June 2

June 2 in recent years

2024 (Sunday)

2023 (Friday)

2022 (Thursday)

2021 (Wednesday)

2020 (Tuesday)

2019 (Sunday)

2018 (Saturday)

2017 (Friday)

2016 (Thursday)

2015 (Tuesday)

June 2 is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 212 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1950

• 455 – Sack of Rome: Vandals enter Rome and plunder the city for two weeks.
• 1098 – First Crusade: At the end of a siege, Crusade forces take Antioch.
• 1676 – Franco-Dutch War: France ensures the dominance of its naval fleet for the remainder of the war, with victory at the Battle of Palermo
• 1692 – Bridget Bishop becomes the first person to go on trial in the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. She is found guilty and executed on June 10.
• 1763 – Pontiac's Rebellion: In present–day Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison's attention with a game of Lacrosse, then chasing the ball into a fort.
• 1793 – French Revolution: François Hanriot, leader of the Parisian National Guard, arrests 22 Girondists selected by Jean-Paul Marat.
• 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: A French–Spanish fleet recaptures Diamond Riot, an uninhabited island at the entrance to the bay leading to Fort–de–France, from the British.
• 1835 – P. T. Barnum's circus starts touring the United States.
• 1848 – The Slavic Congress in Prague begins.
• 1855 – The Rum Riot occurs in Portland, Maine.
• 1858 – Comet C/1858 L1 is discovered by Italian astronomer Giambattista Donati.
• 1864 – The Ionian Islands, previously a British protectorate, are given to Greece.
• 1876 – Bulgarian revolutionary Hristo Botev is killed.
• 1886 – Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom.
• 1896 – Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for the radio.
• 1909 – Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for a third time.
• 1910 – Charles Rolls becomes the first person to make a non–stop crossing of the English Channel by aeroplane.
• 1919 – Anarchists simultaneously set of bombs in eight separate United States cities.
• 1924 – US President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act, giving equal citizenship to Native Americans born within the territory of the United States.
• 1941 – World War II: German paratroopers murder Greek civilians in the village of Kondomari.
• 1946 – In a referendum, voters in Italy support the formation of a Republic.

1951 – 2000

• 1953 – Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
• 1953 – The news of the first successful ascent of Mt. Everest reaches the UK.
• 1955 – The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade Declaration.
• 1962 – The most violent match of the FIFA World Cup occurs in Chile as police have to intervene between Chilean and Italian footballers.
• 1965 – A cyclone kills over 30,000 people in Pakistan.
• 1966 – The Surveyor 1 spacecraft on the Moon.
• 1967 – German student Benno Ohnesorg is shot dead by police at a demonstration outside the Iranian Embassy.
• 1973 – Amsterdam's Vincent van Gogh Museum opens to the public.
• 1974 – Jigme Singye Wangchuck is crowned King of Bhutan.
• 1976 – As part of Operation Condor, Bolivian President Juan José Torres is abducted and murdered. It is not known to what extent his successor Hugo Banzer was involved.
• 1976 – The Third Cod War between the United Kingdom and Iceland ends in a temporary agreement, as the UK recognizes Iceland's claimed fishing zone of 200 nautical miles.
• 1979 – The Uganda-Tanzania War ends, with Ugandan forces under Idi Amin being defeated.
• 1979 – Pope John Paul II visits Poland, his native country, for the first time in his papacy.
• 1980 – The Rubik's Cube goes on sale in West Germany.
• 1983 – After an emergency landing because of an inflight fire, 23 passengers on board Air Canada Flight 797 are killed when a flashover occurs as the plane's doors open.
• 1990 – 66 tornadoes hit an area across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, killing 12 people, including 6 alone in Petersburg, Indiana.
• 1994 – A magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Java, killing 277 people.
• 1997 – Timothy McVeigh is convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing.
• 1999 – Bhutan starts television transmission.

From 2001

• 2003 – The Mars Express Space Probe launches from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
• 2004 – Ken Jennings begins his 74–game winning run on the TV game show Jeopardy!.
• 2007 – Violence erupts at a demonstration in Rostock, northeastern Germany, while preparations are made for the G-8 summit in nearby Heiligendamm.
• 2010 – Prime Minister of Japan Yukio Hatoyama announces his resignation, less than 9 months after taking office. Naoto Kan succeeds him.
• 2010 – Derrick Bird goes on a shooting rampage in Cumbria, England. 12 people are killed and 11 people are injured, before Derrick Bird kills himself.
• 2012 – Former President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life in prison for ordering killings during the 2011 Egyptian protests.
• 2014 – In India, Telangana becomes the 29th State, as Andhra Pradesh is officially split in two. Hyderabad, which is in the new state, will serve as capital city of both states until 2024.
• 2014 – King Juan Carlos I of Spain announces his intent to abdicate (leave) the throne. An official date for the handover is not yet set, as Felipe, Prince of Asturias is to succeed him as King.
• 2015 – Sepp Blatter announces his intention to resign as President of FIFA, just four days after his controversial re–election to the post following a corruption scandal.
• 2016 – The German Bundestag officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide.
• 2017 – Leo Varadkar becomes the new leader of the Republic of Ireland's Fine Gael party, and is therefore set to become the country's next Taoiseach.

Births

Up to 1900

• 926 – Emperor Murakami of Japan (d. 967)
• 1423 – Ferdinand I of Naples (d. 1494)
• 1535 – Pope Leo XI (d. 1605)
• 1699 – Marie-Therese Rodet Geoffrin, French writer (d. 1677)
• 1731 – Martha Washington, wife of George Washington, first First Lady of the United States (d. 1802)
• 1737 – Ernest Augustus II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (d. 1758)
• 1740 – Marquis de Sade, French writer (d. 1814)
• 1773 – John Randolph of Roanoke, American planter and politician (d. 1833)
• 1774 – William Lawson, explorer of New South Wales (d. 1850)
• 1793 – Jacobus Josephus Eeckhout, Belgian painter (d. 1861)
• 1813 – Daniel Pollen, 9th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1896)
• 1815 – Philip Kearny, American general (d. 1862)
• 1821 – Ion C. Bratianu, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1891)
• 1823 – Gédéon Ouimet, 2nd Premier of Quebec (d. 1905)
• 1835 – Pope Pius X (d. 1914)
• 1835 – Nikolai Rubinstein, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1881)
• 1838 – Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Oldenburg (d. 1900)
• 1840 – Thomas Hardy, English poet, novelist (d. 1928)
• 1849 – Albert Besnard, French painter (d. 1934)
• 1857 – Edward Elgar, English composer (d. 1934)
• 1857 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer (d. 1919)
• 1860 – Roger de Barbarin, French trap shooter (d. 1925)
• 1861 – Helen Herron Taft, First Lady of the United States, wife of William Howard Taft (d. 1943)
• 1863 – Felix Weingartner, composer and conductor (d. 1942)
• 1881 – Walter Egan, American golfer (d. 1971)
• 1885 – Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt, German neurologist (d. 1964)
• 1887 – Howard Johnson, American songwriter (d. 1941)
• 1891 – Takijiro Onishi, Japanese World War II figure (d. 1945)
• 1899 – Lotte Reiniger, German movie director (d. 1981)
• 1899 – Edwin Way Teale, American environmentalist and photographer (d. 1980)

1901 – 1950

• 1902 – Giuseppe Lepori, Swiss politician (d. 1968)
• 1904 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (d. 1984)
• 1906 – Carlo Scarpa, Italian architect (d. 1978)
• 1907 – Dorothy West, American writer (d. 1998)
• 1909 – Rudolf Brandt, German SS officer (d. 1948)
• 1911 – Joe McCluskey, American runner (d. 2002)
• 1913 – Barbara Pym, English writer (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Walter Andreas Schwarz, German singer-songwriter and playwright (d. 2002)
• 1913 – Elsie Tu, English–Hong Kong social activist (d. 2015)
• 1915 – Alexandru Nicolschi, Romanian activist and agent (d. 1992)
• 1915 – Walter Tetley, American voice actor (d. 1975)
• 1917 – Max Showalter, American actor (d. 2000)
• 1917 – Heinz Sielmann, German photographer, biologist, zoologist and documentary filmmaker (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Marcel Reich-Ranicki, German literary critic (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Frank G. Clement, Governor of Tennessee (d. 1969)
• 1922 – Juan Antonio Bardem, Spanish movie director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Carmen Silvera, Canadian–English actress (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Charlie Sifford, American golfer (d. 2015)
• 1923 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist (d. 2016)
• 1925 – M. Caldwell Butler, American politician (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Chiyonoyama Masanobu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1977)
• 1926 – Milo O'Shea, Irish–American actor (d. 2013)
• 1927 – W. Watts Biggers, American novelist (d. 2014)
• 1928 – Stig Claesson, Swedish writer and illustrator (d. 2008)
• 1928 – Rafael Lecuona, Cuban–American gymnast (d. 2014)
• 1929 – Ken McGregor, Australian tennis player (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Pete Conrad, American astronaut (d. 1999)
• 1930 – Vic Firth, American musician and instruments manufacturer (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Viktor Tsaryov, Russian footballer (d. 2017)
• 1933 – Horacio Ferrer, Uruguayan writer, poet and tango historian (d. 2014)
• 1935 – Carol Shields, American–Canadian novelist (d. 2003)
• 1936 – Volodymyr Holubnychy, Ukrainian race walker and Olympic champion
• 1937 – Sally Kellerman, American actress
• 1937 – Rosalyn Higgins, British jurist
• 1938 – Cliff Cushman, American hurdler (d. 1966)
• 1938 – Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverchiöld of Sweden
• 1940 – Constantine II, former King of Greece
• 1941 – Stacy Keach, American actor
• 1941 – Charlie Watts, English musician (The Rolling Stones)
• 1941 – William Guest, American singer
• 1941 – Lou Nanne, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1943 – Crescenzio Sepe, Italian cardinal
• 1943 – Ilaiyaraaja, Indian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1944 – Marvin Hamlisch, American composer (d. 2012)
• 1945 – Jon Peters, American movie producer
• 1946 – Lasse Hallström, Swedish movie director
• 1946 – Peter Sutcliffe, British serial killer
• 1947 – Mark Elder, British conductor
• 1948 – Todd Rundgren, American singer and producer

1951 – 1975

• 1951 – Larry Robinson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1951 – Arnold Mühren, Dutch footballer
• 1951 – Khattiya Sawasdipol, Thai general (d. 2010)
• 1951 – Gilbert Baker, American gay rights activist (d. 2017)
• 1952 – Pete Farndon, British musician (The Pretenders) (d. 1983)
• 1953 – Keith Allen, British actor and comedian
• 1953 – Cornel West, American theologian and activist
• 1953 – Paul Engemann, American musician
• 1955 – Michael Steele, American musician (The Bangles)
• 1956 – Mani Ratnam, Indian movie director
• 1957 – Mark Lawrenson, English footballer and commentator
• 1958 – Lex Luger, American wrestler and football player
• 1959 – Lydia Lunch, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress
• 1960 – Olga Bondarenko, Russian Olympic gold medalist (athletics)
• 1960 – Tony Hadley, English singer (Spandau Ballet)
• 1963 – Bernard Cazeneuve, French politician
• 1964 – Caroline Link, German movie director and screenwriter
• 1965 – Mark Waugh, Australian cricketer
• 1965 – Steve Waugh, Australian cricketer
• 1966 – Pedro Guerra, Spanish singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress
• 1968 – Jon Culshaw, British comedian and actor
• 1968 – Beetlejuice, American comedian and actor
• 1968 – Jason Falkner, American musician, songwriter and producer
• 1969 – Paulo Sérgio Silvestre do Nascimento, Brazilian footballer
• 1970 – B-Real, American rapper, producer and actor
• 1971 – Anthony Montgomery, American actor
• 1972 – Wayne Brady, American actor, comedian, game show host and singer
• 1972 – Wentworth Miller, American actor
• 1973 – Carlos Acosta, Cuban dancer
• 1974 – Gata Kamsky, Russian–born American chess player

From 1976

• 1976 – Earl Boykins, American basketball player
• 1976 – Tim Rice-Oxley, English musician (Keane)
• 1976 – Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso of Lesotho
• 1977 – Zachary Quinto, American actor
• 1978 – Dominic Cooper, English actor
• 1978 – Nikki Cox, American actress
• 1978 – Justin Long, American actor
• 1978 – Deon Richmond, American actor
• 1978 – A. J. Styles, American wrestler
• 1979 – Morena Baccarin, Brazilian actress
• 1980 – Abby Wambach, American soccer player
• 1981 – Nikolay Davydenko, Russian tennis player
• 1983 – Christopher Higgins, American ice hockey player
• 1983 – Leela James, American singer-songwriter
• 1983 – Brooke White, American singer and actress
• 1985 – Ana Cristina, American singer and actress
• 1987 – Sonakshi Sinha, Indian actress
• 1987 – Angelo Mathews, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1987 – Darin Zanyar, Swedish singer
• 1988 – Patrik Berglund, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1988 – Sergio Agüero, Argentine footballer
• 1988 – Takashi Inui, Japanese footballer
• 1989 – Freddy Adu, Ghanaian–born footballer
• 1990 – Brittany Curran, American actress and singer
• 1990 – Jack Lowden, Scottish actor
• 1992 – Pajtim Kasami, Swiss footballer
• 1994 – Jemma McKenzie-Brown, English actress
• 1995 – Sterling Beaumon, American actor

Deaths

Up to 1950

• 657 – Pope Eugene I
• 829 – Saint Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 758)
• 910 – Richilde of Provence, Queen of West Francia (b. 845)
• 1418 – Catherine of Lancaster, Queen Consort of Henry III of Castile (b. 1373)
• 1567 – Shane O'Neill, Irish king (b. 1530)
• 1581 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, regent of Scotland (b. 1525)
• 1701 – Madeleine de Scudéry, French writer (b. 1607)
• 1716 – Ogata Korin, Japanese painter (b. 1658)
• 1754 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish religious dissenter (b. 1680)
• 1761 – Jonas Alstromer, Swedish industrialist (b. 1685)
• 1785 – Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, French mathematician (b. 1713)
• 1875 – Jozef Kremer, Polish philosopher (b. 1806)
• 1876 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1848)
• 1882 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian patriot (b. 1807)
• 1933 – Frank Jarvis, American athlete (b. 1878)
• 1937 – Louis Vierne, French organist and composer (b. 1870)
• 1941 – Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (b. 1903)
• 1942 – Bunny Berigan, American singer, trumpeter and bandleader (b. 1908)
• 1948 – Nazi war criminals executed:
  • Viktor Brack, German physician (b. 1904)
  • Karl Brandt, German SS officer (b. 1904)
  • Rudolf Brandt, German SS officer (b. 1909)
  • Karl Gebhardt, German physician (b. 1897)
  • Waldemar Hoven, German physician (b. 1903)
  • Wolfram Sievers, German SS officer (b. 1905)

1951 – 2000

• 1952 – Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect (b. 1880)
• 1956 – Jean Hersholt, Danish actor and humanitarian (b. 1886)
• 1961 – George S. Kaufman, American playwright (b. 1889)
• 1962 – Vita Sackville-West, English writer (b. 1892)
• 1967 – Benno Ohnesorg, German student (b. 1940)
• 1968 – André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
• 1969 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (b. 1917)
• 1970 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand racing driver and team founder (b. 1937)
• 1970 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian poet (b. 1888)
• 1970 – Albert Lamorisse, French director and screenwriter (b. 1922)
• 1976 – Juan José Torres, President of Bolivia (b. 1920)
• 1978 – Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer (b. 1895)
• 1981 – Rino Gaetano, Italian singer and musician (b. 1950)
• 1982 – Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (b. 1904)
• 1983 – Stan Rogers, Canadian musician (b. 1949)
• 1987 – Andres Segovia, Spanish guitarist (b. 1893)
• 1988 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, movie producer and movie director (b. 1924)
• 1988 – Horace Hildreth, American politician, Governor of Maine (b. 1902)
• 1990 – Rex Harrison, British actor (b. 1908)
• 1992 – Philip Dunne, American movie director (b. 1908)
• 1994 – Henry Mancini, American composer (b. 1924)
• 1996 – Ray Combs, American comedian, actor and game show host (b. 1956)
• 1996 – Leon Garfield, English writer (b. 1921)
• 1997 – Helen Jacobs, American tennis player (b. 1908)
• 1998 – Junkyard Dog, American wrestler (b. 1952)
• 1999 – Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican musician (b. 1949)

From 2001

• 2005 – Gunder Gundersen, Norwegian skier (b. 1930)
• 2006 – Vince Welnick, musician (Grateful Dead) (b. 1951)
• 2007 – Huang Ju, Chinese Vice Premier (b. 1938)
• 2008 – Bo Diddley, American musician (b. 1928)
• 2008 – Mel Ferrer, American actor and movie director (b. 1917)
• 2009 – David Eddings, American writer (b. 1931)
• 2010 – Giuseppe Taddei, Italian operatic baritone (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (b. 1939)
• 2012 – Richard Dawson, English–American actor, comedian and game show host (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Chen Xitong, Chinese politician, 8th Mayor of Beijing (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Alexander Shulgin, American medical scientist and author (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy, Indian cardinal (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Kuaima Riruako, Namibian politician (b. 1935)
• 2014 – Anjan Das, Indian filmmaker (b. 1949)
• 2015 – Alberto De Martino, Italian movie director (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Irwin Rose, American biologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1926)
• 2015 – Theo Saat, Dutch Olympic sprinter (b. 1928)
• 2016 – Tom Kibble, British physicist (b. 1932)
• 2016 – Yevhen Lemeshko, Ukrainian football coach (b. 1930)
• 2016 – Abderrahmane Meziani, Algerian footballer (b. 1942)
• 2016 – Andrzej Niemczyk, Polish volleyball player and coach (b. 1944)
• 2016 – Freddie Wadling, Swedish singer-songwriter (b. 1951)
• 2017 – Gordon Christian, American ice hockey player (b. 1927)
• 2017 – Iakovos Garmatis, Greek–American church leader (b. 1928)
• 2017 – Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, Pakistani lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
• 2017 – Peter Sallis, English actor (b. 1921)
• 2017 – Jeffrey Tate, English conductor (b. 1943)
• 2017 – Jack O'Neill, American businessman and surfer (b. 1923)
• 2018 – Paul D. Boyer, American chemist (b. 1918)
• 2018 – Tony Morphett, Australian screenwriter (b. 1938)
• 2018 – Bernard E. Trainor, American Marine Corps general, military analyst and journalist (b. 1928)
• 2018 – Emil Wolf, Czech–born American physicist (b. 1922)
• 2018 – Fernando Mazariegos, Guatemalan chemist and inventor (b. 1938)
• 2019 – Momtazuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi dramatist and educator (b. 1935)
• 2019 – Alistair Browning, New Zealand actor (b. 1954)
• 2019 – Donald M. Fraser, American politician (b. 1924)
• 2019 – Barry Hughes, Welsh footballer (b. 1937)
• 2019 – Alexey Kazannik, Russian lawyer and politician (b. 1941)
• 2019 – Mart Nutt, Estonian politician and historian (b. 1962)
• 2019 – Maciej Parowski, Polish journalist, essayist, science fiction writer, editor and translator (b. 1946)

Observances

• Republic Day (Italy)
• Hristo Botev Day (Bulgaria)