text:
June 20

Pre-1600

 * 451 – Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.
 * 1180 – First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan.

1601–1900

 * 1622 – The Battle of Höchst takes place during the Thirty Years' War.
 * 1631 – The Sack of Baltimore: The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Barbary slave traders.
 * 1652 – Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha is appointed Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
 * 1685 – Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater.
 * 1756 – A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
 * 1782 – The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.
 * 1787 – Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention to call the government the 'United States'.
 * 1789 – Deputies of the French Third Estate take the Tennis Court Oath.
 * 1791 – King Louis XVI, disguised as a valet, and the French royal family attempt to flee Paris during the French Revolution.
 * 1819 – The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail.
 * 1837 – King William IV dies, and is succeeded by his niece, Victoria.
 * 1840 – Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.
 * 1862 – Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated.
 * 1863 – American Civil War: West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
 * 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
 * 1893 – Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.
 * 1895 – The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.
 * 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China.
 * 1900  – Baron Eduard Toll, leader of the Russian Polar Expedition of 1900, departs Saint Petersburg in Russia on the explorer ship Zarya, never to return.

1901–present

 * 1921 – Workers of Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, begin a four-month strike.
 * 1926 – The 28th International Eucharistic Congress begins in Chicago, with over 250,000 spectators attending the opening procession.
 * 1942 – The Holocaust: Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
 * 1943 – The Detroit race riot breaks out and continues for three more days.
 * 1943  – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches Operation Bellicose, the first shuttle bombing raid of the war. Avro Lancaster bombers damage the V-2 rocket production facilities at the Zeppelin Works while en route to an air base in Algeria.
 * 1944 – World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot".
 * 1944  – World War II: During the Continuation War, the Soviet Union demands unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses.
 * 1944  – The experimental MW 18014 V-2 rocket reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space.
 * 1945 – The United States Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip.
 * 1948 – The Deutsche Mark is introduced in Western Allied-occupied Germany. The Soviet Military Administration in Germany responded by imposing the Berlin Blockade four days later.
 * 1956 – A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people.
 * 1959 – A rare June hurricane strikes Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35.
 * 1960 – The Mali Federation gains independence from France (it later splits into Mali and Senegal).
 * 1963 – Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union and the United States sign an agreement to establish the so-called "red telephone" link between Washington, D.C., and Moscow.
 * 1964 – A Curtiss C-46 Commando crashes in the Shengang District of Taiwan, killing 57 people.
 * 1972 – Watergate scandal: An $18 1/2$-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.
 * 1973 – Snipers fire upon left-wing Peronists in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in what is known as the Ezeiza massacre. At least 13 are killed and more than 300 are injured.
 * 1973  – Aeroméxico Flight 229 crashes on approach to Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport, killing all 27 people on board.
 * 1975 – The film Jaws is released in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing film of that time and starting the trend of films known as "summer blockbusters".
 * 1979 – ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan National Guard soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle during the Nicaraguan Revolution. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
 * 1982 – The International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide opens in Tel Aviv, despite attempts by the Turkish government to cancel it, as it included presentations on the Armenian genocide.
 * 1982  – The Argentine Corbeta Uruguay base on Southern Thule surrenders to Royal Marine commandos in the final action of the Falklands War.
 * 1988 – Haitian president Leslie Manigat is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant General Henri Namphy.
 * 1990 – Asteroid Eureka is discovered.
 * 1990  – The 7.4  Manjil–Rudbar earthquake affects northern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 35,000–50,000, and injuring 60,000–105,000.
 * 1991 – The German Bundestag votes to move seat of government from the former West German capital of Bonn to the present capital of Berlin.
 * 1994 – The 1994 Imam Reza shrine bomb explosion in Iran leaves at least 25 dead and 70 to 300 injured.
 * 2003 – The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida.
 * 2011 – RusAir Flight 9605 crashes in Besovets during approach to Petrozavodsk Airport, killing 47.
 * 2019 – Iran's Air Defense Forces shoot down an American surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions between the two countries.

Pre-1600

 * 1005 – Ali az-Zahir, Fatimid caliph of Egypt (d. 1036)
 * 1389 – John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, English statesman (d. 1435)
 * 1469 – Gian Galeazzo Sforza, duke of Milan (d. 1494)
 * 1566 – Sigismund III Vasa, Polish and Swedish king (d. 1632)
 * 1583 – Jacob De la Gardie, Swedish soldier and politician, Lord High Constable of Sweden (d. 1652)

1601–1900

 * 1634 – Charles Emmanuel II, duke of Savoy (d. 1675)
 * 1642 – (O.S.) George Hickes, English minister and scholar (d. 1715)
 * 1647 – (O.S.) John George III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1691)
 * 1717 – Jacques Saly, French sculptor and painter (d. 1776)
 * 1723 – (O.S.) Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1816)
 * 1737 – Tokugawa Ieharu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1786)
 * 1754 – Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt, princess of Baden (d. 1832)
 * 1756 – Joseph Martin Kraus, German-Swedish composer and educator (d. 1792)
 * 1761 – Jacob Hübner, German entomologist and author (d. 1826)
 * 1763 – Wolfe Tone, Irish rebel leader (d. 1798)
 * 1770 – Moses Waddel, American minister and academic (d. 1840)
 * 1771 – Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright (d. 1820)
 * 1771  – Hermann von Boyen, Prussian general and politician, Prussian Minister of War (d. 1848)
 * 1777 – Jean-Jacques Lartigue, Canadian bishop (d. 1840)
 * 1778 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac, French politician, 7th Prime Minister of France (d. 1832)
 * 1786 – Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French poet and author (d. 1859)
 * 1796 – Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso, Italian cardinal (d. 1878)
 * 1808 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1888)
 * 1809 – Isaak August Dorner, German theologian and academic (d. 1884)
 * 1813 – Joseph Autran, French poet and author (d. 1877)
 * 1819 – Jacques Offenbach, German-French cellist and composer (d. 1880)
 * 1847 – Gina Krog, Norwegian suffragist and women's rights activist (d. 1916)
 * 1855 – Richard Lodge, English historian and academic (d. 1936)
 * 1858 – Charles W. Chesnutt, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1932)
 * 1859 – Christian von Ehrenfels, Austrian philosopher (d. 1932)
 * 1860 – Alexander Winton, Scottish-American race car driver and engineer (d. 1932)
 * 1860  – Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, footballer, and coach (d. 1937)
 * 1861 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
 * 1865 – George Redmayne Murray, English biologist and physician (d. 1939)
 * 1866 – James Burns, English cricketer (d. 1957)
 * 1867 – Leon Wachholz, Polish scientist and medical examiner (d. 1942)
 * 1869 – Laxmanrao Kirloskar, Indian businessman, founded the Kirloskar Group (d. 1956)
 * 1870 – Georges Dufrénoy, French painter and academic (d. 1943)
 * 1872 – George Carpenter, American 5th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1948)
 * 1875 – Reginald Punnett, English geneticist, statistician, and academic (d. 1967)
 * 1882 – Daniel Sawyer, American golfer (d. 1937)
 * 1884 – Mary R. Calvert, American astronomer and author (d. 1974)
 * 1884  – Johannes Heinrich Schultz, German psychiatrist and psychotherapist (d. 1970)
 * 1885 – Andrzej Gawroński, Polish linguist and academic (d. 1927)
 * 1887 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter and illustrator (d. 1948)
 * 1889 – John S. Paraskevopoulos, Greek-South African astronomer and academic (d. 1951)
 * 1891 – Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Italian soprano (d. 1951)
 * 1891  – John A. Costello, Irish lawyer and politician, 3rd Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 1976)
 * 1893 – Wilhelm Zaisser, German soldier and politician (d. 1958)
 * 1894 – Lloyd Hall, American chemist and academic (d. 1971)
 * 1896 – Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1982)
 * 1897 – Elisabeth Hauptmann, German author and playwright (d. 1973)
 * 1899 – Jean Moulin, French soldier and engineer (d. 1943)

1901–present

 * 1903 – Sam Rabin, English wrestler, sculptor, and singer (d. 1991)
 * 1905 – Lillian Hellman, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1984)
 * 1906 – Bob King, American high jumper and obstetrician (d. 1965)
 * 1906  – William Reid, Scottish mining engineer (d. 1985)
 * 1907 – Jimmy Driftwood, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (d. 1998)
 * 1908 – Billy Werber, American baseball player (d. 2009)
 * 1908  – Gus Schilling, American actor (d. 1957)
 * 1909 – Errol Flynn, Australian-American actor (d. 1959)
 * 1910 – Josephine Johnson, American author and poet (d. 1990)
 * 1911 – Gail Patrick, American actress (d. 1980)
 * 1912 – Anthony Buckeridge, English author (d. 2004)
 * 1912  – Jack Torrance, American shot putter and football player (d. 1969)
 * 1912 – Geoffrey Baker, English Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the British Army (d. 1980)
 * 1914 – Gordon Juckes, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1994)
 * 1914  – Muazzez İlmiye Çığ, Turkish archaeologist and academic
 * 1915 – Dick Reynolds, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2002)
 * 1915  – Terence Young, Chinese-English director and screenwriter (d. 1994)
 * 1916 – Jean-Jacques Bertrand, Canadian lawyer and politician, 21st Premier of Quebec (d. 1973)
 * 1916  – T. Texas Tyler, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1972)
 * 1917 – Helena Rasiowa, Austrian-Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1994)
 * 1918 – George Lynch, American race car driver (d. 1997)
 * 1918  – Zoltán Sztáray, Hungarian-American author (d. 2011)
 * 1920  – Danny Cedrone, American guitarist and bandleader (d. 1954)
 * 1920  – Thomas Jefferson, American trumpet player (d. 1986)
 * 1921 – Byron Farwell, American historian and author (d. 1999)
 * 1921  – Pancho Segura, Ecuadorian tennis player (d. 2017)
 * 1923 – Peter Gay, German-American historian, author, and academic (d. 2015)
 * 1923  – Jerzy Nowak, Polish actor and educator (d. 2013)
 * 1924 – Chet Atkins, American guitarist and record producer (d. 2001)
 * 1924  – Fritz Koenig, German sculptor and academic, designed The Sphere (d. 2017)
 * 1925 – Doris Hart, American tennis player and educator (d. 2015)
 * 1925  – Audie Murphy, American lieutenant and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1971)
 * 1926 – Rehavam Ze'evi, Israeli general and politician, 9th Israeli Minister of Tourism (d. 2001)
 * 1927 – Simin Behbahani, Iranian poet and activist (d. 2014)
 * 1928 – Eric Dolphy, American saxophonist, flute player, and composer (d. 1964)
 * 1928  – Martin Landau, American actor and producer (d. 2017)
 * 1928  – Jean-Marie Le Pen, French intelligence officer and politician
 * 1928  – Asrat Woldeyes, Ethiopian surgeon and educator (d. 1999)
 * 1929 – Edgar Bronfman, Sr., Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
 * 1929  – Anne Weale, English journalist and author (d. 2007)
 * 1929  – Edith Windsor, American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activist (d. 2017)
 * 1930 – Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish sculptor and academic (d. 2017)
 * 1930  – John Waine, English bishop (d. 2020)
 * 1931 – Olympia Dukakis, American actress (d. 2021)
 * 1931  – James Tolkan, American actor and director
 * 1932 – Robert Rozhdestvensky, Russian poet and author (d. 1994)
 * 1933 – Danny Aiello, American actor (d. 2019)
 * 1933  – Claire Tomalin, English journalist and author
 * 1934 – Wendy Craig, English actress
 * 1935 – Jim Barker, American politician (d. 2005)
 * 1935  – Len Dawson, American football player (d. 2022)
 * 1935  – Armando Picchi, Italian footballer and coach (d. 1971)
 * 1936 – Billy Guy, American singer (d. 2002)
 * 1936  – Enn Vetemaa, Estonian author and screenwriter (d. 2017)
 * 1937 – Stafford Dean, English actor and singer
 * 1937  – Jerry Keller, American singer-songwriter
 * 1938 – Joan Kirner, Australian educator and politician, 42nd Premier of Victoria (d. 2015)
 * 1938  – Mickie Most, English music producer (d. 2003)
 * 1939 – Ramakant Desai, Indian cricketer (d. 1998)
 * 1939  – Budge Rogers, English rugby player and manager
 * 1940 – Eugen Drewermann, German priest and theologian
 * 1940  – John Mahoney, English-born American actor (d. 2018)
 * 1941 – Stephen Frears, English actor, director, and producer
 * 1941  – Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut
 * 1942 – Neil Trudinger, Australian mathematician and theorist
 * 1942  – Brian Wilson, American singer, songwriter and producer
 * 1945 – Anne Murray, Canadian singer and guitarist
 * 1946 – Xanana Gusmão, Timorese soldier and politician, 1st President of East Timor
 * 1946  – David Kazhdan, Russian-Israeli mathematician and academic
 * 1946  – Bob Vila, American television host
 * 1946  – André Watts, American pianist and educator (d. 2023)
 * 1947 – Dolores "LaLa" Brooks, American pop singer
 * 1948 – Cirilo Flores, American bishop (d. 2014)
 * 1948  – Alan Longmuir, Scottish bass player and songwriter (d. 2018)
 * 1948  – Ludwig Scotty, Nauruan politician, 10th President of Nauru
 * 1949 – Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 8th president of Sri Lanka
 * 1949  – Lionel Richie, American singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor
 * 1950 – Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi politician, 76th Prime Minister of Iraq
 * 1951 – Tress MacNeille, American actress and voice artist
 * 1951  – Sheila McLean, Scottish scholar and academic
 * 1951  – Paul Muldoon, Irish poet and academic
 * 1952 – John Goodman, American actor
 * 1952  – Vikram Seth, Indian author and poet
 * 1953 – Robert Crais, American author and screenwriter
 * 1953  – Raúl Ramírez, Mexican tennis player
 * 1953  – Willy Rampf, German engineer
 * 1954 – Michael Anthony, American musician
 * 1954  – Allan Lamb, South African-English cricketer and sportscaster
 * 1954  – Ilan Ramon, Israeli colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
 * 1955 – E. Lynn Harris, American author (d. 2009)
 * 1956 – Peter Reid, English footballer and manager
 * 1956  – Sohn Suk-hee, South Korean newscaster
 * 1958 – Kelly Johnson, English hard rock guitarist and songwriter (d. 2007)
 * 1959 – Robert B. Weide, American screenwriter, producer and director
 * 1960 – Philip M. Parker, American economist and author
 * 1960  – John Taylor, English bass player and actor
 * 1963 – Kirk Baptiste, American sprinter
 * 1963  – Mark Ovenden, British author and broadcaster
 * 1964 – Pierfrancesco Chili, Italian motorcycle racer
 * 1964  – Silke Möller, German runner
 * 1966 – Boaz Yakin, American director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1967 – Nicole Kidman, American-Australian actress
 * 1967  – Dan Tyminski, American singer-songwriter
 * 1968 – Robert Rodriguez, American director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1969 – Paulo Bento, Portuguese footballer and manager
 * 1969  – Misha Verbitsky, Russian mathematician and academic
 * 1969  – MaliVai Washington, American tennis player and sportscaster
 * 1970 – Andrea Nahles, German politician, German Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
 * 1970  – Athol Williams, South African poet and social philosopher
 * 1971 – Rodney Rogers, American basketball player and coach
 * 1971  – Jeordie White, American songwriter, guitarist, and bass player
 * 1972 – Alexis Alexoudis, Greek footballer
 * 1973 – Chino Moreno, American singer, guitarist and lyricist
 * 1975 – Joan Balcells, Spanish tennis player
 * 1975  – Daniel Zítka, Czech footballer
 * 1976 – Juliano Belletti, Brazilian footballer
 * 1976  – Carlos Lee, Panamanian baseball player
 * 1977 – Gordan Giriček, Croatian basketball player
 * 1977  – Amos Lee, American singer-songwriter
 * 1978 – Quinton Jackson, American mixed martial artist and actor
 * 1978  – Frank Lampard, English footballer
 * 1978  – Jan-Paul Saeijs, Dutch footballer
 * 1979 – Charles Howell III, American golfer
 * 1980 – Franco Semioli, Italian footballer
 * 1980  – Fabian Wegmann, German cyclist
 * 1981 – Brede Hangeland, Norwegian footballer
 * 1982 – Aleksei Berezutski, Russian footballer
 * 1982  – Vasili Berezutski, Russian footballer
 * 1982  – Example, English singer/rapper
 * 1983 – Josh Childress, American basketball player
 * 1983  – Darren Sproles, American football player
 * 1984 – Hassan Adams, American basketball player
 * 1985 – Saki Aibu, Japanese actress
 * 1985  – Aurélien Chedjou, Cameroonian footballer
 * 1985  – Matt Flynn, American football player
 * 1985  – Caroline Polachek, American singer and songwriter
 * 1986 – Dreama Walker, American actress
 * 1987 – A-fu, Taiwanese singer and songwriter
 * 1987  – Carsten Ball, Australian tennis player
 * 1987  – Asmir Begović, Bosnian footballer
 * 1987  – Joseph Ebuya, Kenyan runner
 * 1989 – Christopher Mintz-Plasse, American actor
 * 1989  – Javier Pastore, Argentinian footballer
 * 1989  – Terrelle Pryor, American football player
 * 1990 – DeQuan Jones, American basketball player
 * 1990  – Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Senegalese writer
 * 1991 – Kalidou Koulibaly, Senegalese footballer
 * 1991  – Rick ten Voorde, Dutch footballer
 * 1994 – Leonard Williams, American football player
 * 1995 – Caroline Weir, Scottish footballer
 * 1995  – Carol Zhao, Canadian tennis player
 * 1996 – Sam Bennett, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1997 – Bálint Kopasz, Hungarian sprint canoeist
 * 2003 – Hans Niemann, American chess player

Pre-1600

 * 465 – Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei (b. 440)
 * 840 – Louis the Pious, Carolingian emperor (b. 778)
 * 930 – Hucbald, Frankish monk and music theorist
 * 981 – Adalbert, archbishop of Magdeburg
 * 1176 – Mikhail of Vladimir, Russian prince
 * 1351 – Margareta Ebner, German nun and mystic (b. 1291)
 * 1597 – Willem Barentsz, Dutch cartographer and explorer (b. 1550)

1601–1900

 * 1605 – Feodor II of Russia (b. 1589)
 * 1668 – Heinrich Roth, German missionary and scholar (b. 1620)
 * 1776 – Benjamin Huntsman, English businessman (b. 1704)
 * 1787 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German viol player and composer (b. 1723)
 * 1800 – Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, German mathematician and academic (b. 1719)
 * 1810 – Axel von Fersen the Younger, Swedish general and politician (b. 1755)
 * 1815 – Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (b. 1766)
 * 1820 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentinian general, economist, and politician (b. 1770)
 * 1837 – William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1765)
 * 1840 – Pierre Claude François Daunou, French historian and politician (b. 1761)
 * 1847 – Juan Larrea, Argentinian captain and politician (b. 1782)
 * 1869 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese commander (b. 1835)
 * 1870 – Jules de Goncourt, French historian and author (b. 1830)
 * 1872 – Élie Frédéric Forey, French general (b. 1804)
 * 1875 – Joseph Meek, American police officer and politician (b. 1810)
 * 1876 – John Neal, American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist (b. 1793)
 * 1888 – Johannes Zukertort, Polish-English chess player (b. 1842)

1901–present

 * 1906 – John Clayton Adams, English painter (b. 1840)
 * 1909 – Friedrich Martens, Estonian-Russian historian, lawyer, and diplomat (b. 1845)
 * 1925 – Josef Breuer, Austrian physician and psychologist (b. 1842)
 * 1929 – Emmanouil Benakis, Greek merchant and politician, 35th Mayor of Athens (b. 1843)
 * 1945 – Bruno Frank, German author, poet, and playwright (b. 1878)
 * 1947 – Bugsy Siegel, American mobster (b. 1906)
 * 1952 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (b. 1898)
 * 1958 – Kurt Alder, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
 * 1963 – Raphaël Salem, Greek-French mathematician and academic (b. 1898)
 * 1965 – Bernard Baruch, American financier and politician (b. 1870)
 * 1966 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1894)
 * 1969 – Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Indian artist, painter, actor, dancer, writer, music composer and politician (b. 1909)
 * 1974 – Horace Lindrum, Australian snooker player (b. 1912)
 * 1975 – Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, Haitian anthropologist (b. 1898)
 * 1978 – Mark Robson, Canadian-American director and producer (b. 1913)
 * 1984 – Estelle Winwood, English actress (b. 1883)
 * 1995 – Emil Cioran, Romanian-French philosopher and educator (b. 1911)
 * 1997 – Cahit Külebi, Turkish poet and author (b. 1917)
 * 1999 – Clifton Fadiman, American game show host, author, and critic (b. 1902)
 * 2002 – Erwin Chargaff, Austrian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1905)
 * 2002  – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (b. 1916)
 * 2004 – Jim Bacon, Australian politician, 41st Premier of Tasmania (b. 1950)
 * 2005 – Larry Collins, American journalist, historian, and author (b. 1929)
 * 2005  – Jack Kilby, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
 * 2010 – Roberto Rosato, Italian footballer (b. 1943)
 * 2010  – Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (b. 1916)
 * 2011 – Ryan Dunn, American television personality (b. 1977)
 * 2012 – Judy Agnew, Second Lady of the United States. (b. 1921)
 * 2012  – LeRoy Neiman, American painter (b. 1921)
 * 2012  – Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss of Köstritz (b. 1919)
 * 2012  – Andrew Sarris, American critic (b. 1928)
 * 2013 – Ingvar Rydell, Swedish footballer (b. 1922)
 * 2015 – Angelo Niculescu, Romanian footballer and manager (b. 1921)
 * 2015  – Miriam Schapiro, Canadian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
 * 2017 – Prodigy, American music artist (b. 1974)
 * 2022 – Caleb Swanigan, American basketball player (b. 1997)
 * 2024 – Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor and producer (b. 1935)
 * 2024 – Taylor Wily, American actor, sumo wrestler and mixed martial artist (b. 1968)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Adalbert of Magdeburg
 * Florentina
 * John of Matera
 * Blessed Margareta Ebner
 * Methodius of Olympus
 * Pope Silverius
 * June 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Day of the National Flag (Argentina)
 * Earliest possible date for the summer solstice in the Northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern hemisphere, and its related observance:
 * Earliest day on which Day of the Finnish Flag can fall, while June 26 is the latest; celebrated on Saturday of Midsummer's Day (Finland)
 * International Surfing Day (third Saturday in June, on or near Summer solstice)
 * Litha / Midsummer celebrations in the northern hemisphere, Yule in the southern hemisphere.
 * Gas Sector Day (Azerbaijan)
 * Martyrs' Day (Eritrea)
 * West Virginia Day (West Virginia)
 * World Refugee Day (International)

title: June 20


text:
June 21

Pre-1600

 * 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarios 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, is forced to commit suicide by his own general Akechi Mitsuhide.

1601–1900

 * 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, 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 becomes the ninth state to ratify the Constitution of 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.
 * 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road begins.
 * 1898 – The United States captures Guam from Spain. The few warning shots fired by the U.S. naval vessels are misinterpreted as salutes by the Spanish garrison, which was unaware that the two nations were at war.
 * 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.

1901–present

 * 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 at Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed are the last casualties of World War I.
 * 1921 – The Irish village of Knockcroghery was burned by British forces.
 * 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 – World War II: Italy begins an unsuccessful invasion of France.
 * 1942 – World War II: Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces; 33,000 Allied troops are taken prisoner.
 * 1942  – World War II: A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at 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 Michael Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
 * 1970 – Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy in what was the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy to date.
 * 1973 – In its decision in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller test for determining whether something is obscene and not protected speech under the U.S. constitution.
 * 1978 – The original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Evita, based on the life of Eva Perón, opens at the Prince Edward Theatre, London.
 * 1982 – John Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
 * 1985 – Braathens SAFE Flight 139 is hijacked on approach to Oslo Airport, Fornebu. Special forces arrest the hijacker and there are no fatalities.
 * 1989 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, that American flag-burning is a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment.
 * 1993 – Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-57 to retrieve the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) satellite. It is also the first shuttle mission to carry the Spacehab module.
 * 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 unsuccessfully tried 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.
 * 2006  – A Yeti Airlines de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter crashes at Jumla Airport in Nepal, killing nine people.
 * 2009 – Greenland assumes self-rule.
 * 2012 – A boat carrying more than 200 migrants capsizes in the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian island of Java and Christmas Island, killing 17 people and leaving 70 others missing.
 * 2012  – An Indonesian Air Force Fokker F27 Friendship crashes near Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, killing 11.

Pre-1600

 * 906 – Abu Ja'far 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)
 * 1565 – Scipione Chiaramonti, Italian philosopher and astronomer (d. 1652)

1601–1900

 * 1630 – Samuel Oppenheimer, German Jewish banker and diplomat (d. 1703)
 * 1636 – Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon, French noble (d. 1721)
 * 1639 – (O.S.) Increase Mather, American minister and author (d. 1723)
 * 1676 – (O.S.) 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 opera singer and composer (d. 1849)
 * 1792 – Ferdinand Christian Baur, German theologian and scholar (d. 1860)
 * 1797 – Wilhelm Küchelbecker, Russian poet and author (d. 1846)
 * 1802 – Karl Zittel, German theologian (d. 1871)
 * 1805 – Karl Friedrich Curschmann, German composer and singer (d. 1841)
 * 1805  – Charles Thomas Jackson, American physician and geologist (d. 1880)
 * 1811 – Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist and neurophysiologist (d. 1868)
 * 1814 – Paweł Bryliński, Polish sculptor (d. 1890)
 * 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)
 * 1828  – Nikolaus Nilles, German Catholic writer and teacher (d. 1907)
 * 1834 – Frans de Cort, Flemish poet and author (d. 1878)
 * 1836 – Luigi Tripepi, Italian theologian (d. 1906)
 * 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)
 * 1846  – Enrico Coleman, Italian painter (d. 1911)
 * 1850 – Daniel Carter Beard, American author and illustrator, co-founded the Boy Scouts of America (d. 1941)
 * 1857 – Charles Alderton, American pharmacist, founded Dr. Pepper (d. 1941)
 * 1858 – Giuseppe De Sanctis, Italian painter (d. 1924)
 * 1858  – Medardo Rosso, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1928)
 * 1859 – Henry Ossawa Tanner, American-French painter and illustrator (d. 1937)
 * 1860 – William Dobinson Halliburton, British physiologist and biochemist (d. 1931)
 * 1862 – Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai historian and author (d. 1943)
 * 1863 – Ludwig Lange, German physicist (d. 1936)
 * 1863  – Max Wolf, German astronomer and academic (d. 1932)
 * 1864 – Heinrich Wölfflin, Swiss historian and critic (d. 1945)
 * 1866 – Matt Kilroy, American baseball player (d. 1940)
 * 1867 – Oscar Florianus Bluemner, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1938)
 * 1867  – William Brede Kristensen, Norwegian historian of religion (d. 1953)
 * 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)
 * 1870  – Julio Ruelas, Mexican painter (d. 1907)
 * 1874 – Jacob Linzbach, Estonian linguist (d. 1953)
 * 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)
 * 1881 – (O.S.) Natalia Goncharova, Russian painter, costume designer, and illustrator (d. 1962)
 * 1882 – Ya'acov Ben-Dov, Israeli photographer and cinematographer (d. 1968)
 * 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)
 * 1894  – Harry Schmidt, German mathematician and physicist (d. 1951)
 * 1896 – Charles Momsen, American admiral, invented the Momsen lung (d. 1967)
 * 1899 – Pavel Haas, Czech composer (d. 1944)
 * 1900 – Georges-Henri Bousquet, French economist and Islamologist (d. 1978)

1901–present

 * 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)
 * 1906 – Grete Sultan, German-American pianist (d. 2005)
 * 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  – Tchan Fou-li, Chinese photographer (d. 2018)
 * 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  – J. Clyde Mitchell, British sociologist and anthropologist (d. 1995)
 * 1918  – Dee Molenaar, American mountaineer (d. 2020)
 * 1918  – Robert V. Roosa, American economist and banker (d. 1993)
 * 1918  – Tibor Szele, Hungarian mathematician and academic (d. 1955)
 * 1918  – Josephine Webb, American engineer (d. 2017)
 * 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 (d. 2017)
 * 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)
 * 1922 – Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Burkinabé historian, politician and writer (d. 2006)
 * 1923 – Jacques Hébert, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2007)
 * 1924 – Pontus Hultén, Swedish art collector and historian (d. 2006)
 * 1924  – Ezzatolah Entezami, Iranian actor (d. 2018)
 * 1924  – Wally Fawkes, British-Canadian jazz clarinetist and satirical cartoonist (d. 2023)
 * 1924  – Jean Laplanche, French psychoanalyst and academic (d. 2012)
 * 1925 – Larisa Avdeyeva, Russian mezzo-soprano (d. 2013)
 * 1925  – Stanley Moss, American poet, publisher, and art dealer (d. 2024)
 * 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 (d. 2021)
 * 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 (d. 2022)
 * 1928  – Fiorella Mari, Brazilian-Italian actress (d. 1983)
 * 1928  – Margit Bara, Hungarian actress (d. 2016)
 * 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 (d. 2018)
 * 1931  – David Kushnir, Israeli Olympic long-jumper (d. 2020)
 * 1932 – Bernard Ingham, English journalist and civil servant (d. 2023)
 * 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 (d. 2020)
 * 1938 – Don Black, English songwriter
 * 1938  – John W. Dower, American historian and author
 * 1938  – Michael M. Richter, German mathematician and computer scientist (d. 2020)
 * 1940 – Mariette Hartley, American actress and television personality
 * 1940  – Michael Ruse, Canadian philosopher and academic
 * 1941 – Aloysius Paul D'Souza, Indian Catholic bishop
 * 1941  – Joe Flaherty, American-Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2024)
 * 1941  – Lyman Ward, Canadian actor
 * 1942 – Clive Brooke, Baron Brooke of Alverthorpe, English businessman and politician
 * 1942  – Norbert Brunner, Swiss Catholic bishop
 * 1942  – Marjorie Margolies, American journalist and politician
 * 1942  – Henry S. Taylor, American author and poet
 * 1942  – Flaviano Vicentini, Italian cyclist (d. 2002)
 * 1942  – Togo D. West Jr., American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (d. 2018)
 * 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  – Jon Hiseman, English drummer (d. 2018)
 * 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 (d. 2021)
 * 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
 * 1947  – Wade Phillips, American football coach
 * 1947  – Fernando Savater, Spanish philosopher and author
 * 1948 – Jovan Aćimović, Serbian footballer and manager
 * 1948  – Ian McEwan, British novelist and screenwriter
 * 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
 * 1950  – Enn Reitel, Scottish actor and screenwriter
 * 1950  – Trygve Thue, Norwegian guitarist and record producer (d. 2022)
 * 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 politician, Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 2007)
 * 1953  – Augustus Pablo, Jamaican producer and musician (d. 1999)
 * 1954 – Már Guðmundsson, Icelandic economist, former Governor of Central Bank of Iceland
 * 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
 * 1956 – Rick Sutcliffe, American baseball player and broadcaster
 * 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
 * 1960 – Kate Brown, American politician, 38th Governor of Oregon
 * 1960  – Karl Erjavec, Slovenian politician
 * 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
 * 1961  – Iztok Mlakar, Slovenian actor and singer-songwriter
 * 1962 – Shōhei Takada, Japanese shogi player and theoretician
 * 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  – Valeriy Neverov, Ukrainian chess player
 * 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 TV 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
 * 1972  – Tomáš Valášek, Slovak diplomat and politician
 * 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  – Al Wilson, American football player
 * 1978 – Thomas Blondeau, Flemish writer (d. 2013)
 * 1978  – Matt Kuchar, American golfer
 * 1978  – Cristiano Lupatelli, Italian footballer
 * 1978  – Dejan Ognjanović, Montenegrin footballer
 * 1978  – Rim'K, French rapper
 * 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  – 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  – William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne
 * 1982  – Jussie Smollett, American actor and singer
 * 1983 – Edward Snowden, American activist and academic
 * 1985 – Kris Allen, American musician, singer and songwriter
 * 1985  – Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter
 * 1985  – Sentayehu Ejigu, Ethiopian runner
 * 1985  – Byron Schammer, Australian footballer
 * 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  – Alejandro Ramírez, American chess player
 * 1988  – Paolo Tornaghi, Italian footballer
 * 1988  – Thaddeus Young, American basketball player
 * 1989 – Abubaker Kaki, Sudanese runner
 * 1990 – Ričardas Berankis, Lithuanian tennis player
 * 1990  – Sergei Matsenko, Russian chess player
 * 1990  – François Moubandje, Swiss footballer
 * 1990  – Håvard Nordtveit, Norwegian footballer
 * 1990  – Isabel Pires, Portuguese politician
 * 1991 – Gaël Kakuta, French footballer
 * 1991  – Lee Min-young, South Korean singer-songwriter, actress, and entertainer
 * 1992 – MAX, American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer and model
 * 1992  – Hussein El Shahat, Egyptian professional footballer
 * 1993 – Hungrybox, Argentine-American esports player
 * 1994 – Başak Eraydın, Turkish tennis player
 * 1996 – Tyrone May, Australian rugby league player
 * 1996  – Scottie Scheffler, American golfer
 * 1997 – Rebecca Black, American singer-songwriter
 * 1997  – Derrius Guice, American football player
 * 1998 – Isabel Atkin, British-American freestyle skier
 * 1999 – Ky Rodwell, Australian rugby league player
 * 2000 – Dylan Brown, New Zealand rugby league player
 * 2001 – Alexandra Obolentseva, Russian chess player
 * 2011 – Lil Bub, American celebrity cat (d. 2019)

Pre-1600

 * 532 – Emperor Jiemin of Northern Wei, former Northern Wei emperor
 * 866 – Rodulf, Frankish archbishop
 * 868 – Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam of Shia Islam (b. 829)
 * 870 – Al-Muhtadi, Muslim caliph
 * 947 – Zhang Li, official of the Liao Dynasty
 * 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)
 * 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)

1601–1900

 * 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)
 * 1765 – Nachman of Horodenka, Hasidic rabbi
 * 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)

1901–present

 * 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)
 * 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)
 * 1951  – Ville Kiviniemi, Finnish politician (b. 1877)
 * 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)
 * 1968 – Constance Georgina Tardrew, South African botanist (b. 1883)
 * 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  – Arthur Gorrie, Australian hobby shop proprietor (b. 1922)
 * 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)
 * 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)
 * 2018 – Charles Krauthammer, American columnist and conservative political commentator (b. 1950)
 * 2023 – Winnie Ewing, Scottish politician (b. 1929)
 * 2024 – Frederick Crews, American essayist and literary critic (b. 1933)

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 (Northern Ireland)
 * 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)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: June 21


text:
June 5

Pre-1600

 * 1086 – Tutush, brother of Seljuk sultan Malik Shah, defeats Suleiman ibn Qutalmish, the Turkish ruler of Anatolia in the battle of Ain Salm.
 * 1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights.
 * 1284 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles of Salerno.
 * 1288 – The Battle of Worringen ends the War of the Limburg Succession, with John I, Duke of Brabant, being one of the more important victors.

1601–1900

 * 1610 – The masque Tethys' Festival is performed at Whitehall Palace to celebrate the investiture of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
 * 1644 – The Qing dynasty's Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor take Beijing during the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
 * 1794 – Haitian Revolution: Battle of Port-Républicain: British troops capture the capital of Saint-Domingue.
 * 1798 – Battle of New Ross: The attempt to spread the United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated.
 * 1817 – The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched.
 * 1829 – HMS Pickle captures the armed slave ship Voladora off the coast of Cuba.
 * 1832 – The June Rebellion breaks out in Paris in an attempt to overthrow the monarchy of Louis Philippe.
 * 1837 – Houston is incorporated by the Republic of Texas.
 * 1849 – Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy by the signing of a new constitution.
 * 1851 – Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper.
 * 1862 – As the Treaty of Saigon is signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, the guerrilla leader Trương Định decides to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans.
 * 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.
 * 1873 – Sultan Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar closes the great slave market under the terms of a treaty with Great Britain.
 * 1883 – The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.
 * 1888 – The Rio de la Plata earthquake takes place.
 * 1893 – The trial of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her father and step-mother begins in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
 * 1900 – Second Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria.

1901–present

 * 1915 – Denmark amends its constitution to allow women's suffrage.
 * 1916 – Louis Brandeis is sworn in as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court; he is the first American Jew to hold such a position.
 * 1916  – World War I: The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire breaks out.
 * 1917 – World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as "Army registration day".
 * 1940 – World War II: After a brief lull in the Battle of France, the Germans renew the offensive against the remaining French divisions south of the River Somme in Operation Fall Rot ("Case Red").
 * 1941 – World War II: Four thousand Chongqing residents are asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing.
 * 1942 – World War II: The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
 * 1944 – World War II: More than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
 * 1945 – The Allied Control Council, the military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.
 * 1946 – A fire in the La Salle Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, kills 61 people.
 * 1947 – Cold War: Marshall Plan: In a speech at Harvard University, the United States Secretary of State George Marshall calls for economic aid to war-torn Europe.
 * 1949 – Thailand elects Orapin Chaiyakan, the first female member of Thailand's Parliament.
 * 1956 – Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
 * 1959 – The first government of Singapore is sworn in.
 * 1960 – The Lake Bodom murders occur in Finland.
 * 1963 – The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, resigns in a sex scandal known as the "Profumo affair".
 * 1963  – Movement of 15 Khordad: Protests against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In several cities, masses of angry demonstrators are confronted by tanks and paratroopers.
 * 1964 – DSV Alvin is commissioned.
 * 1967 – The Six-Day War begins: Israel launches surprise strikes against Egyptian air-fields in response to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces on the Israeli border.
 * 1968 – Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.
 * 1975 – The Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six-Day War.
 * 1975  – The United Kingdom holds its first country-wide referendum on membership of the European Economic Community (EEC).
 * 1976 – The Teton Dam in Idaho, United States, collapses. Eleven people are killed as a result of flooding.
 * 1981 – The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that five people in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, in what turns out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS.
 * 1983 – More than 100 people are killed when the Russian river cruise ship Aleksandr Suvorov collides with a girder of the Ulyanovsk Railway Bridge. The collision caused a freight train to derail, further damaging the vessel, yet the ship remained afloat and was eventually restored and returned to service.
 * 1984 – Operation Blue Star: Under orders from India's prime minister, Indira Gandhi, the Indian Army begins an invasion of the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion.
 * 1989 – The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
 * 1991 – Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on STS-40, the fifth spacelab mission.
 * 1993 – Portions of the Holbeck Hall Hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK, fall into the sea following a landslide.
 * 1995 – The Bose–Einstein condensate is first created.
 * 1997 – The Second Republic of the Congo Civil War begins.
 * 1998 – A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants. The strike lasts seven weeks.
 * 2000 – The Six-Day War in Kisangani begins in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Ugandan and Rwandan forces. A large part of the city is destroyed.
 * 2001 – Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm causes $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the second costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.
 * 2002 – Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-111, carrying the Expedition 5 crew to the International Space Station to replace the Expedition 4 crew. Astronaut Franklin Chang-Díaz becomes the second person to have flown on seven spaceflights.
 * 2003 – A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50 °C (122 °F) in the region.
 * 2004 – Noël Mamère, Mayor of Bègles, celebrates marriage for two men for the first time in France.
 * 2006 – Serbia declares independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
 * 2009 – After 65 straight days of civil disobedience, at least 31 people are killed in clashes between security forces and indigenous people near Bagua, Peru.
 * 2015 – An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.0 strikes Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia, killing 18 people, including hikers and mountain guides on Mount Kinabalu, after mass landslides that occurred during the earthquake. This is the strongest earthquake to strike Malaysia since 1975.
 * 2016 – Two shootings in Aktobe, Kazakhstan, kill six people.
 * 2017 – Montenegro becomes the 29th member of NATO.
 * 2017  – Six Arab countries—Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates—cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.
 * 2022 – A constitutional referendum is held in Kazakhstan following violent protests and civil unrest against the government.

Pre-1600

 * 1341 – Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, son of King Edward III of England and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1402)
 * 1412 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, Italian ruler (d. 1478)
 * 1493 – Justus Jonas, German priest and academic (d. 1555)
 * 1523 – Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1573)
 * 1554 – Benedetto Giustiniani, Italian clergyman (d. 1621)
 * 1587 – Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English colonial administrator and admiral (d. 1658)
 * 1596 – Peter Wtewael, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1660)

1601–1900

 * 1640 – Pu Songling, Chinese author (d. 1715)
 * 1646 – Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1684)
 * 1660 – Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (d. 1744)
 * 1757 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (d. 1808)
 * 1760 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (d. 1852)
 * 1771 – Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (d. 1851)
 * 1781 – Christian Lobeck, German scholar and academic (d. 1860)
 * 1801 – William Scamp, English architect and engineer (d. 1872)
 * 1819 – John Couch Adams, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1892)
 * 1830 – Carmine Crocco, Italian soldier (d. 1905)
 * 1850 – Pat Garrett, American sheriff (d. 1908)
 * 1862 – Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930)
 * 1868 – James Connolly, Scottish-born Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)
 * 1870 – Bernard de Pourtalès, Swiss captain and sailor (d. 1935)
 * 1876 – Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (d. 1957)
 * 1877 – Willard Miller, Canadian-American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1959)
 * 1878 – Pancho Villa, Mexican general and politician, Governor of Chihuahua (d. 1923)
 * 1879 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1985)
 * 1883 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1946)
 * 1883  – Mary Helen Young, Scottish nurse and resistance fighter during World War II (d. 1945)
 * 1884 – Ralph Benatzky, Czech-Swiss composer (d. 1957)
 * 1884  – Ivy Compton-Burnett, English author (d. 1969)
 * 1884  – Frederick Lorz, American runner (d. 1914)
 * 1892 – Jaan Kikkas, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1944)
 * 1894 – Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian-English publisher and academic (d. 1976)
 * 1895 – William Boyd, American actor and producer (d. 1972)
 * 1895  – William Roberts, English soldier and painter (d. 1980)
 * 1898 – Salvatore Ferragamo, Italian shoe designer, founded Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. (d. 1960)
 * 1898  – Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, playwright, and director (d. 1936)
 * 1899 – Otis Barton, American diver, engineer, and actor, designed the bathysphere (d. 1992)
 * 1899  – Theippan Maung Wa, Burmese writer (d. 1942)
 * 1900 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)

1901–present

 * 1912 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (d. 2003)
 * 1912  – Eric Hollies, English cricketer (d. 1981)
 * 1913 – Conrad Marca-Relli, American-Italian painter and academic (d. 2000)
 * 1914 – Beatrice de Cardi, English archaeologist and academic (d. 2016)
 * 1915 – Lancelot Ware, English barrister and biochemist, co-founder of Mensa (d. 2000)
 * 1916 – Sid Barnes, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
 * 1916  – Eddie Joost, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
 * 1919 – Richard Scarry, American-Swiss author and illustrator (d. 1994)
 * 1920 – Marion Motley, American football player and coach (d. 1999)
 * 1920  – Cornelius Ryan, Irish-American journalist and author (d. 1974)
 * 1922 – Paul Couvret, Dutch-Australian soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 2013)
 * 1922  – Sheila Sim, English actress (d. 2016)
 * 1923 – Jorge Daponte, Argentinian racing driver (d. 1963)
 * 1923  – Daniel Pinkham, American organist and composer (d. 2006)
 * 1924 – Art Donovan, American football player and radio host (d. 2013)
 * 1926 – Paul Soros, Hungarian-American engineer and businessman (d. 2013)
 * 1928 – Robert Lansing, American actor (d. 1994)
 * 1928  – Tony Richardson, English-American director and producer (d. 1991)
 * 1930 – Alifa Rifaat, Egyptian author (d. 1996)
 * 1931 – Yves Blais, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1998)
 * 1931  – Jacques Demy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
 * 1931  – Jerzy Prokopiuk, Polish anthropologist and philosopher (d. 2021)
 * 1932 – Christy Brown, Irish painter and author (d. 1981)
 * 1932  – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded the 99 Cents Only Stores (d. 2013)
 * 1933 – Bata Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (d. 2016)
 * 1934 – Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Icelandic triple jumper, painter, and educator (d. 2019)
 * 1934  – Bill Moyers, American journalist, 13th White House Press Secretary
 * 1937 – Hélène Cixous, French author, poet, and critic
 * 1938 – Moira Anderson, Scottish singer
 * 1938  – Karin Balzer, German hurdler (d. 2019)
 * 1938  – Roy Higgins, Australian jockey (d. 2014)
 * 1939 – Joe Clark, Canadian journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Canada
 * 1939  – Margaret Drabble, English novelist, biographer, and critic
 * 1941 – Martha Argerich, Argentinian pianist
 * 1941  – Erasmo Carlos, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2022)
 * 1941  – Spalding Gray, American writer, actor, and monologist (d. 2004)
 * 1941  – Gudrun Sjödén, Swedish designer
 * 1942 – Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatoguinean lieutenant and politician, 2nd President of Equatorial Guinea
 * 1943 – Abraham Viruthakulangara, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India (d. 2018)
 * 1944 – Whitfield Diffie, American cryptographer and academic
 * 1945 – John Carlos, American runner and football player
 * 1945  – André Lacroix, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
 * 1946 – John Du Cann, English guitarist (d. 2001)
 * 1946  – Bob Grant, Australian rugby league player
 * 1946  – Patrick Head, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Williams F1
 * 1946  – Wanderléa, Brazilian singer and television host
 * 1947 – Laurie Anderson, American singer-songwriter and violinist
 * 1947  – Tom Evans, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1983)
 * 1947  – David Hare, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
 * 1947  – Freddie Stone, American singer, guitarist, and pastor
 * 1949 – Ken Follett, Welsh author
 * 1949  – Elizabeth Gloster, English lawyer and judge
 * 1949  – Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee, Scottish politician
 * 1950 – Ronnie Dyson, American singer and actor (d. 1990)
 * 1950  – Abraham Sarmiento, Jr., Filipino journalist and activist (d. 1977)
 * 1951 – Suze Orman, American financial adviser, author, and television host
 * 1952 – Pierre Bruneau, Canadian journalist and news anchor
 * 1952  – Carole Fredericks, American singer  (d. 2001)
 * 1952  – Nicko McBrain, English drummer and songwriter
 * 1953 – Kathleen Kennedy, American film producer, co-founded Amblin Entertainment
 * 1954 – Alberto Malesani, Italian footballer and manager
 * 1954  – Phil Neale, English cricketer, coach, and manager
 * 1954  – Nancy Stafford, American model and actress
 * 1955 – Edino Nazareth Filho, Brazilian footballer and manager
 * 1956 – Kenny G, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
 * 1958 – Avigdor Lieberman, Moldavian-Israeli politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
 * 1958  – Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, Comorian businessman and politician, President of Comoros
 * 1959 – Mark Ella, Australian rugby player
 * 1959  – Werner Schildhauer, German runner
 * 1960  – Claire Fox, English author and academic
 * 1961 – Anke Behmer, German heptathlete
 * 1961  – Mary Kay Bergman, American voice actress (d. 1999)
 * 1961  – Anthony Burger, American singer and pianist (d. 2006)
 * 1961  – Aldo Costa, Italian engineer
 * 1961  – Ramesh Krishnan, Indian tennis player and coach
 * 1962 – Jeff Garlin, American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter
 * 1962  – Tõnis Lukas, Estonian historian and politician, 34th Estonian Minister of Education
 * 1964 – Lisa Cholodenko, American director and screenwriter
 * 1964  – Rick Riordan, American author
 * 1965 – Michael E. Brown, American astronomer and author
 * 1965  – Sandrine Piau, French soprano
 * 1965  – Alfie Turcotte, American ice hockey player
 * 1967 – Joe DeLoach, American sprinter
 * 1967  – Ron Livingston, American actor
 * 1968 – Ed Vaizey, English lawyer and politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
 * 1969 – Brian McKnight, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
 * 1970 – Martin Gélinas, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
 * 1971 – Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress
 * 1971  – Alex Mooney, American politician
 * 1971  – Mark Wahlberg, American model, actor, producer, and rapper
 * 1972 – Yogi Adityanath, Indian priest and politician
 * 1972  – Paweł Kotla, Polish conductor and academic
 * 1973 – Lamon Brewster, American boxer
 * 1973  – Gella Vandecaveye, Belgian martial artist
 * 1974 – Mervyn Dillon, Trinidadian cricketer
 * 1974  – Scott Draper, Australian tennis player and golfer
 * 1974  – Russ Ortiz, American baseball player
 * 1975 – Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuanian-American basketball player
 * 1975  – Duncan Patterson, English drummer and keyboard player
 * 1975  – Sandra Stals, Belgian runner
 * 1976 – Joe Gatto, American comedian
 * 1976  – Giannis Giannoulis, Canadian basketball player
 * 1976  – Torry Holt, American football player
 * 1977 – Liza Weil, American actress
 * 1978 – Nick Kroll, American actor and comedian
 * 1978  – Fernando Meira, Portuguese footballer
 * 1979 – Stefanos Kotsolis, Greek footballer
 * 1979  – Matthew Scarlett, Australian footballer
 * 1979  – Pete Wentz, American singer-songwriter, bass player, actor, and fashion designer
 * 1979  – Jason White, American race car driver
 * 1980 – Mike Fisher, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1980  – Antonio García, Spanish racing driver
 * 1981 – Serhat Akın, Turkish footballer
 * 1981  – Sébastien Lefebvre, Canadian singer and guitarist
 * 1982 – Ryan Dallas Cook, American trombonist (d. 2005)
 * 1983 – Marques Colston, American football player
 * 1984 – Robert Barbieri, Canadian-Italian rugby player
 * 1985 – Jeremy Abbott, American figure skater
 * 1985  – Ekaterina Bychkova, Russian tennis player
 * 1986 – Dave Bolland, Canadian ice hockey player
 * 1986  – Vernon Gholston, American football player
 * 1987 – Marcus Thornton, American basketball player
 * 1988 – Alessandro Salvi, Italian footballer
 * 1989 – Cam Atkinson, American ice hockey player
 * 1989  – Megumi Nakajima, Japanese voice actress and singer
 * 1990 – Radko Gudas, Czech ice hockey defenceman
 * 1991 – Sören Bertram, German footballer
 * 1991  – Ninja, American professional gamer
 * 1992 – Joazhiño Arroe, Peruvian footballer
 * 1992  – Emily Seebohm, Australian swimmer
 * 1993 – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Samoan-New Zealand rugby league player
 * 1995 – Troye Sivan, South African–born Australian singer-songwriter, actor, and YouTuber
 * 1995  – Ross Wilson, English table tennis player
 * 1997 – Sam Darnold, American football player
 * 1998 – Jaqueline Cristian, Romanian tennis player
 * 1998  – Dave, British rapper
 * 1998  – Yulia Lipnitskaya, Russian figure skater

Pre-1600

 * 301 – Sima Lun, Chinese emperor (b. 249)
 * 535 – Epiphanius, patriarch of Constantinople
 * 567 – Theodosius I, patriarch of Alexandria
 * 708 – Jacob of Edessa, Syrian bishop (b. 640)
 * 754 – Eoban, bishop of Utrecht
 * 754  – Boniface, English missionary and martyr (b. 675)
 * 879 – Ya'qub ibn al-Layth, Persian emir (b. 840)
 * 928 – Louis the Blind, king of Provence
 * 1017 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (b. 976)
 * 1118 – Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Norman nobleman and politician (b. 1049)
 * 1296 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1245)
 * 1310 – Amalric, prince of Tyre
 * 1316 – Louis X, king of France (b. 1289)
 * 1383 – Dmitry of Suzdal, Russian grand prince (b. 1324)
 * 1400 – Frederick I, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
 * 1424 – Braccio da Montone, Italian nobleman (b. 1368)
 * 1434 – Yuri IV, Russian grand prince (b. 1374)
 * 1443 – Ferdinand, Portuguese prince (b. 1402)
 * 1445 – Leonel Power, English composer
 * 1530 – Mercurino Gattinara, Italian statesman and jurist (b. 1465)
 * 1568 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont (b. 1522)

1601–1900

 * 1625 – Orlando Gibbons, English organist and composer (b. 1583)
 * 1667 – Francesco Sforza Pallavicino, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1607)
 * 1708 – Ignatius George II, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch (b. 1648)
 * 1716 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and academic (b. 1682)
 * 1722 – Johann Kuhnau, German organist and composer (b. 1660)
 * 1738 – Isaac de Beausobre, French pastor and theologian (b. 1659)
 * 1740 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, English politician and courtier (b. 1671)
 * 1791 – Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-Canadian general and politician, 22nd Governor of Quebec (b. 1718)
 * 1816 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (b. 1741)
 * 1825 – Odysseas Androutsos, Greek soldier (b. 1788)
 * 1826 – Carl Maria von Weber, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1786)
 * 1866 – John McDouall Stuart, Scottish explorer and surveyor (b. 1815)
 * 1899 – Antonio Luna, Filipino general (b. 1866)
 * 1900 – Stephen Crane, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1871)

1901–present

 * 1906 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (b. 1842)
 * 1910 – O. Henry, American short story writer (b. 1862)
 * 1913 – Chris von der Ahe, German-American businessman (b. 1851)
 * 1916 – Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Irish-born British field marshal and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1850)
 * 1920 – Rhoda Broughton, Welsh-English author (b. 1840)
 * 1921 – Will Crooks, English trade unionist and politician (b. 1852)
 * 1921  – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (b. 1862)
 * 1930 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (b. 1880)
 * 1930  – Pascin, Bulgarian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
 * 1934 – Emily Dobson, Australian philanthropist (b. 1842)
 * 1934  – William Holman, English-Australian politician, 19th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1871)
 * 1947 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish-American actor and director (b. 1884)
 * 1965 – Eleanor Farjeon, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1881)
 * 1967 – Arthur Biram, Israeli philologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1878)
 * 1967  – Harry Brown, Australian public servant (b. 1878)
 * 1993 – Conway Twitty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
 * 1996 – Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, Indian poet and scholar (b. 1933)
 * 1997 – J. Anthony Lukas, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
 * 1998 – Jeanette Nolan, American actress (b. 1911)
 * 1998  – Sam Yorty, American soldier and politician, 37th Mayor of Los Angeles (b. 1909)
 * 1999 – Mel Tormé, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
 * 2000 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (b. 1925)
 * 2002 – Dee Dee Ramone, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1951)
 * 2003 – Jürgen Möllemann, German soldier and politician, 10th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1945)
 * 2003  – Manuel Rosenthal, French composer and conductor (b. 1904)
 * 2004 – Iona Brown, English violinist and conductor (b. 1941)
 * 2004  – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (b. 1911)
 * 2005 – Adolfo Aguilar Zínser, Mexican scholar and politician (b. 1949)
 * 2005  – Wee Chong Jin, Singaporean judge (b. 1917)
 * 2006 – Frederick Franck, Dutch-American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1909)
 * 2006  – Edward L. Moyers, American businessman (b. 1928)
 * 2009 – Jeff Hanson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1978)
 * 2011 – Azam Khan, Bangladeshi singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
 * 2012 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (b. 1920)
 * 2012  – Hal Keller, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
 * 2012  – Mihai Pătrașcu, Romanian-American computer scientist (b. 1982)
 * 2012  – Charlie Sutton, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
 * 2013 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (b. 1933)
 * 2013  – Stanisław Nagy, Polish cardinal (b. 1921)
 * 2013  – Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Irish republican activist and politician (b. 1932)
 * 2013  – Michel Ostyn, Belgian physiologist and physician (b. 1924)
 * 2014 – Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, Iraqi commander (b. 1971)
 * 2014  – Don Davis, American songwriter and producer (b. 1938)
 * 2014  – Reiulf Steen, Norwegian journalist and politician, Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications (b. 1933)
 * 2015 – Tariq Aziz, Iraqi journalist and politician, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1936)
 * 2015  – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (b. 1938)
 * 2015  – Richard Johnson, English actor (b. 1927)
 * 2015  – Roger Vergé, French chef and author (b. 1930)
 * 2016 – Jerome Bruner, American psychologist (b. 1915)
 * 2017 – Andy Cunningham, English actor (b. 1950)
 * 2017  – Cheick Tioté, Ivorian footballer (b. 1986)
 * 2018 – Kate Spade, American fashion designer (b. 1962)
 * 2021 – T. B. Joshua, Nigerian televangelist (b. 1963)
 * 2023 – Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances

 * Arbor Day (New Zealand)
 * Christian feast day:
 * Boniface (Roman Catholic Church)
 * Dorotheus of Tyre
 * Genesius, Count of Clermont
 * Blessed Meinwerk
 * June 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Constitution Day (Denmark)
 * Father's Day (Denmark)
 * Indian Arrival Day (Suriname)
 * Liberation Day (Seychelles)
 * President's Day (Equatorial Guinea)
 * Reclamation Day (Azerbaijan)
 * World Day Against Speciesism (International)
 * World Environment Day (International)

title: June 5