June
National Day of Tunisia. Feast day of St Gwen of Brittany, St Justin, St Nicomedes, St Ronan, St Whyte, St Wistan, St Symeon of Syracuse, St Caprasius of Lérins, St Pamphilus of Caesarea, St Inigo, St Proculus the Soldier, St Proculus the Bishop, and St Theobald of Alba.
Events
836 Viking raiders sacked London. 1485 Matthias of Hungary took Vienna in his conquest of Austria (from Frederick III) and made the city his capital. 1666 An English fleet under Lord Albemarle fought an inconclusive battle with the Dutch off the Dunes of Dunkirk. 1679 The Scottish Covenanters defeated Royal troops under Claverhouse at Drumclog. 1792 Kentucky became the 15th US state. 1796 Tennessee became the 16th US state. 1915 The first Zeppelin attack on London took place. 1946 Television licences were issued in Britain for the first time; they cost £2. 1957 ERNIE drew the first premium bond prizes in Britain. 1958 Iceland extended its fishery limits to 12 miles.
Births
Nicolas Carnot, French founder of thermodynamics, 1796; Brigham Young, US Mormon leader, 1801; Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer, 1803; John Drinkwater, English poet, 1882; Frank Whittle, English inventor who developed the jet engine, 1907; Marilyn Monroe, 1926; Morgan Freeman, US film actor, 1937.
Deaths
James Gillray, English caricaturist, 1815; James Buchanan, 15th president of the USA, 1868; Hugh Walpole, English novelist, 1941; Leslie Howard, British film actor, 1943; Ion Antonescu, Romanian dictator, executed, 1946; Eric Partridge, British lexicographer, 1985.
National Day of Italy. Feast day of St Erasmus, St Oda, St Attalus, Saints Marcellinus and Peter, St Eugenius I, pope, St Nicholas the Pilgrim, St Stephen of Sweden, and St Pothinus and his Companions.
Events
1619 A treaty was signed between England and Holland, regulating the trade in the East between the English and Dutch East India Companies. 1627 Charles I granted a charter of incorporation to the Guiana Company. 1627 The Duke of Buckingham sailed from Portsmouth with a fleet to aid the Huguenots in the defence of La Rochelle. 1780 The Gordon riots began in London, when Lord George Gordon headed a procession for presenting a petition to Parliament for repealing Catholic Relief act of 1778; Roman Catholic chapels were pillaged. 1793 The final overthrow of Girondins and arrest of Jacques Brissot began the Reign of Terror. 1916 The second battle of Ypres took place. 1949 Transjordan was renamed the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 1953 The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in Westminster Abbey.
Births
John Sobieski, King of Poland, 1624; Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet, 1840; Edward Elgar, English composer, 1857; Julian Huxley, English biologist, 1887; Johnny Weissmuller, US swimmer who played Tarzan in films, 1903; Barry Levinson, US film director, 1942.
Deaths
James Douglas, Earl of Morton, 1581; Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian nationalist, 1882; Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian playwright, 1886; Alfred Austin, English poet, 1913; Vita Sackville-West, English writer, 1962; Andrés Segovia, Spanish classical guitarist, 1987; Rex Harrison, British actor, 1990.
Feast day of Genesius of Clermont, St Kevin, St Charles Lwanga, St Isaac of Cordova, St Morand, St Cecilius, St Clothilde, St Joseph Mkasa, St Lucillian and his Companions, Saints Liphardus and Urbicius, and Saints Pergentinus and Laurentinus.
Events
1098 The Crusaders took Antioch. 1162 Thomas Becket was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. 1665 The English fleet defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Lowestoft. 1942 US and Japanese naval forces began the Battle of Midway, in the Pacific. 1946 King Umberto II left Italy and Alcide de Gasperi, the premier, became provisional head of state. 1959 Singapore became self-governing.
Births
William Dampier, English navigator and adventurer, 1652; James Hutton, Scottish geologist, 1726; Sydney Smith, English clergyman and journalist, 1771; Richard Cobden, English economist and political reformer, 1804; William Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist, 1853; George V, 1865; Wilfrid Thesiger, English explorer and writer, 1910.
Deaths
John Aylmer, bishop of London, 1594; William Harvey, English physician who described the circulation of the blood, 1657; Georges Bizet, French composer, 1875; Johann Strauss, Austrian composer, 1899; Franz Kafka, Austrian novelist, 1924; Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin, Russian politician, 1946; Arthur Ransome, English children's writer, 1967.
Feast day of St Edfrith, St Ninnoc, St Petroc, St Metrophanes, St Francis Caracciolo, St Optatus of Milevis, St Quirinus of Siscia, and St Vincentia Gerosa.
Events
1039 Gruffyd ap Llewelyn, King of Gwynned and Powys, defeated an English attack. 1210 King John embarked on an expedition to Ireland, enforcing his authority there. 1520 Henry VIII and Francis I met at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, between Gravelines and Ardres; on 6 June they signed a treaty confirming the marriage contract of Mary Tudor and the Dauphin and ending French interference in Scotland. 1878 A secret Anglo-Turkish agreement was made to check Russian advance in Asia Minor, by which Britain promised to defend Turkey against further attack and Britain was allowed to occupy Cyprus. 1944 The Fifth Army entered Rome. 1956 Egypt declared it would not extend the Suez Canal Company's concession after its expiry in 1968. 1959 US-owned sugar mills and plantations in Cuba were expropriated.
Births
François Quesnay, French economist and physician, 1694; George III, 1738; John Scott, later Earl of Eldon, English lawyer and politician, 1751; Harriet Beecher Stowe, US novelist, 1811; Garnet Wolseley, English soldier, 1833; Christopher Cockerell, English engineer who invented the hovercraft, 1910.
Deaths
William Juxon, archbishop of Canterbury, 1663; Giovanni Casanova, Italian adventurer, 1798; Nassau William Senior, English economist, 1864; Kaiser William II, 1941; Emily Davidson, English suffragette who threw herself in front of the King's horse during the Derby, 1913.
National Day of Denmark. Feast Day of St Boniface, St Dorotheus of Tyre, St Tudno, and St Sanctius.
Events
1912 US marines landed in Cuba. 1916 HMS Hampshire sank off the Orkneys, with Lord Kitchener aboard. 1945 The Allied Control Commission assumed control throughout Germany, which was divided into four occupation zones. 1947 US Secretary of State George Marshall called for a European Recovery Programme (Marshall Aid). 1967 The Six-Day War broke out between Israel and the Arab states. 1970 Tonga became independent within the Commonwealth. 1975 The Suez Canal was reopened after being closed for eight years.
Births
Nicolas Poussin, French painter, 1594; Adam Smith, Scottish economist, 1723; Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary, 1878; John Maynard Keynes, English economist, 1883; Federico Garca Lorca, Spanish playwright and poet, 1898; Margaret Drabble, English novelist, 1939; David Hare, British playwright, 1947.
Deaths
Orlando Gibbons, English organist and composer, 1625; Henry Sacheverell, English political preacher, 1724; Carl von Weber, German composer, 1826; Stephen Crane, US poet and novelist, 1900; Horatio, Lord Kitchener, English soldier, 1916; Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, French artist, 1916; Georges Feydeau, French dramatist, 1921.
National Day of Sweden. Feast Day of St Jarlath, St Gudwal, St Ceratius, St Norbert, Saints Primus and Felician, St Claude of Besançon, St Eustorgius II of Milan, and St Philip the Deacon.
Events
1457 Polish forces took Marienburg; the Teutonic Knights then made Königsberg their headquarters. 1636 Puritan American colonist Roger Williams, banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony, founded Providence, Rhode Island, a colony with complete religious freedom. 1664 War broke out between England and Holland in the colonies and at sea. 1797 Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Ligurian Republic in Genoa. 1820 Caroline, Princess of Wales, whom George IV wished to divorce, triumphantly entered London, demanding her recognition as Queen. 1844 The Factory Act in Britain restricted female workers to a 12-hour day; children between eight and 13 years were limited to six-and-a-half hours.
Births
Diego y Velasquez, Spanish painter, 1599; Pierre Corneille, French playwright, 1606; Henry Newbolt, English poet, 1862; Robert Falcon Scott, English Antarctic explorer, 1868; Thomas Mann, German novelist, 1875; Ninette de Valois, Irish ballet dancer, 1898; Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player, 1956; Mike Gatting, English cricketer, 1958.
Deaths
St. Norbert of Xanten, archbishop of Magdeburg, 1134; George Anson, English sailor and explorer, 1762; Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher and jurist, 1832; James Agate, English critic and essayist, 1947; Carl Gustav Jung, Swiss psychiatrist, 1961; Robert Kennedy, US politician, assassinated, 1968.
Feast day of St Meriasek, St Robert of Newminster, St Anthony Gianelli, St Gottschalk, St Vulflagius, St Willibald, St Colman of Dromore, and St Paul I of Constantinople.
Events
1494 By the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the New World between themselves: Portugal was to have all lands east of a line north and south drawn 370 leagues west of Cape Verde, Spain to have the rest. 1497 English King Henry VII defeats the Cornish rebels under Lord Audley at Blackheath. 1523 Gustavus Vasa was elected Gustav I of Sweden. 1535 John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was tried for treason (he was executed on 22 June). 1672 Dutch Admiral de Ruyter was successful in action against the combined English and French fleets in Southwold Bay. 1832 The Reform Bill became law; over 140 seats were redistributed, and in the boroughs all antiquated forms of franchise were eliminated and the franchise was extended to include leaseholders paying minimum of £10 rent per annum, while in counties the 40-shilling freehold qualification was retained and certain lease-holders acquired the vote.
Births
John Rennie, Scottish engineer, 1761; Alexander Pushkin, Russian novelist, playwright, and poet, 1799; James Young Simpson, Scottish obstetrician who pioneered the use of anaesthetics, 1811; Pietro Annigoni, Italian painter, 1910; Paul Gauguin, French painter, 1848; James Ivory, US film director, 1928.
Deaths
Robert I `the Bruce', king of Scotland, 1329; David Cox, English painter, 1859; Jean Harlow, US film actress, 1937; Dorothy Parker, US writer, 1967; E M Forster, English novelist, 1970; Henry Miller, US novelist, 1980.
Feast day of St Medard, St William of York, St Cloud of Metz, and St Maximinius of Aix.
Events
1042 Harthacnut, King of England and Denmark, died; he was succeeded in England by his adopted heir, Edward the Confessor, and in Denmark by Magnus, King of Norway. 1536 The English Parliament met and settled the succession on the future children of Henry VIII by Jane Seymour; the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth were declared illegitimate. 1919 Nicaragua asked the US for protection against Costa Rica. 1934 Oswald Mosley addressed a mass meeting of the British Union of Fascists at Olympia. 1939 George VI visited the USA at the end of his tour of Canada; he was the first British monarch to do so. 1941 British and Free French Forces invaded Syria to prevent the establishment of Axis bases. 1965 US troops were authorised to engage in offensive operations in Vietnam.
Births
Giovanni Cassini, Italian astronomer, 1625; John Smeaton, English engineer, 1724; Robert Stevenson, English engineer, 1772; Robert Schumann, German composer, 1810; John Everett Millais, English painter, 1829; Frank Lloyd Wright, US architect, 1869.
Deaths
Christiaan Huygens, Dutch physicist and astronomer, 1695; Thomas Paine, English author of The Rights of Man, 1809; Sarah Siddons, English actress, 1831; Joseph Paxton, English architect, 1865; `George Sand' (Amandine Dudevant, born Dupin), French novelist, 1876; Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet, 1889; Gerhart Hauptmann, German novelist and playwright, 1946.
Feast day of St Columba, St Ephraem, St Richard of Ambria, St Vincent of Agen, and St Pelagia of Antioch.
Events
1572 A new Turkish fleet put to sea against Don John of Austria to complete the capture of Cyprus. 1788 English botanist Joseph Banks founded the Africa Association for arousing interest in exploration and trade. 1885 The Treaty of Tientsin between France and China recognised the French protectorate in Annam. 1934 Cartoon character Donald Duck first appeared. 1959 The USS George Washington was launched, the first submarine to be armed with ballistic missiles.
Births
Peter the Great, tsar of Russia, 1672; George Stephenson, English locomotive engineer, 1781; Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician, 1836; Cole Porter, US composer of musicals, 1893.
Deaths
William Maitland of Lethingdon, Scottish politician, 1573; William Lilly, English astrologer, 1681; Charles Dickens, English novelist, 1870; Cochise, American Apache leader, 1874; Maxwell William Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, Canadian-born politician and newspaper proprietor, 1964; Sybil Thorndike, English actress, 1976.
Feast day of St Ithamar, St Bogumilus, St Landericus of Paris, and St Getulius and his Companions.
Events
1829 The Oxford team won the first-ever Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. 1891 L Starr Jameson became administrator of the South Africa Company's territories. 1893 Alarmed at Belgian advances in the Congo, France sent an occupying force to forestall further annexations. 1899 US Congress appointed a canal commission to report on routes through Panama. 1942 The Czech village of Lidice was destroyed and every man in it killed in reprisal for the assassination of Nazi leader Richard Heydrich. 1943 The ball-point pen was patented in the USA.
Births
James Francis Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender), 1688; John Dollond, English optician, 1706; Gustave Courbet, French painter, 1819; Henry Morton Stanley, US journalist and explorer, 1840; G E Buckle, English newspaper editor, 1854; Saul Bellow, US novelist, 1915; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 1921; Judy Garland, US film actress and singer, 1922; Maurice Sendak, US illustrator, 1928.
Deaths
Luis Vaz de Camoens, Portuguese poet, 1580; Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor, 1654; Thomas Hearne, English antiquary and keeper of the Bodleian Library, 1735; André Ampère, French physicist, 1836; `Pierre Loti' (Julien Viaud), French novelist, 1923; Frederick Delius, English composer, 1934; Spencer Tracey, US film actor, 1967.
Feast day of St Barnabas, Saints Felix and Fortunatus, and St Parisio.
Events
1509 Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, his first wife. 1727 George I became king of Great Britain. 1891 At an Anglo-Portuguese convention on territories north and south of Zambesi, Portugal assigned Barotseland to Britain; Nyasaland was subsequently proclaimed a British Protectorate. 1895 Britain annexed Togoland to block Transvaal's access to the sea. 1955 US President Eisenhower proposed financial and technical aid to all non-Communist countries to develop atomic energy. 1963 Constantine Karamanlis, the Greek premier, resigned in protest against King Paul's state visit to Britain. 1964 Greece rejected direct talks with Turkey over Cyprus.
Births
Barnabe Googe, English poet, 1540; Ben Jonson, English playwright, 1572; John Constable, English painter, 1776; Millicent Garrett Fawcett, English suffragette, 1847; Mrs Humphrey Ward (Mary Augusta Arnold), English novelist, 1851; Jacques Cousteau, French oceanographer, 1910; Athol Fugard, South African dramatist and director, 1932.
Deaths
Kenelm Digby, English writer and diplomat, 1665; Louis, Duc de Vendôme, French soldier, 1712; John Franklin, English Arctic explorer, 1847; Clemens, Prince Metternich, Austrian politician, 1859; Frank Brangwyn, British painter, 1956; Alexander Kerensky, Russian politician, 1970; John Wayne, US film actor, 1979.
National Day of the Philippines. Feast day of St Basilides, St Eskil, St Leo II, St Odulf, St Onuphrius, St Ternan, St Peter of Mount Athos, St Antonia, St John of Sahagun, and St Paula Frassinetti.
Events
1088 William II suppressed a revolt in England led by Odo of Bayeux, Bishop of Rochester, who was supporting Robert Curthose. 1667 The Dutch fleet under Admiral de Ruyter burned Sheerness, sailed up the River Medway, raided Chatham dockyard, and escaped with the royal barge, the Royal Charles; the nadir of English naval power. 1683 The Rye House Plot, to assassinate King Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York, was discovered. 1901 A Cuban convention making the country virtually a protectorate of the US was incorporated in the Cuban constitution as a condition of the withdrawal of US troops. 1934 Political parties banned in Bulgaria. 1964 Nelson Mandela and seven others were sentenced to life imprisonment for acts of sabotage in the Rivonia trial, Pretoria.
Births
Harriet Martineau, English writer, 1802; Charles Kingsley, English novelist, 1819; Anthony Eden, Viscount Avon, British politician, 1897; George Bush, 41st president of the USA, 1924; Anne Frank, Jewish Dutch diarist, 1929.
Deaths
James, Duke of Berwick, English-born French general, 1734; William Collins, English poet, 1759; Thomas Arnold, English scholar and head of Rugby School, 1842; John Ireland, English composer, 1962; Billy Butlin, English holiday-camp entrepreneur, 1980; Marie Rambert, British ballet dancer and teacher, 1982.
Feast day of St Antony of Padua, St Felicula, St Aquilina, and St Triphyllius.
Events
1849 Communist riots in Paris were easily defeated and led to repressive legislation. 1866 The US 14th Amendment incorporated the Civil Rights Act and gave states the choice of Negro enfranchisement or reduced representation in Congress. 1900 The Boxer Rebellion began in China against Europeans. 1942 British forces lost 230 tanks in desert fighting. 1944 The first flying bomb was dropped on London. 1956 The last British troops left the Suez Canal base. 1961 Austria refused an application by Archduke Otto of Habsburg to return as a private individual.
Births
Richard Barnfield, English poet, 1574; Thomas Arnold, English scholar, head of Rugby school, 1795; James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist, 1831; William Butler Yeats, Irish poet, 1865; Peter Scudamore, British jockey, 1958.
Deaths
Alexander the Great, 323 BC; St Antonio of Padua, 1231; Arcangelo Corelli, Italian composer, 1713; Henry Seagrave, British racing driver, 1930; Jesse Boot, English pharmacist, drug manufacturer, and philanthropist, 1931; Benny Goodman, US bandleader, 1986.
Feast day of St Dogmael, Saints Valerius and Rufinus, and St Methodius I of Constantinople.
Events
1380 In the Peasants' Revolt, the rebels occupying London killed Archbishop Sudbury, the Chancellor, and Robert Hales, the Treasurer. 1404 Glendower, having won control of Wales, assumes the title of Prince of Wales and holds a parliament. 1645 In the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell defeated the Royalists at the Battle of Naseby, Northamptonshire. 1800 Napoleon Bonaparte defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Marengo and reconquers Italy. 1940 In World War II, German forces entered Paris. 1960 French President de Gaulle renewed his offer to the Algerian provisional government to negotiate a cease-fire, to which Front de la Libération Nationale agreed, but rejected subsequent French conditions. 1962 The European Space Research Organisation was established at Paris.
Births
Charles Augustin Coulomb, French physicist, 1736; Henry Keppel, British admiral, 1809; Bernard Bosanquet, English philosopher, 1848; Che Guevara, Argentinian communist revolutionary, 1928; Steffi Graf, German tennis player, 1969.
Deaths
Henry Vane the younger, English politician, executed after the Restoration for his parliamentarian activities, 1662; Edward Fitzgerald, English poet and translator, 1883; Jerome Klapka Jerome, English novelist, 1927; Gilbert Keith Chesterton, English author, 1936; John Logie Baird, Scottish inventor who developed television, 1946; Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian author, 1986; Vincent Hamlin, US cartoonist, 1993.
Official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. Feast day of St Trillo, St Vitus and his Companions, St Bardo, St Aleydia, St Germaine Cousin of Pibrac, St Hesychius of Durostorum, St Landelinus, St Edburga of Winchester, St Tatian Dulas, and St Orsiesus.
Events
1520 Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther by the bull Exsurge. 1658 The Mogul emperor Aurangzeb imprisoned his father the Shah, after winning a battle at Samgarh. 1672 The Sluices were opened in Holland to save Amsterdam from the French. 1836 Arkansas became the 25th state of the USA. 1855 Stamp duty on British newspapers was abolished. 1869 Celluloid was patented in the USA. 1954 The Convention People's Party, led by Kwame Nkrumah, won the Gold Coast elections. 1977 Spain had its first general elections since 1936.
Births
Edward (the Black Prince), 1330; St Francesco de Paolo, 1416; Joannes Argyropoulos, Greek scholar, 1416; Thomas Randolph, English poet and playwright, 1605; Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer, 1843; Richard Baker, English broadcaster, 1925.
Deaths
Wat Tyler, English rebel leader, 1381; Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, 1467; Marguerite De Launay, Baronne Staal, French writer, 1750; James Knox Polk, 11th president of the USA, 1849; Evelyn Underhill, English poet and mystic, 1941.
Feast day of St Cyricus, St Ismael, St Aurelian, St John Francis Regis, Saints Cyr and Julitta, St Benno of Meissen, St Lutgarde, Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutio, and St Tychon of Amathus.
Events
1586 Mary Queen of Scots recognised Philip II of Spain as her heir. 1745 British troops took Cape Breton Island and subsequently Louisburg, at the mouth of the St Lawrence River. 1779 Spain declared war on Britain (after France had undertaken to assist in the recovery of Gibraltar and Florida), and the siege of Gibraltar began. 1836 The formation of the London Working Men's Association began the Chartist Movement. 1871 The University Test Acts allowed students to enter Oxford and Cambridge without religious tests. 1972 Burglars were caught breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate Building, Washington DC, USA. 1977 Leonid Brezhnev became president of the USSR.
Births
John Cheke, English classical scholar, 1514; King Gustav V of Sweden, 1858; Stan Laurel, English-born US film comedian, 1890; Enoch Powell, British politician, 1912; Giacomo Agostini, Italian motorcycle champion, 1942.
Deaths
Roger van der Weyden, Flemish painter, 1464; John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, English general, 1722; Guilio Alberoni, Italian-born Spanish politician and cardinal, 1752; Elmer Ambrose Sperry, US inventor, 1930; Margaret Bondfield, British politician and trade-unionist, 1953.
National day of Iceland. Feast day of St Moling, St Adulf, St Nectan, St Botulf, St Alban, St Avitus, St Bessarion, St Hypatius, St Rainerius of Pisa, St Emily de Vialai, St Hervé, Saints Nicander and Marcian, and Saints Teresa and Sanchia of Portugal.
Events
1128 Henry I's daughter, Matilda, widow of Henry V, married Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou; she was recognised in England as her father's heir. 1579 Francis Drake proclaimed England's sovereignty over New Albion (California). 1617 James I met his Scottish Parliament. His proposal that the Scottish lords should surrender to the Crown their hereditable jurisdictions met with vigorous opposition, but the five Articles of Religion, for introducing Anglican principles to Scottish worship were endorsed. 1775 In the War of American Independence, British troops won a victory at Bunker Hill. 1940 Russian troops occupied the Baltic states.
Births
Edward I, 1239; Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright, 1600; Charles XII of Sweden, 1682; John Wesley, English evangelist, 1703; Charles François Gounod, French composer, 1818; William Crookes, English chemist, 1832; Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer, 1882.
Deaths
John Sobieski, king of Poland, 1696; Joseph Addison, English essayist and poet, 1719; Claude, Duc de Villars, French soldier, 1734; Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French playwright, 1762; Edward Burne-Jones, English painter, 1898; Annie S Swan (Mrs Burnett Smith), Scottish novelist, 1943; Imre Nagy, Hungarian prime minister, executed, 1958.
Feast day of Saints Mark and Marcellian, St Amandus of Bordeaux, St Eliisabeth of Schönau, and St Gregory Barbarigo.
Events
860 Vikings from Russia were repulsed in an attack on Constantinople. 1429 The French, led by Joan of Arc, defeated the English at the Battle of Patay. 1633 Charles I was crowned King of Scotland at Edinburgh. 1815 The Duke of Wellington and Gebhard von Blücher defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. 1928 US aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. 1953 A republic was proclaimed in Egypt, with General M Neguib as president.
Births
Robert Stewart, later Viscount Castlereagh, Irish politician, 1769; Edouard Daladier, French politician, 1884; Nikolaus Horthy de Nagybánya, Hungarian politician, 1868; George Mallory, English mountaineer, 1886; Ian Carmichael, English actor, 1920; Isabella Rosselini, Italian film actress, 1952.
Deaths
John Hampden, English patriot and politician, 1643; Andrew Jackson, 7th president of the USA, 1845; George Grote, English historian and politician, 1871; Samuel Butler, English novelist, 1902; Roald Amundsen, Norwegian polar explorer, lost this day in the Arctic, 1928; Maxim Gorky, Russian author, 1936.
Feast day of Saints Gervase and Protase, St Juliana Falconieri, St Romuald, St Boniface of Querfurt, St Deodatus of Nevers, and St Odo of Cambrai.
Events
1464 An ordinance of Louis XI in France created the poste, organising relays of horses on the main roads for the king's business. 1754 The Anglo-French war broke out in North America when a force under George Washington skirmished with French troops near Fort Duquesne. 1769 Hyder Ali of Mysore compelled the British at Madras to sign a treaty of mutual assistance. 1809 Curwen's Act was passed in Britain, to prevent the sale of Parliamentary seats, thus decreasing the number of seats which the British government can manipulate for its regular supporters. 1829 Robert Peel's Act was passed, to establish a new police force in London and its suburbs. 1867 Emperor Maximilian was executed in Mexico. 1917 The British royal family renounced German names and titles, having adopted the name of Windsor. 1965 Ben Bella, President of Algeria, was deposed; Houari Boumédienne headed a revolutionary council.
Births
James VI of Scotland and I of England, 1566; Thomas Fuller, English antiquarian and clergyman, 1608; Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, 1623; Félicité Robert de Lamennais, French writer, 1783; Douglas, Earl Haig, British field-marshal, 1861; Ernst Chain, German-born British bacteriologist who developed penicillin, 1906; Salman Rushdie, British novelist, 1947.
Deaths
Alberico Gentili, Italian political writer, 1608; William Sherlock, English prelate, 1707; Ambrose Philips, English poet, 1749; Joseph Banks, English botanist, 1820; John Dalberg, Lord Acton, English historian, 1902; J M Barrie, Scottish author of Peter Pan, 1937.
Feast day of Edward the Martyr, St Alban, St Govan, St John of Matera, St Silverius, pope, St Bain, and St Adalbert of Magdeburg.
Events
840 Vikings sailed up the Seine as far as Rouen, for the first time. 1530 The Diet of Augsburg met in the presence of Charles V, who was determined to exterminate heresy; Philip Melanchthon stated the Lutheran case, since Martin Luther was under the ban of the Empire. 1756 Over 140 British subjects were imprisoned in a cell (`The Black Hole of Calcutta'); only 23 came out alive. 1789 In France, the third estate took the Tennis Court oath, undertaking not to depart until a constitution was drawn up. 1791 Louis XVI attempted to leave France, but was turned back at Varennes and taken to Paris. 1837 On the death of William IV, Queen Victoria succeeded to the British throne. 1837 Hanover was automatically separated from Britain, as Salic Law forbids female succession, and the throne was taken by Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the eldest surviving son of George III. 1837 Natal Republic was founded by Dutch settlers and a Constitution was proclaimed.
Births
Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian, 1723; John Costello, Irish politician, 1891; Jacques Offenbach, German-born French composer, 1819; Catherine Cookson, English novelist, 1906; Errol Flynn, Australian-born US film actor, 1909; Stephen Frears, English film director, 1941.
Deaths
Willem Barents, Dutch explorer, 1597; Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, French revolutionary leader, 1836; William IV, 1837; Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer, 1908; Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary leader, assassinated, 1923; Bernard Baruch, US financier, 1965.
Feast day of St Aloysius Gonzaga, St Leufred, St Mewan, St Engelmund, St John Rigby, St Eusebius of Samosata, and St Leutfridus.
Events
1661 The Peace of Kardis was signed between Russia and Sweden, ending the northern war; Russia abandoned all claims to Livonia. 1788 The US constitution came into force, when ratified by the 9th state, New Hampshire. 1798 British General Gerard Lake defeated Irish rebels at Vinegar Hill and entered Wexford, ending the Irish Rebellion. 1813 The Duke of Wellington completely routed the French at Vittoria, forcing the Spanish king, Napoleon's brother Joseph, to return to France. 1827 Robert Peel reformed English criminal law, by reducing the number of capital offences, abolishing the immunity of the clergy from arrest in cases of felony, and by defining the law of offences against property in a simplified form. 1887 Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. 1887 Britain annexed Zululand, blocking the attempt of Transvaal to gain communication with the coast. 1919 The German fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow, in the Orkneys. 1942 German forces under Field-Marshal Rommel captured Tobruk.
Births
Increase Mather, American clergyman and president of Harvard, 1639; William Stubbs, English historian, 1825; Claude Auchinleck, British field-marshal, 1884; Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, novelist, and playwright, 1905; Jane Russell, US film actress, 1920; Françoise Sagan, French novelist, 1935.
Deaths
Edward III, 1377; John Skelton, English poet, 1529; Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter, 1547; John Smith, Virginian colonist, 1631; Inigo Jones, English architect and stage designer, 1652; Lord William Russell, English politician, 1683; Alexius Petrovich, son of Peter the Great, died in prison, 1718; Charles, Viscount Townshend, English politician, 1738; George Hepplewhite, English cabinet-maker, 1786; Friedrich Froebel, German educationalist, 1852; Jean-Edouard Vuillard, French painter, 1940.
Feast day of St Acacius, Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, St Paulinus of Nola, St Nicetas of Remesiana, and St Eberhard of Salzburg.
Events
1377 Richard II became king of England. 1671 Turkey declared war on Poland. 1679 The Duke of Monmouth subdued an insurrection of Scottish Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge. 1826 The Pan-American Congress met in Panama under the influence of Simon Bolivar in an unsuccessful effort to unite the American Republics. 1894 Dahomey was proclaimed a French Colony. 1907 The Northern Line was opened on the London Underground.
Births
André-Hercule de Fleury, French cardinal, 1653; Jean Chardin, French painter, 1699; Jacques Delille, French poet, 1738; Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian patriot, 1805; H Rider Haggard, English novelist, 1856; John Hunt, English mountaineer, 1910; Peter Pears, English tenor, 1910; Prunella Scales, English actress, 1932; Meryl Streep, US film actress, 1949; Simon Begent, 1950.
Deaths
Roger I, king of Sicily, 1101; Niccol Machiavelli, Italian politician and diplomat, 1527; Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV, 1527; St John Fisher, bishop of Rochester, beheaded, 1535; Josiah Child, English merchant, 1699; Walter de la Mare, English author, 1956; Fred Astaire, US dancer and film actor, 1987.
National Day of Luxembourg. Feast day of St Cyneburg, St Etheldreda, St Agrippina, St Lietbertus, St Joseph Cafasso, and St Thomas Garnet.
Events
1611 English navigator Henry Hudson and eight others were cast adrift by mutineers; the mutineers returned to England, but Hudson and his companions were never seen again. 1757 British troops under Robert Clive captured Plassey, in Bengal, and recovered Calcutta. 1934 Saudi Arabia and the Yemen signed a peace agreement after a war of six weeks. 1935 British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden offered Benito Mussolini concessions over Abyssinia, which he rejected. 1951 Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, `missing diplomats', fled to the USSR. 1952 The US Air Force bombed hydroelectric plants in North Korea.
Births
John Banér, Swedish general, 1596; Giovanni Battista Vico, Italian philosopher, 1668; Josephine de Beauharnais, wife of Napoleon, 1763; Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet, 1889; Jean Anouilh, French playwright, 1910; John Habgood, archbishop of York, 1927.
Deaths
Vespasian, Roman emperor, ad 79; Pedro de Mendoza, Spanish explorer, 1537; John Aubrey, English antiquary, 1697; Hester Lucy Stanhope, English traveller, 1839; Cecil Sharp, English collector of folk songs, 1924.
Feast day of St John the Baptist, St Bartholomew of Farne, St Simplicius of Autun, and St Ralph of Bourges.
Events
1245 Pope Innocent sent John de Plano Carpinis, a friar minor, to the court of the Great Khan, at Karakorum; this embassy led to the establishment of Christian missions in China until c. 1368. 1277 English King Edward I began his first Welsh campaign following Llewelyn's refusal to do homage. 1314 Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II at Bannockburn and so completed his expulsion of the English from Scotland. 1535 Charles V leads an expedition to conquer Tunis from Barbarossa, with a fleet commanded by Andrea Doria. Charles restored the Bey, Mulai Hassan (deposed by the Turks in 1534) and completed the Spanish conquest of the North African coast (begun in 1494). 1559 The Elizabethan Prayer Book was first used. 1812 Napoleon crossed the River Niemen and entered Russian territory. 1917 The Russian Black Sea fleet mutinied at Sebastopol. 1956 Colonel Nasser was elected President of Egypt.
Births
Theodore Beza, French religious reformer, 1519; Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, English explorer, 1532; St John of the Cross (Juan de Yepez y Alvarez), 1542; John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, 1650; Horatio, Lord Kitchener, British soldier, 1850; William Penney. British physicist, 1909; Juan Fangio, Argentinian racing driver, 1911; Fred Hoyle, English astronomer, 1915; Claude Chabrol, French film director, 1930.
Deaths
Ferdinand I, king of Castile and Leon, 1065; Lucrezia Borgia, duchess of Ferrara, 1519; John Partridge, English astrologer, 1715; Stephen Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th president of the USA, 1908; Rex Warner, British novelist, 1986.
Feast day of St Adalbert, St Febronia, St Maximus of Turin, St Eurosia, St Gohard, St Gallicanus, St Prosper of Reggio, St Prosper of Aquitaine, St Moloc, St Thea, and St William of Vercelli.
Events
1524 The Peasants' Revolt in southern Germany began at Stühlingen on the estates of Count von Lupfen. The rebels demanded the abolition of enclosures and feudal services. 1646 The surrender of Oxford to the Roundheads virtually signified the end of the English Civil War. 1788 Virginia became the 10th state of the USA. 1867 The first patent for barbed wire was taken out in Ohio, USA. 1876 US soldier George Custer and his 264 men were killed by Sioux Indians at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Montana. 1975 Mozambique achieved independence from Portugal.
Births
John Horne Tooke, English politician, 1736; Tsar Nicholas I 1796; Lord Louis Mountbatten of Burma, 1900; George Orwell, English essayist and novelist, 1903; Sidney Lumet, US film director, 1924.
Deaths
Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, English politician, executed, 1483; John Marston, English playwright, 1634; George Custer, US soldier, 1876; Margaret Oliphant, English novelist, 1897; Laurence Alma-Tadema, English painter, 1912; Tony Hancock, English comedian, 1968.
Feast day of Saints Salvius and Superius, Saints John and Paul, St Anthelmus, bishop, St Maxentius, and St Vigilius of Trent.
Events
1483 Richard, Duke of Gloucester, began to rule as Richard III, having deposed his nephew, Edward V; the latter and his brother, Richard, Duke of York, were soon afterwards murdered in the Tower of London. 1519 Martin Luther's public disputation with Johann Eck on doctrine began at Leipzig. 1849 The British Navigation Acts were finally repealed. 1937 Spanish rebels took Santander. 1937 The Duke of Windsor married Mrs Wallis Simpson in France. 1960 Madagascar was proclaimed independent as the Malagasy Republic. 1960 British Somaliland became independent; it joined Somalia on 27 June 1962 The Portuguese in Mozambique required Indian nationals to leave within three months of release from internment camps.
Births
Philip Doddridge, English Nonconformist, 1702; William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, English physicist, 1824; Pearl S Buck, US novelist, 1892; Peter Lorre, US film actor, 1904; Laurie Lee, English poet and author, 1914; Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor, 1933.
Deaths
Francisco Pizarro, Spanish explorer who conquered Peru, assassinated, 1541; Richard Fanshawe, English scholar and diplomat, 1666; Ralph Cudworth, English philosopher, 1688; Gilbert White, English clergyman and naturalist, 1793; Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French balloonist, 1810; Ford Madox Ford, English novelist and poet, 1939.
Feast day of St Cyril of Alexandria, St Zoilus, St Samson of Constantinople, St George Mtasmindeli, the Martyrs of Arras, St John of Chinon, and St Ladislas, King of Hungary.
Events
1771 Russia completed its conquest of the Crimea. 1795 A British force landed at Quiberon to aid the revolt in Brittany. 1795 French forces recaptured St Lucia. 1801 Cairo fell to English forces. 1932 A Constitution was proclaimed in Siam. 1940 The USSR invaded Romania on the refusal of King Carol to cede Bessarabia and Bukovina; Romania appealed for German aid in vain. 1941 Hungary declared war on Russia. 1944 Allied forces took Cherbourg.
Births
Louis XII, king of France, 1462; Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish nationalist leader, 1846; John Monash, Australian civil engineer, 1865; Helen Keller, US author and teacher, 1880.
Deaths
Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter and art historian, 1571; Nathaniel Bailey, English lexicographer, 1742; Samuel Hood, British admiral, 1816; James Smithson, English scientist, 1829; Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, 1844; Malcolm Lowry, British novelist, 1957; Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, former Shah of Iran, 1980.
Feast day of St Austell, Saints Potamiaena and Basilides, St Irenaeus, St Heimrad, St John Southworth, Saints Sergius and Germanus of Valaam, and St Paul, pope.
Events
1519 Charles I of Spain, Sicily and Sardinia, was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V. 1645 In the English Civil War, the Royalists lost Carlisle. 1895 Union of Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador (ended in 1898 by El Salvador's opposition). 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated at Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian revolutionary. 1919 Britain and the USA guaranteed France in event of an unprovoked German attack, which the USA later refused to ratify. 1948 Yugoslavia was expelled from Cominform for hostility to the USSR. 1950 North Korean forces captured Seoul. 1956 Sydney Silverman's bill for abolition of death penalty passed the Commons; it was defeated in the Lords, 10 July. 1956 Labour riots at Poznan, Poland, were put down with heavy loss of life.
Births
Sigismund of Luxembourg, Holy Roman Emperor, 1368; Henry VIII, 1491; Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher and writer, 1712; étienne-François, Duc de Choiseul, French politician, 1719; Luigi Pirandello, Italian playwright, 1867; Harold Evans, British newspaper editor, 1929.
Deaths
Paul I, pope, 767; Jean de Rotrou, French playwright, 1650; James Madison, 4th president of the USA, 1836; Robert Burke, Irish explorer of Australia, 1861; Alfred Noyes, English poet, 1958; Lord Raglan, British soldier, 1855; Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, assassinated, 1914; Boris Christoff, Bulgarian operatic bass, 1993.
Feast day of St Peter, St Paul, St Elwin, Saints Judith and Salome, and St Cassius of Narni.
Events
1613 The Globe Theatre was destroyed by fire. 1880 France annexed Tahiti. 1943 US forces landed in New Guinea. 1945 Czechoslovakia ceded Ruthenia to the USSR. 1949 The USA completed its withdrawal of occupying forces from South Korea. 1949 British dock strike. 1949 The South African Citizenship Act suspended the automatic granting of citizenship to Commonwealth immigrants after five years, and imposed a ban on mixed marriages between Europeans and non-Europeans the beginning of the Apartheid programme. 1954 Following the meeting of President Eisenhower and Winston Churchill in Washington the Potomac Charter, or six-point declaration of western policy, is issued.
Births
Peter Paul Rubens, English painter, 1577; Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet, 1798; George Ellery Hale, US astronomer, 1868; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French author and aviator, 1900; Nelson Eddy, US singer and film actor, 1901; Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, 1911.
Deaths
Margaret, Countess of Richmond (The Lady Margaret), 1509; Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet, 1861; T H Huxley, English biologist, 1895; Albert Sorel, French historian, 1906; Paul Klee, Swiss painter, 1940; Ignaz Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist, composer, and politician, 1941; Jayne Mansfield, US film actress, 1967.
Feast day of St Theobald of Provins, the Martyrs of Rome, St Emma, St Bertrand of Le Mans, St Erentrude, and St Martial of Limoges.
Events
1574 William of Orange persuaded the Estates of Holland to open the dykes to hinder the Spanish siege of Leyden. 1596 English expedition under Lord Howard of Effingham and the Earl of Essex sacked Cadiz, ravaged the Spanish coast, and captured much booty. Philip II was thus prevented from sending an Armada against England. 1782 Spain completed its conquest of Florida. 1797 The Nore mutiny was suppressed. 1846 The Mormons under Brigham Young left Nauvoo City on trail for the Great Salt Lake. 1934 A Nazi purge took place in Germany with summary executions of Kurt von Schleicher, Ernst Roehm and other party leaders for an alleged plot against Hitler. 1965 An India-Pakistan cease-fire was signed.
Births
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, 1396; Charles VIII, king of France, 1469; Paul François Nicolas Barras, French politician, 1755; Georges Duhamel, French novelist and poet, 1884; Stanley Spencer, English painter, 1891; Harold Laski, English politician, 1893.
Deaths
Montezuma II, Aztec ruler, assassinated, 1520; Johann Reuchlin, German humanist and Hebrew scholar, 1522; Willem Barents, Dutch explorer, 1597; William Oughtred, English mathematician, 1660; Nancy Mitford, English author, 1973; Lillian Hellman, US playwright, 1984.