June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 190 days remaining until the end of the year.

[edit] Events

• 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place.
• 1128 - Battle of São Mamede, near Guimarães:Portuguese forces led by Alfonso I defeat his mother D. Teresa and D. Fernão Peres de Trava. After this battle, the future king calls himself "Prince of Portugal", the first step towards "official independence" in 1139, after the Battle of Ourique.
• 1314 - First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn concludes with a decisive victory of the Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce. Scotland regains its independence in the aftermath of this battle.
• 1340 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Sluys: The French fleet is almost destroyed by the English Fleet commanded in person by Edward III of England.
• 1374 - A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.
• 1441 - Eton College is founded.
• 1497 - John Cabot lands on North America in Newfoundland; the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.
• 1497 - Cornish traitors Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London.
• 1509 - Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are crowned King and Queen of England.
• 1535 - The Anabaptist state of Münster is conquered and disbanded.
• 1571 - Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines, is founded by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.
• 1597 - The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java).
• 1662 - The Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macau.
• 1664 - The colony of New Jersey is founded.
• 1692 - Kingston, Jamaica is founded.
• 1717 - The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England.
• 1748 - The Kingswood School is opened by John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley in Bristol. The school later moved to Bath.
• 1793 - The first republican constitution in France is adopted.
• 1794 - Bowdoin College is founded.
• 1812 - Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman River beginning his invasion of Russia.
• 1813 - Battle of Beaver Dams : A British, and Indian joint force defeat the U.S Army.
• 1821 - The Battle of Carabobo takes place. It is the decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain.
• 1859 - Battle of Solferino: (Battle of the Three Sovereigns). Sardinia and France defeat Austria in Solferino, northern Italy.
• 1880 - First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français.
• 1894 - Marie Francois Sadi Carnot is assassinated by Sante Geronimo Caserio.
• 1901 - First exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens.
• 1902 - King Edward VII develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation.
• 1913 - Greece and Serbia annul their alliance with Bulgaria.
• 1916 - Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract.
• 1916 - World War I: The Battle of the Somme begins with a week long artillery bombardment on the German Line.
• 1918 - First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto.
• 1928 - With declining business, the Great Gorge and International Railway begins using one-person crews on trolley operations in Canada.
• 1932 - A military coup ends the absolute power of the king of Siam (Thailand).
• 1938 - A 450 metric ton meteorite strikes the earth in an empty field near Chicora, Pennsylvania.
• 1940 - France and Italy sign an armistice.
• 1945 - The Moscow Victory Parade takes place.
• 1947 - Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.
• 1948 - Start of the Berlin Blockade. The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible.
• 1949 - The first Television Western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd.
• 1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment in Roth v. United States.
• 1963 - Zanzibar is granted internal self-government by the United Kingdom.
• 1975 - An Eastern Air Lines Boeing 727 crashes at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. 113 people die.
• 1981 - The Humber Bridge is opened to traffic, connecting Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It would be the world's longest single-span suspension bridge for 17 years.
• 1982 - British Airways Flight 9, sometimes referred to as the Jakarta incident, flew into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines.
• 1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7: Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut, returns to earth.
• 1985 - STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery completed its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
• 1993 - Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber.
• 1994 - A United States Air Force B-52 aircraft crashes at Fairchild Air Force Base, killing all four members of its crew.
• 1995 - South Africa defeats New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The 1995 World cup is the first major sporting event in South Africa after Apartheid.
• 2002 - The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history.
• 2004 - In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional.
• 2007 - The Angora Fire starts near South Lake Tahoe, California destroying 200+ structures in its first 48 hours.

[edit] Births

• 1244 - Henry I of Hesse (d. 1308)
• 1343 - Jeanne de Valois, Queen of Navarre (d. 1373)
• 1386 - Giovanni da Capistrano, Italian saint (d. 1456)
• 1485 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (d. 1558)
• 1519 - Theodore Beza, French theologian (d. 1605)
• 1533 - Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (d. 1588)
• 1535 - Joan of Spain, queen consort of Portugal (d. 1573)
• 1542 - St. John of the Cross, Spanish Carmelite mystic and poet (d. 1591)
• 1546 - Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (d. 1610)
• 1587 - William Arnold, English, pioneer settler of Providence Plantation (d. 1675)
• 1663 - Jean Baptiste Massillon, French churchman (d. 1742)
• 1687 - Johann Albrecht Bengel, German scholar (d. 1757)
• 1694 - Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, Swiss publicist (d. 1748)
• 1704 - Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, French writer (d. 1771)
• 1774 - François Nicolas Benoît, Baron Haxo, French general (d. 1838)
• 1777 - John Ross, British naval officer and explorer (d. 1856)
• 1795 - Ernst Heinrich Weber, German anatomist and physiologist (d. 1878)
• 1803 - George James Webb, English-born composer (d. 1887)
• 1804 - Willard Richards, American religious leader (d. 1854)
• 1811 - John Archibald Campbell, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1889)
• 1813 - Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and reformer (d. 1887)
• 1825 - Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1844)
• 1826 - George Goyder, surveyor-general of South Australia (d. 1898)
• 1842 - Ambrose Bierce, American author (disappeared 1914)
• 1850 - Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, British field marshal (d. 1916)
• 1860 - Mercedes of Orleans, queen of Spain (d. 1878)
• 1882 - Carl Diem, German Olympic official (d. 1962)
• 1882 - Athanase David, Canadian politician and businessman (d. 1953)
• 1883 - Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
• 1886 - George Shiels, Northern Irish dramatist (d. 1949)
• 1888 - Gerrit Rietveld, Dutch architect (d. 1964)
• 1893 - Roy O. Disney, a founder of the Walt Disney Company (d. 1971)
• 1895 - Jack Dempsey, American boxer (d. 1983)
• 1897 - Daniel K. Ludwig, American shipping magnate (d. 1992)
• 1900 - Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician (d. 1945)
• 1901 - Harry Partch, American composer (d. 1974)
• 1904 - Phil Harris, American singer, songwriter and comedian (d. 1995)
• 1906 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist (d. 1986)
• 1906 - Willard Maas, American educator and experimental filmmaker (d. 1971)
• 1907 - Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet (d. 1989)
• 1908 - Hugo Distler, German composer (d. 1942)
• 1908 - Guru Gopinath, Indian classical dancer (d 1987)
• 1908 - Alfons Rebane, Estonian military officer (d. 1976)
• 1911 - Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentine Formula One driver and five-time World Driving Champion (d. 1995)
• 1911 - Ernesto Sábato, Argentinian writer
• 1912 - Brian Johnston, British cricket commentator (d 1994)
• 1914 - Pearl Witherington CBE, British WW II secret agent (d. 2008)
• 1915 - Fred Hoyle, British astronomer (d. 2001)
• 1922 - Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
• 1924 - Kurt Furgler, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 2008)
• 1924 - Brian Bevan, Australian rugby league footballer (d. 1991)
• 1927 - Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1930 - Claude Chabrol, French film director
• 1930 - William B. Ziff, Jr., American publishing executive (d. 2006)
• 1931 - Billy Casper, American golfer
• 1934 - Jean-Pierre Ferland, Québec singer
• 1935 - Terry Riley, American composer
• 1938 - Lawrence Block, American writer
• 1939 - Michael Gothard, English actor (d. 1992)
• 1941 - Julia Kristeva, Bulgarian-French philosopher, psychoanalyst, and novelist
• 1942 - Michele Lee, American actress
• 1944 - Jeff Beck, English musician (The Yardbirds)
• 1944 - Arthur Brown, English musician
• 1944 - John "Charlie" Whitney, English guitarist (Family, Streetwalkers, Axis Point)
• 1944 - Chris Wood, English musician (d. 1983)
• 1945 - Colin Blunstone, English musician (The Zombies)
• 1945 - George Pataki, American politician
• 1945 - Wayne Cashman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1946 - Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1946 - Robert Reich, American politician and political commentator
• 1946 - David Collenette, Canadian politician
• 1947 - Peter Weller, American actor
• 1947 - Mick Fleetwood, English musician (Fleetwood Mac)
• 1948 - Patrick Moraz, Swiss keyboard player (Yes)
• 1949 - John Illsley, English bassist (Dire Straits)
• 1950 - Mercedes Lackey, American author
• 1950 - Nancy Allen, American actress
• 1951 - David Rodigan, radio DJ/actor
• 1952 - Stephen Pusey, British-born artist
• 1953 - Ivo Lill, Estonian artist
• 1955 - Betsy Randle, American actress
• 1956 - Joe Penny, English actor
• 1958 - Jean Charest, Premier of Québec
• 1958 - John Tortorella, American ice hockey coach
• 1960 - Trisha Meili, the "Central Park Jogger"
• 1960 - Karin Pilsäter, Swedish politician
• 1960 - Erik Poppe, Norwegian film director
• 1961 - Dennis Danell, American musician (Social Distortion) (d. 2000)
• 1961 - Iain Glen, Scottish actor
• 1961 - Bernie Nicholls, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 - Curt Smith, English musician and songwriter (Tears for Fears)
• 1963 - Anatoly Borisovich Jurkin, Russian writer
• 1963 - Preki, Serbian-born American soccer player
• 1963 - Mike Wieringo, American comic book artist (d. 2007)
• 1964 - Gary Suter, American ice hockey player
• 1965 - Uwe Krupp, German ice hockey player
• 1966 - Hope Sandoval, American singer-songwriter
• 1966 - Adrienne Shelly, American actress, director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
• 1967 - Bill Huard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1967 - Richard Kruspe-Bernstein, German musician (Rammstein)
• 1967 - Janez Lapajne, Slovenian film director
• 1967 - Scott Oden, American writer
• 1967 - Sherry Stringfield, American actress
• 1969 - Sissel Kyrkjebø, Norwegian singer
• 1970 - Glenn Medeiros, American singer
• 1971 - Christopher Showerman, American actor
• 1972 - Robbie McEwen, Australian cyclist
• 1972 - Denis Zvegelj, Slovenian rower
• 1973 - Alexander Beyer, German actor
• 1973 - Ji Jin Hee, South Korean actor
• 1975 - Carla Gallo, American actress
• 1975 - Marek Malik, Czech ice hockey player
• 1976 - Louisa Leaman, English author
• 1976 - Brock Olivo, American football player
• 1977 - Dimosthenis Dikoudis, Greek basketball player
• 1977 - Cas Jansen, Dutch actor
• 1977 - Jeff Farmer, Australian footballer
• 1978 - Luis García, Spanish footballer
• 1978 - Pantelis Kafes, Greek footballer
• 1978 - Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese footballer
• 1978 - Ariel Pink, American musician
• 1978 - Juan Román Riquelme, Argentine footballer
• 1978 - Erno "Emppu" Vuorinen, Finnish guitarist (Nightwish)
• 1979 - Petra Němcová, Czechoslovakian-born model
• 1979 - Craig Shergold, British internet folklore subject
• 1979 - Mindy Kaling, American actress and TV producer
• 1980 - Cicinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1980 - Liane Balaban, Canadian actress
• 1980 - Andrew Jones, Australian racing driver
• 1980 - Minka Kelly, American actress
• 1982 - Brian Fitzgerald, American writer
• 1982 - Kevin Nolan, English footballer
• 1982 - Mark Penney, Canadian film director
• 1982 - Jarret Stoll, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1982 - Clint Bajada, Maltese television and radio presenter
• 1983 - John Lloyd Cruz, Filipino Actor
• 1984 - J.J. Redick, American basketball player
• 1985 - Kyle Searles, American actor
• 1985 - Yukina Shirakawa, Japanese gravure idol
• 1986 - Stuart Broad, English cricketer
• 1986 - Phil Hughes, American baseball player
• 1986 - Solange Knowles, American singer
• 1987 - Arturo Lupoli, Italian footballer
• 1987 - Lionel Messi, Argentine footballer
• 1990 - Michael Del Zotto, Canadian ice hockey player

[edit] Deaths

• 803 - Higbald of Lindisfarne
• 1398 - Hongwu Emperor of China (b. 1328)
• 1439 - Duke Frederick IV of Austria (b. 1382)
• 1519 - Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara (b. 1480)
• 1520 - Hosokawa Sumimoto, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1489)
• 1604 - Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain of England (b. 1550)
• 1637 - Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer (b. 1580)
• 1643 - John Hampden, English politician (b. 1595)
• 1766 - Adrien-Maurice, 3rd duc de Noailles, French soldier (b. 1678)
• 1778 - Pieter Burmann the Younger, Dutch philologist (b. 1714)
• 1803 - Matthew Thornton, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1714)
• 1817 - Thomas McKean, American lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1734)
• 1835 - Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician, commander of Greek naval forces in Greek War of Independence (b. 1769)
• 1894 - Marie François Sadi Carnot, French statesman (b. 1837)
• 1908 - Grover Cleveland, President of the United States (heart failure) (b. 1837)
• 1909 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (b. 1849)
• 1922 - Walther Rathenau, German Minister of Foreign Affairs (assassinated) (b. 1867)
• 1935 - Carlos Gardel, Argentine singer (airplane crash) (b. 1890)
• 1946 - Louise Whitfield Carnegie, American philanthropist (b. 1857)
• 1947 - Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (b. 1864)
• 1968 - Tony Hancock, British comedian (b. 1924)
• 1977 - André-Gilles Fortin, Canadian politician (b. 1943)
• 1978 - Robert Charroux, French writer (b. 1909)
• 1984 - Clarence Campbell, Canadian NHL president (b. 1905)
• 1987 - Jackie Gleason, American actor and musician (b. 1916)
• 1991 - Sumner Locke Elliott, Australian-born American novelist (b. 1917)
• 1991 - Rufino Tamayo, Mexican painter (b. 1899)
• 1997 - Don Hutson, American athlete (b. 1913)
• 1997 - Brian Keith, American actor (b. 1921)
• 2000 - Vera Atkins, Romanian-born British intelligence officer (b. 1908)
• 2000 - David Tomlinson, English actor (b. 1917)
• 2002 - Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1913)
• 2003 - Vladimir Garin, Russian actor (b. 1987)
• 2004 - Ifigeneia Giannopoulou, Greek songwriter (b. 1957)
• 2005 - Paul Winchell, American voice actor and ventriloquist (b. 1922)
• 2005 - Hakham Yedidia Shofet, Former chief rabbi of Iran (b. 1908)
• 2006 - Patsy Ramsey, mother of JonBenét Ramsey (b. 1956)
• 2007 - Byron Baer, American politician (b. 1929)
• 2007 - Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1967)
• 2007 - Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1938)
• 2007 - Natasja Saad, Danish reggae and dancehall artist (b. 1974)
• 2008 - Gerhard Ringel, Austrian mathematician (b. 1919)

[edit] Holidays and observances

• Fête nationale du Québec, also called St-Jean-Baptiste Day
• One of the four Irish Quarter days in the Irish Calendar.
• Discovery Day in Newfoundland and Labrador (celebrating the 1497 discovery by John Cabot)
• Inti Raymi in Cusco
• Jāņi - Latvia
• Joninės - Lithuania
• Battle of Carabobo Day in Venezuela (1821)
• Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Rahmat (Mercy) - First day of the sixth month of the Bahá'í calendar
• Midsummer Day in England

Roman Catholic Church

• Feast of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of Québec, Newfoundland and Torino (Turin), brush makers and knife sharpeners; also Festival of San Juan observed in Bolivia and Peru, Jaaniõhtu in Estonia.

[edit] External links

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