Today June 3rd 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
350 – Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.
1098 – First Crusade: Antioch falls to the crusaders after an eight-month siege.
1140 – French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.
1326 – Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.
1539 – DeSoto claims Florida for Spain.
1608 – Samuel de Champlain completes his third voyage to New France at Tadoussac, Quebec.
1620 – Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
1621 – The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherlands.
1658 – Pope Alexander VII appoints François de Laval vicar apostolic in New France.
1665 – James Stuart, Duke of York (later to become King James II of England) defeats the Dutch Fleet off the coast of Lowestoft.
1770 – Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo is founded in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
1800 – U.S. President John Adams takes up residence in Washington, D.C. (in a tavern – the White House was not yet completed).
1839 – Lin Zexu, dumps 2.6 million pounds of opium and arrests 1,700 opium deals in Hong Kong beginning the Opium Wars.
1850 – The traditional founding date of Kansas City, Missouri. This was the date on which it was first incorporated by Jackson County, Missouri as the City of Kansas.
1861 – Battle of Philippi (also called the Philippi Races) – Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in first land battle of the American Civil War
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Cold Harbor – Union forces attack Confederate troops in Hanover County, Virginia.
1866 – Fenians are driven out of Fort Erie, Ontario, into the United States.
1885 – Last military engagement fought on Canadian soil: Cree leader Big Bear escapes the North West Mounted Police.
1888 – The poem Casey at the Bat, by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner.
1889 – The Canadian Pacific Railway is completed from coast to coast.
1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon, United States.
1916 – The Reserve Officer Training Corps or ROTC is established by the U.S. Congress.
1916 – The National Defense Act is signed into law, increasing the size of the United States National Guard by 450,000 men.
1935 – One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa, Ontario.
1937 – The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson.
1940 – World War II: The Luftwaffe bombs Paris.
1940 – World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.
1956 – British Rail renames Third Class passenger facilities as Second Class (Second Class facilities had been abolished in 1875, leaving just First Class and Third Class).
1962 – An Air France Boeing 707 charter, Chateau de Sully crashed after aborted takeoff from Paris, killing 130. The largest single plane accident to date.
1963 – A Northwest Airlines DC-7 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia, killing 101.
1965 – Launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew. Crew-member Ed White performs the first American spacewalk (EVA).
1968 – Valerie Solanas, author of SCUM Manifesto, attempts to assassinate Andy Warhol by shooting him three times.
1969 – Melbourne-Evans collision: Off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half.
1973 – A Soviet supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near Goussainville, France, killing 14, the first crash of a supersonic passenger aircraft.
1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 600,000 tons (176,400,000 gallons) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill to date.
1982 – The Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, is shot on a London street. He survives but is permanently paralysed.
1984 – The Indian National Army storms the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), the most sacred shrine of Sikhism, near Amritsar.
1987 – Trade unionists in Vanuatu found the Vanuatu Labour Party.
1989 – The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.
1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Japan in Kyushu killing 43 people, all of them either researchers or journalists.
1998 – Eschede train disaster: an ICE high speed train derails in Lower Saxony, Germany, causing 101 deaths.
2006 – The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro s formal declaration of independence.
2007 – USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) engaged pirates after they boarded the Danish ship Danica White off the coast of Somalia.
Births
1540 – Charles I of Austria (d. 1590)
1635 – Philippe Quinault, French writer (d. 1688)
1659 – David Gregory, Scottish astronomer (d. 1708)
1723 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-born naturalist (d. 1788)
1726 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist (d. 1797)
1770 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentine politician (d. 1820)
1808 – Jefferson Davis, American politician and President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1889)
1818 – Louis Faidherbe, French general (d. 1889)
1819 – Anton Anderledy, Swiss Superior General of the Society of Jesus (d. 1892)
1832 – Alexandre Charles Lecocq, French composer (d. 1918)
1843 – Frederick VIII of Denmark (d. 1912)
1844 – Garret Hobart, 24th Vice President of the United States (d. 1899)
1844 – Detlev von Liliencron, German poet (d. 1909)
1853 – William Matthew Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist (d. 1942)
1864 – Otto Erich Hartleben, German writer (d. 1905)
1864 – Ransom E. Olds, American automobile pioneer (d. 1950)
1865 – George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1936)
1866 – George Howells Broadhurst, English director (d. 1952)
1873 – Otto Loewi, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (d. 1961)
1877 – Raoul Dufy, French painter (d. 1953)
1878 – Barney Oldfield, American race car driver (d. 1946)
1879 – Raymond Pearl, American biologist (d. 1940)
1881 – Mikhail Larionov, Russian painter (d. 1964)
1888 – Tom Brown, American musician (d. 1958)
1899 – Georg von Békésy, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (d. 1972)
1901 – Maurice Evans, English actor (d. 1989)
1903 – Eddie Acuff, American actor (d. 1956)
1904 – Jan Peerce, American tenor (d. 1984)
1905 – Martin Gottfried Weiss, German, commandant of Dachau concentration camp (d. 1946)
1906 – Josephine Baker, American dancer (d. 1975)
1907 – Paul Rotha, English director (d. 1984)
1911 – Ellen Corby, American actress (d. 1999)
1911 – Paulette Goddard, American actress (d. 1990)
1913 – Pedro Mir, Dominican Poet Laureate (d. 2000)
1917 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (d. 1969)
1918 – Patrick Cargill, English actor (d. 1996)
1918 – Lili St. Cyr, American ecdysiast (d. 1999)
1921 – Forbes Carlile, Australian athlete
1922 – Alain Resnais, French director
1923 – Igor Shafarevich, Russian mathematician
1924 – Colleen Dewhurst, Canadian actress (d. 1991)
1924 – Ted Mallie, American radio and television announcer (d. 1999)
1924 – Torsten Wiesel, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate
1924 – Jimmy Rogers, American blues guitarist (d. 1997)
1925 – Tony Curtis, American actor
1925 – Thomas Joseph Winning, Archbishop of Glasgow, Scotland (d. 2001)
1926 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997)
1927 – Boots Randolph, American saxophonist (d. 2007)
1929 – Werner Arber, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate
1929 – Chuck Barris, American game show host
1930 – Marion Zimmer Bradley, American author (d. 1999)
1930 – Dakota Staton, American jazz singer (d. 2007)
1930 – Ben Wada, Japanese television producers
1931 – Françoise Arnoul, French actress
1931 – Raúl Castro, Cuban statesman
1931 – John Norman, American author
1931 – Lindy Remigino, American athlete
1933 – Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, emir of Bahrain (d. 1999)
1934 – Rolland D. McCune, American theologian
1936 – Jim Gentile, baseball player
1936 – Larry McMurtry, American author
1937 – Solomon P. Ortiz, American politician
1937 – Edward Winter, American actor (d. 2001)
1939 – Steve Dalkowski, baseball player
1939 – Ian Hunter (singer), English musician
1942 – Curtis Mayfield, American musician (d. 1999)
1943 – Billy Cunningham, American basketball player
1944 – Edith McGuire, American runner
1944 – Eddy Ottoz, Italian athlete
1946 – Michael Clarke American musician (d. 1993)
1946 – Eddie Holman, American singer
1946 – Tristan Rogers, Australian-American actor
1947 – Mickey Finn, British guitarist and percussionist (T. Rex) (d. 2003)
1947 – Mike Burgmann, Australian racing driver (d. 1986)
1947 – John Dykstra, American special effects supervisor
1950 – Melissa Mathison, American screenwriter
1950 – Suzi Quatro, American musician and actress
1950 – Christos Verelis, Greek politician
1950 – Deniece Williams, American singer
1952 – Billy Powell, American keyboardist (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
1952 – David Richards, CBE, British motor racing entrepreneur
1954 – Dan Hill, Canadian singer and songwriter
1954 – Wally Weir, Quebec ice hockey player
1956 – Brad Nessler, American sports broadcaster
1956 – George Burley, Scottish football player and manager
1957 – Horst-Ulrich Hänel, German field hockey player
1959 – John Carlson, American talk radio host
1961 – Lawrence Lessig, American lawyer and author
1962 – Susannah Constantine, British fashion guru
1963 – Rudy Demotte, Belgian politician
1963 – Toshiaki Karasawa, Japanese actor
1964 – Kerry King, American musician (Slayer)
1964 – Doro Pesch, German singer
1964 – James Purefoy, British actor
1965 – Mike Gordon, American musician
1965 – Jeff Blumenkrantz, American composer and actor
1966 – Wasim Akram, Pakistani cricketer
1967 – Anderson Cooper, American reporter
1968 – Jamie O Neal, American singer
1968 – Samantha Sprackling, Nigerian singer
1969 – Takako Minekawa, Japanese musician
1969 – Hiroyuki Takami, Japanese musician
1970 – Esther Hart, Dutch singer
1970 – Julie Masse, French Canadian singer
1970 – Peter Tägtgren, Swedish musician (Hypocrisy) and producer
1970 – Ammon McNeely, American rock climber
1971 – Carl Everett, American baseball player
1971 – John Hodgman, American author and humorist
1974 – Kelly Jones, Welsh singer (Stereophonics)
1974 – Arianne Zuker, American actress
1975 – Jose Molina, Puerto Rican baseball player
1976 – Jamie McMurray, American NASCAR driver
1976 – Yuri Ruley, American drummer
1976 – Enda Markey, Irish/Australian entertainer
1977 – Cris, Brazilian footballer
1977 – Az-Zahir Hakim, American football player
1977 – Travis Hafner, American baseball player
1978 – Lyfe Jennings, R&B singer and song-writer
1980 – Lazaros Papadopoulos, Greek basketball player
1982 – Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian pole vaulter
1982 – Dihan Slabbert, South African singer and composer
1985 – Enkhbatyn Badar-Uugan, Mongolian olympic champion boxer
1986 – Alexandros Karageorgiou, Greek archer
1986 – Brenden Richard Jefferson, African-American actor
1986 – Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player
1986 – Tomas Verner, Czech Republic ice skater
1986 – Adrián Vallés, Spanish racing driver
1986 – Al Horford, American basketball player
1987 – Lalaine, American actress and singer
1987 – Masami Nagasawa, Japanese actress
1989 – Katie Hoff, American swimmer
2002 – Prince Tirso of Bulgaria, titular Bulgarian royal family
2006 – Countess Leonore, Member of the Dutch Royal Family
Deaths
1395 – Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria
1397 – William Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English military leader (b. 1328)
1411 – Duke Leopold IV of Austria (b. 1371)
1548 – Juan de Zumárraga, Spanish Catholic bishop of Mexico (b. 1468)
1594 – John Aylmer, English political theorist (b. 1521)
1615 – Sanada Yukimura, Japanese samurai (b. 1567)
1640 – Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, English politician (b. 1584)
1657 – William Harvey, English physician (b. 1578)
1649 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (b. 1590)
1659 – Morgan Llwyd, Welsh Puritan preacher and writer (b. 1619)
1780 – Thomas Hutchinson, American colonial governor of Massachusetts (b. 1711)
1826 – Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, Russian writer (b. 1766)
1858 – Julius Reubke, German composer (b. 1834)
1861 – Stephen A. Douglas, American politician (b. 1813)
1865 – Okada Izo, Japanese samurai (b. 1838)
1875 – Georges Bizet, French composer (b. 1838)
1877 – Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, Austrian musicologist (b. 1800)
1882 – Christian Wilberg, German painter (b. 1839)
1894 – Karl Eduard Zachariae, German expert on Byzantine Law (b. 1812)
1899 – Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer (b. 1825)
1924 – Franz Kafka, Czech novelist (b. 1883)
1928 – Li Yüan-hung, Chinese general and political figure (b. 1864)
1933 – William Muldoon, wrestler (b. 1852)
1955 – Barbara Graham, American murderer (b. 1923)
1963 – Nazim Hikmet, Turkish poet (b. 1902)
1963 – Pope John XXIII (b. 1881)
1964 – Frans Eemil Sillanpää, Finnish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
1970 – Hjalmar Schacht, Nazi official (b. 1877)
1971 – Heinz Hopf, German mathematician (b. 1894)
1973 – Dory Funk, professional wrestler (b. 1919)
1975 – Ozzie Nelson, American band leader, producer, director, and actor (b. 1906)
1975 – Eisaku Sato, Prime Minister of Japan, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1901)
1977 – Archibald Vivian Hill, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
1977 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian film director (b. 1906)
1983 – Nanna, Rafi Khawar, Lollywood actor, Lahore
1989 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian Shi ite leader (b. 1902)
1989 – John McCauley, NHL official (b. 1945)
1990 – Stiv Bators, American musician (The Dead Boys) (b. 1949)
1990 – Robert Noyce, American inventor (b. 1927)
1991 – Katia Krafft, French volcanologist (eruption) (b. 1942)
1991 – Maurice Krafft, French volcanologist (eruption) (b. 1946)
1991 – Takeshi Nagata, Japanese geophysicist (b. 1913)
1992 – Robert Morley, English actor (b. 1908)
1994 – Puig Aubert, French rugby league footballer (b. 1925)
1997 – Dennis James, American television personality (b. 1917)
1998 – Poul Bundgaard, Danish actor and singer (b. 1922)
2001 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-born actor (b. 1915)
2003 – Felix de Weldon, Austrian sculptor (b. 1907)
2004 – Frances Shand Kydd, mother of Diana, Princess of Wales (b. 1936)
2004 – Quorthon, Swedish musician (Bathory) (b. 1966)
2005 – Harold Cardinal, Cree political leader, writer, and lawyer (b. 1945)
2006 – Johnny Grande, original accordion/piano/keyboard player for Bill Haley s Comets (b. 1932)
Holidays and observances
Roman Empire – Festival to Bellona.
Confederate Memorial Day observed in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
Vladimirskaya (in Russia)
Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs of Uganda.
Saint Kevin of Glendalough
Saint Clothilde (d. 545)
Blessed Pope John XXIII
Saint Paula (d. 273)
Saint Ovidius
