June 21

is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining.

In common years it is always in ISO week 25.

This day usually marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere, and thus is the day of the year with the longest hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere and the shortest in the southern hemisphere.

Events

524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vezerone.
1621 - an execution of 27 Czech lords on the Old Town Square in Prague as a consequence of the battle on the "White Mountain".
1665 - First soldiers of Le Régiment de Carignan-Salières arrive at Quebec to invade Iroquois territories.
1734 - In Montreal in New France (today primarily Quebec), a black slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique, having been convicted of the arson that destroyed much of the city, was tortured and hanged by the French authorities in a public ceremony that involved her disgrace and the amputation of a hand.
1749 - Halifax, Nova Scotia, founded.
1788 - New Hampshire ratifies the Constitution and is thus admitted as the 9th state in the United States.
1798 - Irish Rebellion of 1798: The British Army defeats Irish rebels at Battle of Vinegar Hill
1813 - Peninsular War: Battle of Vitoria
1813 - Laura Secord sets out to warn British forces of an impending U.S. attack on Queenston, Ontario during the War of 1812.
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
1854 - First Victoria Cross won during bombardment of Bomarsund in the Aland Islands.
1864 - Maori Wars: The Tauranga Campaign ends.
1877 - The Molly Maguires, ten Irish immigrants who were labor activists, are hanged in the Carbon County, Pennsylvania Prison.
1887 - Queen Victoria's golden jubilee.
1898 - Guam becomes a U.S. territory.
1915 - The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Guinn v. United States 238 US 347 1915, striking down an Oklahoma law denying the right to vote to some citizens.
1919 - 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 were the last casualties of the First World War.
1940 - World War II: France surrenders to Germany.
1940 - First successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia.
1942 - World War II: Tobruk falls to 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 the Japanese against the U.S. mainland.
1945 - World War II: Battle of Okinawa ends.
1957 - Ellen Louks Fairclough sworn in as Canada's first woman Cabinet Minister
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.
1973 - In handing down the decision in Miller v. California 413 US 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller Test, which now governs 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 rules in Texas v. Johnson that flag burning is protected speech under the United States Constitution.
2000 - Section 28 (outlawing the 'promotion' of homosexuality in the UK) repealed in Scotland with a 99 to 17 vote.
2003 - Deputy Justice Fazel Ahmed Manawi of the Afghan Supreme Court announces that Aftab editor Sayed Madawi and his deputy Ali Payam Sestani will be tried for "libeling Islam."
2004 - SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
2005 - Donald Tsang Yam Kuen is appointed by the People's Republic of China to take over from Tung Chee Hwa as the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Births

1002 - Pope Leo IX (d. 1054)
1226 - King Boleslaus V of Poland (d. 1279)
1535 - Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist (d. 1596)
1639 (O.S.) - Increase Mather, New England Puritan minister (d. 1723)
1646 (O.S.) - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German philosopher and scientist (d. 1716)
1676 (O.S.) - Anthony Collins, English philosopher (d. 1729)
1712 - Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen, French admiral (d. 1790)
1732 - Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German composer (d. 1791)
1736 (O.S.) - Enoch Poor, American general in the Continental Army (d. 1780)
1759 - Alexander J. Dallas, American statesman and financier (d. 1817)
1763 - Pierre Paul Royer-Collard, French philosopher (d. 1845)
1764 - Sidney Smith, British admiral (d. 1840)
1774 - Daniel D. Tompkins, Congressman, Governor of New York, and sixth Vice President of the United States
1781 - Siméon-Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1840)
1782 - Pyotr Kotlyarevsky, Russian general (d. 1852)
1805 - Charles Thomas Jackson, American scientist, polymath
1811 - Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist (d. 1868)
1812 - Moses Hess, Jewish socialist and nationalist (d. 1875)
1823 - Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (d. 1873)
1825 - William Stubbs, English historian and Anglican bishop of Oxford
1828 - Ferdinand André Fouqué, French geologist (d. 1904)
1839 - Machado de Assis, Brazilian writer (d. 1908)
1859 - Henry Ossawa Tanner, American painter (d. 1937)
1862 - Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai prince and historian (d. 1943)
1863 - Max Wolf, German astronomer (d. 1932)
1864 - Heinrich Wölfflin, Swiss art historian (d. 1945)
1870 - Clara Immerwahr, German chemist
1876 - Willem Hendrik Keesom, Dutch physicist
1880 - Arnold Gesell, American psychologist and pediatrician (d.1961)
1882 - Rockwell Kent, American artist (d. 1971)
1883 - Lluís Companys i Jover, President of Catalonia (d. 1940)
1883 - Fyodor Gladkov, Russian writer
1884 - Claude Auchinleck, British field marshal (d. 1981)
1887 - Norman L. Bowen, Canadian petrologist (d. 1956)
1889 - Ralph Craig, American athlete (d. 1972)
1891 - Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian architect (d. 1979)
1891 - Hermann Scherchen, German conductor (d. 1966)
1892 - Reinhold Niebuhr, Protestant theologian (d. 1971)
1893 - Alois Hába, Czech composer (d. 1973)
1896 - Charles B. Momsen, American inventor (d. 1967)
1898 - Donald C. Peattie, American botanist and writer (d. 1964)
1902 - Howie Morenz, professional ice hockey player (d. 1937)
1903 - Al Hirschfeld, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
1905 - Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (d. 1980)
1906 - Harold Spina, American composer
1912 - Mary McCarthy, American writer (d. 1989)
1914 - William Vickrey, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
1919 - Gower Champion, dancer and choreographer (d. 1980)
1919 - Gérard Pelletier, French journalist, politician, and diplomat (d. 1997)
1921 - Judy Holliday, American actress (d. 1965)
1921 - Jane Russell, American actress
1921 - Jean de Broglie, French politician
1925 - Giovanni Spadolini, Italian politician (d. 1994)
1925 - Maureen Stapleton, American actress (d. 2006)
1926 - Conrad Hall, Tahitian-born cinematographer (d. 2003)
1927 - Carl Stokes, Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1996)
1929 - Abdel Halim Hafez, Egyptian singer and actor (d. 1977)
1929 - Alexandre Lagoya, classical guitarist (d. 1999)
1930 - Sir Gerald Kaufman, British politician
1931 - Margaret Mary O'Shaughnessy Heckler, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
1932 - O.C. Smith, American singer (d. 2001)
1932 - Lalo Schifrin, Argentine pianist and composer
1935 - Françoise Sagan, French writer (d. 2004)
1938 - Ron Ely, American actor
1939 - Ruben Berrios, Puerto Rican politician
1940 - Mariette Hartley, American actress
1940 - Michael Ruse, Canadian philosopher
1942 - Henry Taylor, American poet
1942 - Togo D. West, Jr., American attorney and public official
1943 - Salomé, Spanish singer
1944 - Ray Davies, English musician (The Kinks)
1945 - Adam Zagajewski, Polish philosopher, poet
1946 - Brenda Holloway, American musician
1947 - Meredith Baxter, American actress
1947 - Michael Gross, American actor
1947 - Shirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
1948 - Ian McEwan, English writer
1948 - Lionel Rose, Australian boxer
1948 - Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish writer
1950 - Anne Carson, Canadian poet
1950 - Joey Kramer, American drummer and percussionist (Aerosmith)
1951 - Nils Lofgren, American musician
1952 - Kôichi Mashimo, Japanese anime director
1953 - Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan
1954 - Robert Menasse, Austrian writer
1954 - Robert Pastorelli, American actor (d. 2004)
1955 - Tim Bray, Canadian computer programmer
1955 - Leigh McCloskey, American actor
1955 - Michel Platini, French footballer
1957 - Berkeley Breathed, American cartoonist and author
1957 - Lucien DeBlois, professional ice hockey player
1958 - Gennady Padalka, cosmonaut
1959 - Marcella Detroit, singer and songwriter (Shakespear's Sister)
1959 - Kathy Mattea, American country singer
1962 - Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician
1964 - Doug Savant, American actor
1965 - Larry Wachowski, film director
1966 - Rudi Bakhtiar, American journalist
1966 - Mancow Muller, American radio personality
1966 - Nan Woods, American actress
1967 - Jim Breuer, American comedian
1969 - Gabriella Paruzzi, Italian skier
1970 - Sindee Coxx, American pornographic actress
1972 - Alon Hilu, Israeli writer
1973 - Juliette Lewis, American actress
1974 - Natasha Desborough, British radio personality
1976 - Mike Einziger, American musician (Incubus)
1976 - Nigel Lappin, Australian footballer
1978 - Cristiano Lupatelli, Italian footballer
1978 - Jack Guzman, American actor
1978 - Erica Durance, Canadian actress
1979 - Chris Pratt, American actor
1981 - Amber Campisi, American model
1981 - Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist (The Killers)
1982 - Prince William of Wales, British prince
1984 - Alicia Alighatti, American pornographic actress
1989 - Jascha Washington, American actor

Deaths

1305 - King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and Poland (b. 1271)
1377 - King Edward III of England (b. 1312)
1527 - Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and political author (b. 1469)
1529 - John Skelton, English poet
1547 - Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter (b. 1485)
1582 - Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1534)
1591 - Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint (b. 1568)
1621 - Kryštof Harant, Polish soldier, writer, and composer (b. 1564)
1652 - Inigo Jones, English architect (b. 1573)
1738 - Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, English statesman (b. 1674)
1796 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (b. 1710)
1824 - Étienne Aignan, French writer (b. 1773)
1874 - Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist (b. 1814)
1893 - Leland Stanford, American Business Tycoon and founder of Stanford University
1908 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (b. 1844)
1914 - Bertha von Suttner, Austrian writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
1934 - Thorne Smith, American author (b. 1892)
1951 - Charles Dillon Perrine, American astronomer (b. 1867)
1952 - Wilfrid 'Wop' May, Canadian aviation pioneer (b. 1896)
1957 - Johannes Stark, German physicist, 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)
1969 - Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (b. 1934)
1970 - Sukarno, President of Indonesia (b. 1901)
1976 - Margaret Herrick, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences director (b. 1902)
1979 - Angus Maclise, American mystic, shaman, musician, and composer (b. 1938)
1980 - Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter (b. 1923)
1985 - Tage Erlander, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1901)
1997 - Fidel Velázquez Sánchez, Mexican labor leader (b. 1900)
1997 - Shintaro Katsu Japanese entertainer (b. 1931)
2000 - Alan Hovhaness, American composer (b. 1911)
2001 - John Lee Hooker, American musician (b. 1916)
2001 - Carroll O'Connor, American actor (b. 1924)
2003 - Roger Neilson, Canadian hockey coach (b. 1934)
2003 - Leon Uris, American writer (b. 1924)
2004 - Leonel Brizola, Brazilian politician (b. 1922)
2005 - Jaime Cardinal Sin, Filipino Catholic Archbishop of Manila (b. 1928)

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Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and Observances

Liturgical feasts

External links