June 6

June 6 is the 157th day of the year (158th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 208 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1508 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friuli by Venetian troops
• 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, the Swedish regent, is elected king of Sweden, marking a symbolic end to the Kalmar Union. This is the Swedish national day.
• 1586 – Francis Drake's forces raid St. Augustine in Spanish Florida.
• 1644 – The Qing Dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor capture Beijing during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.
• 1654 – Queen Christina abdicates the Swedish throne and is succeeded by her cousin Charles X Gustav. She abdicated because she wanted to become a Catholic (which is forbidden in the strictly Protestant Sweden) and did not want to marry to produce an heir to the throne.
• 1674 – Shivaji, founder of the Maratha empire, is crowned.
• 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.
• 1762 – British forces begin a siege of Havana and temporarily capture the city in the Battle of Havana.
• 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. At the same time, Charles XIII is elected to succeed Gustav IV Adolf as King of Sweden.
• 1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Stoney Creek – A British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force two times its size under William Winder and John Chandler.
• 1822 – Alexis St. Martin is accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont's studies on digestion.
• 1832 – The June Rebellion in Paris is put down by the National Guard.
• 1833 – The U.S. President Andrew Jackson becomes the first President to ride on 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 II of Ethiopia 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 all of downtown Seattle, Washington.
• 1892 – Chicago 'L' (commuter rail system) begins operation
• 1894 – Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike.
• 1909 – French troops capture Abéché (in modern-day Chad) and install a puppet sultan in the Ouaddai Empire.
• 1912 – The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
• 1918 – World War I: Battle of Belleau Wood – The U.S. Marine Corps suffers its worst single day's casualties while attempting to recapture the wood at Chateau-Thierry.
• 1919 – The Republic of Prekmurje ends.
• 1921 – Southwark Bridge in London is opened for traffic by King George V and Queen Mary.
• 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: the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Act of 1933 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• 1939 – Judge Joseph Force Crater, known as the "Missingest Man in New York", is declared legally dead.
• 1942 – World War II: Battle of Midway. U.S. Navy dive bombers sink the Japanese cruiser Mikuma and four Japanese carriers.
• 1944 – World War II: the 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 National Basketball Association is created, with eleven teams.
• 1964 – Under a temporary order, the rocket launches at Cuxhaven, Germany are terminated. They never resume.
• 1968 – Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: Robert F. Kennedy, Democratic Party senator from New York and brother of 35th President John F. Kennedy, dies from gunshot wounds inflicted on June 5.
• 1971 – Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 is launched.
• 1971 – A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a United States Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet fighter near Duarte, California, claims 50 lives.
• 1971 – Vietnam War: the Battle of Long Khanh between Australian and Vietnamese communist forces begins.
• 1974 – A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.
• 1981 – Bihar train disaster: 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 death toll is closer to 1,000.
• 1982 – The 1982 Lebanon War begins. Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
• 1982 – A British Army Air CorpsGazelle helicopter is destroyed in a friendly fire incident, resulting in the loss of four lives.
• 1984 – Tetris, one of the best-selling video games of all time, is released.
• 1985 – The grave of "Wolfgang Gerhard" is opened in Embu, Brazil; the remains exumed 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.
• 1992 – The Fantoft Stave Church in Norway is destroyed by Varg Vikernes. This was the first in a string of church arsons in the Early Norwegian black metal scene
• 1993 – Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections.
• 2002 – Eastern Mediterranean Event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at 10 meters in 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 is 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 – In Gonzales v. Raich, the United States Supreme Court upholds a federal law banning cannabis, including medical marijuana.

Births

• 1236 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (d. 1283)
• 1296 – Władysław of Legnica, Polish duke (d. 1352)
• 1436 – Regiomontanus, German mathematician, astronomer, and bishop (d. 1476)
• 1553 – Bernardino Baldi, Italian mathematician (d. 1617)
• 1576 – Giovanni Diodati, Swiss-Italian clergyman (d. 1649)
• 1580 – Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer (d. 1667)
• 1599 – Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter (d. 1660)
• 1606 – Pierre Corneille, French playwright (d. 1684)
• 1622 – Claude-Jean Allouez, French-American missionary and explorer (d. 1689)
• 1661 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (d. 1756)
• 1699 – Johann Georg Estor, German historian and theorist (d. 1773)
• 1714 – Joseph I of Portugal, King of Portugal and the Algarves (d. 1777)
• 1735 – Anton Schweitzer, German composer (d. 1787)
• 1755 – Nathan Hale, American soldier (d. 1776)
• 1756 – John Trumbull, American painter (d. 1843)
• 1772 – Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1807)
• 1799 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian author and poet (d. 1837)
• 1807 – Thieu Tri, Vietnamese emperor (d. 1847)
• 1810 – Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin, German scholar (d. 1856)
• 1829 – Honinbo Shusaku, Japanese Go player (d. 1862)
• 1841 – Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author (d. 1910)
• 1844 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (d. 1905)
• 1850 – Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
• 1857 – Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1918)
• 1862 – Henry Newbolt, English historian, author, and poet (d. 1938)
• 1867 – David T. Abercrombie, American businessman, founder of Abercrombie & Fitch (d. 1931)
• 1868 – Robert Falcon Scott, English navy officer and explorer (d. 1912)
• 1872 – Alexandra Feodorovna, German wife of Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
• 1875 – Thomas Mann, German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
• 1878 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French lawyer and politician (d. 1956)
• 1886 – Tyler Brooke, American film actor (d. 1943)
• 1890 – Ted Lewis, American singer, clarinet, and bandleader (d. 1971)
• 1891 – Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Indian author (d. 1986)
• 1892 – Donald F. Duncan, Sr., American toy maker and businessman, founder of the Duncan Toys Company (d. 1971)
• 1896 – Henry Allingham, English soldier and super-centenarian (d. 2009)
• 1896 – Italo Balbo, Italian marshal and politician (d. 1940)
• 1898 – Ninette de Valois, Irish-English dancer, choreographer, and director (d. 2001)
• 1898 – Walter Abel, American actor (d. 1987)
• 1900 – Manfred Sakel, Ukrainian-American psychiatrist (d. 1957)
• 1901 – Jan Struther, English author (d. 1953)
• 1901 – Sukarno, Indonesian politician, 1st President of Indonesia (d. 1970)
• 1902 – Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1947)
• 1903 – Aram Khachaturian, Georgian-Armenian composer (d. 1978)
• 1906 – Max August Zorn, German mathematician (d. 1993)
• 1907 – Bill Dickey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1993)
• 1909 – Isaiah Berlin, Latvian-English historian and philosopher (d. 1997)
• 1913 – Carlo L. Golino, Italian-American educator (d. 1991)
• 1914 – H. Adams Carter, American mountaineer, journalist, and educator (d. 1995)
• 1915 – Vincent Persichetti, American pianist and composer (d. 1987)
• 1916 – Hamani Diori, Nigerien politician, 1st President of Niger (d. 1989)
• 1916 – Irene von Meyendorff, German film actress (d. 2001)
• 1917 – Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founder of the Tracinda Corporation
• 1918 – Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, English lieutenant and politician, 6th Secretary General of NATO
• 1919 – Austin M. Lee, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1923 – V. C. Andrews, American author (d. 1986)
• 1923 – Jean Pouliot, Canadian broadcaster (d. 2004)
• 1924 – John Ambler, English businessman (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Maxine Kumin, American poet and author
• 1925 – Hideji Ōtaki, Japanese actor (d. 2012)
• 1925 – Frank Chee Willeto, American politician, 4th Vice President of the Navajo Nation (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Torsten Andersson, Swedish painter (d. 2009)
• 1926 – Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
• 1929 – Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (d. 2005)
• 1929 – Don Hassler, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Anne Claire Poirier, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1932 – David Scott, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
• 1932 – Billie Whitelaw, English actress
• 1933 – Eli Broad, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded KB Home
• 1933 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Albert II of Belgium, King of the Belgians
• 1934 – Roy Innis, American activist
• 1936 – Levi Stubbs, American singer and actor (The Four Tops) (d. 2008)
• 1936 – A. Venkatesh Naik, Indian politician
• 1936 – D. Ramanaidu, Indian producer
• 1938 – Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza
• 1938 – Ryuchi Matsuda, Japanese author (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Louis Andriessen, Dutch pianist and composer
• 1939 – Gary U.S. Bonds, American singer-songwriter
• 1939 – Eddie Giacomin, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1939 – Marian Wright Edelman, American activist, founder of the Children's Defense Fund
• 1940 – Larry Lujack, American radio host
• 1940 – Willie John McBride, Irish rugby player, coach, and manager
• 1941 – Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-American journalist (d. 2012)
• 1943 – José de Jesús Gudiño Pelayo, Mexican jurist (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Ken Hatfield, American football player and coach
• 1943 – Jean-Claude Lord, Canadian director and screenwriter
• 1943 – Richard Smalley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
• 1944 – Monty Alexander, Jamaican pianist (Clue J & His Blues Blasters)
• 1944 – Edgar Froese, German pianist and songwriter (Tangerine Dream)
• 1944 – David Penhaligon, English politician (d. 1986)
• 1944 – Phillip Allen Sharp, American biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1944 – Tommie Smith, American runner and football player
• 1945 – David E. Bonior, American politician
• 1945 – David Dukes, American actor (d. 2000)
• 1945 – Arthur Shawcross, American serial killer (d. 2008)
• 1945 – Nikolai Velikov, Russian figure skater and coach
• 1946 – Tony Levin, American bass player and songwriter (King Crimson, Liquid Tension Experiment, and Bruford Levin Upper Extremities)
• 1947 – David Blunkett, English politician
• 1947 – Robert Englund, American actor and director
• 1947 – Ada Kok, Dutch swimmer
• 1948 – Richard Sinclair, English bass player (Caravan, The Wilde Flowers, Camel, and Hatfield and the North)
• 1949 – Ioannis Matzourakis, Greek footballer and manager
• 1949 – Holly Near, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1950 – Chantal Akerman, Belgian actress, director, and producer
• 1950 – John Wardley, English roller coaster designer
• 1951 – Marietta Giannakou, Greek politician
• 1951 – Noritake Takahara, Japanese race car driver
• 1951 – Dwight Twilley, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1952 – Harvey Fierstein, American actor and playwright
• 1952 – Jean Hamel, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1952 – Yukihiro Takahashi, Japanese drummer, producer, and actor (Yellow Magic Orchestra, Sadistic Mika Band, and Sketch Show)
• 1953 – Dimitris Avramopoulos, Greek politician, Minister for National Defence of Greece
• 1953 – June Yamagishi, Japanese-American guitarist (Papa Grows Funk and The Wild Magnolias)
• 1954 – Françoise Blanchard, French actress (d. 2013)
• 1954 – Cynthia Rylant, American author
• 1954 – Urve Tiidus, Estonian politician and television journalist
• 1954 – Władysław Żmuda, Polish footballer
• 1955 – Sandra Bernhard, American actress and singer
• 1956 – Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player
• 1956 – Bubbi Morthens, Icelandic singer-songwriter and guitarist (Utangarðsmenn and Egó)
• 1957 – Fred Arbinger, German footballer and manager
• 1957 – Mike Gatting, English cricketer, coach, and sportscaster
• 1957 – Balanadarajah Iyer, Sri Lankan poet and activist (d. 2004)
• 1957 – Oliver Mack, American basketball player
• 1957 – Christian Rach, German chef and author
• 1958 – Danny Webb, English actor
• 1959 – Jimmy Jam, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (The Time)
• 1959 – Josie Lawrence, English comedian and actress
• 1959 – Amanda Pays, English actress
• 1959 – Colin Quinn, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
• 1959 – David Schultz, American wrestler (d. 1996)
• 1960 – Lola Forner, Spanish actress
• 1960 – Jozef Pribilinec, Slovak race walker
• 1960 – Steve Vai, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Alcatrazz)
• 1961 – Tom Araya, Chilean-American singer-songwriter and bass player (Slayer)
• 1961 – Bill Bates, American football player
• 1961 – Nir Brand, Israeli conductor and composer
• 1963 – Eric Cantor, American lawyer and politician
• 1963 – Bernard Drainville, Canadian journalist, television host and politician
• 1963 – Wolfgang Drechsler, German scholar
• 1963 – Jason Isaacs, English actor and producer
• 1964 – Jay Bentley, American singer and bass player (Bad Religion)
• 1964 – Allison Fonte, American actress and pianist
• 1965 – Cam Neely, Canadian ice hockey player and actor
• 1966 – Tony Yeboah, Ghanaian footballer
• 1966 – Sean Yseult, American bass player (White Zombie and The Cramps)
• 1967 – Max Casella, American actor
• 1967 – Paul Giamatti, American actor
• 1968 – François Avard, Canadian screenwriter
• 1968 – Alan Licht, American guitarist, composer, and journalist
• 1969 – Erik Prince, American soldier and businessman, co-founded Academi
• 1970 – Evgeni Berzin, Russian cyclist
• 1970 – Sarah Dessen, American author
• 1970 – Albert Ferrer, Spanish footballer and coach
• 1970 – Ahmed Johnson, American wrestler
• 1970 – James Shaffer, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Korn, Fear and the Nervous System, and L.A.P.D.)
• 1972 – Natalie Morales, American journalist
• 1972 – Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer-songwriter (Lacuna Coil)
• 1973 – Patrick Rothfuss, American author
• 1974 – Uncle Kracker, American singer-songwriter
• 1974 – Danny Strong, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1974 – Sonya Walger, English-American actress
• 1975 – Cheer Chen, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1975 – Nina Kaczorowski, American actress and stuntwoman
• 1975 – Staci Keanan, American actress
• 1975 – Niklas Sundström, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1976 – Emilie-Claire Barlow, Canadian singer and actress
• 1976 – Geoff Rowley, English skateboarder
• 1976 – Vlado Georgiev, Serbian singer-songwriter
• 1977 – David Connolly, English-Irish footballer
• 1977 – Bryn Williams, Welsh chef
• 1978 – Carl Barât, English singer, guitarist, and actor (The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things, and The Chavs)
• 1978 – Judith Barsi, American actress (d. 1988)
• 1978 – Joy Enriquez, American singer and actress
• 1978 – Mariana Popova, Bulgarian singer
• 1978 – Andrew Reynolds, American skateboarder
• 1980 – Matt Belisle, American baseball player
• 1980 – Peter Mosely, American bass player (Yellowcard and Inspection 12)
• 1981 – Philip McGinley, English actor
• 1981 – Johnny Pacar, American actor
• 1983 – Gemma Bissix, English actress
• 1983 – Dale Cregan, English murderer
• 1983 – Michael Krohn-Dehli, Danish footballer
• 1983 – Gianna Michaels, American porn actress
• 1983 – Joe Rokocoko, Fijian rugby player
• 1984 – ByeAlex, Hungarian singer
• 1984 – Noor Sabri, Iraqi footballer
• 1984 – Shannon Stewart, American model
• 1984 – Jason Trusnik, American football player
• 1985 – Chris Henry, American football player
• 1985 – Sebastian Larsson, Swedish footballer
• 1985 – Drew McIntyre, Scottish wrestler
• 1985 – Heiki Nabi, Estonian wrestler
• 1985 – Nikolay Varbanov, Bulgarian basketball player
• 1985 – Martyn Irvine, Irish professional track cyclist
• 1986 – Bhavana, Indian actress
• 1986 – Justin Allgaier, American race car driver
• 1986 – Kim Hyun-joong, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (SS501)
• 1987 – Kyle Falconer, Scottish singer and guitarist (The View)
• 1987 – Daniel Logan, New Zealand actor
• 1987 – Rubin Okotie, Austrian footballer
• 1988 – Maria Alyokhina, Russian singer and activist (Pussy Riot)
• 1988 – Israel Dagg, New Zealand rugby player
• 1988 – Gideon Glick, American actor and singer
• 1988 – Stanislav Pedõk, Estonian footballer
• 1989 – Monice, Bosnian-Austrian singer and author
• 1989 – Paula Brancati, Canadian actress
• 1989 – Daniel Novikov, Estonian cyclist
• 1989 – Jelena Petrova, Estonian swimmer
• 1989 – Karl-Martin Rammo, Estonian sailor
• 1990 – Raisa Andriana, Indonesian singer
• 1990 – Vid Belec, Slovenian footballer
• 1990 – Mike G, American rapper (Odd Future)
• 1990 – Ryan Higa, American comedian and actor
• 1990 – Gavin Hoyte, English footballer
• 1990 – Ieva Lagūna, Latvian model
• 1990 – Anthony Rendon, American baseball player
• 1991 – Son Dong-woon, South Korean singer and dancer (Beast)
• 1992 – Hyuna, South Korean singer, dancer, and model (4minute, Wonder Girls, Trouble Maker)
• 1992 – Megumi Murakami, Japanese singer and actress (Cute and ZYX)
• 1995 – Julian Green, German-American footballer

Deaths

• 1134 – Norbert of Xanten, German bishop and saint (b. 1060)
• 1393 – Emperor Go-En'yū of Japan (b. 1359)
• 1480 – Vecchietta, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1412)
• 1548 – João de Castro, Portuguese navy officer and politician, (b. 1500)
• 1563 – Ikeda Nagamasa, Japanese commander (b. 1519)
• 1583 – Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese daimyo (b. 1556)
• 1730 – Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, French marshal (b. 1646)
• 1740 – Alexander Spotswood, Moroccan-American colonial and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia (b. 1676)
• 1784 – Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (b. 1741)
• 1799 – Patrick Henry, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Virginia (b. 1736)
• 1813 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Hôtel de Mademoiselle de Condé (b. 1739)
• 1832 – Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (b. 1748)
• 1840 – Marcellin Champagnat, French priest and saint, founded the Marist Brothers (b. 1789)
• 1843 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German poet (b. 1770)
• 1861 – Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Italian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1810)
• 1862 – Turner Ashby, American colonel (b. 1828)
• 1865 – William Quantrill, American captain (b. 1837)
• 1878 – Robert Stirling, Scottish clergyman and inventor, invented the stirling engine (b. 1790)
• 1881 – Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1820)
• 1891 – John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1815)
• 1916 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, 2nd President of the Republic of China (b. 1859)
• 1922 – Lillian Russell, American actress and singer (b. 1860)
• 1924 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (b. 1847)
• 1934 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian (b. 1864)
• 1935 – Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, English field marshal and politician, 12th Governor-General of Canada (b. 1862)
• 1941 – Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-American race car driver and businessman, founder of Chevrolet and Frontenac Motor Corporation (b. 1878)
• 1942 – Harald Tammer, Estonian journalist, weightlifter and athlete (b. 1899)
• 1943 – Pandelis Pouliopoulos, Greek politician (b. 1900)
• 1946 – Gerhart Hauptmann, German author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
• 1947 – James Agate, English author and critic (b. 1877)
• 1948 – Louis Lumière, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1864)
• 1951 – Olive Tell, American actress (b. 1894)
• 1954 – Fritz Kasparek, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1910)
• 1955 – Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter (b. 1875)
• 1961 – Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist (b. 1875)
• 1962 – Yves Klein, French painter (b. 1928)
• 1962 – Tom Phillis, Australian motorcycle road racer (b. 1934)
• 1968 – Randolph Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1911)
• 1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, American politician, 64th United States Attorney General (b. 1925)
• 1975 – Larry Blyden, American actor and game show host (b. 1925)
• 1976 – J. Paul Getty, American businessman, founded the Getty Oil Company (b. 1892)
• 1976 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1891)
• 1979 – Jack Haley, American actor and singer (b. 1898)
• 1980 – Ruth Aarons, American table tennis player and talent manager (b. 1918)
• 1982 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (b. 1905)
• 1983 – Hans Leip, German author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
• 1984 – A. Bertram Chandler, English-Australian author (b. 1912)
• 1991 – Stan Getz, American saxophonist (b. 1927)
• 1992 – Larry Riley, American actor (b. 1953)
• 1994 – Mark McManus, Scottish actor (b. 1935)
• 1994 – Barry Sullivan, American actor and director (b. 1912)
• 1995 – Savely Kramarov, Russian-American actor (b. 1934)
• 1996 – George Davis Snell, American geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
• 1999 – Anne Haddy, Australian actress (b. 1930)
• 2000 – Frédéric Dard, French author (b. 1921)
• 2002 – Robbin Crosby, American guitarist and songwriter (Ratt) (b. 1959)
• 2003 – Ken Grimwood, American author (b. 1944)
• 2003 – Dave Rowberry, English singer-songwriter and pianist (The Animals) (b. 1940)
• 2005 – Anne Bancroft, American actress and singer (b. 1931)
• 2005 – Dana Elcar, American actor and director (b. 1927)
• 2006 – Arnold Newman, American photographer (b. 1918)
• 2006 – Billy Preston, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band) (b. 1946)
• 2006 – Hilton Ruiz, American pianist (b. 1952)
• 2006 – Camille Sandorfy, Hungarian-Canadian chemist (b. 1920)
• 2009 – Jean Dausset, French immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
• 2009 – Mary Howard de Liagre, American actress (b. 1913)
• 2009 – Jim Owens, American football player and coach (b. 1927)
• 2010 – Marvin Isley, American singer-songwriter and bass player (The Isley Brothers and Isley-Jasper-Isley) (b. 1953)
• 2011 – Shrek, a New Zealand Merino sheep famous for its immense fleece after six years in hiding. (b. c. 1994)
• 2012 – Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1960)
• 2012 – Nolan Miller, American fashion designer (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Nemanja Nešić, Serbian rower (b. 1988)
• 2012 – Manuel Preciado Rebolledo, Spanish footballer and coach (b. 1957)
• 2012 – Agostinho José Sartori, Brazilian bishop (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Prince Tomohito of Mikasa (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Mykola Volosyanko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1972)
• 2012 – Li Wangyang, Chinese activist (b. 1950)
• 2013 – Erling Blöndal Bengtsson, Danish-American cellist (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Jerome Karle, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Elaine Laron, American songwriter (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Eugen Merzbacher, American physicist (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Tom Sharpe, English-Spanish author (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Maxine Stuart, American actress (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Malcolm Todd, English archaeologist (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Claude the Thaumaturge
  • Marcellin Champagnat
  • Norbert of Xanten
  • Ini Kopuria (Church of England, Episcopal Church)
  • June 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Memorial Day (South Korea)
• National Day of Sweden (Sweden)
• Normandy landings of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (D-Day), aka Operation Neptune, part of Operation Overlord (1944)
• Queensland Day (Queensland)
• Teachers' Day (Bolivia)
• Engineer's Day (Argentina)
• UN Russian Language Day (United Nations)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to June 6.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On this day in Canada