June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 194 days remaining until the end of the year. On leap years, this day usually marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere.
[edit] Events
- 451 – Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.
- 1214 – The University of Oxford receives its charter.
- 1605 – After only three months as tsar, 16-year-old Feodor II of Russia is assassinated.
- 1631 – The sack of Baltimore: the Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.
- 1652 – Tarhoncu Ahmet Paşa is appointed grand vezir of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1685 – Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater.
- 1756 – A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
- 1782 – The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.
- 1787 – Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention to call the government the United States.
- 1789 – Deputies of the French Third Estate take the Tennis Court Oath.
- 1819 – The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. She is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail.
- 1837 – Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.
- 1840 – Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.
- 1862 – Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated.
- 1863 – American Civil War: West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
- 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
- 1887 – Victoria Terminus, the busiest railway station in India, opens in Bombay.
- 1893 – Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.
- 1895 – The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.
- 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China.
- 1919 – 150 die at the Teatro Yaguez fire, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
- 1921 – Workers of Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, begin a four-month strike.
- 1942 – The Holocaust: Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 1943 – The Detroit Race Riot breaks out and continues for three more days.
- 1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot".
- 1944 – Continuation war: the Soviet Union demands an unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses.
- 1948 – Toast of the Town, later The Ed Sullivan Show, makes its television debut.
- 1956 – A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people.
- 1959 – A rare June hurricane strikes Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35.
- 1960 – The Mali Federation gains independence from France (it later splits into Mali and Senegal).
- 1963 – The so-called "red telephone" is established between the Soviet Union and the United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1972 – Watergate scandal: An 18½-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.
- 1973 – Ezeiza massacre in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Snipers fire upon left-wing Peronists. At least 13 are killed and more than 300 are injured.
- 1979 – ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
- 1982 – The Argentine base (Corbeta Uruguay) on Southern Thule surrenders to Royal Marine commandos in the final action of the Falklands War.
- 1990 – Asteroid Eureka is discovered.
- 1991 – The German Bundestag votes to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin.
- 2003 – The WikiMedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida.
- 2009 – During the Iranian election protests, the death of Neda Agha-Soltan is captured on video and spreads virally on the Internet, making it "probably the most widely witnessed death in human history".
[edit] Births
- 1005 – Ali az-Zahir, Egyptian caliph (d. 1036)
- 1389 – John, Duke of Bedford, English noble (d. 1435)
- 1469 – Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Italian noblewoman (d. 1494)
- 1485 – Astorre III Manfredi, Italian provencial ruler (d. 1502)
- 1566 – Sigismund III Vasa King of Poland, King of Sweden (d. 1632)
- 1583 – Jacob De la Gardie, Swedish soldier and statesman (d. 1652)
- 1634 – Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy, French noble (d. 1675)
- 1642 (O.S.) – George Hickes, English theologian and writer (d. 1715)
- 1647 – John George III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1691)
- 1699 – William Gustav of Anhalt-Dessau, German prince (d. 1737)
- 1717 – Jacques Saly, French sculptor (d. 1776)
- 1723 – Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1816)
- 1723 – Theophilus Lindsey, English theologian (d. 1808)
- 1733 – Betty Washington, American sister of George Washington (d. 1797)
- 1737 – Tokugawa Ieharu, Japanese shogun (d. 1786)
- 1754 – Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, German noblewoman (d. 1832)
- 1756 – Joseph Martin Kraus, Swedish composer (d. 1792)
- 1761 – Jacob Hübner, German entomologist (d. 1826)
- 1763 – Wolfe Tone, Irish patriot (d. 1798)
- 1770 – Moses Waddel, American educator, minister and author (d. 1840)
- 1771 – Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist (d. 1820)
- 1771 – Hermann von Boyen, German army officer (d. 1848)
- 1778 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac, French politician (d. 1832)
- 1786 – Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French poet (d. 1859)
- 1796 – Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso, Italian cardinal (d. 1878)
- 1808 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (d. 1888)
- 1813 – Joseph Autran, French poet (d. 1877)
- 1819 – Jacques Offenbach, German-born French composer (d. 1880)
- 1855 – Sir Richard Lodge, English historian (d. 1936)
- 1858 – Charles W. Chesnutt, American writer (d. 1932)
- 1860 – Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, footballer, and coach (d. 1937)
- 1861 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1947)
- 1862 – Marco Praga, Italian playwright (d. 1929)
- 1870 – Georges Dufrénoy, French painter (d. 1943)
- 1872 – George Carpenter, American Salvation Army general (d. 1948)
- 1875 – Reginald Punnett, British geneticist (d. 1967)
- 1884 – Johannes Heinrich Schultz, German psychiatrist (d. 1970)
- 1885 – Andrzej Gawroński, Polish scholar (d. 1927)
- 1887 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter and writer (d. 1948)
- 1889 – John S. Paraskevopoulos, Greek-born South African astronomer (d. 1951)
- 1891 – John A. Costello, Irish politician and Attorney General (d. 1976)
- 1891 – Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Italian soprano (d. 1951)
- 1893 – Wilhelm Zaisser, German politician (d. 1958)
- 1894 – Lloyd Hall, American chemist (d. 1971)
- 1896 – Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian conductor (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Elisabeth Hauptmann, German writer (d. 1973)
- 1899 – Jean Moulin, French resistance leader (d. 1943)
- 1905 – Lillian Hellman, American playwright (d. 1984)
- 1907 – Jimmy Driftwood, American songwriter and musician (d. 1998)
- 1908 – Billy Werber, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1909 – Errol Flynn, Australian actor (d. 1959)
- 1911 – Gail Patrick, American actress (d. 1980)
- 1912 – Anthony Buckeridge, English author (d. 2004)
- 1915 – Dick Reynolds, Australian rules footballer and coach (d. 2002)
- 1915 – Terence Young, British film director (d. 1994)
- 1916 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian politician (d. 1973)
- 1916 – Johnny Morris, British children's presenter (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Igor Śmiałowski, Polish actor (d. 2006)
- 1918 – George Lynch, American auto racer (d. 1997)
- 1918 – Zoltán Sztáray, Hungarian writer
- 1920 – Hans Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater
- 1921 – Byron Farwell, American military historian (d. 1999)
- 1923 – Bjørn Watt-Boolsen, Danish actor (d. 1998)
- 1924 – Chet Atkins, American guitar player and producer (d. 2001)
- 1924 – Fritz Koenig, German sculptor
- 1924 – Audie Murphy, American Medal of Honor recipient and actor (d. 1971)
- 1926 – Rehavam Ze'evi, Israeli general and politician (d. 2001)
- 1928 – Eric Dolphy, American jazz musician (d. 1964)
- 1928 – Martin Landau, American actor
- 1928 – Jean-Marie Le Pen, French politician
- 1928 – Asrat Woldeyes, Ethiopian politician
- 1929 – Anne Weale, British writer (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish artist
- 1930 – Paul Pender, American boxer (d. 2003)
- 1931 – Olympia Dukakis, American actress
- 1931 – James Tolkan, American actor
- 1932 – Robert Rozhdestvensky, Russian poet (d. 1994)
- 1933 – Danny Aiello, American actor
- 1934 – Wendy Craig, English actress
- 1934 – Rossana Podestà, Italian actress
- 1934 – Yuri Vizbor, Russian poet (d. 1984)
- 1935 – Len Dawson, American football player
- 1935 – Neal Knox, American activist (d. 2005)
- 1936 – Billy Guy, American singer (The Coasters) (d. 2002)
- 1937 – Jerry Keller, American pop singer and songwriter
- 1938 – Mickie Most, British record producer (d. 2003)
- 1939 – Ramakant Desai, Indian cricketer (d. 1998)
- 1940 – Eugen Drewermann, German theologian
- 1940 – John Mahoney, English actor
- 1941 – Stephen Frears, English film director
- 1941 – Dieter Mann, German actor
- 1941 – Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut
- 1942 – Richard I. Neal, American general
- 1942 – Brian Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys)
- 1944 – Cheryl Holdridge, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1944 – John McCook, American actor
- 1944 – David Roper, English actor
- 1945 – Anne Murray, Canadian singer
- 1946 – Xanana Gusmão, President of East Timor
- 1946 – Bob Vila, American television host
- 1946 – Lars Vilks, Swedish artist
- 1946 – Andre Watts, American pianist
- 1947 – Dolores Brooks, American singer (The Crystals)
- 1947 – Candy Clark, American actress
- 1947 – Josef Clemens, German religious official
- 1947 – Ivo Milazzo, Italian comic book artist
- 1948 – Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru
- 1949 – Alan Longmuir, Scottish bass guitarist (Bay City Rollers)
- 1949 – Lionel Richie, American musician (The Commodores)
- 1950 – Nouri Al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq
- 1951 – Tress MacNeille, American voice actress
- 1951 – Paul Muldoon, Northern Irish poet
- 1951 – Bill Simon, American businessman and politician
- 1952 – John Goodman, American actor
- 1952 – Vince Gotera, American poet
- 1952 – Larry Riley, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1952 – Vikram Seth, Indian poet
- 1953 – Robert Crais, American mystery writer
- 1953 – Ulrich Mühe, German actor (d. 2007)
- 1953 – Raúl Ramírez, Mexican tennis player
- 1953 – Willy Rampf, German engineer and racing team executive
- 1954 – Michael Anthony, American musician (Van Halen)
- 1954 – Allan Lamb, South African-born English cricketer
- 1954 – Miles O'Keeffe, American actor
- 1954 – Ilan Ramon, Israeli astronaut (d. 2003)
- 1956 – Peter Reid, English footballer
- 1957 – Koko B. Ware, American wrestler
- 1958 – Ron Hornaday, Jr., American race car driver
- 1958 – Chuck Wagner, American actor
- 1960 – John Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
- 1963 – Amir Derakh, American musician (Orgy)
- 1963 – Don West, American wrestling announcer
- 1964 – Pierfrancesco Chili, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1964 – Silke Möller, German track and field athlete
- 1967 – Nicole Kidman, Australian-American actress
- 1968 – Robert Rodriguez, American film director
- 1969 – Peter Paige, American actor
- 1969 – Misha Verbitsky, Russian mathematician
- 1969 – MaliVai Washington, American tennis player
- 1970 – Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco
- 1970 – Andrea Nahles, German politician
- 1970 – Bruce Woodcock, American computer games analyst
- 1971 – Josh Lucas, American actor
- 1971 – Josh Kronfeld, New Zealander rugby union footballer
- 1971 – Rodney Rogers, American basketball player
- 1971 – Jeordie White, American musician (Marilyn Manson)
- 1972 – Alexis Alexoudis, Greek footballer
- 1972 – Paul Bako, American baseball player
- 1973 – Chino Moreno, American musician (Deftones)
- 1974 – Attila Czene, Hungarian swimmer
- 1974 – Tuta, Brazilian footballer
- 1975 – Daniel Zítka, Czech footballer
- 1976 – Juliano Belletti, Brazilian footballer
- 1976 – Jerome Fontamillas, American musician (Switchfoot)
- 1976 – Carlos Lee, Panamanian baseball player
- 1976 – Rob Mackowiak, American baseball player
- 1977 – Gordan Giriček, Croatian basketball player
- 1978 – LaVar Arrington, American football player
- 1978 – Quinton Jackson, American mixed martial artist
- 1978 – Frank Lampard, English footballer
- 1978 – Jan-Paul Saeijs, Dutch footballer
- 1978 – Bobby Seay, American baseball player
- 1979 – Charlotte Hatherley, English guitarist (Ash)
- 1979 – Charles Howell III, American professional golfer
- 1979 – Cael Sanderson, American Olympic freestyle wrestler
- 1980 – Carlo Festuccia, Italian rugby union footballer
- 1980 – Tony Lovato, American singer and guitarist (Mest)
- 1980 – Franco Semioli, Italian footballer
- 1980 – Fabian Wegmann, German road racing cyclist
- 1981 – Angerfist, Dutch musician
- 1981 – Ardian Gashi, Albanian-Norwegian footballer
- 1982 – Aleksei Berezutski, Russian footballer
- 1982 – Vasili Berezutski, Russian footballer
- 1982 – Example, British rapper
- 1982 – George Forsyth, Peruvian footballer
- 1982 – April Ross, American beach volleyball player
- 1983 – Josh Childress, American basketball player
- 1983 – Darren Sproles, American football player
- 1983 – Cherrie Ying, Hong Kong actress
- 1984 – Hassan Adams, American basketball player
- 1984 – Neetu Chandra, Indian actress
- 1984 – Dennis Malura, German footballer
- 1985 – Matt Flynn, American football player
- 1985 – Kai Hesse, German footballer
- 1985 – Souleymane Mamam, Togolese footballer
- 1985 – Darko Miličić, Serbian basketball player
- 1985 – Halil Savran, German footballer
- 1986 – Dreama Walker, American actress
- 1987 – Carsten Ball, Australian tennis player
- 1988 – Shefali Chowdhury, Welsh actress
- 1989 – Christopher Mintz-Plasse, American actor
- 1989 – Terrelle Pryor, American football player
- 1989 – Javier Pastore, Argentine footballer
- 1991 – Rick ten Voorde, Dutch soccer player
- 1997 – Maria Lark, Russian-born American actress
[edit] Deaths
- 451 – Theodorid, King of the Visigoths
- 840 – Louis the Pious, King of the Franks, Holy Roman emperor (b. 778)
- 885 – Bernard Plantapilosa, Count of Auvergne (b. 841)
- 1176 – Mikhail of Vladimir, Russian prince
- 1597 – Willem Barentsz, Dutch navigator (b. 1550)
- 1605 – Tsar Feodor II of Russia (b. 1589)
- 1668 – Heinrich Roth, German scholar (b. 1620)
- 1776 – Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and manufacturer (b. 1704)
- 1787 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German composer (b. 1723)
- 1800 – Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, German mathematician (b. 1719)
- 1810 – Count Axel von Fersen the Younger, Swedish statesman (b. 1755)
- 1820 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentine lawyer and politician (b. 1770)
- 1837 – King William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1765)
- 1840 – Pierre Claude François Daunou, French statesman (b. 1761)
- 1847 – Juan Larrea, Argentine economist (b. 1782)
- 1869 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese special police vice-commander (b. 1835)
- 1870 – Jules de Goncourt, French writer (b. 1830)
- 1872 – Elie Frédéric Forey, French general (b. 1804)
- 1875 – Joseph Meek, American mountain man (b. 1810)
- 1888 – Johannes Zukertort, Polish-born chess master (b. 1842)
- 1906 – John Clayton Adams, British landscape artist (b. 1840)
- 1925 – Josef Breuer, Austrian psychologist (b. 1842)
- 1929 – Emmanuel Benakis, Greek merchant and politician (b. 1843)
- 1945 – Luís Fernando de Orleans y Borbón, Spanish prince (b. 1888)
- 1945 – Bruno Frank, German author (b. 1878)
- 1947 – Bugsy Siegel, American crime figure (b. 1906)
- 1952 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (b. 1898)
- 1958 – Kurt Alder, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
- 1963 – Raphaël Salem, Greek mathematician (b. 1898)
- 1965 – Bernard Baruch, American presidential advisor and financier (b. 1870)
- 1966 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest, physicist and astronomer (b. 1894)
- 1972 – Howard Johnson, American businessman (b. 1897)
- 1974 – Horace Lindrum, Australian snooker and billiards player (b. 1912)
- 1976 – Lou Klein, American baseball player (b. 1918)
- 1978 – Mark Robson, Canadian director and producer (b. 1913)
- 1984 – Estelle Winwood, English actress (b. 1883)
- 1995 – Emil Cioran, Romanian-born French philosopher (b. 1911)
- 1996 – Jim Ellison, American musician (Material Issue) (b. 1964)
- 1997 – Lawrence Payton, American singer (The Four Tops) (b. 1938)
- 1998 – Conrad Schumann, East German border guard (b. 1942)
- 1999 – Clifton Fadiman, American author (b. 1902)
- 2002 – Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (b. 1905)
- 2002 – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (b. 1916)
- 2003 – Bob Stump, American politician (b. 1927)
- 2005 – Larry Collins, American writer (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Jack Kilby, American engineer, Nobel laureate (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Billy Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Trevor Henry, New Zealand justice (b. 1902)
- 2009 – Neda Agha-Soltan, Iranian student (b. 1982)
- 2010 – Roberto Rosato, Italian footballer (b. 1943)
- 2010 – Harry Blackmore Whittington, British palaeontologist (b. 1916)
- 2011 – Ryan Dunn, American actor (b. 1977)
[edit] Holidays and observances
