28

Today is Father’s Day and my 28th birthday. Today would also have been my grandparent’s 57th anniversary. The month of June is a very busy one for my family. Here are some highlights (courtesy of the wiki):

* 1462 – Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II in The Night Attack, and the latter is forced to retreat from Wallachia.
* 1579 – Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England.
* 1631 – Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spent more than 20 years to build her tomb, the Taj Mahal.
* 1773 РC̼cuta, Colombia is founded by Juana Rangel de Cu̩llar
* 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Bunker Hill – The battle actually takes place on Breed’s Hill by mistake. British forces take Breed’s Hill outside of Boston with heavy casualties.
* 1839 – In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the Edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace is later established as a result.
* 1877 – Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon – The Nez Perce defeat the US Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.
* 1885 – The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
* 1898 – The United States Navy Hospital Corps is established.
* 1933 – Union Station Massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash were gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.
* 1939 – Last public guillotining in France. Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is guillotined in Versailles outside the prison Saint-Pierre.
* 1944 – Iceland becomes independent from Denmark and forms a republic.
* 1957 – Wham-O renamed their new flying disc toy to Frisbee.
* 1960 – Ted Williams becomes the fourth member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
* 1961 – The New Democratic Party of Canada is founded with the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress.
* 1963 – The United States Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against allowing the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord’s Prayer in public schools.
* 1972 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.
* 1991 – Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required all racial classification of all South Africans at birth.
* 1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase and a failed attempt at suicide, O.J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
* 1994 – The FIFA World Cup begins in the USA.
Births
* 1239 – King Edward I of England (d. 1307)
* 1603 – Joseph of Cupertino, Italian saint (d. 1663)
* 1682 – King Charles XII of Sweden (d. 1718)
* 1691 – Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Italian painter and architect (d. 1765)
* 1693 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian (d. 1775)
* 1704 – John Kay, English inventor (d. 1780)
* 1714 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (d. 1762)
* 1714 РC̩sar-Fran̤ois Cassini de Thury, French astronomer (d. 1784)
* 1742 – William Hooper, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1790)
* 1832 – Sir William Crookes, English physicist and chemist (d. 1919)
* 1839 – Fr. Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglican Clergyman prosecuted for ritualist activities (d. 1931)
* 1867 – John Robert Gregg, inventor of shorthand system (d. 1948)
* 1882 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (d. 1971)
* 1898 – M.C. Escher, Dutch artist (d. 1972)
* 1903 – Ruth Wakefield, inventor of the Toll House Cookie, the first chocolate chip cookie (d. 1977)
* 1907 – Charles Eames, American designer and architect (d. 1978)
* 1915 – David “Stringbean” Akeman, American banjo player and actor (d. 1973)
* 1943 – Newt Gingrich, American politician
* 1943 – Barry Manilow, American musician
* 1945 – Tommy Franks, American General
* 1945 – Ken Livingstone, English politician
* 1951 – Joe Piscopo, American actor
* 1957 – Jon Gries, American actor
* 1957 – Martin Dillon, American opera singer (d. 2005)
* 1958 – Jello Biafra, American musician and activist
* 1958 – Bobby Farrelly, American film director
* 1960 – Thomas Haden Church, American actor
* 1963 – Greg Kinnear, American actor
* 1964 – Erin Murphy, American actress
* 1967 – Eric Stefani, American musician
* 1970 – Will Forte, American writer, actor and comedian
* 1980 – Venus Williams, American tennis player