June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 193 days remaining until the end of the year.
This day usually marks the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, which is the day of the year with the most hours of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere and the fewest hours of daylight in the Southern Hemisphere.
Amazon Gold Box – Deals of the Day – Today’s Deals
EVENTS
533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarius sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily.
1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mongols and Wuzong of the Yuan.
1529 – French forces are driven out of northern Italy by Spain at the Battle of Landriano during the War of the League of Cognac.
1582 – Sengoku period: Oda Nobunaga, the most powerful of the Japanese daimyōs, was forced to commit suicide by his own general Akechi Mitsuhide.
1621 – Execution of 27 Czech noblemen on the Old Town Square in Prague as a consequence of the Battle of White Mountain.
1734 – In Montreal in New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of setting the fire that destroyed much of the city.
1749 – Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded.
1768 – James Otis, Jr. offends the King and Parliament in a speech to the Massachusetts General Court.
1788 – New Hampshire ratifies the Constitution of the United States and is admitted as the ninth state in the United States.
1791 – King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during the French Revolution.
1798 – Irish Rebellion of 1798: The British Army defeats Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill.
1813 – Peninsular War: Wellington defeats Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria.
1824 – Greek War of Independence: Egyptian forces capture Psara in the Aegean Sea.
1826 – Maniots defeat Egyptians under Ibrahim Pasha in the Battle of Vergas.
1848 – In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell issue the Proclamation of Islaz and create a new republican government.
1854 – The first Victoria Cross is awarded during the bombardment of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road begins.
1898 – The United States captures Guam from Spain.
1900 – Boxer Rebellion. China formally declares war on the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan, as an edict issued from the Empress Dowager Cixi.
1915 – The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Guinn v. United States 238 US 347 1915, striking down Oklahoma grandfather clause legislation which had the effect of denying the right to vote to blacks.
1919 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg general strike.
1919 – Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet in Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed are the last casualties of World War I.
1929 – An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico.
1930 – One-year conscription comes into force in France.
1940 – The first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
1942 – World War II: Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces.
1942 – World War II: A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at nearby Fort Stevens in one of only a handful of attacks by Japan against the United States mainland.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of Okinawa ends when the organized resistance of Imperial Japanese Army forces collapses in the Mabuni area on the southern tip of the main island.
1952 – The Philippine School of Commerce, through a republic act, is converted to Philippine College of Commerce, later to be the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
1957 – Ellen Fairclough is sworn in as Canada’s first female Cabinet Minister.
1963 – Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini is elected as Pope Paul VI.
1964 – Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
1970 – Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy, largest ever US corporate bankruptcy up to this date.
1973 – In handing down the decision in Miller v. California 413 US 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller test for obscenity in U.S. law.
1982 – John Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
1989 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson that American flag-burning was a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment.
2000 – Section 28 (of the Local Government Act 1988), outlawing the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in the United Kingdom, is repealed in Scotland with a 99 to 17 vote.
2001 – A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicts 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen.
2004 – SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
2005 – Edgar Ray Killen, who had previously been acquitted for the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Mickey Schwerner, is convicted of manslaughter 41 years afterwards (the case had been reopened in 2004).
2006 – Pluto’s newly discovered moons are officially named Nix and Hydra.
2009 – Greenland assumes self-rule.
2012 – A boat carrying more than 200 refugees capsized in the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian island of Java and Christmas Island, killing 17 people and leaving 70 others missing.
BIRTHS
598 – Pope Martin I (d. 656)
906 – Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir (d. 963)
1002 – Pope Leo IX (d. 1054)
1226 – Bolesław V the Chaste of Poland (d. 1279)
1521 – John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Haderslev (d. 1580)
1528 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1603)
1535 – Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist (d. 1596)
1639 – Increase Mather, American minister and author (d. 1723)
1646 – Maria Francisca of Savoy (d. 1683)
1676 – Anthony Collins, English philosopher and author (d. 1729)
1706 – John Dollond, English optician and astronomer (d. 1761)
1710 – James Short, Scottish-English mathematician and optician (d. 1768)
1712 – Luc Urbain de Bouëxic, comte de Guichen, French admiral (d. 1790)
1730 – Motoori Norinaga, Japanese poet and scholar (d. 1801)
1732 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German pianist and composer (d. 1791)
1736 – Enoch Poor, American general (d. 1780)
1741 – Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais (d. 1808)
1750 – Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet, French sculptor and illustrator (d. 1818)
1759 – Alexander J. Dallas, American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1817)
1763 – Pierre Paul Royer-Collard, French philosopher and academic (d. 1845)
1764 – Sidney Smith, English admiral and politician (d. 1840)
1774 – Daniel D. Tompkins, American lawyer and politician, 6th Vice President of the United States (d. 1825)
1781 – Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1840)
1786 – Charles Edward Horn, English singer-songwriter (d. 1849)
1792 – Ferdinand Christian Baur, German theologian and scholar (d. 1860)
1797 – Wilhelm Küchelbecker, Russian poet and author (d. 1846)
1805 – Charles Thomas Jackson, American physician and geologist (d. 1880)
1811 – Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist and neurophysiologist (d. 1868)
1814 – Anton Nuhn, German anatomist and academic (d. 1889)
1823 – Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (d. 1873)
1825 – Thomas Edward Cliffe Leslie, Irish economist and jurist (d. 1882)
1825 – William Stubbs, English bishop and historian (d. 1901)
1828 – Ferdinand André Fouqué, French geologist and academic (d. 1904)
1834 – Frans de Cort, Flemish poet and author (d. 1878)
1839 – Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1908)
1845 – Samuel Griffith, Welsh-Australian politician, 9th Premier of Queensland (d. 1920)
1845 – Arthur Cowper Ranyard, English astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1894)
1846 – Marion Adams-Acton, Scottish-English author and playwright (d. 1928)
1850 – Daniel Carter Beard, American author and illustrator, co-founded the Boy Scouts of America (d. 1941)
1858 – Medardo Rosso, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1928)
1859 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American-French painter and illustrator (d. 1937)
1862 – Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai historian and author (d. 1943)
1863 – Max Wolf, German astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
1864 – Heinrich Wölfflin, Swiss historian and critic (d. 1945)
1867 – Oscar Florianus Bluemner, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1938)
1868 – Edwin Stephen Goodrich, English zoologist and anatomist (d. 1946)
1870 – Clara Immerwahr, Jewish-German chemist and academic (d. 1915)
1870 – Anthony Michell, English-Australian engineer (d. 1959)
1876 – Willem Hendrik Keesom, Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1956)
1880 – Arnold Gesell, American psychologist and pediatrician (d. 1961)
1880 – Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp, English economist and civil servant (d. 1941)
1882 – Lluís Companys, Spanish lawyer and politician, 123rd President of Catalonia (d. 1940)
1882 – Adrianus de Jong, Dutch fencer and soldier (d. 1966)
1882 – Rockwell Kent, American painter and illustrator (d. 1971)
1883 – Feodor Gladkov, Russian author and educator (d. 1958)
1884 – Claude Auchinleck, English field marshal (d. 1981)
1887 – Norman L. Bowen, Canadian geologist and petrologist (d. 1956)
1889 – Ralph Craig, American sprinter and sailor (d. 1972)
1891 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian architect and engineer, co-designed the Pirelli Tower and Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (d. 1979)
1891 – Hermann Scherchen, German-Swiss viola player and conductor (d. 1966)
1892 – Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian and academic (d. 1971)
1893 – Alois Hába, Czech composer and educator (d. 1973)
1894 – Milward Kennedy, English journalist and civil servant (d. 1968)
1896 – Charles Momsen, American admiral, invented the Momsen lung (d. 1967)
1898 – Donald C. Peattie, American botanist and author (d. 1964)
1899 – Pavel Haas, Czech composer (d. 1944)
1902 – Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1937)
1903 – Hermann Engelhard, German runner and coach (d. 1984)
1903 – Al Hirschfeld, American caricaturist, painter and illustrator (d. 2003)
1905 – Jacques Goddet, French journalist (d. 2000)
1905 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author (d. 1980)
1908 – William Frankena, American philosopher and academic (d. 1994)
1910 – Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Russian poet and author (d. 1971)
1911 – Irving Fein, American producer and manager (d. 2012)
1912 – Kazimierz Leski, Polish pilot and engineer (d. 2000)
1912 – Mary McCarthy, American novelist and critic (d. 1989)
1912 – Vishnu Prabhakar, Indian author and playwright (d. 2009)
1913 – Madihe Pannaseeha Thero, Sri Lankan monk and scholar (d. 2003)
1913 – Luis Taruc, Filipino political activist (d. 2005)
1914 – William Vickrey, Canadian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
1915 – Wilhelm Gliese, German soldier and astronomer (d. 1993)
1916 – Joseph Cyril Bamford, English businessman, founded J. C. Bamford (d. 2001)
1916 – Herbert Friedman, American physicist and astronomer (d. 2000)
1916 – Buddy O’Connor, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1977)
1918 – Robert A. Boyd, Canadian engineer (d. 2006)
1918 – James Joll, English historian, author, and academic (d. 1994)
1918 – Eddie Lopat, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1992)
1918 – Tibor Szele, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1955)
1918 – Josephine Webb, American engineer
1919 – Antonia Mesina, Italian martyr and saint (d. 1935)
1919 – Gérard Pelletier, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1997)
1919 – Vladimir Simagin, Russian chess player and coach (d. 1968)
1919 – Paolo Soleri, Italian-American architect, designed the Cosanti (d. 2013)
1920 – Hans Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater
1921 – Judy Holliday, American actress and singer (d. 1965)
1921 – Jane Russell, American actress and singer (d. 2011)
1921 – William Edwin Self, American actor, producer, and production manager (d. 2010)
1923 – Jacques Hébert, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2007)
1924 – Pontus Hultén, Swedish art collector and historian (d. 2006)
1924 – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and academic (d. 2012)
1925 – Larisa Avdeyeva, Russian mezzo-soprano (d. 2013)
1925 – Giovanni Spadolini, Italian journalist and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1994)
1925 – Maureen Stapleton, American actress (d. 2006)
1926 – Fred Cone, American football player
1926 – Conrad Hall, French-American cinematographer (d. 2003)
1927 – Carl Stokes, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Seychelles (d. 1996)
1928 – Wolfgang Haken, German-American mathematician and academic
1929 – Abdel Halim Hafez, Egyptian singer and actor (d. 1977)
1929 – Alexandre Lagoya, Egyptian-Greek guitarist and composer (d. 1999)
1930 – Gerald Kaufman, English journalist and politician, Shadow Foreign Secretary (d. 2017)
1930 – Mike McCormack, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
1931 – Zlatko Grgić, Croatian-Canadian animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1988)
1931 – Margaret Heckler, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
1932 – Bernard Ingham, English journalist and civil servant
1932 – Lalo Schifrin, Argentinian pianist, composer, and conductor
1932 – O.C. Smith, American R&B/jazz singer (d. 2001)
1933 – Bernie Kopell, American actor and comedian
1935 – Françoise Sagan, French author and playwright (d. 2004)
1937 – John Edrich, English cricketer and coach
1938 – Don Black, English songwriter
1938 – John W. Dower, American historian and author
1938 – Michael M. Richter, German mathematician and computer scientist
1939 – Rubén Berríos, Puerto Rican-American lawyer and politician
1940 – Mariette Hartley, American actress and television personality
1940 – Michael Ruse, Canadian philosopher and academic
1941 – Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Indian bishop
1941 – Joe Flaherty, American-Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
1941 – Lyman Ward, Canadian actor
1942 – Clive Brooke, Baron Brooke of Alverthorpe, English businessman and politician
1942 – Marjorie Margolies, American journalist and politician
1942 – Henry S. Taylor, American author and poet
1942 – Togo D. West, Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
1943 – Eumir Deodato, Brazilian pianist, composer, and producer
1943 – Diane Marleau, Canadian accountant and politician, Canadian Minister of Health (d. 2013)
1943 – Brian Sternberg, American pole vaulter (d. 2013)
1944 – Ray Davies, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Tony Scott, English-American director and producer (d. 2012)
1945 – Robert Dewar, English-American computer scientist and academic (d. 2015)
1945 – Adam Zagajewski, Polish author and poet
1946 – Per Eklund, Swedish race car driver
1946 – Kate Hoey, Northern Irish-British academic and politician, Minister for Sport and the Olympics
1946 – Brenda Holloway, American singer-songwriter
1946 – Trond Kirkvaag, Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1946 – Malcolm Rifkind, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
1946 – Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, Iraqi-British businessman, founded M&C Saatchi and Saatchi & Saatchi
1947 – Meredith Baxter, American actress
1947 – Shirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer, judge, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
1947 – Michael Gross, American actor
1947 – Joey Molland, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Badfinger)
1947 – Fernando Savater, Spanish philosopher and author
1948 – Jovan Aćimović, Serbian footballer and manager
1948 – Leon Everette, American country singer
1948 – Lionel Rose, Australian boxer and singer
1948 – Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish author and translator
1948 – Philippe Sarde, French composer and conductor
1949 – John Agard, Guyanese-English author, poet, and playwright
1949 – Derek Emslie, Lord Kingarth, Scottish lawyer and judge
1950 – Anne Carson, Canadian poet and academic
1950 – Joey Kramer, American rock drummer and songwriter (Aerosmith)
1950 – Enn Reitel, Scottish actor and screenwriter
1950 – Trygve Thue, Norwegian guitarist and record producer
1950 – John Paul Young, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter
1951 – Jim Douglas, American academic and politician, 80th Governor of Vermont
1951 – Terence Etherton, English lawyer and judge
1951 – Alan Hudson, English footballer
1951 – Nils Lofgren, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Lenore Manderson, Australian anthropologist and academic
1951 – Mona-Lisa Pursiainen, Finnish sprinter (d. 2000)
1952 – Judith Bingham, English singer-songwriter
1952 – Jeremy Coney, New Zealand cricketer and sportscaster
1952 – Patrick Dunleavy, English political scientist and academic
1952 – Kōichi Mashimo, Japanese director and screenwriter
1953 – Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani financier and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 2007)
1954 – Mar Gudmundsson, Icelandic economist
1954 – Mark Kimmitt, American general and politician, 16th Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
1954 – Robert Menasse, Austrian author and academic
1955 – Tim Bray, Canadian software developer and businessman
1955 – Michel Platini, French footballer and manager
1957 – Berkeley Breathed, American author and illustrator
1957 – Luis Antonio Tagle, Filipino cardinal
1958 – Víctor Montoya, Bolivian journalist and author
1958 – Gennady Padalka, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
1959 – John Baron, English captain and politician
1959 – Tom Chambers, American basketball player and sportscaster
1959 – Marcella Detroit, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 – Kathy Mattea, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1961 – Manu Chao, French singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1961 – Sascha Konietzko, German keyboard player and producer
1961 – Joko Widodo, Indonesian businessman and politician, 7th President of Indonesia
1961 – Kip Winger, American rock singer-songwriter and musician
1962 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1990)
1963 – Dario Marianelli, Italian pianist and composer
1963 – Mike Sherrard, American football player
1964 – David Morrissey, English actor and director
1964 – Dimitris Papaioannou, Greek director and choreographer
1964 – Dean Saunders, Welsh footballer and manager
1964 – Doug Savant, American actor
1965 – David Beerling, English biologist and academic
1965 – Yang Liwei, Chinese general, pilot, and astronaut
1965 – Ewen McKenzie, Australian rugby player and coach
1965 – Lana Wachowski, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Gretchen Carlson, American model and television journalist, Miss America 1989
1967 – Jim Breuer, American comedian, actor, and producer
1967 – Derrick Coleman, American basketball player and sportscaster
1967 – Pierre Omidyar, French-American businessman, founded eBay
1967 – Carrie Preston, American actress, director, and producer
1967 – Yingluck Shinawatra, Thai businesswoman and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Thailand
1968 – Sonique, English singer-songwriter and DJ
1970 – Eric Reed, American pianist and composer
1971 – Tyronne Drakeford, American football player
1972 – Nobuharu Asahara, Japanese sprinter and long jumper
1972 – Neil Doak, Northern Irish cricketer and rugby player
1972 – Irene van Dyk, South African-New Zealand netball player
1973 – Juliette Lewis, American actress and singer-songwriter
1973 – John Mitchell, English guitarist, vocalist and songwriter
1974 – Rob Kelly, American football player
1974 – Craig Lowndes, Australian race car driver
1974 – Flavio Roma, Italian footballer
1975 – Brian Simmons, American football player
1976 – Shelley Craft, Australian television host
1976 – Mike Einziger, American guitarist and songwriter
1976 – Nigel Lappin, Australian footballer and coach
1977 – Michael Gomez, Irish boxer
1977 – Jochen Hecht, German ice hockey player
1977 – Sarah Slean, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
1977 – Al Wilson, American football player
1978 – Matt Kuchar, American golfer
1978 – Cristiano Lupatelli, Italian footballer
1978 – Dejan Ognjanović, Montenegrin footballer
1979 – Kostas Katsouranis, Greek footballer
1979 – Chris Pratt, American actor
1980 – Michael Crocker, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
1980 – Łukasz Cyborowski, Polish chess player
1980 – David Giuntoli, American actor
1980 – Richard Jefferson, American basketball player
1980 – Sendy Rleal, Dominican baseball player
1981 – Yann Danis, Canadian ice hockey player
1981 – Garrett Jones, American baseball player
1981 – Brandon Flowers, American singer-songwriter
1981 – Brad Walker, American pole vaulter
1982 – Lee Dae-ho, South Korean baseball player
1982 – Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
1983 – Edward Snowden, American activist and academic
1984 – Franck Perera, French race car driver
1985 – Kris Allen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1985 – Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter
1985 – Sentayehu Ejigu, Ethiopian runner
1985 – Byron Schammer, Australian footballer
1985 – Joosep Toome, Estonian basketball player
1986 – Kathleen O’Kelly-Kennedy, Australian wheelchair basketball player
1986 – Hideaki Wakui, Japanese baseball player
1987 – Pablo Barrera, Mexican footballer
1987 – Sebastian Prödl, Austrian footballer
1987 – Dale Thomas, Australian footballer
1988 – Allyssa DeHaan, American basketball and volleyball player
1988 – Paolo Tornaghi, Italian footballer
1989 – Abubaker Kaki, Sudanese runner
1990 – Ričardas Berankis, Lithuanian tennis player
1991 – Gaël Kakuta, French footballer
1994 – Başak Eraydın, Turkish tennis player
1997 – Rebecca Black, American singer-songwriter
1997 – Derrius Guice, American football player
DEATHS
866 – Rodulf, Frankish archbishop
870 – Al-Muhtadi, Muslim caliph
1040 – Fulk III, Count of Anjou (b. 972)
1171 – Walter de Luci, French-English monk (b. 1103)
1208 – Philip of Swabia (b. 1177)
1305 – Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (b. 1271)
1359 – Erik Magnusson, king of Sweden (b. 1339)
1377 – Edward III of England (b. 1312)
1421 – Jean Le Maingre, French general (b. 1366)
1521 – Leonardo Loredan, Italian politician, 76th Doge of Venice (b. 1436)
1527 – Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and author (b. 1469)
1529 – John Skelton, English poet and educator (b. 1460)
1547 – Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter and educator (b. 1485)
1558 – Piero Strozzi, Italian general (b. 1510)
1582 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1534)
1585 – Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland (b. 1532)
1591 – Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint (b. 1568)
1596 – Jean Liebault, French agronomist and physician (b. 1535)
1621 – Louis III, Cardinal of Guise (b. 1575)
1621 – Kryštof Harant, Czech soldier and composer (b. 1564)
1622 – Salomon Schweigger, German theologian (b. 1551)
1631 – John Smith, English admiral and explorer (b. 1580)
1652 – Inigo Jones, English architect, designed the Queen’s House and Wilton House (b. 1573)
1661 – Andrea Sacchi, Italian painter (b. 1599)
1737 – Matthieu Marais, French author, critic, and jurist (b. 1664)
1738 – Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1674)
1796 – Richard Gridley, American soldier and engineer (b. 1710)
1824 – Étienne Aignan, French playwright and translator (b. 1773)
1865 – Frances Adeline Seward, American wife of William H. Seward (b. 1824)
1874 – Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist and astronomer (b. 1814)
1876 – Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician 8th President of Mexico (b. 1794)
1880 – Theophilus H. Holmes, American general (b. 1804)
1893 – Leland Stanford, American businessman and politician, 8th Governor of California (b. 1824)
1908 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer and educator (b. 1844)
1914 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
1929 – Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, English sociologist, journalist, and academic (b. 1864)
1934 – Thorne Smith, American author (b. 1892)
1935 – Alice Brown Davis, Seminole chief (b. 1852)
1940 – Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1881)
1940 – Édouard Vuillard, French painter (b. 1868)
1951 – Charles Dillon Perrine, American astronomer (b. 1867)
1951 – Gustave Sandras, French gymnast (b. 1872)
1952 – Wop May, Canadian captain and pilot (b. 1896)
1954 – Gideon Sundback, Swedish-American engineer, developed the zipper (b. 1880)
1957 – Claude Farrère, French captain and author (b. 1876)
1957 – Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
1964 – James Chaney, American civil rights activist (b. 1943)
1964 – Andrew Goodman, American civil rights activist (b. 1943)
1964 – Michael Schwerner, American civil rights activist (b. 1939)
1967 – Theodore Sizer, American professor of the history of art (b. 1892)
1969 – Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (b. 1934)
1970 – Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia (b. 1901)
1970 – Piers Courage, English race car driver (b. 1942)
1976 – Margaret Herrick, American librarian (b. 1902)
1980 – Bert Kaempfert, German conductor and composer (b. 1923)
1981 – Don Figlozzi, American illustrator and animator (b. 1909)
1985 – Hector Boyardee, Italian-American chef and businessman, founded Chef Boyardee (b. 1897)
1985 – Tage Erlander, Swedish lieutenant and politician, 25th Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1901)
1986 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1923)
1987 – Madman Muntz, American engineer and businessman, founded the Muntz Car Company (b. 1914)
1988 – Bobby Dodd, American football coach (b. 1908)
1990 – Cedric Belfrage, English journalist and author, co-founded the National Guardian (b. 1904)
1990 – June Christy, American singer (b. 1925)
1992 – Ben Alexander, Australian rugby league player (b. 1971)
1992 – Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah, Bangladeshi poet, author, and playwright (b. 1956)
1992 – Li Xiannian, Chinese captain and politician, 3rd President of the People’s Republic of China (b. 1909)
1994 – William Wilson Morgan, American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1906)
1997 – Shintaro Katsu, Japanese actor, singer, director, and producer (b. 1931)
1997 – Fidel Velázquez Sánchez, Mexican trade union leader (b. 1900)
1998 – Harry Cranbrook Allen, English historian (b. 1917)
1998 – Anastasio Ballestrero, Italian cardinal (b. 1913)
1998 – Al Campanis, American baseball player and manager (b. 1916)
1999 – Kami, Japanese drummer (b. 1973)
2000 – Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American pianist and composer (b. 1911)
2001 – John Lee Hooker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1917)
2001 – Soad Hosny, Egyptian actress and singer (b. 1942)
2001 – Carroll O’Connor, American actor and producer (b. 1924)
2002 – Timothy Findley, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1930)
2003 – Roger Neilson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1934)
2003 – Leon Uris, American soldier and author (b. 1924)
2004 – Leonel Brizola, Brazilian engineer and politician, Governor of Rio de Janeiro (b. 1922)
2004 – Ruth Leach Amonette, American businesswoman (b. 1916)
2005 – Jaime Sin, Filipino cardinal (b. 1928)
2006 – Jared C. Monti, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1975)
2007 – Bob Evans, American businessman, founded Bob Evans Restaurants (b. 1918)
2008 – Scott Kalitta, American race car driver (b. 1962)
2010 – Russell Ash, English author (b. 1946)
2010 – Irwin Barker, Canadian actor and screenwriter (b. 1956)
2010 – İlhan Selçuk, Turkish lawyer, journalist, and author (b. 1925)
2011 – Robert Kroetsch, Canadian author and poet (b. 1927)
2012 – Richard Adler, American composer and producer (b. 1921)
2012 – Abid Hussain, Indian economist and diplomat, Indian Ambassador to the United States (b. 1926)
2012 – Sunil Janah, Indian photographer and journalist (b. 1918)
2012 – Anna Schwartz, American economist and author (b. 1915)
2013 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and academic (b. 1928)
2013 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
2014 – Yozo Ishikawa, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Defense (b. 1925)
2014 – Walter Kieber, Austrian-Liechtenstein politician, 7th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (b. 1931)
2014 – Wong Ho Leng, Malaysian lawyer and politician (b. 1959)
2014 – Jimmy C. Newman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1927)
2015 – Darryl Hamilton, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1964)
2015 – Veijo Meri, Finnish author and poet (b. 1928)
2015 – Remo Remotti, Italian actor, playwright, and poet (b. 1924)
2015 – Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, German soldier and politician (b. 1932)
2015 – Gunther Schuller, American horn player, composer, and conductor (b. 1925)
2016 – Pierre Lalonde, Canadian television host and singer (b. 1941)
HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES
Christian feast day:
Alban of Mainz
Aloysius Gonzaga
Engelmund of Velsen
Martin of Tongres
Onesimos Nesib (Lutheran)
June 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of the Martyrs (Togo)
Father’s Day (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Uganda, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates)
Go Skateboarding Day
International Yoga Day (international)
National Aboriginal Day (Canada)
Solstice-related observances (see also June 20):
Day of Private Reflection
International Surfing Day
National Day (Greenland)
We Tripantu, a winter solstice festival in the southern hemisphere. (Mapuche, southern Chile)
Willkakuti, an Andean-Amazonic New Year (Aymara)
Fête de la Musique
World Humanist Day (Humanism)
World Hydrography Day (international)
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_21
For the history you didn’t learn in school, check out Liberty Classroom:
