1734 – In Montreal, New France (Quebec), black slave Marie-Joseph Angélique, having been convicted of the arson that destroyed much of the city, is tortured and hanged by the French authorities in a public ceremony
1813 – Peninsular War: Battle of Vitoria results in a victory for a Spanish, Portuguese and British alliance against the French
1938 – Bradman scores 101* in 77 minutes, Australia v Lancashire
1948 – Lord Mountbatten resigns as Governor General of India (formerly the last Viceroy)
1962 – USAF Major Robert M. White takes X-15 to 75,190 m
1974 – 24th Berlin International Film Festival: “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” wins the Golden Bear
1977 – Bülent Ecevit forms a minority government in Turkey which lasts only 1 month
1981 – US Open Men’s Golf, Merion GC: David Graham wins his second major title and becomes the first Australian to win the US Open, 3 strokes ahead of runners-up George Burns and Bill Rogers
2003 – “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” the 5th book of the series by J. K. Rowling is published worldwide in English
2020 – Kurt Cobain’s guitar during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged show sells for a record $6 million
Author: gil7
Today in History for 21st June 2023
Historical Events
1849 – Battle at Waghausel: Prussian troops beat Baden rebels
1853 – Envelope-folding machine patented by Russell Hawes in Worcester, Massachusetts
1879 – Frank Winfield Woolworth opens his 1st successful “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store” on North Queen Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
1919 – The German Navy, feeling betrayed by the terms of the Versailles Treaty, scuttles most of its ships interned at Great Britain’s Scapa Flow Naval base in the Orkney Islands
1933 – 1st Great Lakes-to-Gulf of Mexico barge trip completed, New Orleans
1998 – US Open Men’s Golf, Olympic Club, SF: Lee Janzen recovers from 7 stroke deficit to win his second Open title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Payne Stewart
Famous Birthdays
1640 – Abraham Mignon, Dutch still life painter, born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1679)
1944 – Corinna Tsopel, Greek actress (Man Called Horse) and Miss Universe 1964, born in Athens, Greece
1946 – Brenda Holloway, American singer and songwriter (“When I’m Gone”), born in Atascadero, California
1946 – Kate Hoey, Northern Irish MP (Labour), born in Mallusk, Northern Ireland
1947 – Dana Rohrabacher, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California), born in Coronado, California
1953 – Michael Bowen, American actor, born in Houston, Texas
Famous Deaths
1582 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1534)
1900 – Polibo Fumagalli, Italian composer, dies at 69
1932 – (Marshall) “Major” Taylor, American track cyclist (first African-American world champion; 1899 World Track C’ships), dies from a heart attack at 53
1972 – Seth Bingham, American organist and composer (Six Pieces for Organ), dies at 90
1981 – Gunnar Ek, Swedish composer, dies on his 81st birthday
2020 – Ahmed Radhi, Iraqi soccer striker (121 caps; 62 goals; Al-Rasheed; Asian Footballer of the Year 1988), dies of COVID-19 at 56
Famous Deaths for 20th June 2023
1846 – Pieter Adams, architect of Rotterdam, dies at about 67
1963 – Joseph Self, American murderer, executed by hanging in Walla Walla, Washington at 32; last state execution until 1990
1984 – Hans Studer, Swiss composer, dies at 73
1990 – Ina Balin, actress (Patsy), dies at 52, of pulmonary hypertension
1994 – Bankole Timothy, Sierra Leonean journalist, dies at 70
1997 – Lawrence Payton, American pop and soul singer (Four Tops – “I’ll Be There”), dies at 59
2006 – Billy Johnson, American baseball player, dies at 87
2011 – Ryan Dunn, American actor and TV personality (Homewrecker), dies at 34
2016 – James Victor, Dominican-American actor (Boulevard Night, Streets of LA), dies at 76
2020 – Jim Kiick, American football running back (Super Bowl 1972, 73; AFL All-Star 1968, 69; Miami Dolphins), dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 73
Historical Events for 20th June 2023
1582 – Bishop Domingo de Salazar of Manila suppresses the Philippines
1855 – Commissioners appointed to lay out San Francisco streets west of Larkin
1909 – 1st balloon honeymoon (Roger Burham and Eleanor Waring)
1950 – Joe Dimaggio’s 2,000th hit, Yanks beat Indians 8-2
1968 – Austin Currie, then Nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) at Stormont, and other Irish civil rights activists, protest discrimination in the allocation of housing by ‘squatting’ (illegally occupying) in a house in Caledon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
1973 – Juan Perón returns from exile to Argentina after 18 years
1973 – SF Giants Bobby Bonds sets NL record with 22 lead off HRs
1981 – Pope John Paul II hospitalized for 55 days for infection
1983 – New York Yankees 5-time MLB All Star outfielder Bobby Murcer retires
2020 – Historic dust cloud from the Sahara desert reaches the Caribbean, largest for half a century
Today in History for 20th June 2023
Historical Events
1633 – Charter for Maryland is given to Lord Cecil Baltimore
1825 – Coronation of Charles X, the last Bourbon King of France
1969 – Georges Pompidou sworn in as President of France
1986 – Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, and Level 42 headline; other performers include: Simply Red, Madness, Ruby Turner, Amazulu, Lloyd Cole, Black Uhuru, The Wailers Band, Loudon Wainwright III, John Martyn, The Housemartins, The Waterboys, The Pogues, Gil Scott-Heron, Robert Cray Band, and Christy Moore
2004 – US Open Men’s Golf, Shinnecock Hills GC: Retief Goosen of South Africa wins his second Open title, 2 strokes ahead of runner-up and reigning Masters champion Phil Mickelson
2017 – Uber founder Travis Kalanick resigns as CEO after a shareholder revolt
Famous Birthdays
1924 – Rainer Barzel, German politician (CDU-CSU) and minister, born in Braunsberg, East Prussia, Free State of Prussia (d. 2006)
1929 – Edith Windsor [née Schlain], American LGBT rights activist (lead plaintiff in United States v. Windsor), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2017)
1941 – Ulf D Merbold, German physicist/astronaut (STS 9, 42, Soyuz TM-19)
1941 – Stephen Frears, film director (Prick Up Your Ears, Dangerous Liaisons), born in Leicester, England
1944 – Terry Funk, pro wrestler (WWF/NWA)/actor (Paradise Alley), born in Hammond, Indiana
1958 – Dickie Thon, Puerto Rican-American baseball player, born in South Bend, Indiana
Famous Deaths
1888 – Johannes Zukertort, German chess player, dies at 45
1925 – Wilhelm Posse, German composer, dies at 72
1953 – Hendrik de Man, sociologist (Belgian Working people Party), dies at 67
1994 – Bram Koopmans, cyclist/coach, dies at 78
1995 – Emil Mihai Cioran, Romanina born writer and aphorist, dies at 84
2000 – Karl Mickel, German writer, dies at 64
Famous Deaths for 19th June 2023
1539 – Lorenzo Campeggio Italian cardinal (legate for the Pope over English Henry VIII marriage to Catherine of Aragon), dies at 65
1759 – Charles-Joseph-Balthazar Sohier, composer, dies at 31
1837 – Aleksander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, Russian author, dies in battle at 39
1975 – Sam Giancana, American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit (1957-66), dies of multiple gunshot wounds at 67
1989 – Ad van Emmenes, Dutch soccer reporter, dies at 91
2009 – Ali Akbar Khan, Indian classical sarod player, composer, and music educator, dies of kidney failure at 87
2010 – Angela Rumbold, British politician (C), dies at 78
2013 – Gyula Horn, Hungarian Prime Minister (1994-8), dies at 80
2017 – Brian Kenny, British Army officer, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander (Europe), dies at 83
2022 – Brett Tuggle, American session and touring rock keyboard player (David Lee Roth, 1986-94; Fleetwood Mac, 1997-2017), dies of cancer at 70
Historical Events for 19th June 2023
936 – Louis IV [Louis of Overseas], crowned King of France
1938 – “Olympian Flyer” express train crashes in Montana, killing 47
1953 – WTPA (now WHTM) TV channel 27 in Harrisburg, PA (ABC) 1st broadcast
1963 – 2 Russian space missions return to Earth
1964 – Cambuur Leeuwarden BVO soccer team forms in Leeuwarden
1972 – Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw concedes ‘special category’ status, or ‘political status’ for paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland
1977 – US Open Golf, Southern Hills CC: Hubert Green shoots 2-under 278 to beat Lou Graham by 1 stroke
1988 – 32 divers finish cycling underwater on a standard tricycle, to complete 116.66 mi in 75 hrs 20 mins
1989 – Mets Dwight Gooden wins his 100th game (100-37)
2022 – US Center for Disease Control recommends Covid-19 vaccines for kids aged 6-months to 5 years
Today in History for 19th June 2023
Historical Events
1913 – Natives Land Act, Act No 27, passed in South Africa: confines Africans to hopelessly overcrowded reserves and deprives them of rights to purchase land outside the native reserves
1944 – Five of the “The Magnificent Eleven” photos taken by Robert Capa during the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, Normandy first published in “Life Magazine”
1952 – “I’ve Got A Secret” debuts on CBS-TV with Garry Moore as host
1967 – Paul McCartney admits on TV that he took LSD
1970 – Jim Bouton’s controversial baseball diary “Ball Four” is published
1995 – NY Yankees announce agreement with Darryl Strawberry
Famous Birthdays
1815 – John William Glover, Irish composer, born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1899)
1912 – Martin Gabel, American stage, radio and screen character actor (The Thief; Marnie; Lady In Cement), and television panelist (What’s My Line?), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1986)
1924 – Wassil Bykau, Belarusian writer, born in Bytschki, Vitebsk Region (d. 2003)
1945 – Tim Hovey, actor (Queen Bee, Toy Tiger, Man Afraid), born in Los Angeles, California
1960 – Patti Rizzo, American golfer (4 LPGA Tour wins), born in Hollywood, Florida
1966 – Joichi Ito, Japanese entrepreneur
Famous Deaths
1652 – Louis de Geer, Neth/Swedish industrialist/millionaire, dies at 64
1811 – Samuel Chase, American judge (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 70
1947 – Willem H. Fly, Dutch typographer/co-founder (SDAP), dies at 84
1995 – Richard Bernard Pape, POW escaper/writer, dies at 79
2006 – Duane Roland, American southern-rock guitarist (Molly Hatchet – Flirtin’ With Disaster), dies at 53
2017 – Brian Cant, British stage and screen actor and children’s television presenter (Play School, 1964-85), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 18th June 2023
1884 – Juan Bautista Alberdi, Argentine political theorist and writer (Crime of War), dies at 74
1902 – Samuel Butler, English author (Erewhom, Way of All Flesh), dies at 66
1909 – Learmont Drysdale, Scottish composer, dies at 42
2005 – J.J. Pickle, American politician (Rep-D-Texas, 1963-95), dies at 91
2006 – Vincent Sherman, American film director (Mr. Skeffington), dies at 99
2007 – Georges Thurston, Canadian RandB and reggae musician and singer (Boule Noire), dies of cancer at 55
2008 – Miyuki Kanbe, Japanese actor (b. 1984)
2016 – Paul Cox, Dutch-born Australian director (Lonely Hearts), dies at 76
2017 – Lord Joffe [Joel Goodman Joffe], South African-born British lawyer (instructing solicitor for Nelson Mandela’s defence team) and businessman, dies at 85
2020 – Vera Lynn, British popular music singer, known as ‘the Forces’ Sweetheart’ (“We’ll Meet Again”; “The White Cliffs of Dover”), dies at 103
Historical Events for 18th June 2023
1779 – French fleet occupies St Vincent, West Indies
1872 – Woman’s Suffrage Convention held at Merchantile Liberty Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1894 – Premier Roseberry declares Uganda a British protectorate
1961 – KBMT TV channel 12 in Beaumont, Texas (ABC) begins broadcasting
1967 – Closing day of the Monterey International Pop Festival, Southern California. First major US appearances of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, and Otis Redding
1972 – BEA Trident crashes after takeoff from Heathrow killing 118
1979 – Billy Martin becomes Yankee manager (2nd time), replacing Bob Lemon
1983 – 7th Shuttle Mission-Challenger 2 launches Sally Ride as 1st US woman in space
2018 – US President Trump orders US military to set up sixth branch of the military – a space force
2019 – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announces the suspension of the pro-China and highly controversial extradition law, after massive protests in the city