On This Day in History — June 7

Highlights of June 7

• 2017 — A Myanmar Air Force Shaanxi Y-8 crashed into the Andaman Sea near Dawei, killing all 122 people on board. Read more
• 1998 — White supremacists murdered James Byrd Jr., an African American, by chaining him behind a pickup truck and dragging him along an asphalt road in Jasper, Texas. Read more
• 1989 — Surinam Airways Flight 764 (pictured) crashed while approaching Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, in Zanderij, killing 178 people, including members of the football team known as the Colourful 11. Read more
• 1981 — The Israeli Air Force attacked a nuclear reactor under the assumption that it was about to start producing plutonium to further an Iraqi nuclear-weapons program. Read more
• 1975 — The inaugural edition of the Cricket World Cup, the premier international championship of men's One Day International cricket, began in England. Read more
• 1969 — In their only UK concert, the rock supergroup Blind Faith, featuring Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and Ginger Baker, debuted in London's Hyde Park in front of 100,000 fans. Read more
• 1965 — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that a Connecticut law prohibiting the use of contraceptives violated the "right to marital privacy". Read more
• 1956 — David Marshall resigns as chief minister of Singapore, following the failure of the London constitutional talks regarding Singapore's self-governance. Read more
• 1948 — Anti-Jewish riots broke out in the French protectorate in Morocco, during which 44 people were killed and 150 injured. Read more
• 1948 — In Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., a New York trial court declined to issue a permanent injunction in favor of several Soviet composers against the distribution of The Iron Curtain, the first anti-Soviet Hollywood film of the Cold War era. Read more
• 1929 — The Lateran Treaty was ratified to bring Vatican City into existence, thus ending the "Roman question". Read more
• 1917 — First World War: The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines under German lines, killing perhaps 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear man-made explosion in history during the Battle of Messines. Read more
• 1900 — American temperance activist Carrie Nation entered a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas, and destroyed its stock of alcoholic beverages with rocks. Read more
• 1892 — Homer Plessy, a mixed-race man from New Orleans, was arrested for refusing to leave his seat in the "whites-only" car of a train; he lost the resulting court case, Plessy v. Ferguson. Read more
• 1832 — The Reform Act, which is widely credited with launching modern democracy in the United Kingdom, received royal assent. Read more
• 1810 — Journalist Mariano Moreno published Argentina's first newspaper, the Gazeta de Buenos-Ayres. Read more
• 1692 — An earthquake registering approximately 7.5 Mw caused Port Royal, Jamaica, to sink below sea level and killed approximately 5,000 people. Read more
• 1628 — The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document that set out specific liberties of individuals, received royal assent from King Charles I. Read more
• 879 — Pope John VIII officially recognised Croatia as an independent state, and Branimir as its duke. Read more
• 421 — Roman emperor Theodosius II married Aelia Eudocia, who later helped to protect Greek pagans and Jews from persecution. Read more

Events

• 2017 — A Myanmar Air Force Shaanxi Y-8 crashes into the Andaman Sea near Dawei, Myanmar, killing all 122 aboard. Read more
• 2000 — The United Nations defines the Blue Line as the border between Israel and Lebanon. Read more
• 1991 — Mount Pinatubo erupts, generating an ash column 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) high. Read more
• 1989 — Surinam Airways Flight 764 crashes on approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname because of pilot error, killing 176 of 187 aboard. Read more
• 1982 — Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public; the bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier is kept off-limits. Read more
• 1981 — The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor during Operation Opera. Read more
• 1977 — Five hundred million people watch the high day of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II begin on television. Read more
• 1975 — Sony launches Betamax, the first videocassette recorder format. Read more
• 1971 — The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Read more
• 1971 — The Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service raids the home of Ken Ballew for illegal possession of hand grenades. Read more
• 1971 — Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 crashes on approach to Tweed New Haven Airport in New Haven, Connecticut, killing 28 of 31 aboard. Read more
• 1967 — Six-Day War: Israeli soldiers enter Jerusalem. Read more
• 1965 — The Supreme Court of the United States hands down its decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, prohibiting the states from criminalizing the use of contraception by married couples. Read more
• 1962 — The Organisation Armée Secrète (OAS) sets fire to the University of Algiers library building, destroying about 500,000 books. Read more
• 1955 — Lux Radio Theatre signs off the air permanently. The show launched in New York in 1934, and featured radio adaptations of Broadway shows and popular films. Read more
• 1948 — Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada take place. Read more
• 1948 — Edvard Beneš resigns as President of Czechoslovakia rather than signing the Ninth-of-May Constitution, making his nation a Communist state. Read more
• 1946 — The United Kingdom's BBC returns to broadcasting its television service, which has been off air for seven years because of World War II. Read more
• 1945 — King Haakon VII of Norway returns from exactly five years in exile during World War II. Read more
• 1944 — World War II: Battle of Normandy: At Ardenne Abbey, members of the SS Division Hitlerjugend massacre 23 Canadian prisoners of war. Read more
• 1942 — World War II: The Battle of Midway ends in American victory. Read more
• 1942 — World War II: Aleutian Islands Campaign: Imperial Japanese soldiers begin occupying the American islands of Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska. Read more
• 1940 — King Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olav and the Norwegian government leave Tromsø and go into exile in London. They return exactly five years later. Read more
• 1938 — The Douglas DC-4E makes its first test flight. Read more
• 1938 — Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese Nationalist government creates the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt Japanese forces. Five hundred thousand to nine hundred thousand civilians are killed. Read more
• 1929 — The Lateran Treaty is ratified, bringing Vatican City into existence. Read more
• 1919 — Sette Giugno: Nationalist riots break out in Valletta, the capital of Malta. British soldiers fire into the crowd, killing four people. Read more
• 1917 — World War I: Battle of Messines: Allied soldiers detonate a series of mines underneath German trenches at Messines Ridge, killing 10,000 German troops. Read more
• 1906 — Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania is launched from the John Brown Shipyard, Glasgow (Clydebank), Scotland. Read more
• 1905 — Norway's parliament dissolves its union with Sweden. The vote was confirmed by a national plebiscite on August 13 of that year. Read more
• 1899 — American Temperance crusader Carrie Nation begins her campaign of vandalizing alcohol-serving establishments by destroying the inventory in a saloon in Kiowa, Kansas. Read more
• 1892 — Homer Plessy is arrested for refusing to leave his seat in the "whites-only" car of a train; he lost the resulting court case, Plessy v. Ferguson. Read more
• 1880 — War of the Pacific: The Battle of Arica, the assault and capture of Morro de Arica (Arica Cape), ends the Campaña del Desierto (Desert Campaign). Read more
• 1866 — One thousand eight hundred Fenian raiders are repelled back to the United States after looting and plundering the Saint-Armand and Frelighsburg areas of Canada East. Read more
• 1862 — The United States and the United Kingdom agree in the Lyons–Seward Treaty to suppress the African slave trade. Read more
• 1832 — The Great Reform Act of England and Wales receives royal assent. Read more
• 1832 — Asian cholera reaches Quebec, brought by Irish immigrants, and kills about 6,000 people in Lower Canada. Read more
• 1810 — The newspaper Gazeta de Buenos Ayres is first published in Argentina. Read more
• 1800 — David Thompson reaches the mouth of the Saskatchewan River in Manitoba. Read more
• 1788 — French Revolution: Day of the Tiles: Civilians in Grenoble toss roof tiles and various objects down upon royal troops. Read more
• 1776 — American Revolution: Richard Henry Lee proposes the "Lee Resolution" to the Second Continental Congress, with the motion being seconded by John Adams and leading to the United States Declaration of Independence. Read more
• 1692 — Port Royal, Jamaica, is hit by a catastrophic earthquake; in just three minutes, 1,600 people are killed and 3,000 are seriously injured. Read more
• 1654 — Louis XIV is crowned King of France. Read more
• 1640 — Corpus de Sang in Barcelona: Catalan reapers riot against Spanish Royal soldiers and officers, killing the Viceroy of Catalonia, Dalmau de Queralt. Escalation of hostilities between the Principality of Catalonia and the Spanish Monarchy, leading to the Reapers' War. Read more
• 1628 — The Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document, is granted royal assent by Charles I and becomes law. Read more
• 1614 — The second parliament of James I of England ends after two months of deadlock and without passing any bills. Read more
• 1494 — Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divides the New World between the two countries. Read more
• 1420 — Troops of the Republic of Venice capture Udine, ending the independence of the Patria del Friuli. Read more
• 1099 — First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins. Read more
• 1002 — Henry II, a cousin of Emperor Otto III, is elected and crowned King of Germany. Read more
• 879 — Pope John VIII recognises the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state. Read more
• 421 — Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire). Read more

Born on June 7

• 2000 — Ōnosato Daiki, Japanese professional sumo wrestler and the 75th yokozuna Read more
• 1997 — David Montgomery, American football player Read more
• 1996 — Christian McCaffrey, American football player Read more
• 1993 — George Ezra, English singer-songwriter Read more
• 1993 — Swae Lee, American rapper Read more
• 1992 — Jordan Clarkson, Filipino-American basketball player Read more
• 1991 — Rasmus Vestergaard Madsen, Danish politician Read more
• 1991 — Emily Ratajkowski, American model and actress Read more
• 1991 — Fetty Wap, American rapper, singer, and songwriter Read more
• 1990 — Iggy Azalea, Australian rapper, singer, songwriter, and model Read more
• 1988 — Michael Cera, Canadian actor and musician Read more
• 1981 — Larisa Oleynik, American actress Read more
• 1979 — Anna Torv, Australian actress Read more
• 1978 — Adrienne Frantz, American actress Read more
• 1978 — Bill Hader, American actor and comedian Read more
• 1976 — Eric D. Johnson, American musician Read more
• 1975 — Allen Iverson, American basketball player Read more
• 1974 — Bear Grylls, English adventurer, author, and television host Read more
• 1972 — Karl Urban, New Zealand actor Read more
• 1970 — Helen Baxendale, English actress Read more
• 1970 — Cafu, Brazilian footballer Read more
• 1967 — Dave Navarro, American musician and television personality Read more
• 1967 — Muhsin Hendricks, South African imam, Islamic scholar and LGBT activist Read more
• 1965 — Damien Hirst, English painter and art collector Read more
• 1965 — Mick Foley, American wrestler Read more
• 1963 — Gordon Gano, American musician Read more
• 1962 — Lance Reddick, American actor (died 2023) Read more
• 1960 — Jim Hartung, American gymnast (died 2026) Read more
• 1959 — Mike Pence, 48th Vice President of the United States, 50th Governor of Indiana Read more
• 1958 — Prince, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor (died 2016) Read more
• 1957 — Juan Luis Guerra, Dominican singer, composer, and record producer Read more
• 1956 — L.A. Reid, American record executive and producer Read more
• 1955 — William Forsythe, American actor Read more
• 1954 — Louise Erdrich, American novelist and poet Read more
• 1953 — Colleen Camp, American actress and producer Read more
• 1952 — Liam Neeson, Irish-American actor Read more
• 1952 — Orhan Pamuk, Turkish-American novelist, screenwriter, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Read more
• 1951 — Philip Davis, Bahamian politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Bahamas Read more
• 1947 — Thurman Munson, American baseball player (died 1979) Read more
• 1946 — Jenny Jones, Canadian television presenter and comedian Read more

Died on June 7

• 2025 — Uriah Rennie, English association football referee (born 1959) Read more
• 2024 — William Anders, American astronaut and lunar explorer (born 1933) Read more
• 2023 — The Iron Sheik, Iranian-American wrestler and actor (born 1942) Read more
• 2015 — Christopher Lee, English actor (born 1922) Read more
• 2013 — Pierre Mauroy, French educator and politician, Prime Minister of France (born 1928) Read more
• 2013 — Richard Ramirez, American serial killer and sex offender (born 1960) Read more
• 2012 — Phillip V. Tobias, South African paleontologist and academic (born 1925) Read more
• 2006 — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Jordanian militant (born 1966) Read more
• 2002 — Signe Hasso, Swedish-American actress (born 1915) Read more
• 2001 — Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Bolivian politician, 52nd President of Bolivia (born 1907) Read more
• 2001 — Betty Neels, English nurse and author (born 1910) Read more
• 1995 — Hsuan Hua, Chinese monk and educator (born 1918) Read more
• 1992 — Bill France Sr., American race car driver and businessman, co-founded NASCAR (born 1909) Read more
• 1987 — Cahit Zarifoğlu, Turkish poet and author (born 1940) Read more
• 1985 — Klaudia Taev, Estonian opera singer and educator (born 1906) Read more
• 1980 — Elizabeth Craig, Scottish journalist and economist (born 1883) Read more
• 1980 — Philip Guston, Canadian-American painter and educator (born 1913) Read more
• 1980 — Henry Miller, American novelist and essayist (born 1891) Read more
• 1978 — Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897) Read more
• 1970 — E. M. Forster, English novelist, short story writer, essayist (born 1879) Read more
• 1968 — Dan Duryea, American actor and singer (born 1907) Read more
• 1967 — Anatoly Maltsev, Russian mathematician and academic (born 1909) Read more
• 1967 — Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, critic, and satirist (born 1893) Read more
• 1966 — Jean Arp, German-French sculptor, painter, and poet (born 1886) Read more
• 1965 — Judy Holliday, American actress and singer (born 1921) Read more
• 1956 — John Willcock, Australian politician, 15th Premier of Western Australia (born 1879) Read more
• 1954 — Alan Turing, English mathematician and computer scientist (born 1912) Read more
• 1945 — Kitaro Nishida, Japanese philosopher and academic (born 1870) Read more
• 1942 — Alan Blumlein, English engineer (born 1903) Read more
• 1937 — Jean Harlow, American actress and singer (born 1911) Read more
• 1936 — Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (born 1875) Read more
• 1933 — Dragutin Domjanić, Croatian lawyer, judge, and poet (born 1875) Read more
• 1932 — John Verran, English-Australian politician, 26th Premier of South Australia (born 1856) Read more
• 1927 — Archie Birkin, English motorcycle racer (born 1905) Read more
• 1927 — Edmund James Flynn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 10th Premier of Quebec (born 1847) Read more
• 1924 — William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (born 1847) Read more
• 1921 — Patrick Maher, executed Irish republican (born 1889) Read more
• 1921 — Edmond Foley, executed Irish republican (born 1897) Read more
• 1916 — Émile Faguet, French author and critic (born 1847) Read more
• 1915 — Charles Reed Bishop, American banker and politician, founded the First Hawaiian Bank (born 1822) Read more

Holidays & observances

Christian feast day: Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew; Christian feast day: Antonio Maria Gianelli; Christian feast day: Colmán of Dromore; Christian feast day: Gottschalk; Christian feast day: Landulf of Yariglia (Asti); Christian feast day: Meriasek; Christian feast day: Paul I of Constantinople; Christian feast day: Robert of Newminster; Christian feast day: Chief Seattle (Lutheran Church); Christian feast day: Blessed Marie-Thérèse de Soubiran La Louvière; Christian feast day: Commemoration Day of St John the Forerunner (Armenian Apostolic Church); Christian feast day: Pioneers of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil (Episcopal Church (USA)); Christian feast day: June 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics); Battle of Arica Day (Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile); Flag Day (Peru); Journalist Day (Argentina); Anniversary of the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation (Slovakia); Birthday of Prince Joachim (Denmark); Sette Giugno (Malta); Union Dissolution Day (Independence Day of Norway); Tourette Syndrome Awareness Day

More from the Almanac

Sunrise & SunsetStar TransitMoon & Planting CalendarsAncient Measures