EVENTS
- 1780 – The Derby horse race held for the first time.
- 1835 – P.T. Barnum and his circus begins their first tour of the United States.
- 1847 – Felix Mendelssohn’s Wedding March is used at a wedding for the first time. Dorothy Carew and Tom Daniel were the first to use the iconic piece for their wedding ceremony. The event that made the work world famous was the wedding of Victoria, Princess Royal and Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858.
- 1875 – Alexander Bell makes first voice transmission on a telephone.
- 1896 – Marconi receives a patent for his invention the radio.
- 1946 – Italy becomes a parliamentary republic. The transition from a monarchy to today’s Italian Republic was effected by the favorable outcome of a referendum, in which 89 percent of Italians, also including women for the first time, took part.
- 1953 – Queen Elizabeth II is crowned. The coronation in London’s Westminster Abbey was the first televised major international event in history. Elizabeth’s accession to the throne followed the death of her father, King George VI, 16 months previously.
- 1967 – Benno Ohnesorg is killed. A police officer shot the unarmed German student at a demonstration against the state visit of the controversial Shah of Iran. It later ruled that the shooting was not an act of self-defense. The event was pivotal for the foundation of the terrorist organization “Movement 2 June”.
- 1979 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit a communist country. Millions of spectators lined the streets of Warsaw as the Pope began his nine-day tour of his native Poland.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1731 – Martha Washington (George Washington’s wife)
- 1740 – Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) was born in Paris
- 1857 – Edward Elgar (English composer)
- 1948 – Jerry Mathers (Actor on Leave it to Beaver)
- 1955 – Dana Carvey (Actor)
- 1956 – Mani Ratnam (Indian director, producer, screenwriter)
- 1960 – Kyle Petty (Nascar Driver)
- 1965 – Mark Waugh (Australian cricketer, journalist)
- 1965 – Steve Waugh (Australian cricketer)
- 1972 – Wayne Brady (Comedian and entertainer)
- 1989 – Freddie Adu (Soccer Player)
DEATHS
- 1882 – Giuseppe Garibaldi (Italian military, politician)
- 1941 – Lou Gehrig (American baseball player)
- 1987 – Andrés Segovia (Spanish guitarist)
- 2008 – Bo Diddley (American singer-songwriter, guitarist)
- 2013 – Mandawuy Yunupingu (Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist)