This Day in History
June 2

Copyright © 2006-2024 Ken Polsson
internet e-mail: ken@kpolsson.com
URL: http://kpolsson.com/thisday/
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What happened in history on this day: June 2?

On June 2 in ...

  • 455 - Gaiseric and the Vandals sack Rome.
  • 575 - Benedict I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
  • 657 - Saint Eugene I ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
  • 1642 - English Parliament issues the Nineteen Propositions, including terms of surrender of most powers of the king.
  • 1740 - Birth of Marquis de Sade; first known sadist, writer (Justine).
  • 1758 - French troops under commander Comtede Lally attack and capture Fort Saint David on the Coromandel Coast.
  • 1780 - In England, the Earl of Derby originates first horse racing event on sweepstakes basis, the Epsom Derby. Charles Bunbury on Diomed is first winner.
  • 1797 - First ascent of "Great Mountain" (4,622 feet) in Adirondack, New York, by C. Broadhead.
  • 1821 - Birth of Ion Bratianu; premier of Romania (Liberal, 1876-88).
  • 1835 - Birth of Saint Pius X; 257th Roman Catholic pope (1903-14).
  • 1835 - P.T. Barnum and his circus begin first tour of US.
  • 1851 - First US alcohol prohibition law enacted (Maine).
  • 1857 - Birth of Edward Elgar in Broadheath, England; composer ("Pomp and Circumstance").
  • 1857 - Birth of Karl Gjellerup in Denmark; poet/novelist (Nobel Prize 1917).
  • 1857 - James Gibbs of Virginia, USA patents chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine.
  • 1858 - Donati Comet first seen, named after its discoverer.
  • 1862 - General Robert E Lee takes command of the Confederate armies of East Virginia and North Carolina.
  • 1863 - Birth of Felix Weingartner in Germany; conductor (Zara, Dalmatia).
  • 1865 - At Galveston, Texas, Confederate States Army General Edmund Kirby Smith signs surrender of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy.
  • 1866 - Renegade Irish Fenians surrender to US forces.
  • 1873 - Ground broken on Clay Steet (San Francisco, California) for world's first cable railroad.
  • 1882 - Guiseppi Garibaldi, Italian rebel leader, dies at age 74.
  • 1883 - First night baseball under lights, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA.
  • 1890 - Birth of Hedda Hopper; gossip columnist (From Under My Hat).
  • 1894 - Birth of Erich Römer in Germany; ice hockey player (Olympic-bronze-1932).
  • 1896 - In England, Guglielmo Marconi is awarded the first radio patent. He had succeeded the previous year in sending long-wave radio signals over a distance of about two kilometres.
  • 1899 - The government of the Philippines declares war on the USA.
  • 1899 - Black Americans observe day of fasting to protest lynchings.
  • 1901 - Birth of Michael Todd; producer (Around the World in 80 Days).
  • 1904 - Birth of John Weissmuller in Timisoara, Romania; actor (Tarzan), 100m swimmer (Olympic-gold-1924, 1928).
  • 1910 - First roundtrip flight over the English Channel (C.S. Rolls, England).
  • 1910 - Pygmies are discovered in Dutch New Guinea.
  • 1913 - First strike settlement mediated by US Department of Labor: railroad clerks.
  • 1913 - Birth of Barbara Pym; romantic author (Very Private Eye).
  • 1913 - Birth of Bert Farber in Brooklyn, New York, USA; orchestra leader (Arthur Gudfrey, Vic Damone).
  • 1917 - Birth of Max Showalter in Caldwell, Kansas, USA; actor/composer (Stockard Channing Show).
  • 1922 - Baseball player Suffy McInnis (first base) ends an errorless string of 1,700 chances.
  • 1926 - Birth of Milo O'Shea; actor (Barbarella, Romeo and Juliet).
  • 1927 - Birth of Phillip Burton; historian (Vanishing Eagles).
  • 1930 - First baby born on a vessel passing through Panama Canal.
  • 1930 - Birth of Charles Pete Conrad Junior in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; US Navy/astronaut (Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, Skylab 2).
  • 1932 - Birth of Sammy Turner in Patterson, New Jersey, USA; singer ("Lavender Blue Moods").
  • 1933 - Birth of Bob Rozario in Shanghai, China; orchestra leader (Tony Orlando, Marie).
  • 1936 - Birth of Sally Kellerman in Long Beach, California, USA; actress (M*A*S*H, Back to School).
  • 1936 - Birth of Vladimir Golubnichy in USSR; 20km walker (Olympic-gold-1960, 1968).
  • 1936 - General Anastasio Somoza takes over as dictator of Nicaragua.
  • 1940 - Birth of Constantine II; deposed king of Greece (-1967).
  • 1941 - Birth of Charlie Watts; drummer (The Rolling Stones - "Brown Sugar").
  • 1941 - Birth of Stacy Keach in Savannah, Georgia, USA; actor (Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer).
  • 1941 - Birth of William Guest in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; singer (Gladys Knight Show).
  • 1941 - US Navy commissions first "baby flattop" experimental aircraft carrier, USS Long Island, converted from SS Mormacmail merchant ship.
  • 1941 - Lou Gehrig, Mew York Yankees great, dies at age 37 of ALS in Riverdale, New York.
  • 1943 - 99th Pursuit Squadron flies first combat mission (over Italy).
  • 1943 - Birth of Charles Haid in San Francisco, California, USA; actor (Andy Renko - Hill Street Blues, Altered States).
  • 1943 - Actor Leslie Howard is killed, when Germans shoot down his plane.
  • 1944 - Birth of Garo Yepremian; NFL place kicker (Miami Dolphins).
  • 1944 - Birth of Marvin Hamlisch; American composer/pianist (The Sting, Chorus Line).
  • 1944 - Birth of Poul Jensen in Denmark; yachting (Olympic-gold-1976, 1980).
  • 1946 - Italian plebiscite chooses republic over monarchy.
  • 1948 - Birth of Albert Innaurato in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; playwright/director (Age in Soho).
  • 1948 - Birth of Jerry Mathers in Sioux City, Iowa, USA; actor (Beaver - Leave It To Beaver).
  • 1949 - Transjordan is renamed Jordan.
  • 1950 - Birth of Joanna Gleason in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; actress (Morgan - Hello Larry).
  • 1952 - General Motors executives are formally presented with Harley Earl's proposal for a two-seater sports car. General Motors president Charles Wilson and Chevrolet general manager Thomas Keating approve completing a prototype for the 1953 Motorama. The project is code-named "Opel Sports Car".
  • 1952 - TV broadcasting starts in Canada when Radio Canada's Channel 2 in Montreal begins airing a test pattern.
  • 1953 - Birth of Craig Stadler in San Diego, California, USA; PGA golfer (Masters 1982).
  • 1953 - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, England.
  • 1953 - In London, England, the news of Edmund Hillary reaching the peak of Mount Everest is first reported.
  • 1955 - Birth of Garry Grimes in San Francisco, California, USA; actor (Summer of '42, Class of '44).
  • 1960 - Birth of Tony Hadley; rocker (Spandau Ballet - "True").
  • 1961 - George S Kaufman, playwright/director/pulitzer prize winner, dies at age 72.
  • 1965 - Second of two cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 (Ganges River, India).
  • 1966 - US Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum; first lunar soft-landing.
  • 1967 - Race riots in Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts.
  • 1967 - Zamah Cunningham, actress (Menosha the Magnificent), dies at age 74.
  • 1969 - ABC airs the last Peyton Place TV show.
  • 1969 - Australian aircraft carrier Melbourne slices US destroyer.
  • 1976 - Alan Dewitt, actor (Mr Tyler - It's About Time), dies at age 52.
  • 1976 - Birth of Adrian Carlos Olivares in Mexico City; singer (Menudo-Cannonball).
  • 1977 - Forrest Lewis, actor (Great Gildersleeve, Ichabod and Me), dies at age 77.
  • 1977 - New Jersey allows casino gambling in Atlantic City.
  • 1979 - Jim Hutton, actor (Ellery Queen), dies at age 45.
  • 1979 - Pope John Paul II arrives in his native Poland on his first official, nine-day stay, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.
  • 1979 - In Western Australia, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurs.
  • 1979 - NASA launches space vehicle S-198.
  • 1982 - Death of Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, President of Pakistan (born 1904).
  • 1983 - Air Canada DC-9 plane from Texas to Toronto makes an emergency landing at Cincinnati, Ohio, with fire in the washroom; 23 of 46 passengers die. Cause may have been overheated flush motor.
  • 1984 - B A Skiff discovers asteroid #3617.
  • 1985 - Nancy Lopez wins the LPGA tournament.
  • 1986 - New York City transit system issues a new brass with steel bullseye token.
  • 1986 - Regular TV coverage of US Senate sessions begins.
  • 1987 - Sammy Kaye, orchestra leader (Sammy Kaye Show), dies at age 77.
  • 1988 - Horace A Hildreth (Governor-Maine, 1945-49), dies at age 85.
  • 1989 - Fourteen-year old Scott Isaacs spells "spoliator" to win US National Spelling Bee.
  • 1989 - Cincinnati Reds player Eric Davis hits for the cycle.
  • 1989 - Buena Vista releases the film Dead Poets Society to theaters.
  • 1990 - Frederick Mellinger, founder of Fredericks of Hollywood, dies at age 76.
  • 1990 - Death of Rex Harrison at age 82 of pancreatic cancer; actor (My Fair Lady, Ed Sullivan Show, The US Steel Hour, The Dow Hour of Great Mysteries, Omnibus).
  • 1990 - The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 88 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 9. 37 tornadoes occur in Indiana, eclipsing the previous record of 21 during the Super Outbreak of April 1974.
  • 1990 - Death of Jack Gilford AKA Yankel Gellman at age 81 of stomach cancer; character actor (Cracker Jacks commercials (1960-1972), Soap TV show, The Duck Factory, Apple Pie, Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers, David Frost Revue).
  • 1994 - In South of Jawa, Indonesia, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurs. At least 250 people killed, 27 missing, 423 injured and many left homeless. About 1,500 houses damaged or destroyed and 278 boats sunk or damaged. Most of the casualties and damage were caused by a tsunami along the southeast coast of Jawa.
  • 1995 - SS Captain Erich Priebke is extradited from Argentina to Italy.
  • 1997 - In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
  • 1998 - The CIH virus is discovered in Taiwan.
  • 1998 - California voters approve Proposition 227, abolishing the state's bilingual education program.
  • 1999 - After decades of fighting off outside technological influences like television, the King of Bhutan allows television transmissions to commence in the Kingdom for the first time, coinciding with the King's Silver Jubilee.
  • 1999 - The final episode of US TV show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine airs.
  • 2000 - U. S. President William Jefferson Clinton is awarded the Charlemagne prize of the city of Aachen, Germany. Clinton is the first American president to win the prize which is given for contributions toward the unity of Europe.
  • 2005 - Construction begins on Northrop Grumman X-47B, the world's first unmanned surveillance attack aircraft that can operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers.
  • 2005 - At the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, a US $20 gold coin, 1927-D PCGS MS-66 sells for US$1.65 million.
  • 2006 - A fireball is reported crossing Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Canada, estimated to be 20 miles above the Earth's surface. A sonic boom is heard over Minnesota.
  • 2007 - MSC Cruises introduces the MSC Orchestra cruise ship (89,600 gross tons, 2550 passengers) for 7-night cruises from Venice, Italy, to Greece, Turkey, and Croatia.
  • 2007 - Four people are charged with a terror plot to blow up JFK International Airport in New York.
  • 2008 - A car bomb explodes outside the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least five.
  • 2008 - China Merchants Bank of China announces it will buy Hong Kong's Wing Lung Bank for US$4.76 billion.
  • 2010 - Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigns after just eight months in office.
  • 2010 - Ken Griffey Junior of the Seattle Mariners retires from Major League Baseball at age 40. Griffey ranks fifth on the career home run list with 630, won an MVP award and was a Gold Glover.
  • 2015 - FIFA President Sepp Blatter announces his intention to resign amidst an FBI-led corruption investigation, and calls for an extraordinary congress to elect a new president as soon as possible.
  • 2016 - The German Bundestag passes a resolution calling the Ottoman Empire's mass murder of over 1 million Armenians and other Christians in 1915-17 genocide.
  • 2019 - In San Marino, Sammarinese voters vote to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and initiate a popular legislative initiative for the reform of the electoral system.
  • 2019 - Nearly five years after abdication, King Juan Carlos I of Spain retires from public life.
  • 2019 - Death of Walter Lübcke, shot in the hed outside his house in Wolfhagen, Germany; Kassel district preident, member of parliament.
  • 2021 - The 2021 Israeli presidential election is held, and won by Isaac Herzog. In order to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power, Naftali Bennett agrees to form a coalition with the Israeli opposition as a rotation government that will come to take effect after eleven days.
  • 2022 - USA 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee won by 14-year-old Harini Logan, winning $50,000.
  • 2023 - Train crash in Odisha state, India, kills 288 people, and injures a further 1100. A signal failure caused the Coromandel Express train carrying 1000 passengers to switch from the main line to a line containing a stationary freight train loaded with iron ore, and in the collision the express train derailed and flipped onto another rail line and derailed an oncoming Howrh superfast express train.

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