Today in history...
June 6, 2009
* 1508 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year truce and cede several territories to Venice.
* 1513 – Italian Wars: Battle of Novara. Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis de la Tremoille, forcing the French to abandon Milan. Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.
* 1523 – Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden, marking the end of the Kalmar Union.
* 1644 – The Qing Dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor capture Beijing during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. The Manchus would rule China until 1912 when the Republic of China is established.
* 1654 – Charles X succeeds his abdicated cousin Queen Christina to the Swedish throne.
* 1674 – Shivaji, founder of the Maratha empire was coronated.
* 1683 – The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum.
* 1752 – A devastating fire destroys one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes.
* 1808 – Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte is crowned King of Spain.
* 1809 – Sweden promulgates a new Constitution, which restores political power to the Riksdag of the Estates after 20 years of Enlightened absolutism.
* 1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Stoney Creek – A British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force three times its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
* 1832 – The June Rebellion of Paris is put down by the National Guard.
* 1833 – U.S. President Andrew Jackson becomes the first President to ride a train.
* 1844 – The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.
* 1857 – Sophia of Nassau marries the future King Oscar II of Sweden-Norway.
* 1859 – Australia: Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales (Queensland Day).
* 1862 – American Civil War: Battle of Memphis – Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederates.
* 1882 – More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbour.
* 1882 – The Shewan forces of Menelik defeat the Gojjame army in the Battle of Embabo. The Shewans capture Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and heir victory leads to a Shewan hegemony over the territories south of the Abay River.
* 1889 – The Great Seattle Fire destroys the entirety of downtown Seattle, Washington.
* 1894 – Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike.
* 1906 – Paris Métro Line 5 is inaugurated with a first section from Place d'Italie to the Gare d'Orléans (today known as Gare d'Austerlitz).
* 1912 – The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
* 1918 – World War I: Battle of Belleau Wood – The U.S. Marine Corps suffers its worst single day's casualties while attempting to recapture the wood at Chateau-Thierry.
* 1919 – The Republic of Prekmurje ends.
* 1921 – The Southwark Bridge in London, is opened for traffic by King George V and Queen Mary.
* 1925 – The Chrysler Corporation is founded by Walter Percy Chrysler.
* 1932 – The Revenue Act of 1932 is enacted, creating the first gas tax in the United States, at a rate of 1 cent per US gallon (1/4 ¢/L) sold.
* 1933 – The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey, United States.
* 1934 – New Deal: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Act of 1933 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
* 1939 – German dictator Adolf Hitler gives a public address to returning German volunteers who fought as Legion Kondor during the Spanish Civil War.
* 1939 – Judge Joseph Force Crater is declared legally dead.
* 1942 – World War II: Battle of Midway. U.S. Navy dive bombers sink the Japanese cruiser Mikuma.
* 1944 – World War II: Battle of Normandy begins. D-Day, code named Operation Overlord, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
* 1944 – Alaska Airlines commences operations.
* 1946 – The Basketball Association of America is formed in New York City.
* 1946 – Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with Argentina.
* 1950 – Turkey: The Adhan in Arabic is legalized.
* 1956 – David Marshall, Singapore's first Chief Minister, resigns.
* 1964 – Under a temporary order, the rocket launches at Cuxhaven, Germany, are terminated, though they never resume.
* 1966 – James Meredith, civil rights activist, is shot while trying to march across Mississippi.
* 1968 – Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws his record 58th consecutive scoreless inning, a major league record until 1988.
* 1968 – Senator Robert F. Kennedy dies from his wounds after he was shot the previous night.
* 1971 – Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.
* 1971 – A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a United States Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet fighter near Duarte, California claims 50 lives.
* 1974 – A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.
* 1981 – A passenger train travelling between Mansi and Saharsa, India, jumps the tracks at a bridge crossing the Bagmati river. The government places the official death toll at 268 plus another 300 missing; however, it is generally believed that the actual figure is closer to 1,000 killed.
* 1982 – 1982 Lebanon War begins: Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
* 1984 – The Indian Army attacks the Golden Temple in Amritsar following an order from Indira Gandhi. Official casualties are 576 combatants killed and 335 wounded; independent observers estimate that thousands of unarmed Sikh civilians are also killed in the crossfire. A total death count adds up to almost 6,000.
* 1984 – Tetris was released.
* 1985 – The grave of "Wolfgang Gerhard" is exhumed in Embu, Brazil; the remains found are later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's "Angel of Death". Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February, 1979.
* 1990 – U.S. District court judge Jose Gonzales rules that the rap album As Nasty As They Wanna Be by 2 Live Crew violates Florida's obscenity law; he declares that the predominant subject matter of the record is "directed to the 'dirty' thoughts and the loins, not to the intellect and the mind."
* 1993 – Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections.
* 1999 – In Australian Rules Football, Tony Lockett breaks the record for career goals, previously 1299 by Gordon Coventry and which had stood since 1937.
* 1999 – At the Putim maximum security prison in Brazil, 345 prisoners run from the main gate in the largest jailbreak in Brazilian history, marking the 10th escape for the three-year-old facility. In the ensuing manhunt, two fugitives are killed and five innocent bystanders are accidentally jailed.
* 2002 – Eastern Mediterranean Event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at 10 metres diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The resulting explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
* 2004 – Tamil is established as a Classical language by the President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in a joint sitting of the two houses of the Indian Parliament.
* 2005 – The United States Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning marijuana, including medical marijuana, in Gonzales v. Raich.
* 2007 – A German man jumps on to the Popemobile in Vatican City, Rome. It was a possible attempt to injure or kill Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope was not injured and Bodyguards wrestled the man to the ground.
Birthdays today...
* 1236 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese prime minister (d. 1283)
* 1296 – Władysław of Legnica, Duke of Legnica (d. 1352)
* 1436 – Regiomontanus, German mathematician (d. 1476)
* 1502 – King John III of Portugal (d. 1557)
* 1519 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher and botanist (d. 1603)
* 1542 – Richard Grenville, English soldier and explorer (d. 1591)
* 1576 – Giovanni Diodati, Swiss Protestant clergyman (d. 1649)
* 1580 – Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer (d. 1667)
* 1599 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter (d. 1660)
* 1606 – Pierre Corneille, French dramatist (d. 1684)
* 1622 – Claude-Jean Allouez, French missionary and explorer (d. 1857)
* 1714 – King Joseph I of Portugal (d. 1777)
* 1755 – Nathan Hale, American writer and patriot (d. 1776)
* 1756 – John Trumbull, American painter (d. 1843)
* 1772 – Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies, Holy Roman Empire Empress (d. 1807)
* 1799 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet (d. 1837)
* 1810 – Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin, German classical scholar (d. 1856)
* 1829 – Shusaku Honinbo, Japanese Go player (d. 1862)
* 1841 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish novelist (d. 1910)
* 1844 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (d. 1905)
* 1850 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1918)
* 1857 – Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician (d. 1918)
* 1862 – Henry John Newbolt, English author (d. 1938)
* 1867 – David Abercrombie, American entrepreneur (d. 1931)
* 1868 – Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer (d. 1912)
* 1872 – Tsarina Alexandra of Russia (d. 1918)
* 1875 – Thomas Mann, German writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1955)
* 1878 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French criminal attorney (d. 1956)
* 1890 – Ted Lewis, American bandleader (d. 1971)
* 1892 – Donald F. Duncan Sr., American entrepreneur (d. 1971)
* 1896 – Henry Allingham, English first world war veteran
* 1898 – Ninette de Valois, Irish dancer (d. 2001)
* 1898 – Walter Abel, American actor (d. 1987)
* 1900 – Manfred Sakel, Polish psychiatrist (d. 1957)
* 1901 – Sukarno, first President of Indonesia (d. 1970)
* 1902 – Jimmie Lunceford, American bandleader (d. 1947)
* 1903 – Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (d. 1978)
* 1906 – Max August Zorn, German-born mathematician (d. 1993)
* 1907 – Bill Dickey, American baseball player (d. 1993)
* 1913 – Carlo L. Golino, American scholar (d. 1991)
* 1915 – Vincent Persichetti, American composer (d. 1987)
* 1916 – Henriette Roosenburg, Dutch journalist (d. 1972)
* 1917 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman
* 1918 – Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist, Nobel laureate
* 1923 – V. C. Andrews, American author (d. 1986)
* 1924 – Jinyong, Chinese novelist
* 1926 – Torsten Andersson, Swedish painter (d. 2009)
* 1926 – Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
* 1929 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor and politician (d. 2005)
* 1932 – David Scott, American astronaut
* 1933 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist, Nobel laureate
* 1934 – King Albert II of Belgium
* 1934 – Roy Innis, American civil rights activist
* 1936 – Levi Stubbs, American musician (The Four Tops)
* 1936 – A. Venkatesh Naik, Indian politician
* 1938 – Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, pretender to the Brazilian throne
* 1939 – Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer
* 1939 – Lawrence Stephen, Nauruan politician
* 1939 – Gary U.S. Bonds, American musician
* 1939 – Ed Giacomin, Canadian hockey player
* 1940 – Larry Lujack, American disc jockey
* 1941 – Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-born American journalist
* 1943 – Ken Hatfield, American football coach
* 1943 – Richard Smalley, American chemist, Nobel laureate
* 1944 – David Penhaligon, British politician
* 1944 – Phillip Allen Sharp, American scientist, Nobel laureate
* 1945 – David E. Bonior, American politician
* 1945 – David Dukes, American actor (d. 2000)
* 1947 – David Blunkett, English politician
* 1947 – Ada Kok, Dutch swimmer
* 1948 – Tony Levin, American bassist (King Crimson)
* 1948 – Richard Sinclair, English musician (Caravan)
* 1949 – Robert Englund, American actor
* 1949 – Holly Near, American folksinger
* 1950 – Chantal Akerman, Belgian film director
* 1951 – Noritake Takahara, Japanese racing driver
* 1952 – Yukihiro Takahashi, Japanese musician and singer (Yellow Magic Orchestra)
* 1952 – Harvey Fierstein, American actor
* 1952 – Jean Hamel, Canadian hockey player
* 1953 – Dimitris Avramopoulos, Greek politician
* 1954 – Cynthia Rylant, American author
* 1955 – Sandra Bernhard, American actress and comedian
* 1956 – Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player
* 1956 – Bubbi Morthens, Icelandic singer and songwriter
* 1957 – Mike Gatting, English cricketer
* 1958 – Danny Webb, English actor
* 1959 – Jimmy Jam, American record producer
* 1959 – Colin Quinn, American comedian
* 1959 – David Schultz, American wrestler (d. 1996)
* 1959 – Georgios Voulgarakis, Greek politician
* 1960 – Gary Graham, American actor
* 1960 – Lola Forner, Spanish actress
* 1960 – Jozef Pribilinec, Slovak athlete
* 1960 – Steve Vai, American musician
* 1961 – Bill Bates, American football player
* 1961 – Tom Araya, Chilean musician (Slayer)
* 1961 – Nir Brand, Israeli composer
* 1961 – Aldo Costa, Italian engineer
* 1963 – Eric Cantor, American politician, US House minority whip
* 1963 – Wolfgang Drechsler, German social scientist
* 1963 – Jason Isaacs, English actor
* 1964 – Konnan, Mexican wrestler
* 1965 – Cam Neely, Canadian hockey player
* 1966 – Tony Yeboah, Ghanaian footballer
* 1966 – Sean Yseult, American musician (White Zombie)
* 1967 – Paul Giamatti, American actor
* 1967 – Max Casella, American actor
* 1968 – François Avard, Canadian writer and scenarist
* 1968 – Alan Licht, American guitarist, composer and journalist
* 1970 – Eugeni Berzin, Russian cyclist
* 1970 – Sarah Dessen, American author
* 1970 – Albert Ferrer, Spanish footballer
* 1970 – Anthony Norris, American wrestler
* 1970 – James Shaffer, American rock musician (Korn)
* 1972 – Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer (Lacuna Coil)
* 1973 – Kat Swift, American politician
* 1974 – Danny Strong, American actor
* 1974 – Sonya Walger, British actress
* 1974 – Uncle Kracker, American musician
* 1975 – Cheer Chen, Taiwanese singer and musician
* 1975 – Nina Kaczorowski, American actress
* 1975 – Staci Keanan, American actress
* 1975 – Niklas Sundström, Swedish hockey player
* 1976 – aKido, Canadian musician
* 1976 – Geoff Rowley, British skateboarder
* 1976 – Z-Ro, American rapper
* 1977 – David Connolly, Irish footballer
* 1977 – Bryn Williams, Welsh chef
* 1978 – Carl Barât, English musician
* 1978 – Judith Barsi, American actress (d. 1988)
* 1978 – Mariana Popova, Bulgarian singer
* 1978 – Andrew Reynolds, American professional skater
* 1980 – Matt Belisle, American baseball player
* 1980 – Martin Devaney, English footballer
* 1981 – Johnny Pacar, American film actor
* 1981 – Philip McGinley, English Actor
* 1983 – Gemma Bissix, British actress
* 1983 – Gianna Michaels, American porn actress
* 1983 – Joe Rokocoko, Fijian rugby player
* 1984 – Noor Sabri, Iraqi footballer
* 1984 – Shannon Stewart, American model
* 1985 – Drew Galloway, Scottish wrestler
* 1986 – Bhavana Balachandran, Indian actress
* 1986 – Kim Hyun Joong, Korean singer (SS501)
* 1987 – Kyle Falconer, Scottish musician
* 1987 – Daniel Logan, New Zealand actor
* 1987 – Rubin Okotie, Austrian footballer
Famous deaths...
* 1393 – Emperor Go-En'yu of Japan (b. 1359)
* 1480 – Vecchietta, Italian artist and architect
* 1548 – João de Castro, Portuguese noble and explorer (b. 1500)
* 1563 – Ikeda Nagamasa, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1519)
* 1583 – Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese warlord (b. 1556)
* 1730 – Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, Marshal of France (b. 1646)
* 1740 – Alexander Spotswood, British Crown Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
* 1784 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (b. 1741)
* 1799 – Patrick Henry, American revolutionary (b. 1736)
* 1813 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect
* 1815 – Samuel Whitbread, English Politician
* 1832 – Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher (b. 1748)
* 1840 – Marcellin Champagnat, French priest (b. 1789)
* 1843 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German poet and dramatist (b. 1770)
* 1861 – Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1810)
* 1865 – William Quantrill, American confederate raider (b. 1837)
* 1878 – Robert Stirling, Scottish inventor (b. 1790)
* 1881 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian composer (b. 1820)
* 1891 – John A. Macdonald, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1815)
* 1916 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese military officer and politician (b. 1859)
* 1922 – Lillian Russell, American actress (b. 1860)
* 1934 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and writer (b. 1864)
* 1935 – Julian Byng, British army officer (b. 1862)
* 1941 – Louis Chevrolet, American automotive pioneer (b. 1878)
* 1946 – Gerhart Hauptmann, German dramatist, Nobel laureate (b. 1862)
* 1948 – Louis Lumière, French movie pioneer (b. 1864)
* 1951 – Olive Tell, American actress (b. 1894)
* 1955 – Max Meldrum, Scottish-born painter (b. 1875)
* 1961 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (b. 1875)
* 1962 – Yves Klein, French artist (b. 1928)
* 1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, 64th United States Attorney General & former U.S. Senator from New York (b. 1925)
* 1968 – Randolph Churchill, son of Winston Churchill (b. 1911)
* 1974 – Frank Sutton, American actor (b. 1923)
* 1975 – Larry Blyden, American actor (b. 1925)
* 1976 – J. Paul Getty, American industrialist (b. 1892)
* 1976 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian actor (b. 1891)
* 1979 – Jack Haley, American actor (b. 1898)
* 1981 – Carleton S. Coon, American anthropologist (b. 1904)
* 1982 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (b. 1905)
* 1984 – A. Bertram Chandler, Australian author (b. 1912)
* 1991 – Stan Getz, American musician (b. 1927)
* 1992 – Larry Riley, American actor (b. 1952)
* 1994 – Mark McManus, Scottish actor (b. 1935)
* 1994 – Barry Sullivan, American actor (b. 1912)
* 1996 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
* 1999 – Anne Haddy, Australian actress (b. 1930)
* 2000 – Frédéric Dard, French writer (b. 1921)
* 2002 – Robbin Crosby, American guitarist (Ratt) (b. 1959)
* 2003 – Ken Grimwood, American writer (b. 1944)
* 2003 – Dave Rowberry, British musician (The Animals) (b. 1940)
* 2005 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (b. 1931)
* 2005 – Dana Elcar, American actor (b. 1927)
* 2006 – Billy Preston, American musician (b. 1946)
* 2006 – Hilton Ruiz, Puerto Rican jazz pianist (b. 1952)
* 2006 – Arnold Newman, American photographer (b. 1918)
Holidays and observances...
* Queensland: Queensland Day
* South Korea: Memorial Day
* Sweden: National Day
* United States: National Huntington's Disease Awareness Day
Have a good Saturday.
~Brian
