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This day in history

This day in history: 2 June

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

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Key facts

361 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 2 June.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2023: A collision between two passenger trains and a parked freight train near the city of Balasor, Odisha in eastern India, results in 296 deaths and more than 1,200 people injured.

Holidays and observances

Alberti Day (New York City, USA)

Children's Day (North Korea)

Christian feast day: Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church)

Christian feast day: Alexander (martyr)

Christian feast day: Blessed Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs from Sandomierz

Christian feast day: Elmo

Christian feast day: Felix of Nicosia

Christian feast day: June 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Marcellinus and Peter

Christian feast day: Martyrs of Lyon, including Blandina

Christian feast day: Pope Eugene I

Christian feast day: Pothinus

Events

2023A collision between two passenger trains and a parked freight train near the city of Balasor, Odisha in eastern India, results in 296 deaths and more than 1,200 people injured.

2022Following a request from Ankara, the United Nations officially changes the name of the Republic of Turkey in the organization from what was previously known as "Turkey" to "Türkiye".

2014Telangana officially becomes the 29th state of India, formed from ten districts of northwestern Andhra Pradesh.

2012Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

2010Twelve people are killed and eleven others injured in a spree shooting in Cumbria, England, before the perpetrator takes his own life.

2003Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

1998Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-91, the final mission of the Shuttle-Mir program.

1997In Denver, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died. He was executed four years later.

1990The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 66 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12.

1983After an emergency landing because of an in-flight fire, twenty-three passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 797 are killed when a flashover occurs as the plane's doors open. Because of this incident, numerous new safety regulations are put in

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

1967Luis Monge is executed in Colorado's gas chamber, in the last pre-Furman execution in the United States.

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

1966Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.

1964The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed.

1962During the FIFA World Cup, police intervene multiple times in fights between Chilean and Italian players in one of the most violent games in football history.

1958Aeronaves de México Flight 111 crashes on approach to Guadalajara International Airport, killing 45.

1955The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between the two countries, discontinued since 1948.

1953The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey becomes the first British coronation, and one of the first major international events, to be televised.

1946Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum, King Umberto II of Italy is exiled.

1941World War II: German paratroopers murder Greek civilians in the villages of Kondomari and Alikianos.

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

1919Anarchists simultaneously set off bombs in eight separate U.S. cities.

1910Charles Rolls, a co-founder of Rolls-Royce Limited, becomes the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane.

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

1896Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his wireless telegraph.

1878Nobiling assassination attempt by anarchist Karl Nobiling targeting the German Kaiser, Wilhelm I.

1866The Fenians defeat Canadian forces at Ridgeway and Fort Erie, but the raids end soon after.

1848The Slavic Congress opens in Prague.

1805Napoleonic Wars: A Franco-Spanish fleet recaptures from the British the island of Diamond Rock, which guards the entrance to the bay leading to Fort-de-France, Martinique.

1793French Revolution: François Hanriot, leader of the Parisian National Guard, arrests 22 Girondists selected by Jean-Paul Marat, setting the stage for the Reign of Terror.

1780The anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in London leave an estimated 300 to 700 people dead.

1774Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act of 1774 is enacted, allowing a governor in colonial America to house British soldiers in uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings if suitable quarters are not provided.

1763Pontiac'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.

1692Bridget Bishop is the first person to be tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts; she is found guilty the same day and hanged on June 10.

1676Franco-Dutch War: France ensures the supremacy of its naval fleet for the remainder of the war with its victory in the Battle of Palermo.

1615The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.

1608The Colony of Virginia gets a charter, extending borders from "sea to sea".

1259Wedding of Manfred, King of Sicily, and Byzantine princess Helena Angelina Doukaina.

1098First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city; the second siege began five days later.

Born on this day

2002Fonua Pole, New Zealand rugby league player

2002Madison Hu, American actress

2001Kysaiah Pickett, Australian rules footballer

2000Jay Idzes, Indonesian footballer

1999Campbell Graham, Australian rugby league player

1997Scott Wozniak, American YouTuber

1996Morissette, Filipina singer-songwriter

1993Adam Taggart, Australian footballer

1992Pajtim Kasami, Swiss footballer

1990Dane Rampe, Australian rules footballer

1989Steve Smith, Australian cricketer

1988Awkwafina, American actress, rapper, and comedian

1988Sergio Agüero, Argentine footballer

1988Staniliya Stamenova, Bulgarian canoeist

1987Angelo Mathews, Sri Lankan cricketer

1987Clayton Bartolo, Maltese politician

1987Maryka Holtzhausen, South African netball player

1987Matthew Koma, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1987Sonakshi Sinha, Indian actress

1987Yoann Huget, French rugby player

1986Todd Carney, Australian rugby league player

1985Miyuki Sawashiro, Japanese voice actress and singer

1985Rhett Bomar, American football player

1984Feleti Mateo, Australian-Tongan rugby league player

1984Jack Afamasaga, New Zealand rugby league player

1983Chris Higgins, American ice hockey player

1983Toni Livers, Swiss skier

1982Jewel Staite, Canadian actress

1981Chin-hui Tsao, Taiwanese baseball player

1981Nikolay Davydenko, Russian tennis player

1980Abby Wambach, American soccer player and coach

1980Bobby Simmons, American basketball player

1980Fabrizio Moretti, Brazilian-American drummer

1980Richard Skuse, English rugby player

1980Tomasz Wróblewski, Polish bass player and songwriter

1979Butterfly Boucher, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1979Morena Baccarin, Brazilian-American actress

1978Dominic Cooper, English actor

1978Justin Long, American actor

1978Nikki Cox, American actress

Died on this day

2024David Levy, Israeli politician (born 1937)

2024Janis Paige, American actress and singer (born 1922)

2024Larry Allen, American football player (born 1971)

2024Rob Burrow, English rugby league footballer (born 1982)

2015Fernando de Araújo, East Timorese politician, President of East Timor (born 1963)

2015Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926)

2014Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (born 1925)

2014Ivica Brzić, Serbian footballer and manager (born 1941)

2014Nikolay Khrenkov, Russian bobsledder (born 1984)

2013Chen Xitong, Chinese politician, 8th Mayor of Beijing (born 1930)

2013Mandawuy Yunupingu, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1956)

2013Mario Bernardi, Canadian pianist and conductor (born 1930)

2012Adolfo Calero, Nicaraguan businessman and political activist (born 1931)

2012Kathryn Joosten, American actress (born 1939)

2012LeRoy Ellis, American basketball player (born 1940)

2012Richard Dawson, English-American soldier, actor, television personality, and game show host (born 1932)

2009David Eddings, American author (born 1931)

2008Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1928)

2008Mel Ferrer, American actor (born 1917)

2007Huang Ju, Chinese engineer and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1938)

2007Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (born 1949)

2006Keith Smith, English rugby player and coach (born 1952)

2005Gunder Gundersen, Norwegian skier (born 1930)

2005Lucien Cliche, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1916)

2005Melita Norwood, English civil servant and spy (born 1912)

2005Samir Kassir, Lebanese journalist and educator (born 1950)

2003Alma Ricard, Canadian broadcaster and philanthropist (born 1906)

2003Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (born 1918)

2002Hugo van Lawick, Dutch director and photographer (born 1937)

2001Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (born 1908)

Quote of the day

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Seneca

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

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