedian and television presenter
1956 – King Diamond, Danish singer (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate)
1956 – Sam Irvin, American director and producer
1957 – Maxi Jazz, British rapper (Faithless) and racing driver
1958 – Eric Heiden, American speed skater
1959 – Marcus Miller, American musician
1960 – Mike Laga, American baseball player
1961 – Boy George, British singer (Culture Club)
1961 – Sam Perkins, American basketball player
1964 – Peter Gilliver, English lexicographer
1966 – Traylor Howard, American actress
1967 – Kelly Nash, American radio personality
1968 – Yasmine Bleeth, American actress
1968 – Faizon Love, American actor
1968 – Campbell Brown, American journalist and news reporter
1969 – Steffi Graf, German tennis player
1969 – Éric Desjardins, Canadian hockey player
1969 – Kyle Hebert, American voice actor
1969 – MC Ren, American rapper
1969 – Michael Gerber, American parody author
1971 – Bruce Bowen, American basketball player
1971 – Ramon Vega, former Swiss footballer
1972 – Matthias Ettrich, German computer scientist (KDE)
1972 – Michael Cade, American actor
1972 – Shaun Keaveny, British radio DJ
1973 – Ceca Raznatovic, Serbian singer
1974 – Jang Jin-young, South Korean actress
1974 – Phillip Rhys, British actor
1975 – Ryuji Miki, Japanese racing driver
1975 – Chris Onstad, American cartoonist
1975 – Bob Nanna, American musician (Braid, Hey Mercedes, The City on Film)
1976 – Alan Carr, British Stand-up comedian, Television presenter
1976 – Massimo Oddo, Italian football player
1977 – Chris McAlister, American football player
1977 – Massimiliano Neri, Italian Supermodel
1978 – Steve Bégin, French-Canadian hockey player
1978 – Diablo Cody, American screenwriter
1978 – Annia Hatch, Cuban-American gymnast
1981 – Chauncey Leopardi, American actor
1981 – Lonneke Engel, Dutch model
1982 – Lang Lang, Chinese pianist
1982 – Jamie Green, British racing driver
1983 – John Stocco, American football player
1983 – Louis Garrel, French actor
1984 – Siobhán Donaghy, British singer (ex-Sugababes)
1984 – Lorenzo Booker, American football player
1985 – Andrew Bonner, Scottish football player
1985 – Andy Soucek, Spanish racing driver
1986 – Jonathan Clare, English cricketer
1987 – Andrew Cogliano, Professional Hockey Player
1988 – Kevin Michael McHale, American singer
1989 – Lucy Hale, American actress
1989 – Courtney Halverson, American actress
1992 – Daryl Sabara, American actor
1992 – Evan Sabara, American actor
Deaths
1161 – Emperor Qinzong of China (b. 1100)
1381 – Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury
1497 – Giovanni Borgia, Duke of Borgia (b. 1474)
1544 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1489)
1548 – Carpentras, French composer
1594 – Orlande de Lassus, Flemish composer
1662 – Henry Vane the Younger, British Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1613)
1674 – Marin le Roy de Gomberville, French writer (b. 1600)
1703 – Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer (b. 1625)
1794 – Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, Viceroy of Ireland (b. 1718)
1800 – Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, French military leader (b. 1768)
1800 – Jean-Baptiste Kleber, F741)
1825 – Pierre Charles L Enfant, French architect (b. 1754)
1837 – Giacomo Leopardi, Italian writer (b. 1798)
1883 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet (b. 1809)
1886 – Alexandr Ostrovsky, Russian dramatist (b. 1823)
1908 – Frederick Arthur Stanley, Governor general of Canada (b. 1841)
1916 – João Simões Lopes Neto, Brazilian writer (b. 1865)
1920 – Max Weber, German sociologist (b. 1864)
1926 – Mary Cassatt, American artist (b. 1843)
1927 – Ottavio Bottecchia, Italian cyclist (b. 1894)
1927 – Jerome K. Jerome, British author (b. 1859)
1928 – Emmeline Pankhurst, British feminist (b. 1857)
1932 – Dorimène Roy Desjardins, Canadian business pioneer
1936 – G. K. Chesterton, English author (b. 1874)
1936 – Hans Poelzig, German architect (b. 1869)
1946 – John Logie Baird, Scottish television pioneer (b. 1888)
1967 – Eddie Eagan, American sportsman (b. 1897)
1968 – Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian writer, Nobel Laureate (b. 1901)
1975 – Pablo Antonio, Filipino modernist architect (b. 1902)
1977 – Robert Middleton, American actor (b. 1911)
1986 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer (b. 1899)
1986 – Alan Jay Lerner, American composer (b. 1918)
1990 – Erna Berger, German soprano (b. 1900)
1991 – Dame Peggy Ashcroft, British actress (b. 1907)
1994 – Henry Mancini, American composer (b. 1924)
1994 – Marcel Mouloudji, French singer and actor (b. 1922)
1995 – Rory Gallagher, Irish guitarist (b. 1949)
1995 – Roger Zelazny, American author (b. 1937)
1997 – Tesslynn O Cull, American child abuse victim (b. 1995)
1997 – Richard Jaeckel, American actor (b. 1926)
1999 – Bernie Faloney, professional football player (b. 1932)
2000 – Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and writer (b. 1911)
2002 – June Jordan, American writer and teacher (b. 1936)
2003 – Dale Whittington, American racing driver (b. 1959)
2004 – Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountain guide (b. 1900)
2004 – Eamonn McGirr, Irish-born singer and entertainer
2005 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor (b. 1914)
2005 – Mimi Parent, Canadian painter (b. 1924)
2006 – Jean Roba, Belgian comics author (b. 1930)
2006 – Monty Berman, British film and television producer (b. 1905)
2007 – Ruth Graham, wife of Billy Graham (b. 1920)
2007 – Robin Olds, American fighter pilot (b. 1922)
2007 – Kurt Waldheim, Austrian politician and statesman (b. 1918)
2008 – Jamelão, Brazilian samba singer (b. 1913)
2008 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish jazz pianist (b. 1964)
Holidays and observances
Liberation Day (Falkland Islands)
Flag Day (United States)
Roman Empire – eighth day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta
St. Eliseus, Prophet
