1508 Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friuli by Venetian troops
1586 Francis Drake’s forces raid St. Augustine in Spanish Florida.
1599 Diego Velázquez (born), Spanish painter (died 1660)
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.
1755 Nathan Hale (born), American soldier (died 1776)
1762 British forces begin a siege of Havana and temporarily capture the city in the Battle of Havana.
1799 Alexander Pushkin (born), Russian author and poet (died 1837)
1799 Patrick Henry (died), American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Virginia (born 1736)
1813 War of 1812: Battle of Stoney Creek – A British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force two times its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
1822 Alexis St. Martin is accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont’s studies on digestion.
1832 Jeremy Bentham (died), English jurist and philosopher (born 1748)
1833 The U.S. President Andrew Jackson becomes the first President to ride on a train.
1844 The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.
1862 American Civil War: Battle of Memphis – Union forces capture Memphis, Tennessee, from the Confederates.
1867 David T. Abercrombie (born), American businessman, founder of Abercrombie & Fitch (died 1931)
1875 Thomas Mann (born), German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955)
1878 Robert Stirling (died), Scottish clergyman and inventor, invented the stirling engine (born 1790)
1889 The Great Seattle fire destroys all of downtown Seattle, Washington.
1892 Chicago ‘L’ (commuter rail system) begins operation
1892 Donald F. Duncan, Sr. (born), American toy maker and businessman, founder of the Duncan Toys Company (died 1971)
1901 Sukarno (born), Indonesian politician, 1st President of Indonesia (died 1970)
1903 Aram Khachaturian (born), Georgian-Armenian composer (died 1978)
1906 Max August Zorn (born), German mathematician (died 1993)
1914 H. Adams Carter (born), American mountaineer, journalist, and educator (died 1995)
1915 Vincent Persichetti (born), American pianist and composer (died 1987)
1922 Lillian Russell (died), American actress and singer (born 1860)
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: the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Act of 1933 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
1936 Levi Stubbs (born), American singer and actor (The Four Tops) (died 2008)
1939 Gary U.S. Bonds (born), American singer-songwriter
1939 Judge Joseph Force Crater, known as the “Missingest Man in New York”, is declared legally dead.
1941 Louis Chevrolet (died), Swiss-American race car driver and businessman, founder of Chevrolet and Frontenac Motor Corporation (born 1878)
1942 World War II: Battle of Midway. U.S. Navy dive bombers sink the Japanese cruiser Mikuma and four Japanese carriers.
1944 World War II: the 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.
1946 The National Basketball Association is created, with eleven teams.
1946 Tony Levin (born), American bass player and songwriter (King Crimson, Liquid Tension Experiment, and Bruford Levin Upper Extremities)
1948 Louis Lumière (died), French director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1864)
1948 Richard Sinclair (born), English bass player (Caravan, The Wilde Flowers, Camel, and Hatfield and the North)
1961 Carl Jung (died), Swiss psychiatrist (born 1875)
1968 Robert F. Kennedy (born 1925), Democratic Party senator from New York and brother of 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, dies from gunshot wounds inflicted on June 5.
1971 Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 is launched.
1976 J. Paul Getty (died), American businessman, founded the Getty Oil Company (born 1892)
1984 Tetris, one of the best-selling video games of all time, is released.
1985 The grave of “Wolfgang Gerhard” is opened in Embu, Brazil; the remains exumed 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.
1988 Maria Alyokhina (born), Russian singer and activist (Pussy Riot)
1991 Stan Getz (died), American saxophonist (born 1927)
2003 Dave Rowberry (died), English singer-songwriter and pianist (The Animals) (born 1940)
2005 Anne Bancroft (died), American actress and singer (born 1931)
2005 In Gonzales v. Raich, the United States Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning cannabis, including medical marijuana.
2006 Billy Preston (died), American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band) (born 1946)
2010 Marvin Isley (died), American singer-songwriter and bass player (The Isley Brothers and Isley-Jasper-Isley) (born 1953)
2011 Shrek (died), a New Zealand Merino sheep famous for its immense fleece after six years in hiding. (born c. 1994)
2013 Esther Williams (died), American swimmer and actress (born 1921)
2013 Malcolm Todd (died), English archaeologist (born 1939)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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