June 2

Events

455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks.

576 - Pope Benedict I|Benedict I becomes Pope.

657 - Pope Eugene I|St. Eugene I becomes Pope.

1615 - First Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.

1763 - Pontiac's Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison's attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.

1774 - Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act, requiring Colonial America|American colonists to let Kingdom of Great Britain|British soldiers into their homes, is reenacted.

1780 - The Derby horse race, was first held.

1793 - Jean Paul Marat recites the names of 29 people to the France|French National Convention. Almost all of these are guillotined, followed by 17,000 more over the course of the next year during the Reign of Terror.

1800 - First smallpox vaccination in North America, at Trinity, Newfoundland.

1835 - Phineas Taylor Barnum|P.T. Barnum and his circus begins first tour of the United States.

1848 - Slavic congress in Prague begins.

1855 - The Portland Rum Riot occurs in Portland, Maine.

1865 - American Civil War ends - Forces under Confederate States of America|Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith surrender at Galveston, Texas, becoming the last to do so.

1886 - U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House, becoming the only president to wed in the executive mansion.

1896 - Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent for his newest invention: the radio.

1897 - Mark Twain, responding to rumors that he was dead, is quoted by the ''New York Journal'' as saying, "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

1909 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.

1924 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.

1925 - Wally Pipp, first baseman of the New York Yankees, asks for a day off due to a headache. He is replaced in the lineup by Lou Gehrig, who also starts the next 2,128 consecutive games.

1935 - Baseballer Babe Ruth announces he is going to retire from the sport.

1946 - Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum Italians decide to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After this referendum the king of Italy Humbert II of Italy | Umberto II di Savoia was exiled.

1953 - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the first to be televised.

1955 - Soviet Union|USSR and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.

1965 - Vietnam War: The first contingent of Australian combat troops arrives in South Vietnam.

1966 - Surveyor program: ''Surveyor 1'' lands in Oceanus Procellarumon the Moon, becoming the first United States|US spacecraft to soft land on another world.

1967 - Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into riots, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group Movement 2 June.

1969 - In Ottawa, Canada the National Arts Center opens its doors to the public for the first time.

1979 - Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.

1985 - Serial killer Leonard Lake is arrested near San Francisco, California for shoplifting.

1985 - R.J. Reynolds and Nabisco propose a merger

1995 - United States Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady's F-16 is shot down over Bosnia while patrolling the NATO no-fly zone.

1997 - Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing|terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1998 - Voters in California approved California Proposition 227, abolishing that state's bilingual education program.

1998 - The CIH virus|CIH computer virus is discovered in Taiwan.

1999 - The Bhutan Broadcasting Service finally brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time.

2003 - Thousands of defeated Iraqi troops march on the U.S. occupation headquarters in Baghdad, demanding pay.

2004 - The first episode of Ken Jennings's incredible reign as ''Jeopardy!'' champion airs. He starts out with $37,201 and would go on to win more than two million dollars.

Births

926 - Murakami, Emperor of Japan (d. 967)

1535 - Pope Leo XI (d. 1605)

1740 - Marquis de Sade, French author (d. 1814)

1773 - John Randolph of Roanoke|John Randolph, U.S. Senator from Virginia (d. 1833)

1835 - Pope Pius X (d. 1914)

1840 - Thomas Hardy, English poet, novelist (d. 1928)

1857 - Edward Elgar, English composer (d. 1934)

1857 - Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)

1863 - Felix Weingartner, Yugoslavian conductor (d. 1942)

1865 - George Lohmann, English cricketer (d. 1901)

1887 - Howard Johnson (lyricist)|Howard Johnson, American songwriter (d. 1941)

1891 - Thurman Arnold, American attorney and jurist (d. 1969)

1899 - Lotte Reiniger, German film director (d. 1981)

1904 - Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (d. 1984)

1907 - Dorothy West, American writer (d. 1998)

1913 - Barbara Pym, English novelist (d. 1980)

1917 - Heinz Sielmann, German photographer and filmmaker

1920 - Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Polish critic

1920 - Tex Schramm, American football team president and general manager (d. 2003)

1922 - Charlie Sifford, American golfer

1929 - Norton Juster, American author and architect

1935 - Carol Shields, American-born novelist (d. 2003)

1936 - Sally Kellerman, American actress

1940 - King Constantine II of Greece

1941 - Stacy Keach, American actor

1941 - Charlie Watts, English musician (The Rolling Stones)

1942 - Barry Levinson, American producer

1943 - Ilayaraja, Music Composer,Tamil Nadu, India

1944 - Marvin Hamlisch, American composer and musician

1946 - Peter Sutcliffe, English murderer

1948 - Jerry Mathers, American actor

1949 - Heather Couper, British astronomer

1949 - Frank Rich, American theater critic and political columnist

1951 - Larry Robinson, Canadian hockey player

1953 - Craig Stadler, American golfer

1954 - Dennis Haysbert, American actor

1955 - Dana Carvey, American actor and comedian

1957 - King Lizzard, Las Vegas Entertainer

1958 - Lex Luger|Lawrence Pfohl, American professional wrestler

1959 - Lydia Lunch, American singer

1960 - Kyle Petty, American race car driver

1960 - Tony Hadley, English Singer

1962 - Clyde Drexler, American basketball player

1965 - Mark Waugh, Australian cricketer

1965 - Steve Waugh, Australian cricketer

1971 - Anthony Montgomery, American actor

1972 - Wayne Brady, American actor and comedian

1974 - Gata Kamsky, American chess player

1976 - Earl Boykins, American basketball player

1978 - Justin Long, American actor

1978 - A.J. Styles, American professional wrestler

1982 - Andres Nuiamäe, Estonian soldier (killed in action) (d. 2004)

1982 - Jewel Staite, Canadian actress

1989 - Freddy Adu, Ghanaian footballer

Deaths

829 - Saint Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 758)

1418 - Katherine of Lancaster, queen of Henry III of Castile

1567 - Shane O'Neill, Irish chieftain

1581 - James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, regent of Scotland

1693 - John Wildman, English soldier and politician

1701 - Madeleine de Scudéry, French writer (b. 1607)

1716 - Ogata Korin, Japanese painter

1754 - Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish religious dissenter (b. 1680)

1761 - Jonas Alströmer, Swedish industrialist (b. 1685)

1785 - Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, French mathematician (b. 1713)

1876 - Hristo Botev, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1848)

1882 - Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian revolutionarist (b. 1807)

1901 - George Leslie Mackay, Canadian missionary (b. 1844)

1933 - Frank Jarvis, American athlete (b. 1878)

1941 - Lou Gehrig, baseball player (b. 1903)

1956 - Jean Hersholt, Danish actor and humanitarian (b. 1886)

1961 - George S. Kaufman, American playwright (b. 1889)

1962 - Vita Sackville-West, English writer, and gardener (b. 1892)

1967 - Benno Ohnesorg, German student of Romance languages and literature (b. 1940)

1970 - Bruce McLaren, New Zealand car racer, designer, and manufacturer (b. 1937)

1970 - Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian poet (b. 1888)

1982 - Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani politician (b. 1904)

1987 - Sammy Kaye, American bandleader (b. 1910)

1987 - Andres Segovia, Spanish guitarist (b. 1893)

1990 - Rex Harrison, English actor (b. 1908)

1992 - Phillip Dunne, American film director (b. 1908)

1996 - Ray Combs, American game show host and comedian (b. 1956)

1996 - Leon Garfield, English children's author (b. 1921)

1998 - Sylvester Ritter, American professional wrestler (b. 1953)

2001 - Imogene Coca, American actress (b. 1908)

2001 - Joey Maxim, American boxer (b. 1922)

2003 - Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (b. 1918)

2005 - Samir Kassir, Lebanese journalist and teacher (b. 1950)

2005 - George Mikan, American basketball player (b. 1924)

Holidays and observances

The Greek Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Nicephorus' death - ''see also'' March 13

Italy's ''Festa della Repubblica'' (Republic Day), which commemorates the Birth of the Italian Republic|birth of the Italy | Repubblica Italiana and the end of the monarchy.

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/2 ---- June 1 - June 3 - May 2 - July 2 -- historical anniversaries|listing of all days