Today June 2nd 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
455 – The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.
1098 – First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city. The second siege would later start on June 7.
1615 – First Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.
1692 – Bridget Bishop is the first person to go to trial in the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, is found guilty, and would go on to be hanged on June 10.
1763 – Pontiac s Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison s attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.
1774 – Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act is enacted, allowing a governor in colonial America to house British soldiers in uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings if suitable quarters were not provided.
1780 – The Derby horse race is held for the first time.
1793 – Jean-Paul Marat recites the names of 29 people to the French National Convention. Almost all of these people are guillotined, followed by 17,000 more over the course of the next year during the Reign of Terror.
1800 – The first smallpox vaccination in North America, at Trinity, Newfoundland.
1835 – P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.
1848 – The Slavic congress in Prague begins.
1855 – The Portland Rum Riot occurs in Portland, Maine.
1876 – Hristo Botev, a national revolutionary of Bulgaria, is killed in Stara Planina
1886 – U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House, becoming the only president to wed in the executive mansion.
1896 – Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent for his newest invention: the radio.
1909 – Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
1924 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.
1925 – Because of a lineup shakeup by Miller Huggins, Wally Pipp is replaced by Lou Gehrig at first base for the New York Yankees, beginning a streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, topped only by Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1995. Exactly 16 years to the day, in 1941, Gehrig passes away from Amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
1946 – Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians decide to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After this referendum the king of Italy Umberto II di Savoia is exiled.
1953 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the first to be televised.
1955 – The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.
1965 – Vietnam War: The first contingent of Australian combat troops arrive in South Vietnam.
1966 – Surveyor program: The Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on another world.
1967 – Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into riots, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group Movement 2 June.
1975 – French sex workers occupied a Lyon church in protest against excessive fines and taxes, as well as a lack of police action against violence, thereby sparking the birth of the modern sex worker rights movement.
1979 – Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
1984 – Operation Bluestar, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for the Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6 with causalities, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.
1990 – The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 66 confirmed tornados in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12. Petersburg, Indiana is the hardest-hit town in the outbreak, with 6 deaths.
1992 – Denmark rejects the Maastricht Treaty by a thin margin in a national referendum.
1995 – United States Air Force Captain Scott O Grady s F-16 is shot down over Bosnia while patrolling the NATO no-fly zone.
1997 – In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1998 – The CIH computer virus is discovered in Taiwan.
1999 – The Bhutan Broadcasting Service brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time.
2003 – Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency s Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.
2004 – Ken Jennings begins his 74-game winning streak on the syndicated game show Jeopardy!.
Births
926 – Murakami, Emperor of Japan (d. 967)
1535 – Pope Leo XI (d. 1605)
1731 – Martha Washington, First American first lady (d. 1802)
1740 – Marquis de Sade, French author (d. 1814)
1743 – Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, Sicilian Occultist (d. 1795)
1773 – John Randolph, U.S. Senator from Virginia (d. 1833)
1774 – William Lawson, explorer of New South Wales, Australia (d. 1850)
1823 – Gédéon Ouimet, French Canadian politician (d. 1905)
1835 – Pope Pius X (d. 1914)
1838 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (d. 1900)
1840 – Thomas Hardy, English writer (d. 1928)
1857 – Edward Elgar, English composer (d. 1934)
1857 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
1863 – Felix Weingartner, Yugoslavian conductor (d. 1942)
1865 – George Lohmann, English cricketer (d. 1901)
1869 – Jack O Connor, baseball player (d. 1937)
1887 – Howard Johnson, American songwriter (d. 1941)
1891 – Thurman Arnold, American attorney and jurist (d. 1969)
1899 – Lotte Reiniger, German film director (d. 1981)
1904 – Frank Runacres, English artist (d. 1974)
1904 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (d. 1984)
1907 – Dorothy West, American writer (d. 1998)
1913 – Walter Andreas Schwarz, German singer and author (d. 1992)
1913 – Barbara Pym, English novelist (d. 1980)
1915 – Walter Tetley, American voice actor (d. 1975)
1915 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Russian communist (d. 1992)
1917 – Heinz Sielmann, German photographer and filmmaker (d. 2006)
1918 – Ruth Atkinson, American cartoonist (d. 1997)
1919 – Nat Mayer Shapiro, American painter (d. 2005)
1920 – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish-born critic
1920 – Tex Schramm, American football team president and general manager (d. 2003)
1920 – Frank G. Clement, Governor of Tennessee (d. 1969)
1922 – Charlie Sifford, American golfer
1922 – Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
1924 – June Callwood, Canadian journalist and activist (d. 2007)
1926 – Milo O Shea, Irish actor
1927 – W. Watts Biggers, American novelist and animator
1929 – Norton Juster, American author and architect
1929 – Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player
1930 – Pete Conrad, American astronaut (d. 1999)
1930 – Bob Lillis, baseball player
1931 – Larry Jackson, baseball player (d. 1990)
1931 – William Donaldson, American businessman and politician
1932 – Sammy Turner, American singer
1935 – Carol Shields, American-born novelist (d. 2003)
1935 – Roger Brierley, English actor (d. 2005)
1935 – Dimitri Kitsikis, Greek turkologist
1937 – Sally Kellerman, American actress
1937 – Jimmy Jones (singer), American singer and songwriter
1938 – Kevin Brownlow, English film historian and author
1940 – King Constantine II of Greece
1941 – Stacy Keach, American actor
1941 – Charlie Watts, English musician (The Rolling Stones)
1941 – William Guest, American singer (Gladys Knight & the Pips)
1942 – Maree Cheatham, American actress
1943 – Charles Haid, American actor
1943 – Ilaiyaraaja, Indian composer
1944 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and musician
1945 – Jon Peters, American film producer and hairdresser
1946 – Peter Sutcliffe, English serial killer
1946 – Lasse Hallström, Swedish film director
1947 – Mark Elder, British opera and symphony conductor
1948 – Jerry Mathers, American actor
1949 – Heather Couper, British astronomer
1949 – Frank Rich, American theater critic and columnist
1951 – Larry Robinson, Canadian hockey player
1952 – Gary Bettman, American National Hockey League commissioner
1953 – Keith Allen, Welsh comedian, actor, singer and writer
1953 – Craig Stadler, American golfer
1954 – Dennis Haysbert, American actor
1955 – Dana Carvey, American actor and comedian
1955 – Michael Steele, American musician (The Bangles)
1955 – Chantal Hochuli, Swiss-born socialite
1956 – Mani Ratnam, Indian director
1956 – Malcolm Garrett, English graphic designer
1957 – King Lizzard, American entertainer
1957 – Mark Lawrenson, English Football Pundit
1958 – Lawrence Pfohl, American professional wrestler
1959 – Lydia Lunch, American singer
1960 – Kyle Petty, American race car driver
1960 – Tony Hadley, English singer (Spandau Ballet)
1961 – Dez Cadena, American musician (Black Flag)
1964 – Caroline Link, German film director and screenwriter
1965 – Jim Knipfel, American autobiographer and journalist
1965 – Mark Waugh Australian cricketer
1965 – Steve Waugh, Australian cricketer
1966 – Pedro Guerra, Spanish songwriter and singer
1967 – Mike Stanton, baseball player
1968 – Beetlejuice, American radio personality
1968 – Jon Culshaw, British comedian
1969 – Cy Chadwick, English actor
1970 – Andy McCollum, American football player
1970 – B-Real, American rapper (Cypress Hill)
1971 – Anthony Montgomery, American actor
1971 – Katerina Jacques, Czech politician
1972 – Wayne Brady, American actor and comedian
1972 – Wentworth Miller, American actor
1972 – Simon Staho, Danish film director
1973 – Neifi Perez, Dominican baseball player
1974 – Matt Serra, American mixed martial artist
1974 – Gata Kamsky, American chess player
1976 – Earl Boykins, American basketball player
1976 – Tim Rice-Oxley, English musician (Keane)
1976 – Martin Cech, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2007)
1976 – Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brazilian mixed martial artist
1976 – Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso, Queen consort of Lesotho
1977 – Zachary Quinto, American actor
1978 – Dominic Cooper, English actor
1978 – Nikki Cox, American actress
1978 – Justin Long, American actor
1978 – A.J. Styles, American professional wrestler
1980 – Fabrizio Moretti, Brazilian-born rock drummer (The Strokes)
1980 – Abby Wambach, American Soccer player
1981 – Nikolay Davydenko, Russian professional tennis player
1981 – Tucker Rountree, American guitarist and composer.
1981 – Chin-hui Tsao, Taiwanese baseball player
1982 – Jewel Staite, Canadian actress
1983 – Christopher Higgins, American ice hockey player
1983 – Brooke White, American singer
1983 – Leela James, American singer-songwriter
1985 – Ana Cristina, Cuban American singer,composer, and actress
1987 – Darin Zanyar, Swedish Singer
1988 – Patrik Berglund, Swedish hockey player
1988 – Sergio Agüero, Argentinian footballer
1989 – Freddy Adu, Ghanaian-American footballer
1990 – Brittany Curran, American actress
Deaths
829 – Saint Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 758)
910 – Richilde of Provence, Queen of Western Francia
1418 – Katherine of Lancaster, wife of Henry III of Castile
1567 – Shane O Neill, Irish chieftain
1581 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, regent of Scotland
1693 – John Wildman, English soldier and politician
1701 – Madeleine de Scudéry, French writer (b. 1607)
1716 – Ogata Korin, Japanese painter
1754 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish religious dissenter (b. 1680)
1761 – Jonas Alströmer, Swedish industrialist (b. 1685)
1785 – Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, French mathematician (b. 1713)
1806 – William Tate, English Portrait Painter (b. c. 1747)
1833 – Simon Byrne, Irish bare-knuckle prize fighter (b. 1806)
1853 – Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, British peer and soldier (b. 1777)
1865 – Ner Alexander Middleswarth, American politician (b. 1783)
1875 – Józef Kremer, Polish messianistic philosopher (b. 1806)
1876 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1848)
1881 – Émile Littré, French lexicographer (b. 1801)
1882 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian revolutionarist (b. 1807)
1901 – George Leslie Mackay, Canadian missionary (b. 1844)
1933 – Frank Jarvis, American athlete (b. 1878)
1937 – Louis Vierne, French organist and composer (b. 1870)
1941 – Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (b. 1903)
1948 – Viktor Brack, Nazi physician (b. 1904)
1948 – Karl Brandt, personal physician of Adolf Hitler (b. 1904)
1948 – Karl Gebhardt, Nazi doctor (b. 1897)
1948 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (b. 1903)
1948 – Wolfram Sievers, Nazi physician (b. 1905)
1956 – Jean Hersholt, Danish actor and humanitarian (b. 1886)
1961 – George S. Kaufman, American playwright (b. 1889)
1962 – Vita Sackville-West, English writer, and gardener (b. 1892)
1967 – Benno Ohnesorg, German student (b. 1940)
1968 – André Mathieu, Quebec pianist and composer (b. 1929)
1969 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (b. 1917)
1970 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand car racer, designer, and founder of eponymous race team (b. 1937)
1970 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian poet (b. 1888)
1970 – Albert Lamorisse, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1922)
1974 – Hiroshi Kazato, Japanese racing driver (b. 1949)
1976 – Juan José Torres, former President of Bolivia, assassinated in the frame of Operation Condor
1977 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish actor (b. 1931)
1979 – Jim Hutton, American actor (b. 1934)
1982 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (b. 1904)
1983 – Stan Rogers, Canadian musician (b. 1949)
1984 – Georgios Kasassoglou, Greek musician (b. 1908)
1986 – Aurel Joliat, Canadian hockey player (b. 1901)
1987 – Sammy Kaye, American bandleader (b. 1910)
1987 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (b. 1893)
1989 – Ted a Beckett, Australian cricketer (b. 1907)
1990 – Stiv Bators, American singer (The Dead Boys, The Lords of the New Church) (b. 1949)
1990 – Jack Gilford, American actor (b. 1908)
1990 – Rex Harrison, English actor (b. 1908)
1992 – Phillip Dunne, American film director (b. 1908)
1993 – Johnny Mize, American baseball player (b. 1913)
1994 – David Stove, Australian philosopher (b. 1927)
1996 – John Alton, American cinematographer (b. 1901)
1996 – Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian (b. 1956)
1996 – Leon Garfield, English children s author (b. 1921)
1996 – Amos Tversky, Israeli psychologist (b. 1937)
1997 – Doc Cheatham, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1905)
1998 – Sylvester Ritter, American professional wrestler (b. 1952)
1999 – Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican musician (The Wailers) (b. 1949)
2000 – Svyatoslav Fyodorov, Russian ophthalmologist (b. 1927)
2000 – Gerald Whitrow, British mathematician (b. 1912)
2001 – Imogene Coca, American actress (b. 1908)
2001 – Frank Stagg, Baptist Theologian (b. 1911)
2001 – Joey Maxim, American boxer (b. 1922)
2003 – Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (b. 1918)
2004 – Loyd Sigmon, American amateur (ham) radio broadcaster (b. 1909)
2005 – Gunder Gundersen, Norwegian Nordic combined skier and sports official (b. 1930)
2005 – Chloe Jones, Model and pornographic actress (b. 1975)
2005 – Samir Kassir, Lebanese journalist and teacher (b. 1950)
2005 – Melita Norwood, British spy (b. 1912)
2006 – Keith Smith, English professional rugby player (b. 1952)
2006 – Vince Welnick, musician, keyboardist (The Grateful Dead) (b. 1951)
2007 – Huang Ju, Chinese Vice-Premier
2007 – Kentaro Haneda, Japanese composer (b. 1949)
2008 – Bo Diddley, American musician (b. 1928)
2008 – Mel Ferrer, Cuban-American actor, film director and film producer (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances
Italy s Festa della Repubblica (Republic Day), which commemorates the birth of the Repubblica Italiana and the end of the monarchy.
Xenia name day in Slovakia.
The death of Hristo Botev in Bulgaria.
Independence day Samoa 1962
The Greek Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Nicephorus death – see also March 13.
World Pétanque Day.
