On this day in history

June 2

27 births · 8 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Coronation of Elizabeth II

73 years ago

Born this day

1835

Pius X

Died aged 79

Oldest record

1571st

Sack of Rome

event anniversary

Famous births27

1448 · 578 yrs

Domenico Ghirlandaio

Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio (also spelt as Ghirlandajo), was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 45

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Photo: Domenico Ghirlandaio · Public domain

1535 · 491 yrs

Leo XI

Pope Leo XI (Italian: Leone XI; 2 June 1535 – 27 April 1605), born Alessandro di Ottaviano de' Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 April 1605 to his death, on 27 April 1605. His pontificate is one of the briefest in history, lasting under a month.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 69

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Photo: anonymous · Public domain

1740 · 286 yrs

Marquis de Sade

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( SA(H)D; French:; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist, and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy, and pornography.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 74

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Photo: Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo · Public domain

1803 · 223 yrs

Michael Glinka

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Russian: Михаил Иванович Глинка, romanized: Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, IPA:; 1 June 1804 – 15 February 1857) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country and is often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 53

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Photo: Sergey Lvovich Levitsky · Public domain

1835 · 191 yrs

Pius X

Pope Pius X (Italian: Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 until his death in August 1914. He opposed modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, and promoted liturgical reforms and Thomist scholastic theology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 79

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Photo: Ernest Walter Histed · Public domain

1840 · 186 yrs

Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist, poet and architect. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wordsworth.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 87

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Photo: Bain News Service, publisher · Public domain

1857 · 169 yrs

Karl Adolph Gjellerup

Karl Adolph Gjellerup (Danish:; 2 June 1857 – 11 October 1919) was a Danish poet and novelist who together with his compatriot Henrik Pontoppidan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1917. He is associated with the Modern Breakthrough period of Scandinavian literature.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 62

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1857 · 169 yrs

Edward Elgar

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 76

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Photo: not stated · Public domain

1882 · 144 yrs

Ion Antonescu

Ion Antonescu (Romanian:; 14 June 1882 – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 144

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Photo: Unknown author · Public domain

1904 · 122 yrs

Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller ( WYSSE-mul-ər; born Johann Peter Weißmüller, German:; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He set world records alongside winning five gold medals in the Olympics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 122

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Photo: MGM studio · Public domain

1923 · 103 yrs

Lloyd Shapley

Lloyd Stowell Shapley (June 2, 1923 – March 12, 2016) was an American mathematician and Nobel Memorial Prize-winning economist. He contributed to the fields of mathematical economics and especially game theory.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 103

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Photo: Konrad Jacobs, Erlangen, Copyright is with MFO · CC BY-SA 2.0 de

1930 · 96 yrs

Pete Conrad

Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999) was an American NASA astronaut, aeronautical engineer, naval officer, aviator, and test pilot who commanded the Apollo 12 mission, on which he became the third person to walk on the Moon.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpaceWould be 96

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Photo: NASA · Public domain

Showing 12 of 27

Famous deaths8

1701 · 325 yrs

Madeleine de Scudéry

Madeleine de Scudéry (French:; 15 November 1607 – 2 June 1701), often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry, was a French writer. Her works demonstrate such comprehensive knowledge of ancient history that it is suspected she had received instruction in Greek and Latin.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 93

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Photo: Unidentified painter · Public domain

1882 · 144 yrs

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi (Italian:; 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. He contributed to the Unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 74

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Photo: In album: Cartes-de-visite portraits of U.S. Army officers, children, and others, p. 15, right. · Public domain

1886 · 140 yrs

Alexander Ostrovsky

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; 12 April 1823 – 14 June 1886) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 63

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Photo: Vasily Perov · Public domain

1978 · 48 yrs

Santiago Bernabéu Yeste

Santiago Bernabéu de Yeste (Spanish pronunciation:; 8 June 1895 – 2 June 1978) was a Spanish football player, coach, and administrator who played for Real Madrid as a forward, later serving as the club's manager and then president.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 131

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Photo: Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Rijksfotoarchief: Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Fotopersbureau (ANEFO), 1945-1989 - neg · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

1990 · 36 yrs

Rex Harrison

Sir Reginald Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 118

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Photo: Allan warren · CC BY-SA 3.0

2015 · 11 yrs

Irwin Rose

Irwin Allan Rose (July 16, 1926 – June 2, 2015) was an American biologist. Along with Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 100

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Photo: Photograph by Avi Blizovsky · CC BY-SA 3.0

2018 · 8 yrs

Paul D. Boyer

Paul Delos Boyer (July 31, 1918 – June 2, 2018) was an American biochemist, analytical chemist, and a professor of chemistry at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 108

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Photo: GBHayes · CC BY-SA 4.0

2025 · 1 yrs

Xu Qiliang

Xu Qiliang (Chinese: 许其亮; pinyin: Xǔ Qíliàng; 29 March 1950 – 2 June 2025) was a Chinese air force general in the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryWould be 76

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Photo: Пресс-служба Президента Российской Федерации · CC BY 4.0

Events5

AD 455 · 1571 yrs

Sack of Rome

The sack of Rome in 455 was carried out by the Vandals led by their king Gaiseric. A 442 treaty between the Western Roman Empire and Vandal Kingdom included a marriage of state between the daughter of Roman Emperor Valentinian III and the son of Gaiseric.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

1946 · 80 yrs

Italian constitutional referendum, 1946

An institutional referendum (Italian: referendum istituzionale, or referendum sulla forma istituzionale dello Stato) was held by universal suffrage in the Kingdom of Italy on 2 June 1946, a key event of contemporary Italian history.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1953 · 73 yrs

Coronation of Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II is crowned in the first coronation to be televised.

Royalty

1971 · 55 yrs

1971 European Cup Final

The 1971 European Cup final was an association football match played between Ajax of the Netherlands and Panathinaikos of Greece on 2 June 1971 at Wembley Stadium, London, England. The showpiece event was the final match of the 1970–71 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the European Cup.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

2023 · 3 yrs

2023 Odisha train collision

On 2 June 2023, three trains collided in Balasore district in the East Indian state of Odisha. The accident occurred around 19:00 IST when Coromandel Express, a passenger train, collided with a stationary goods train near Bahanaga Bazar railway station on the Howrah–Chennai main line.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

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