June 4

"June Fourth" redirects here. For the student protest which is often referred as the June Fourth Incident, see Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

June 4 is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 210 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Monday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Tuesday or Wednesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Friday or Sunday (56).

Events

• 1411 – King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
• 1561 – the steeple of St Paul's, the medieval cathedral of London, is destroyed in a fire caused by lightning and is never rebuilt.
• 1615 – Siege of Osaka: Forces under Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan.
• 1647 – Canonicus Grand Chief Sachem of the Narragansett Indian Tribe dies. He was Chief Sachem of the Narragansett Tribe (rivals to the Wampanoag) at the time of the Pilgrims landing in Plymouth.
• 1745 – Battle of Hohenfriedberg: Frederick the Great's Prussian army decisively defeated an Austrian army under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine during the War of the Austrian Succession.
• 1760 – Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada, taken from the Acadians.
• 1783 – The Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
• 1784 – Élisabeth Thible becomes the first woman to fly in an untethered hot air balloon. Her flight covers four kilometres in 45 minutes, and reached 1,500 metres altitude (estimated).
• 1792 – Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1794 – British troops capture Port-au-Prince in Haiti.
• 1802 – King Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia abdicates his throne in favor of his brother, Victor Emmanuel.
• 1812 – Following Louisiana's admittance as a U.S. state, the Louisiana Territory is renamed the Missouri Territory.
• 1825 – General Lafayette, a French officer in the American Revolutionary War, speaks at what would become Lafayette Square, Buffalo, during his visit to the United States.
• 1855 – Major Henry C. Wayne departs New York aboard the USS Supply to procure camels to establish the U.S. Camel Corps.
• 1859 – Italian Independence wars: In the Battle of Magenta, the French army, under Louis-Napoleon, defeat the Austrian army.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate troops evacuate Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, leaving the way clear for Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee.
• 1876 – An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City.
• 1878 – Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.
• 1896 – Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.
• 1912 – Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage.
• 1913 – Emily Davison, a suffragette, runs out in front of King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby. She is trampled, never regains consciousness and dies four days later.
• 1916 – World War I: Russia opens the Brusilov Offensive with an artillery barrage of Austro-Hungarian lines in Galicia.
• 1917 – The first Pulitzer Prizes are awarded: Laura E. Richards, Maude H. Elliott, and Florence Hall receive the first Pulitzer for biography (for Julia Ward Howe). Jean Jules Jusserand receives the first Pulitzer for history for his work With Americans of Past and Present Days. Herbert B. Swope receives the first Pulitzer for journalism for his work for the New York World.
• 1919 – Women's rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification.
• 1920 – Hungary loses 71% of its territory and 63% of its population when the Treaty of Trianon is signed in Paris.
• 1928 – The President of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin, is assassinated by Japanese agents.
• 1932 – Marmaduke Grove and other Chilean military officers lead a coup d'état establishing the short-lived Socialist Republic of Chile.
• 1939 – The Holocaust: The MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, in the United States, after already being turned away from Cuba. Forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.
• 1940 – World War II: The Dunkirk evacuation ends: British forces complete evacuation of 338,000 troops from Dunkirk in France. To rally the morale of the country, Winston Churchill delivers, only to the House of Commons, his famous "We shall fight on the beaches" speech.
• 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway begins. The Japanese Admiral Chūichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island by much of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
• 1943 – A military coup in Argentina ousts Ramón Castillo.
• 1944 – World War II: A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505: The first time a U.S. Navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
• 1944 – World War II: Rome falls to the Allies, the first Axis capital to fall.
• 1961 – In the Vienna summit, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev sparks the Berlin Crisis by threatening to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany and ending American, British and French access to East Berlin.
• 1965 – Duane Earl Pope robs the Farmers' State Bank of Big Springs, Nebraska, killing three people execution-style and severely wounding a fourth. The crime later puts Pope on the FBI Ten Most Wanted list.
• 1970 – Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1975 – The Governor of California Jerry Brown signs the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act into law, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights.
• 1979 – Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings takes power in Ghana after a military coup in which General Fred Akuffo is overthrown.
• 1982 – Four Iranian diplomats were kidnapped in Lebanon after they were stopped at a check point in northern Lebanon by Lebanese Phalange forces. None of them have been seen since.
• 1983 – Gordon Kahl, who killed two US Marshals in Medina, North Dakota on February 13, is killed in a shootout in Smithville, Arkansas, along with a local sheriff, after a four-month manhunt.
• 1986 – Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
• 1988 – Three cars on a train carrying hexogen to Kazakhstan explode in Arzamas, Gorky Oblast, USSR, killing 91 and injuring about 1,500.
• 1989 – Ali Khamenei is elected as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts after the death and funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
• 1989 – The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army, with at least 241 dead.
• 1989 – Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, leads to the creation of the so-called Contract Sejm and begins the Autumn of Nations.
• 1989 – Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
• 1996 – The first flight of Ariane 5 explodes after roughly 37 seconds. It was a Cluster mission.
• 1998 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
• 2001 – Gyanendra, the last King of Nepal, ascends to the throne after the massacre in the Royal Palace.
• 2010 – Falcon 9 Flight 1 is the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40.
• 2015 – An explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana, killing more than 200 people.

Births

• 1394 – Philippa of England (d. 1430)
• 1489 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1544)
• 1604 – Claudia de' Medici, Italian daughter of Christina of Lorraine (d. 1648)
• 1665 – Zacharie Robutel de La Noue, Canadian captain (d. 1733)
• 1694 – François Quesnay, French economist and physician (d. 1774)
• 1704 – Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and businessman (d. 1776)
• 1738 – George III of the United Kingdom (d. 1820)
• 1744 – Patrick Ferguson, Scottish soldier, designed the Ferguson rifle (d. 1780)
• 1754 – Miguel de Azcuénaga, Argentinian soldier (d. 1833)
• 1754 – Franz Xaver von Zach, Slovak astronomer and academic (d. 1832)
• 1787 – Constant Prévost, French geologist and academic (d. 1856)
• 1801 – James Pennethorne, English architect, designed Victoria Park (d. 1871)
• 1821 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1897)
• 1829 – Jinmaku Kyūgorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 12th Yokozuna (d. 1903)
• 1854 – Solko van den Bergh, Dutch target shooter (d. 1916)
• 1860 – Alexis Lapointe, Canadian runner (d. 1924)
• 1866 – Miina Sillanpää, Finnish journalist and politician (d. 1952)
• 1867 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish general and politician, 6th President of Finland (d. 1951)
• 1877 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)
• 1879 – Mabel Lucie Attwell, English author and illustrator (d. 1964)
• 1880 – Clara Blandick, American actress (d. 1962)
• 1885 – Arturo Rawson, Argentinian general and politician, 26th President of Argentina (d. 1952)
• 1887 – Tom Longboat, Canadian runner and soldier (d. 1949)
• 1903 – Yevgeny Mravinsky, Russian conductor (d. 1988)
• 1904 – Bhagat Puran Singh, Indian publisher, environmentalist, and philanthropist (d. 1992)
• 1907 – Jacques Roumain, Haitian journalist and politician (d. 1944)
• 1907 – Rosalind Russell, American actress (d. 1976)
• 1907 – Patience Strong, English poet and journalist (d. 1990)
• 1910 – Christopher Cockerell, English engineer, invented the hovercraft (d. 1999)
• 1912 – Robert Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and painter (d. 1993)
• 1915 – Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2006)
• 1915 – Modibo Keïta, Malian educator and politician, 1st President of Mali (d. 1977)
• 1915 – Nils Kihlberg, Swedish actor, singer, and director (d. 1965)
• 1916 – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
• 1916 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian painter (d. 2014)
• 1917 – Robert Merrill, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
• 1920 – Russell E. Train, American civil servant (d. 2012)
• 1921 – Milan Komar, Slovenian-Argentinian philosopher and academic (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Bobby Wanzer, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
• 1923 – Elizabeth Jolley, English-Australian author and academic (d. 2007)
• 1924 – Tofilau Eti Alesana, Samoan politician, 5th Prime Minister of Samoa (d. 1999)
• 1924 – Dennis Weaver, American actor and director (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Antonio Puchades, Spanish footballer (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Robert Earl Hughes, American who was the heaviest human being recorded in the history of the world during his lifetime (d. 1958)
• 1926 – Ain Kaalep, Estonian poet, playwright, and critic
• 1926 – Judith Malina, German-American actress and director, co-founded The Living Theatre (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Henning Carlsen, Danish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
• 1927 – Geoffrey Palmer, English actor
• 1928 – Ruth Westheimer, German-American therapist and author
• 1929 – Karolos Papoulias, Greek lawyer and politician, 5th President of Greece
• 1930 – George Chesworth, English air marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Moray
• 1930 – Morgana King, American singer and actress
• 1930 – Viktor Tikhonov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1931 – Gustav Nossal, Austrian-Australian biologist and academic
• 1932 – John Drew Barrymore, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Oliver Nelson, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1975)
• 1932 – Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand author and playwright (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Monica Dacon, Vincentian educator and politician, 6th Governor-General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• 1934 – Seamus Elliott, Irish cyclist (d. 1971)
• 1934 – Daphne Sheldrick, Kenyan-British conservationist and author
• 1935 – Colette Boky, Canadian soprano and actress
• 1935 – Berhanu Dinka, Ethiopian economist and diplomat (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Vince Camuto, American fashion designer and businessman, co-founded Nine West (d. 2015)
• 1936 – Bruce Dern, American actor
• 1936 – Oleg Fyodoseyev, Russian triple jumper (d. 2001)
• 1937 – Freddy Fender, American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
• 1937 – Robert Fulghum, American author
• 1937 – Gorilla Monsoon, American wrestler, manager, and sportscaster (d. 1999)
• 1937 – Mortimer Zuckerman, Canadian-American businessman and publisher, founded Boston Properties
• 1938 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2016)
• 1938 – Art Mahaffey, American baseball player
• 1939 – Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, Anglo-Irish peer (d. 2014)
• 1939 – Denis de Belleval, Canadian civil servant and politician
• 1939 – Henri Pachard, American director and producer (d. 2008)
• 1939 – George Reid, Scottish journalist and politician, 2nd Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
• 1940 – Ludwig Schwarz, Slovak-Austrian bishop
• 1941 – Kenneth G. Ross, Australian playwright and screenwriter
• 1942 – Louis Reichardt, American mountaineer
• 1942 – Bill Rowe, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1943 – Sandra Haynie, American golfer
• 1943 – Tom Jaine, English author
• 1943 – Joyce Meyer, American author and educator
• 1943 – John Burgess, Australian radio and television personality
• 1944 – Roger Ball, Scottish saxophonist and songwriter
• 1944 – Michelle Phillips, American singer-songwriter and actress
• 1945 – Anthony Braxton, American saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer
• 1945 – Daniel Topolski, English rower and coach (d. 2015)
• 1945 – Gordon Waller, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2009)
• 1946 – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Indian actor, singer, director, and producer
• 1947 – John Bailey, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1994)
• 1947 – Viktor Klima, Austrian businessman and politician, 25th Chancellor of Austria
• 1948 – Bob Champion, English jockey
• 1948 – Sandra Post, Canadian golfer and sportscaster
• 1948 – Jürgen Sparwasser, German footballer and manager
• 1949 – Mark B. Cohen, American lawyer and politician
• 1950 – Raymond Dumais, Canadian bishop (d. 2012)
• 1951 – Bronisław Malinowski, Polish runner (d. 1981)
• 1951 – Melanie Phillips, English journalist and author
• 1951 – Wendy Pini, American author and illustrator
• 1951 – David Yip, English actor and playwright
• 1952 – Bronisław Komorowski, Polish historian and politician, 5th President of Poland
• 1952 – Dambudzo Marechera, Zimbabwean author and poet
• 1953 – Linda Lingle, American journalist and politician, 6th Governor of Hawaii
• 1953 – Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1979)
• 1953 – Susumu Ojima, Japanese businessman, founded Huser
• 1953 – Paul Samson, English guitarist and producer (d. 2002)
• 1954 – Raphael Ravenscroft, English saxophonist and composer (d. 2014)
• 1954 – Kazuhiro Yamaji, Japanese actor and voice actor
• 1955 – Val McDermid, Scottish author
• 1955 – Mary Testa, American singer and actress
• 1956 – Keith David, American actor
• 1956 – John Hockenberry, American journalist and author
• 1956 – Terry Kennedy, American baseball player and manager
• 1956 – Joyce Sidman, American author and poet
• 1957 – Yoon Seok-ho, South Korean director and producer
• 1958 – Eddie Velez, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Juan Camacho, Bolivian runner
• 1959 – Georgios Voulgarakis, Greek politician, 21st Greek Minister for Culture
• 1960 – Miloš Đelmaš, Serbian footballer and manager
• 1960 – Paul Taylor, American guitarist and keyboard player
• 1960 – Bradley Walsh, English television presenter, comedian, singer and former footballer
• 1961 – El DeBarge, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1961 – Ferenc Gyurcsány, Hungarian businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Hungary
• 1962 – Krzysztof Hołowczyc, Polish race car driver
• 1962 – Zenon Jaskuła, Polish cyclist
• 1962 – John P. Kee, American singer-songwriter and pastor
• 1963 – Sean Fitzpatrick, New Zealand rugby union player
• 1963 – Jim Lachey, American football player and sportscaster
• 1963 – Xavier McDaniel, American basketball player and coach
• 1964 – Sean Pertwee, English actor
• 1964 – Kōji Yamamura, Japanese animator, producer, and screenwriter
• 1965 – Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer
• 1965 – Andrea Jaeger, American tennis player and preacher (Anglican Order of Preachers)
• 1966 – Cecilia Bartoli, Italian soprano and actress
• 1966 – Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician and academic
• 1966 – Bill Wiggin, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
• 1967 – Robert S. Kimbrough, American colonel and astronaut
• 1968 – Roger Lim, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Niurka Montalvo, Cuban-Spanish long jumper
• 1968 – Al B. Sure!, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1968 – Scott Wolf, American actor
• 1969 – Horatio Sanz, Chilean-American actor and comedian
• 1970 – Deborah Compagnoni, Italian skier
• 1970 – Richie Hawtin, English-Canadian DJ and producer
• 1970 – Dave Pybus, English bass player and songwriter
• 1970 – Izabella Scorupco, Polish-Swedish actress and model
• 1971 – Joseph Kabila, Congolese soldier and politician, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• 1971 – Mike Lee, American lawyer and politician
• 1971 – Shoji Meguro, Japanese director and composer
• 1971 – Karl Martin Sinijärv, Estonian journalist and poet
• 1971 – Noah Wyle, American actor and producer
• 1972 – Nikka Costa, American singer-songwriter
• 1972 – Derian Hatcher, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1972 – Joe Hill, American author
• 1972 – Rob Huebel, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1973 – Mikey Whipwreck, American wrestler and trainer
• 1974 – Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni, Indian chef (d. 2012)
• 1974 – Darin Erstad, American baseball player and coach
• 1974 – Andrew Gwynne, English lawyer and politician
• 1974 – Janette Husárová, Slovak tennis player
• 1974 – Stefan Lessard, American bass player
• 1974 – Buddy Wakefield, American poet and author
• 1975 – Russell Brand, English comedian and actor
• 1975 – Henry Burris, American football player
• 1975 – Angelina Jolie, American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian, and activist
• 1975 – Dinanath Ramnarine, Trinidadian cricketer
• 1975 – Alex Wharf, English cricketer
• 1976 – Kasey Chambers, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Alexei Navalny, Russian lawyer and politician
• 1976 – Nenad Zimonjić, Serbian tennis player
• 1977 – Dionisis Chiotis, Greek footballer
• 1977 – Quinten Hann, Australian snooker player
• 1977 – Alex Manninger, Austrian footballer
• 1977 – Roman Miroshnichenko, Ukrainian guitarist and composer
• 1977 – Ingrid Visser, Dutch volleyball player (d. 2013)
• 1978 – Robin Lord Taylor, American actor
• 1979 – Naohiro Takahara, Japanese footballer
• 1979 – Daniel Vickerman, South African-Australian rugby player (d. 2017)
• 1980 – François Beauchemin, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Jennifer Carroll, Canadian swimmer
• 1981 – Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek footballer
• 1981 – Natalia Vodopyanova, Russian basketball player
• 1982 – Abel Kirui, Kenyan runner
• 1982 – Ronnie Prude, American-Canadian football player
• 1983 – Romaric, Ivorian footballer
• 1983 – Emmanuel Eboué, Ivorian footballer
• 1983 – Olha Saladuha, Ukrainian triple jumper
• 1984 – Enrico Rossi Chauvenet, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Rainie Yang,Taiwanese actress
• 1984 – Ian White, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Leon Botha, South African painter and DJ (d. 2011)
• 1985 – Anna-Lena Grönefeld, German tennis player
• 1985 – Evan Lysacek, American figure skater
• 1985 – Lukas Podolski, German footballer
• 1985 – Oddvar Reiakvam, Norwegian politician
• 1985 – Ana Carolina Reston, Brazilian model (d. 2006)
• 1986 – Yoochun, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
• 1987 – Luisa Zissman, English businesswoman
• 1988 – Kimberley Busteed, Australian model
• 1989 – Federico Erba, Italian footballer
• 1989 – Paweł Fajdek, Polish hammer thrower
• 1990 – Zac Farro, American singer and drummer
• 1991 – Lorenzo Insigne, Italian footballer
• 1991 – Matt McIlwrick, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1995 – Shiori Tamai, Japanese singer
• 1996 – Charlotte Drury, American gymnast
• 1997 – Kana Nakanishi, Japanese singer
• 1999 – Kim So Hyun, South-Korean actress
• 2004 – Mackenzie Ziegler, American dancer, singer and actress

Deaths

• 756 – Shōmu, Japanese emperor (b. 701)
• 863 – Charles, archbishop of Mainz
• 895 – Li Xi, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
• 1039 – Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 990)
• 1134 – Magnus I of Sweden (b. 1106)
• 1135 – Emperor Huizong of Song (b. 1082)
• 1206 – Adela of Champagne (b. 1140)
• 1246 – Isabella of Angoulême (b. 1188)
• 1257 – Przemysł I of Greater Poland (b. 1221)
• 1394 – Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV of England (b.c. 1368)
• 1453 – Andronikos Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, Byzantine commander
• 1463 – Flavio Biondo, Italian historian and author (b. 1392)
• 1472 – Nezahualcoyotl, Aztec poet (b. 1402)
• 1585 – Muretus, French philosopher and author (b. 1526)
• 1622 – Péter Révay, Hungarian soldier and historian (b. 1568)
• 1663 – William Juxon, English archbishop and academic (b. 1582)
• 1798 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian adventurer and author (b. 1725)
• 1801 – Frederick Muhlenberg, American minister and politician, 1st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1750)
• 1830 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan general and politician, 2nd President of Bolivia (b. 1795)
• 1872 – Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, Dutch historian, jurist, and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1798)
• 1875 – Eduard Mörike, German pastor and poet (b. 1804)
• 1876 – Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire, 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1830)
• 1922 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (b. 1864)
• 1926 – Fred Spofforth, Australian-English cricketer and coach (b. 1853)
• 1928 – Zhang Zuolin, Chinese warlord (b. 1873)
• 1929 – Harry Frazee, American director, producer, and agent (b. 1881)
• 1931 – Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, Sharif and Emir of Mecca, King of the Hejaz (b. 1853/54)
• 1933 – Ahmet Haşim, Turkish poet and author (b. 1884)
• 1939 – Tommy Ladnier, American trumpet player (b. 1900)
• 1941 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor (b. 1859)
• 1942 – Reinhard Heydrich, German SS officer and politician (b. 1904)
• 1951 – Serge Koussevitzky, Russian-American bassist, composer, and conductor (b. 1874)
• 1956 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and producer (b. 1881)
• 1962 – Clem McCarthy, American sportscaster (b. 1882)
• 1967 – Linda Eenpalu, Estonian lawyer and politician (b. 1890)
• 1968 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (b. 1898)
• 1970 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (b. 1911)
• 1971 – György Lukács, Hungarian historian and philosopher (b. 1885)
• 1973 – Maurice René Fréchet, French mathematician and academic (b. 1878)
• 1973 – Murry Wilson, American songwriter, producer, and manager (b. 1917)
• 1981 – Leslie Averill, New Zealand doctor and soldier (b. 1897)
• 1983 – Gordon Kahl, American tax protester and cop-killer (b. 1920)
• 1989 – Dik Browne, American cartoonist (b. 1917)
• 1990 – Stiv Bators, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1949)
• 1992 – Carl Stotz, American businessman, founded Little League Baseball (b. 1910)
• 1993 – Bernard Evslin, American writer (b. 1922)
• 1997 – Vladimir Hütt, Russian-Estonian physicist and philosopher (b. 1936)
• 1997 – Ronnie Lane, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1946)
• 1998 – Josephine Hutchinson, American actress (b. 1903)
• 2001 – John Hartford, American singer-songwriter and fiddler (b. 1937)
• 2001 – Dipendra of Nepal (b. 1971)
• 2002 – Fernando Belaúnde Terry, Peruvian architect and politician, 42nd President of Peru (b. 1912)
• 2004 – Steve Lacy, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1934)
• 2004 – Nino Manfredi, Italian actor (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Clete Boyer, American baseball player and manager (b. 1937)
• 2007 – Bill France, Jr., American businessman (b. 1933)
• 2007 – Freddie Scott, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
• 2007 – Craig L. Thomas, American captain and politician (b. 1933)
• 2010 – John Wooden, American basketball player and coach (b. 1910)
• 2011 – Juan Francisco Luis, Virgin Islander sergeant and politician, 23rd Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1940)
• 2011 – Andreas P. Nielsen, Danish author and composer (b. 1953)
• 2012 – Peter Beaven, New Zealand architect, designed the Lyttelton Road Tunnel Administration Building (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Pedro Borbón, Dominican-American baseball player (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Jim Fitzgerald, American businessman (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, Guatemalan cardinal (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Herb Reed, American violinist (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Walt Arfons, American race car driver (b. 1916)
• 2013 – Joey Covington, American drummer (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Hermann Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer, handball player, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Will Wynn, American football player (b. 1949)
• 2014 – George Ho, American-Hong Kong businessman (b. 1919)
• 2014 – Doc Neeson, Irish-Australian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
• 2014 – Chester Nez, American soldier (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Nathan Shamuyarira, Zimbabwean journalist and politician, Zimbabwean Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Sydney Templeman, Baron Templeman, English lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
• 2014 – Don Zimmer, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Marguerite Patten, English economist and author (b. 1915)
• 2015 – Leonid Plyushch, Ukrainian mathematician and academic (b. 1938)
• 2015 – Jabe Thomas, American race car driver (b. 1930)
• 2015 – Anne Warburton, British academic and diplomat, British Ambassador to Denmark (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

• Birthday of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim & Flag Day celebration of the Finnish Defence Forces (Finland)
• Christian feast day:
  • Filippo Smaldone
  • Francis Caracciolo
  • Optatus
  • Petroc of Cornwall
  • Quirinus of Sescia
  • Saturnina
  • June 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Emancipation Day or Independence Day, commemorates the abolition of serfdom in Tonga by King George Tupou in 1862, and the independence of Tonga from the British protectorate in 1970. (Tonga)
• Flag Day (Estonia)
• International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression (International)
• National Unity Day (Hungary)
• Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 Memorial Day (International)

External links

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