Events

• 1184 BC – Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes.

• 631 – Emperor Taizong of Tang, the Emperor of China, sends envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to seek the release of enslaved Chinese prisoners captured during the transition from Sui to Tang from the northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were then returned to China.

• 758 – Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks arrive simultaneously at Chang'an, the Tang Chinese capital, in order to offer tribute to the imperial court. They quarrel over diplomatic prominence at the gate and a settlement is reached when both are allowed to enter at the same time, but through two different gates to the palace.

• 1345 – The megas doux Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, is lynched by political prisoners.

• 1429 – Hundred Years' War: The start of the Battle of Jargeau.

• 1509 – Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon.

• 1594 – Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves way to the creation of the Principalía (i.e., elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines).

• 1776 – The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence.

• 1788 – Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.

• 1805 – A fire consumes large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.

• 1825 – The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.

• 1837 – The Broad Street Riot occurs in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between Yankees and Irish

• 1866 – The Allahabad High Court (then Agra High Court) is established in India.

• 1892 – The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.

• 1898 – Spanish-American War: U.S. war ships set sail for Cuba.

• 1898 – The Hundred Days' Reform is started by Guangxu Emperor in hopes changing social, political and educational institutions in China, but is suspended by Empress Dowager Cixi after 104 days. The failed reform though led to the abolition of Imperial Examination in 1905.

• 1901 – New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands.

• 1907 – George Dennett, aided by Gilbert Jessop, dismisses Northamptonshire for 12 runs, the lowest total in first-class cricket.

• 1917 – King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father Constantine I abdicates under pressure by allied armies occupying Athens.

• 1919 – Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown.

• 1935 – Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States, at Alpine, New Jersey.

• 1936 – The International Surrealist Exhibition opens in London, England.

• 1937 – Great Purge: The Soviet Union executes eight army leaders under Joseph Stalin.

• 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.

• 1938 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Japanese forces. 500,000 to 900,000 civilians are killed.

• 1940 – World War II: British forces bomb Genoa and Turin in Italy.

• 1940 – World War II: First attack of the Italian Air force on the island of Malta.

• 1942 – World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.

• 1955 – Eighty-three are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

• 1956 – Start of Gal Oya riots, the first reported ethnic riots that target minority Sri Lankan Tamils in the Eastern Province. The total number of deaths is reportedly 150.

• 1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.

• 1963 – American Civil Rights Movement: Alabama Governor George Wallace stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students,Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school. Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they are able to register.

• 1963 – Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.

• 1964 – World War II veteran Walter Seifert runs amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.

• 1967 – Mexico becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

• 1970 – After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first females to do so.

• 1972 – Eltham Well Hall rail crash, caused by an intoxicated train driver, kills six people and injures 126.

• 1978 – Altaf Hussain founds the students' political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (a.k.a APMSO) in Karachi University.

• 1981 – A Richter Scale 6.9 magnitude earthquake at Golbaf, Iran, kills at least 2,000.

• 1998 – Compaq Computer pays $9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in the largest high-tech acquisition.

• 2001 – Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.

• 2002 – Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.

• 2004 – Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of Phoebe.

• 2004 – Ronald Reagan's funeral is held at Washington National Cathedral.

• 2008 –Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes an historic official apology to Canada's First Nations in regard to a residential school abuse in which children are isolated from their homes, families and cultures for a century.

• 2008 – An EF3 tornado touch down at The Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Iowa killing four boy scouts Josh Fennen 13, Sam Thomsen 13, Ben Petrzilka 14, and Aaron Eilerts 14

Births

• 1403 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (d. 1427)

• 1456 – Anne Neville, wife of Richard III of England (d. 1485)

• 1540 – Barnabe Googe, English poet (d. 1594)

• 1572 – Ben Jonson, English dramatist (d. 1637)

• 1588 – George Wither, English writer (d. 1667)

• 1672 – Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Italian priest and composer (d. 1749)

• 1696 – Francis Edward James Keith, Scottish soldier and Prussian field marshal (d. 1758)

• 1704 – Carlos Seixas, Portuguese composer (d. 1742)

• 1713 – Edward Capell, English critic (d. 1781)

• 1723 – Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (d. 1788)

• 1726 – Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, Dauphine of France, died in childbirth (d. 1746)

• 1741 – Joseph Warren, American doctor and soldier (d. 1775)

• 1776 – John Constable, English painter (d. 1837)

• 1815 – Julia Margaret Cameron, English photographer (d. 1879)

• 1842 – Carl von Linde, German engineer and industrialist (d. 1934)

• 1846 – William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (d. 1920)

• 1847 – Millicent Fawcett, British suffragist and feminist (d. 1929)

• 1864 – Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor (d. 1949)

• 1867 – Charles Fabry, French physicist (d. 1945)

• 1871 – Stjepan Radić, Croatian politician (d. 1928)

• 1876 – Alfred L. Kroeber, American anthropologist (d. 1960)

• 1877 – Renee Vivien, English-born poet (d. 1909)

• 1879 – Roger Bresnahan, baseball player (d. 1944)

• 1879 – Max Schreck, German actor (d. 1936)

• 1880 – Jeannette Rankin, American politician, feminist, and pacifist (d. 1973)

• 1888 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchist (d. 1927)

• 1894 – Dai Vernon (David Frederick Wingfield Verner), Canadian magician, The Professor (d. 1992)

• 1895 – Nikolai Bulganin, Soviet politician (d. 1975)

• 1897 – Grand Duchess Tatiana of Russia (d. 1918)

• 1903 – Ernie Nevers, American football player (d. 1976)

• 1910 – Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer and inventor (d. 1997)

• 1910 – Carmine Coppola, American composer, director and songwriter (d. 1991)

• 1912 – James Algar, American film director (d. 1998)

• 1913 – Vince Lombardi, American football coach (d. 1970)

• 1913 – Risë Stevens, American operatic soprano

• 1914 – Gerald Mohr, American actor (d. 1968)

• 1915 – Nicholas Metropolis, Greek-American mathematician, physicist and computer scientist (d. 1999)

• 1917 – Joseph B. Wirthlin, LDS apostle (d. 2008)

• 1919 – Richard Todd, British actor

• 1920 – Hazel Scott, West Indian-born singer (d. 1981)

• 1920 – Irving Howe, American literary and social critic (d. 1993)

• 1922 – John Bromfield, American actor (d. 2005)

• 1922 – Michael Cacoyannis, Greek Cypriot film maker

• 1925 – William Styron, American author (d. 2006)

• 1926 – Carlisle Floyd, American composer

• 1928 – Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, Queen of the Belgians

• 1930 – Charles B. Rangel, American politician

• 1931 – Audrey Schuh, American soprano

• 1932 – Athol Fugard, South African playwright

• 1933 – Gene Wilder, American actor

• 1934 – Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark

• 1936 – Jud Strunk, American musician and comedian (d. 1981)

• 1936 – Chad Everett, American actor

• 1937 – Robin Warren, Australian pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine

• 1937 – Johnny Brown, American comic

• 1939 – Sir Jackie Stewart, Scottish race car driver, three-time F1 world champion and former F1 team principal

• 1939 – Bernard Purdie, American session drummer

• 1939 – Christina Crawford, American actress and writer

• 1940 – Joey Dee, American musician (Joey Dee and the Starliters)

• 1945 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress

• 1947 – Laloo Prasad Yadav, Indian politician

• 1947 – Henry Cisneros, American politician, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

• 1947 – Richard Palmer-James, British lyricist and guitarist (King Crimson and Supertramp)

• 1947 – Bob Evans, British racing driver

• 1948 – Dave Cash, Major league baseball player

• 1948 – Michael Swan, American actor

• 1949 – Frank Beard, American drummer (ZZ Top)

• 1949 – Tom Pryce, British racing driver (d. 1977)

• 1950 – Lynsey De Paul, British singer and songwriter

• 1950 – Graham Russell, British guitarist and vocalist (Air Supply)

• 1951 – Yasumasa Morimura, Japanese appropriation artist

• 1951 – Mark D. Siljander, former Republican U.S. Representative from the state of Michigan

• 1952 – Donnie Van Zant, American rock musician

• 1953 – Peter Bergman, American actor

• 1955 – Yuriy Sedykh, Soviet hammer thrower

• 1956 – Joe Montana. American football player

• 1957 – Jamaaladeen Tacuma, American musician

• 1959 – Hugh Laurie, English actor and comedian

• 1959 – Magnum T.A., American professional wrestler

• 1961 – María Barranco, Spanish actress

• 1962 – Erika Salumäe, Estonian cyclist, Olympian

• 1963 – Bruce Kimball, American diver

• 1963 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler (d. 2000)

• 1964 – Jean Alesi, French Formula One driver

• 1965 – Manuel Uribe Garza, morbidly obese Mexican

• 1965 – Joey Santiago, Filipino guitarist (Pixies)

• 1967 – Clare Carey, American actress

• 1967 – João Garcia, Portuguese mountaineer

• 1968 – Prince Alois of Liechtenstein, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein

• 1969 – Peter Dinklage, American actor

• 1969 – Steven Drozd, American drummer

• 1969 – Bryan Fogarty, professional ice hockey player (d. 2002)

• 1969 – Matt McGrath, American actor

• 1970 – Chris Rice, singer/songwriter

• 1970 – Kang Ho Dong, Korean traditional wrestler and MC

• 1973 – José Manuel Abundis, Mexican footballer

• 1974 – David Starie, British boxer

• 1975 – Choi Ji Woo, South Korean actress and model

• 1975 – Thomas Bimis, Greek diver

• 1976 – Gran Naniwa, Japanese professional wrestler

• 1977 – Geoff Ogilvy, Australian golfer

• 1977 – Ryan Dunn, American actor

• 1977 – Shane Meier, Canadian actor

• 1978 – Joshua Jackson, Canadian actor

• 1978 – Ujjwala Raut, Indian supermodel

• 1979 – Amy Taylor, Australian footballer, television presenter and model

• 1980 – Yhency Brazoban, Dominican born baseball player

• 1981 – Emiliano Moretti, Italian footballer

• 1982 – Eldar Rønning, Norwegian cross-country skier

• 1982 – Johnny Candido, American professional wrestler

• 1982 – Joey Graham, American basketball player

• 1982 – Stephen Graham, American basketball player

• 1982 – Diana Taurasi, American basketball player

• 1983 – Chuck Hayes, American basketball player

• 1983 – José Reyes, Dominican baseball player

• 1984 – Andy Lee, Irish boxer

• 1984 – Vágner Love, Brazilian footballer

• 1985 – Chris Trousdale, American pop singer and dancer

• 1986 – Shia LaBeouf, American actor

• 1986 – Chase Clement, American football quarterback

• 1987 – TiA, Japanese R&B singer

• 1988 – Yui Aragaki, Japanese actress and model

• 1989 – Maya Moore, American basketball player

Deaths

• 323 BC – Alexander the Great, son of Philip II of Macedon (b. 356 BC)

• 1183 – Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (b. 1155)

• 1216 – Henry of Flanders, Emperor of the Latin Empire

• 1488 – King James III of Scotland (b. 1451)

• 1557 – King John III of Portugal (b. 1502)

• 1695 – André Félibien, French architect (b. 1619)

• 1712 – Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme, Marshal of France (b. 1654)

• 1727 – King George I of Great Britain (b. 1660)

• 1796 – Samuel Whitbread, English brewer and politician (b. 1720)

• 1847 – John Franklin, English sea captain and explorer (b. 1786)

• 1852 – Karl Briullov, Russian painter (b. 1799)

• 1858 – Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian statesman (b. 1773)

• 1879 – Prince Willem of the Netherlands, disgraced heir apparent to the Dutch throne (b. 1840)

• 1882 – Louis Maigret, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1804)

• 1903 – Nikolai Bugaev, Russian mathematician (b. 1837)

• 1903 – Alexander Obrenovich, King of Serbia (b. 1876)

• 1911 – James Curtis Hepburn, American missionary and linguist (b. 1815)

• 1914 – Adolf Friedrich V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1848)

• 1920 – William F. Halsey, Sr., United States Naval Officer (b. 1853)

• 1924 – Théodore Dubois, French composer and teacher (b. 1837)

• 1927 – William Attewell, English cricketer (b. 1861)

• 1934 – Lev Vygotsky, Russian psychologist (b. 1896)

• 1936 – Robert E. Howard, American author (b. 1906)

• 1937 – R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer (b. 1895)

• 1941 – Daniel Carter Beard, founder of the Boy Scouts of America (b. 1850)

• 1963 – Thích Quảng Đức, Vietnamese monk, self-immolation (b. 1897)

• 1965 – José Mendes Cabeçadas, 95^th Prime Minister of Portugal and 9^th President of Portugal (b. 1883)

• 1970 – Earl Grant, American musician and singer (b. 1931)

• 1970 – Frank Laubach, Christian missionary (b. 1884)

• 1970 – William 'Billy Batts' Devino, American crime figure (b. 1921)

• 1974 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (b. 1898)

• 1974 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, President of Brazil (b. 1883)

• 1976 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player (b. 1917)

• 1979 – John Wayne, American actor (b. 1907)

• 1982 – Al Rinker, American singer, and member of The Rhythm Boys (b. 1907)

• 1984 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (b. 1922)

• 1985 – Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (b. 1954)

• 1985 – Sapfo Notara, Greek actress (b. 1907)

• 1986 – Chesley Bonestell, American-born engineer, architect, and artist (b. 1888)

• 1991 – Cromwell Everson, South African composer (b. 1925)

• 1993 – Ray Sharkey, American actor (b. 1952)

• 1996 – Brigitte Helm, German actress (b. 1908)

• 1998 – Catherine Cookson, British novelist (b. 1906)

• 1999 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (b. 1920)

• 2001 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (by execution) (b. 1968)

• 2001 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer (b. 1923)

• 2003 – David Brinkley, American television reporter (b. 1920)

• 2004 – Egon von Furstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (b. 1946)

• 2005 – Vasco Gonçalves, Portuguese general (b. 1922)

• 2006 – Bruce Shand, father of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (b. 1917)

• 2006 – Michael Bartosh, computer expert and author (b. 1977)

• 2006 – Neroli Fairhall, New Zealand archer (b. 1944)

• 2007 – Imre Friedmann, American scientist (b. 1921)

• 2007 – Mala Powers, American film actress (b. 1931)

• 2008 – Võ Văn Kiệt, former prime minister of Vietnam (b. 1922)

• 2008 – Ove Andersson, Swedish rally driver (b. 1938)

• 2008 – Miroslav Dvořák, Czechoslovak ice hockey player (b. 1951)

Holidays and observances

• Kamehameha Day, official state holiday of Hawaii, United States, in honor of its first monarch, celebrated with floral parades, hula competition, and festivals

• Davis Day, in remembrance of William Davis, observed in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada

• Philippines: Independence Day (Araw ng Kalayaan)

• Roman Empire, Matralia in honor of Mater Matuta

• Roman Empire, fifth day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta

• Saint Barnabas, apostle, martyr, (d. 62)

• Saint Eskil, medieval patron saint of the Diocese of Strängnäs in Sweden (later moved to June 12 outside that diocese in order not to interfere with the Feast of Barnabas)

• Saint Onuphrius, hermit, confessor