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Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links

Events

★ 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.

★ 1654 - Charles X succeeds his abdicated cousin Queen Christina to the Swedish throne.

★ 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 defeat an American force three times its size under William Winder and John Chandler.

★ 1832 - The barricades fall and the Paris student uprisings of 1832 end.

★ 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 their 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 - Eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. Second largest volcanic eruption in historic time.

★ 1918 - Battle of Belleau Wood begins .

★ 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.

★ 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.

★ 1946 - The Basketball Association of America is formed in New York City.

★ 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.

★ 1969 - The first Internet connection was created when network control protocol packets were sent from the data port of one IMP to another

★ 1971 - Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.

★ 1971 - A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a U.S. 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 in an effort to flush out terrorists, 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.

★ 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 the 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."

★ 1991- U.S.A. Ean Auterson was born that day, a glorious day for all of mankind.

★ 1993 - Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections.

★ 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 was 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 votes to ban medical marijuana in ''Gonzales v. Raich''.

★ 2006 - The 6bone (IPv6 testbed network) is phased out.

Births

★ 1236 - Wen Tianxiang, Chinese prime minister (d. 1283)

★ 1436 - Regiomontanus, German mathematician (d. 1476)

★ 1502 - King John III of Portugal (d. 1557)

★ 1519 - Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, 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 Jesuit 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)

★ 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 Prize laureate (d. 1918)

★ 1857 - Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician (d. 1918)

★ 1862 - Henry John Newbolt, English author (d. 1938)

★ 1867 - David Abercrombie, Abercrombie & Fitch founder (d. 1931)

★ 1868 - Robert Falcon Scott, English explorer (d. 1912)

★ 1872 - Tsarina Alexandra of Russia (d. 1918)

★ 1875 - Thomas Mann, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)

★ 1890 - Ted Lewis, American bandleader (d. 1971)

★ 1892 - Donald F. Duncan Sr., American entrepreneur (d. 1971)

★ 1896 - Henry Allingham, English pilot

★ 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, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

★ 1923 - V.C. Andrews, American author (d. 1986)

★ 1924 - Jinyong, Chinese novelist

★ 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 Prize 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

★ 1939 - Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer

★ 1939 - Gary U.S. Bonds, American musician

★ 1939 - Ed Giacomin, hockey player

★ 1940 - Larry Lujack, American disc jockey

★ 1943 - Richard Smalley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

★ 1944 - David Penhaligon, British politician

★ 1944 - Phillip Allen Sharp, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

★ 1945 - David E. Bonior, American politician

★ 1945 - David Dukes, American actor (d. 2000)

★ 1947 - David Blunkett, English politician

★ 1947 - Robert Englund, American actor

★ 1947 - Ada Kok, Dutch swimmer

★ 1948 - Tony Levin, American bassist

★ 1952 - Yukihiro Takahashi, Japanese musician and singer (Yellow Magic Orchestra)

★ 1952 - Harvey Fierstein, American actor

★ 1952 - Jean Hamel, French Canadian ice hockey player

★ 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

★ 1959 - Jimmy Jam, American record producer

★ 1959 - Colin Quinn, American comedian

★ 1959 - David Schultz, American wrestler (d. 1996)

★ 1960 - Gary Graham, American actor

★ 1960 - Steve Vai, American musician

★ 1961 - Tom Araya, Chilean musician (Slayer)

★ 1961 - Aldo Costa, Italian engineer

★ 1963 - Wolfgang Drechsler, German social scientist

★ 1963 - Jason Isaacs, English actor

★ 1965 - Cam Neely, Canadian hockey player

★ 1966 - Sean Yseult, American musician (White Zombie)

★ 1966 - Murdoc Niccals, English musician (Gorillaz)

★ 1966 - Tony Yeboah, Ghanaian footballer

★ 1967 - Paul Giamatti, American actor

★ 1968 - François Avard, Canadian writer and scenarist

★ 1970 - Eugeni Berzin, Russian cyclist

★ 1970 - Anthony Norris, American professional wrestler

★ 1970 - James Shaffer, American musician (Korn)

★ 1972 - Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer (Lacuna Coil)

★ 1975 - Staci Keanan, American actress

★ 1975 - Niklas Sundström, hockey player

★ 1975 - Cheer Chen, Taiwanese singer and musician

★ 1975 - Nina Kaczorowski, American actress

★ 1976 - Geoff Rowley, British skateboarder

★ 1976 - aKido, Canadian musician

★ 1976 - Ross Noble, British comedian

★ 1977 - David Connolly, Irish footballer

★ 1978 - Carl Barât, English musician (The Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things)

★ 1978 - Judith Barsi, American actress (d. 1988)

★ 1978 - Mariana Popova, Bulgarian singer

★ 1980 - Martin Devaney, English footballer

★ 1980 - Matt Belisle, baseball player

★ 1983 - Gianna Michaels, American porn actress

★ 1983 - Gemma Bissix, British actress

★ 1987 - Kyle Falconer, Scottish musician (The View)
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Deaths

★ 1393 - Emperor Go-En'yu of Japan (b. 1359)

★ 1480 - Vecchietta, Italian artist and architect

★ 1548 - Juan de Castro, Portuguese 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 governor of Virginia Colony

★ 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

★ 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 Prize laureate (b. 1862)

★ 1948 - Louis Lumière, French movie pioneer (b. 1864)

★ 1951 - Olive Tell, American actress (b. 1894)

★ 1955 - Max Meldrum, Scottish-born Australian painter (b. 1875)

★ 1961 - Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (b. 1875)

★ 1962 - Yves Klein, French artist (b. 1928)

★ 1968 - Robert F. Kennedy, United States Attorney General and Senator (b. 1925)

★ 1968 - Randolph Churchill, son of Winston Churchill (b. 1911)

★ 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 (''Taggart'') (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-American jazz pianist (b. 1952)

★ 2006 - Arnold Newman, American photographer (b. 1918)

Holidays and observances

★ D-Day landings - Europe.

★ Memorial Day - South Korea.

★ National holiday of Sweden.

★ Queensland Day.

★ Engineering Day in Argentina

Liturgical feasts

★ Saint Bertrand

★ Saint Claudius (died 699)

★ Saint Gilbert

★ Saint Marcellin Champagnat (died 840)

★ Saint Norbert of Gennep

★ Saint Candida

★ Saint Emory

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On this day in Canada
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