Died on Monday, 2nd June – Famous Deaths
On 2nd June, 114 remarkable people passed away — from 657 to 2024. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.
Monday, 2nd June marks a significant date in history, with notable figures across various fields having passed on this day. Among the most recent commemorations is Rob Burrow, the English rugby league footballer who died in 2024 after a battle with motor neurone disease. His contribution to rugby league remains deeply respected, particularly through his career with Leeds Rhinos. Further back in history, Peter Sallis, the English actor best known for his role in the stop-motion animation series Wallace and Gromit, passed away in 2017 at an advanced age. These individuals represent the diverse range of professions and achievements that have characterised those who share this date in the calendar.
The historical record extends considerably further, reflecting the passage of centuries. In 1970, Bruce McLaren, the New Zealand race car driver and engineer who founded the McLaren racing team, died in a racing accident at Goodwood circuit. His legacy continues to shape the world of motorsport and formula racing. Historical figures spanning earlier periods include Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian general and politician whose revolutionary efforts shaped modern Italy, who died in 1882. These figures demonstrate how 2nd June has witnessed the loss of individuals whose influence extended across continents and generations.
The date occurs during early summer in the northern hemisphere, when daylight extends considerably through the evening hours. The weather conditions experienced on this day vary considerably depending on location and annual climate patterns. Those born under the zodiac sign of Gemini or transitioning toward Cancer would observe this date near the astrological cusp. The waning crescent moon phase typically accompanies this period in early June, though precise lunar conditions shift annually.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information about events, famous births and deaths for any date and location, allowing users to explore historical occurrences and notable figures tied to specific days throughout the year.
See who passed away today 10th April.
02/06/2024
Larry Allen, American football player (born 1971)
Larry Christopher Allen Jr. was an American professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Butte Roadrunners and the Sonoma State Cossacks, and was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 1994 NFL draft. A player capable of using his speed against defenders, Allen was regarded as one of the strongest players to ever play in the NFL, and has been ranked as the best offensive lineman of all-time by Fox Sports.
Rob Burrow, English rugby league footballer (born 1982)
Robert Geoffrey Burrow was an English professional rugby league footballer who played as a scrum-half or hooker. Burrow spent his entire professional career with the Leeds Rhinos, making nearly 500 appearances as well as representing Great Britain, England, and Yorkshire.
David Levy, Israeli politician (born 1937)
David Levy was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1969 and 2006. Levy's ascent to political prominence demonstrated the growing influence of Mizrahi Jews in Israel. He played a crucial role in changing the political power structure in Israel by motivating hundreds of thousands of Mizrahi voters to cast their ballots for Menachem Begin. To quote Benjamin Netanyahu, "David, born in Morocco, forged his way through life with his own two hands... On the national level, he made a personal mark on the political world, while taking care of weak populations that knew adversity."
Janis Paige, American actress and singer (born 1922)
Janis Paige was an American actress and singer. With a career spanning nearly 60 years, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
02/06/2017
Peter Sallis, English actor (born 1921)
Peter John Sallis was an English actor. He was the original voice of Wallace in the Academy Award-winning Wallace & Gromit films and played Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine from its 1973 inception until the final episode in 2010, making him the only actor to appear in all 295 episodes. Additionally, he portrayed Norman Clegg's father in the prequel series First of the Summer Wine.
02/06/2015
Fernando de Araújo, East Timorese politician, President of East Timor (born 1963)
Fernando de Araújo, also known as Lasama was an East Timorese activist and politician. He was a clandestine activist for the independence of East Timor, and then founded the Democratic Party after independence. He was President of the National Parliament of East Timor from 2007 to 2012. He also served as the Acting President for two months in early 2008.
Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926)
Irwin Allan Rose was an American biologist. Along with Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.
02/06/2014
Ivica Brzić, Serbian footballer and manager (born 1941)
Ivan "Ivica" Brzić was a Yugoslav and Serbian football manager and player.
Nikolay Khrenkov, Russian bobsledder (born 1984)
Nikolay Nikolayevich Khrenkov was a Russian bobsledder.
Alexander Shulgin, American pharmacologist and chemist (born 1925)
Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin was an American biochemist, broad researcher of synthetic psychoactive compounds, and author of works regarding these, who independently explored the organic chemistry and pharmacology of such agents—in his mid-life and later, many through preparation in his home laboratory, and testing on himself. He is acknowledged to have introduced to broader use, in the late 1970s, the previously-synthesized compound MDMA ("ecstasy"), in research psychopharmacology and in combination with conventional therapy, the latter through presentations and academic publications, including to psychologists; and for the rediscovery, occasional discovery, and regular synthesis and personal use and distribution, of possibly hundreds of psychoactive compounds. As such, Shulgin is seen both as a pioneering and a controversial participant in the emergence of the broad use of psychedelics.
02/06/2013
Mario Bernardi, Canadian pianist and conductor (born 1930)
Mario Bernardi, was a Canadian conductor and pianist. He conducted 75 different operas and over 450 other works with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Chen Xitong, Chinese politician, 8th Mayor of Beijing (born 1930)
Chen Xitong was a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the Mayor of Beijing until he was removed from office on charges of corruption in 1995.
Mandawuy Yunupingu, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1956)
Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu, formerly Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu, and also known as Dr Yunupingu, was a teacher and musician, and frontman of the Aboriginal rock group Yothu Yindi from 1986. He was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Yolŋu people, with a skin name of Gudjuk.
02/06/2012
Adolfo Calero, Nicaraguan businessman and political activist (born 1931)
Adolfo Calero Portocarrero was a Nicaraguan businessman and the leader of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the largest rebel group of the Contras, opposing the Sandinista government.
Richard Dawson, English-American soldier, actor, television personality, and game show host (born 1932)
Richard Dawson was an English actor, comedian, game-show host, and panelist. He was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in Hogan's Heroes, as a regular panelist on Match Game (1973–1978), and as the original host of Family Feud.
LeRoy Ellis, American basketball player (born 1940)
LeRoy Ellis was an American basketball player.
Kathryn Joosten, American actress (born 1939)
Kathryn Joosten was an American actress. Her best known roles include Delores Landingham on NBC's The West Wing from 1999 to 2002 and Karen McCluskey on ABC's Desperate Housewives from 2005 to 2012, for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards in 2005 and 2008.
02/06/2009
David Eddings, American author (born 1931)
David Carroll Eddings was an American fantasy writer. With his wife Leigh, he authored several best-selling epic fantasy novel series, including The Belgariad (1982–84), The Malloreon (1987–91), The Elenium (1989–91), The Tamuli (1992–94), and The Dreamers (2003–06).
02/06/2008
Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1928)
Ellas Otha Bates, known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy Holly, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, George Thorogood, Syd Barrett, Tom Petty, and the Clash.
Mel Ferrer, American actor (born 1917)
Melchor Gastón Ferrer was an American actor, director, and producer, active in film, theatre, and television. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with Scaramouche (1952), Lili (1953), and Knights of the Round Table . He starred opposite his wife, actress Audrey Hepburn, in War and Peace (1956) and produced her film Wait Until Dark (1967).
02/06/2007
Kentarō Haneda, Japanese pianist and composer (born 1949)
Kentarō Haneda was a Japanese pianist, composer and arranger. He composed for popular anime series, movies and video games. His popular name was Haneken.
Huang Ju, Chinese engineer and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China (born 1938)
Huang Ju was a Chinese politician and a high-ranking leader in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was one of the nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP, China's top decision-making body, between 2002 until his death in 2007, and also served as the first-ranked vice premier of China beginning in 2003. He died in office before he could complete his terms on the Standing Committee and as vice premier.
02/06/2006
Keith Smith, English rugby player and coach (born 1952)
Keith Smith was an English dual-code international rugby footballer who played in the 1970s. He played representative rugby union (RU) as a centre, for England, England (Under-23s), Yorkshire, and Yorkshire (Colts), and at club level for Moortown RUFC and Roundhay RUFC, and he played representative rugby league (RL) as a centre for England, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity.
02/06/2005
Lucien Cliche, Canadian lawyer and politician (born 1916)
Lucien Cliche was a lawyer and political figure in Quebec. He represented Abitibi-Est in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec and then the Quebec National Assembly from 1960 to 1970 as a Liberal. Cliche was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1960 to 1961.
Gunder Gundersen, Norwegian skier (born 1930)
Gunder Gundersen was a Norwegian Nordic combined skier and sports official. He was born in Asker.
Samir Kassir, Lebanese journalist and educator (born 1950)
Samir Kassir was a Lebanese-Syrian-Palestinian journalist of An-Nahar and professor of history at Saint-Joseph University, who was an advocate of democracy and prominent opponent of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. He was assassinated in 2005 as part of a series of assassinations of anti-Syria Lebanese political figures such as Rafic Hariri and George Hawi.
Melita Norwood, English civil servant and spy (born 1912)
Melita Stedman Norwood was a British civil servant, Communist Party of Great Britain member and KGB spy.
02/06/2003
Freddie Blassie, American wrestler and manager (born 1918)
Frederick Kenneth Blassie was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name "Classy" Freddie Blassie. His achievements in the ring included holding the Los Angeles-based World Wrestling Associates (WWA) world title four times. Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate", he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestling heels, or villains, of all time.
Alma Ricard, Canadian broadcaster and philanthropist (born 1906)
Alma Ricard, née Vézina was a Canadian broadcaster and philanthropist. A partner with her husband F. Baxter Ricard in his broadcasting holdings, including Northern Cable and Mid-Canada Communications, after her husband's death in 1993 she became a prominent donor to institutional and educational charities.
02/06/2002
Hugo van Lawick, Dutch director and photographer (born 1937)
Hugo Arndt Rodolf, Baron van Lawick was a Dutch wildlife filmmaker and photographer.
02/06/2001
Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (born 1908)
Imogene Coca was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and pursued a serious career in music and dance, graduating to decades of stage musical revues, cabaret, and summer stock. In her 40s, she began a celebrated career as a comedian on television, starring in six series and guest-starring on successful television programs from the 1940s to the '90s.
Joey Maxim, American boxer (born 1922)
Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli was an American professional boxer. He was the World Light Heavyweight Champion from 1950 to 1952. He took the ring-name Joey Maxim from the Maxim gun, the world's first self-acting machine gun, based on his ability to rapidly throw a large number of left jabs.
02/06/2000
Svyatoslav Fyodorov, Russian ophthalmologist, academic, and politician (born 1927)
Svyatoslav Nikolayevich Fyodorov was a Russian ophthalmologist, politician, professor, full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. He is considered to be a pioneer of refractive surgery. He was also one of the candidates in the 1996 Russian presidential election, running as a member of the Party of Workers' Self-Government.
John Schlee, American golfer (born 1939)
John H. Schlee was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s.
Gerald James Whitrow, English mathematician, cosmologist, and historian (born 1912)
Gerald James Whitrow was a British mathematician, cosmologist and science historian.
02/06/1999
Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican singer (born 1949)
Franklin Delano Alexander "Junior" Braithwaite was a reggae musician from Kingston, Jamaica and the youngest member of the vocal group, The Wailing Wailers.
02/06/1997
Doc Cheatham, American trumpet player, singer, and bandleader (born 1905)
Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, better known as Doc Cheatham, was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He is also the grandfather of musician Theo Croker.
Helen Jacobs, American tennis champion (born 1908)
Helen Hull Jacobs was an American tennis player who won nine Grand Slam titles. In 1936 she was ranked No. 1 in singles by A. Wallis Myers.
02/06/1996
John Alton, Hungarian-American cinematographer and director (born 1901)
John Alton was an American cinematographer of Hungarian-German origin. Alton photographed some of the most famous films noir of the classic period and won an Academy Award for the cinematography of An American in Paris (1951), becoming the first Hungarian-born person to do so in the cinematography category. He also worked as a director during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema.
Leon Garfield, English author (born 1921)
Leon Garfield FRSL was a British writer of fiction. He is best known for children's historical novels, though he also wrote for adults. He wrote more than thirty books and scripted Shakespeare: The Animated Tales for television.
Ray Combs, American game show host (born 1956)
Raymond Neil Combs Jr. was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and game show host. He began his professional career in the late 1970s. His popularity on the stand-up circuit led to him being signed as the second host of the game show Family Feud in its second run and first revival. The show aired on CBS from 1988 to 1993 and was in syndication from 1988 to 1994. From 1995 to 1996, Combs hosted another game show, Family Challenge.
02/06/1994
David Stove, Australian philosopher, author, and academic (born 1927)
David Charles Stove was an Australian philosopher whose writings often challenged prevailing academic orthodoxy. He was known for his critiques of postmodernism, feminism, and multiculturalism.
02/06/1993
Johnny Mize, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1913)
John Robert Mize, nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "the Big Cat", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, and New York Yankees from 1936 to 1953, losing three seasons to military service during World War II. Mize was a ten-time All-Star and won five consecutive World Series with the Yankees.
Tahar Djaout, Algerian journalist, writer and poet (born 1954)
Tahar Djaout was an Algerian journalist, poet, and fiction writer. He was assassinated in 1993 by the Armed Islamic Group.
02/06/1992
Philip Dunne, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1908)
Philip Ives Dunne was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer, who worked prolifically from 1932 until 1965. He spent the majority of his career at 20th Century Fox. He crafted well regarded romantic and historical dramas, usually adapted from another medium. Dunne was a leading Screen Writers Guild organizer and was politically active during the "Hollywood Blacklist" episode of the 1940s–1950s. He is best known for the films How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), The Robe (1953) and The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965).
02/06/1991
Ahmed Arif, Turkish poet and author (born 1927)
Ahmed Arif was a Turkish-Kurdish poet.
02/06/1990
Rex Harrison, English actor (born 1908)
Sir Reginald Carey Harrison was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play French Without Tears, in what was his breakthrough role. He won his first Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Henry VIII in the Broadway play Anne of the Thousand Days in 1949. He returned to Broadway portraying Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady (1956) where he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
02/06/1989
Ted a'Beckett, Australian cricketer and footballer (born 1907)
Edward Lambert à Beckett was an Australian cricketer who played in four Test matches between 1928 and 1931. He played in 47 first-class matches for Victoria.
02/06/1988
Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director, and producer (born 1924)
Ranbir Raj Kapoor was an Indian actor, film director, and producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema. He has been referred to as The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema as well as The Charlie Chaplin of Indian Cinema.
02/06/1987
Anthony de Mello, Indian-American priest and psychotherapist (born 1931)
Anthony de Mello, also known as Tony de Mello, was an Indian Jesuit priest and psychotherapist. A teacher and public speaker, de Mello wrote several books on spirituality and hosted numerous spiritual retreats and conferences. He is known for his storytelling, which drew from the various mystical traditions of both East and West.
Sammy Kaye, American bandleader and songwriter (born 1910)
Sammy Kaye was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs from his first hit single in 1937, "Swing and Sway". He was the first to record and release the standard "Blueberry Hill" in 1940. During World War II, he co-wrote and recorded the anthemic "Remember Pearl Harbor". He was the first to record and release the no. 1 song "Daddy" in 1941. His final number one hit was "Harbor Lights in 1950.
Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (born 1893)
Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña, was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire included not only commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style.
02/06/1986
Aurèle Joliat, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1901)
Aurèle Émile "Mighty Atom, Little Giant" Joliat was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens.
02/06/1983
Stan Rogers, Canadian singer-songwriter (born 1949)
Stanley Allison Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter who sang traditional-sounding songs frequently inspired by Canadian history and the working people's daily lives, especially from the fishing villages of the Maritime provinces and, later, the farms of the Canadian prairies and Great Lakes. He died in a fire aboard Air Canada Flight 797, grounded at the Greater Cincinnati Airport, at the age of 33.
Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (born 1913)
Raymond Ernest Stehr was an Australian rugby league footballer, a state and national representative player whose club career was played at Sydney's Eastern Suburbs club. He has been named as one of the nation's finest footballers of the 20th century.
02/06/1982
Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry, Pakistani lawyer and politician, 5th President of Pakistan (born 1904)
Fazal Elahi Chaudhry was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fifth president of Pakistan from 1973 until his resignation in 1978, due to Zia-ul-Haq's martial law following the 1977 coup d'état which overthrew Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government. He was the first legislatively-elected president in the country's history, serving as a constitutional figurehead.
Shah Abdul Wahhab, Bangladeshi Islamic scholar (born 1894)
Shah Abdul Wahhab was a Bangladeshi Deobandi Islamic scholar, educator, jurist, and spiritual leader. He served as the second rector of Darul Uloom Hathazari, primarily participating in administrative and educational activities. He was a vice president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, and sat on the Chittagong Court jury for 23 years. He graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband and Mazahir Uloom, and was one of the disciples of Ashraf Ali Thanwi.
02/06/1979
Jim Hutton, American actor (born 1934)
Dana Scott James Hutton was an American actor in film and television best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name, and his screen partnership with Paula Prentiss in four films, starting with Where the Boys Are. He was the father of actor Timothy Hutton.
02/06/1978
Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer and coach (born 1895)
Santiago Bernabéu de Yeste was a Spanish football player, coach, and administrator who played for Real Madrid as a forward, later serving as the club's manager and then president. He is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Real Madrid, having served as its president for 34 years and 264 days, from 11 September 1943 until his death on 2 June 1978.
02/06/1977
Albert Bittlmayer, German footballer (born 1952)
Albert Bittlmayer was a German footballer who made a combined total of 142 league appearances for 1. FC Nürnberg and Tennis Borussia Berlin until he died of cancer at the age of 24.
Stephen Boyd, Northern Irish-born American actor (born 1931)
William Millar, better known by his stage name Stephen Boyd, was an actor from Northern Ireland. He emerged as a leading man during the late 1950s with his role as the villainous Messala in Ben-Hur (1959), a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. He received his second Golden Globe nomination for the musical Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962).
02/06/1976
Kenneth Mason, English soldier and geographer (born 1887)
Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Mason MC was a British soldier and explorer notable as the first statutory professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. His work surveying the Himalayas was rewarded in 1927 with a Royal Geographical Society Founder's Medal, the citation reading for his connection between the surveys of India and Russian Turkestan, and his leadership of the Shaksgam Expedition.
Juan José Torres, Bolivian general and politician, 61st President of Bolivia (born 1920)
Juan José Torres González was a Bolivian socialist politician and military leader who served as the 50th president of Bolivia from 1970 to 1971, when he was ousted in a coup that resulted in the dictatorship of Hugo Banzer. He was popularly known as "J.J." (Jota-Jota). Juan José Torres was murdered in 1976 in Buenos Aires, in the frame of the United States-backed campaign Operation Condor.
02/06/1974
Hiroshi Kazato, Japanese race car driver (born 1949)
Hiroshi Kazato was a Japanese racecar driver. Kazato started his career at age 19. He took part in the 1971 Can-Am season, finishing 10th in the championship driving a Lola T222-Chevrolet. He participated at Formula Two European seasons 1972 and 1973, scoring 7 championship points. He graduated from Seikei University in 1973.
02/06/1970
Orhan Kemal, Turkish author (born 1914)
Orhan Kemal is the pen name of Turkish novelist Mehmet Reşit Öğütçü. He is known for his realist novels that describe the life of the poor in Turkey.
Albert Lamorisse, French director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1922)
Albert Lamorisse was a French filmmaker, film producer, and writer of short films which he began making in the late 1940s.
Bruce McLaren, New Zealand race car driver and engineer, founded the McLaren racing team (born 1937)
Bruce Leslie McLaren was a New Zealand racing driver, automotive designer, engineer and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1958 to 1970. McLaren was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1960 with Cooper, and won four Grands Prix across 13 seasons. In endurance racing, McLaren won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966 with Ford. He founded McLaren in 1963, who have since won 10 Formula One World Constructors' Championship titles and remain the only team to have completed the Triple Crown of Motorsport.
Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian soldier, journalist, and academic (born 1888)
Giuseppe Ungaretti was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experimental trend known as Ermetismo ("Hermeticism"), he was one of the most prominent contributors to 20th-century Italian literature. Influenced by symbolism, he was briefly aligned with futurism. Like many futurists, he took an irredentist position during World War I. Ungaretti debuted as a poet while fighting in the trenches, publishing one of his best-known pieces, L'allegria.
Lucía Sánchez Saornil, Spanish anarchist feminist (born 1895)
Lucía Sánchez Saornil, was a Spanish poet and anarcha-feminist activist, best known for co-founding the Mujeres Libres organisation together with Mercedes Comaposada and Amparo Poch y Gascón. Born into a working-class Madrilenian family, she taught herself from an early age and began writing poems for the burgeoning Futurist and Ultraist movements.
02/06/1969
Leo Gorcey, American actor (born 1917)
Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and film actor, famous for portraying the leader of a group of street-wise city toughs known variously as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids, and as adults, The Bowery Boys. Gorcey was famous for his use of malapropisms, such as "I depreciate it!" instead of "I appreciate it!"
02/06/1968
André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (born 1929)
André Mathieu was a Canadian pianist and composer.
02/06/1967
Benno Ohnesorg, German student and activist (born 1940)
Benno Ohnesorg was a West German university student who was fatally shot in the back of the head by policeman Karl-Heinz Kurras during a demonstration in West Berlin. His death spurred the growth of the left-wing West German student movement.
02/06/1962
Vita Sackville-West, English author and poet (born 1892)
Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH, usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer.
02/06/1961
George S. Kaufman, American director, producer, and playwright (born 1889)
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and others. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical Of Thee I Sing in 1932, and won again in 1937 for the play You Can't Take It with You. He also won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 1951 for Guys and Dolls.
02/06/1959
Lyda Borelli, Italian actress (born 1884)
Lyda Cini, Countess of Monselice was an Italian actress of cinema and theatre. Her career in theatre started when she was a child, acting on stage with Paola Pezzaglia in the French drama I due derelitti.
02/06/1956
Jean Hersholt, Danish-American actor and director (born 1886)
Jean Pierre Carl Buron, known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is most famous for starring on the CBS radio series Dr. Christian from 1937–1954, reprising the role in a film series from 1939-1941. He also co-starred with Shirley Temple in the film Heidi (1937). When asked how to pronounce his name, he told The Literary Digest, "in English her'sholt; in Danish, hairs'hult." From 1924 to 1955, he had 140 motion picture credits: 75 silent film and 65 "talkies"; he directed four.
02/06/1952
Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect, designed the Central Sofia Market Hall (born 1880)
Naum Torbov was a Bulgarian architect.
02/06/1948
Viktor Brack, German physician (born 1904)
Viktor Hermann Brack was a member of the Schutzstaffel (SS), a convicted Nazi war criminal and one of the prominent organisers of the involuntary euthanasia programme Aktion T4; this Nazi initiative resulted in the systematic murder of 275,000 to 300,000 disabled people. He held various positions of responsibility in Hitler's Chancellery in Berlin. Following his role in the T4 programme, Brack was one of the men identified as responsible for the gassing of Jews in extermination camps, having conferred with Odilo Globočnik about its use in the practical implementation of the Final Solution. Brack was sentenced to death in 1947 in the Doctors' Trial and executed by hanging in 1948.
Karl Brandt, German SS officer (born 1904)
Karl Brandt was a German physician and Schutzstaffel (SS) officer in Nazi Germany. Trained in surgery, Brandt joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and became Adolf Hitler's "escort doctor" (Begleitarzt) in August 1934. A member of Hitler's inner circle at the Berghof, he was selected by Philipp Bouhler, the head of Hitler's Chancellery, to administer the Aktion T4 euthanasia program. Brandt was later appointed the Reich Commissioner of Health and Emergency Services. Accused of involvement in human experimentation and other war crimes, Brandt was indicted in late 1946 and faced trial before a U.S. military tribunal along with 22 others in the Doctors' Trial. He was found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed on 2 June 1948.
Karl Gebhardt, German physician (born 1897)
Karl Franz Gebhardt was a German physician and a war criminal. Gebhardt was the main coordinator of a series of medical atrocities performed on inmates of the concentration camps at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz. These experiments were an attempt to defend his approach to the surgical management of grossly contaminated traumatic wounds, against the then-new innovations of antibiotic treatment of injuries acquired on the battlefield.
Waldemar Hoven, German physician (born 1903)
Waldemar Hoven was a Nazi physician at Buchenwald concentration camp, and convicted war criminal for conducting human experiments regarding typhus which led to the deaths of many concentration camp prisoners, and as one of the organizers of the euthanasia program Aktion T4; this Nazi initiative resulted in the systematic murder of 275,000 to 300,000 disabled people. He was sentenced to death and hanged on 2 June 1948.
Wolfram Sievers, German SS officer (born 1905)
Wolfram Sievers was a Nazi and convicted war criminal for medical atrocities carried out while he was managing director of the Ahnenerbe from 1935–1945. He was convicted of war crimes in the Doctors' Trial in 1947 and executed by hanging in 1948.
02/06/1947
John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, English sailor and politician (born 1867)
John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton, was a British businessman and Conservative politician. Gretton won two gold medals in the 1900 Olympic Games. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 46 years, representing three midlands-based constituencies in that period.
02/06/1942
Bunny Berigan, American singer and trumpet player (born 1908)
Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues", Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording "I Can't Get Started" on RCA Victor was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism which ended with his early death at the age of 33 from cirrhosis. His recordings of "I Can't Get Started" on Vocalion and "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" were re-released in 1976 as part of the Columbia Records Hall of Fame series.
02/06/1941
Lou Gehrig, American baseball player (born 1903)
Henry Louis Gehrig was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability, which earned him the nickname "the Iron Horse", and he is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Gehrig was an All-Star seven consecutive times, a Triple Crown winner once, an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player twice and a member of six World Series champion teams. He had a career .340 batting average, .632 slugging average, and a .447 on-base average. He hit 493 home runs and had 1,995 runs batted in (RBIs). He is also one of 21 players to hit four home runs in a single game. In 1939, Gehrig was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was the first MLB player to have his uniform number retired by a team when his number 4 was retired by the Yankees.
02/06/1937
Louis Vierne, French organist and composer (born 1870)
Louis Victor Jules Vierne was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death. As a composer, much of his output was organ music, including six symphonies and four suites, and works for choir and organ, including a Messe solennelle for choir and two organs. He toured Europe and the United States as a concert organist. His students included Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Duruflé.
02/06/1933
Frank Jarvis, American runner and triple jumper (born 1878)
Frank Washington Jarvis was an American sprinter, the 1900 Olympic 100 m champion, and a triple jumper.
02/06/1929
Enrique Gorostieta, Mexican general (born 1889)
Enrique Gorostieta Velarde was a Mexican soldier best known for his leadership as a general during the Cristero War.
02/06/1927
Hüseyin Avni Lifij, Turkish painter (born 1886)
Hüseyin Avni Lifij was a Turkish impressionist painter of Circassian origin. He is known for landscapes with architectural features.
02/06/1901
George Leslie Mackay, Canadian missionary and author (born 1844)
George Leslie Mackay was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary. He was the first Presbyterian missionary to northern Taiwan, serving with the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. Mackay is among the best known and most influential Westerners to have lived in Taiwan.
02/06/1882
Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (born 1807)
Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. He contributed to the Unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. He is considered to be one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland", along with Camillo Benso di Cavour, King Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Mazzini. Garibaldi is also known as the "Hero of the Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises in South America and Europe.
02/06/1881
Émile Littré, French lexicographer and philosopher (born 1801)
Émile Maximilien Paul Littré was a French lexicographer, freemason and philosopher, best known for his Dictionnaire de la langue française, commonly called le Littré.
02/06/1875
Józef Kremer, Polish psychologist, historian, and philosopher (born 1806)
Józef Kremer was a Polish historian of art, philosopher, aesthetician and psychologist.
02/06/1865
Ner Middleswarth, American judge and politician (born 1783)
Ner Middleswarth was an American politician from New Jersey who served as a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district from 1853 to 1855. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1815 to 1841 including two terms as speaker of the house. He also served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 15th district from 1853 to 1854.
02/06/1853
Henry Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, English general (born 1777)
General Henry Otway Trevor, 21st Baron Dacre, CB was a peer and British Army officer.
02/06/1806
William Tate, English painter (born 1747)
William Tate was an English portrait painter who was a pupil and friend of Joseph Wright of Derby.
02/06/1785
Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, French mathematician and academic (born 1713)
Jean Paul de Gua de Malves was a French mathematician who published in 1740 a work on analytical geometry in which he applied it, without the aid of differential calculus, to find the tangents, asymptotes, and various singular points of an algebraic curve.
02/06/1761
Jonas Alströmer, Swedish businessman (born 1685)
Jonas Alströmer was a pioneer of agriculture and industry in Sweden.
02/06/1754
Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish minister and theologian (born 1680)
Ebenezer Erskine was a Scottish minister whose actions led to the establishment of the Secession Church.
02/06/1716
Ogata Kōrin, Japanese painter and educator (born 1658)
Ogata Kōrin was a Japanese landscape illustrator, lacquerer, painter, and textile designer of the Rinpa School.
02/06/1701
Madeleine de Scudéry, French author (born 1607)
Madeleine de Scudéry, often known simply as Mademoiselle de Scudéry, was a French writer.
02/06/1693
John Wildman, English soldier and politician, Postmaster General of the United Kingdom (born 1621)
Sir John Wildman was an English politician, republican activist and soldier. A prominent Leveller during the English Civil War, he helped draft the Agreement of the People and later engaged in political intrigue under the Commonwealth, Protectorate, and after the Restoration of the Monarchy. Surviving multiple imprisonments, he served as a member of Parliament and as Postmaster General under William III.
02/06/1603
Bernard of Wąbrzeźno, Roman Catholic priest (born 1575)
Bernard of Wąbrzeźno was a Catholic priest and a Benedictine monk from the Benedictine Abbey in Lubiń, Poland. He has been named as a candidate for beatification several times, beginning in the 1730s and most recently in 2009.
02/06/1581
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, Scottish soldier and politician, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (born 1525)
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton was a Scottish nobleman. He played a leading role in the murders of Queen Mary's confidant, David Rizzio, and king consort Henry Darnley. He was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four since he won the civil war that had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of Scots. However, he came to an unfortunate end, executed by means of the Maiden, a predecessor of the guillotine.
02/06/1572
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (born 1536)
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk,, was an English Roman Catholic nobleman and politician. He was a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth I and held many high offices during the earlier part of her reign.
02/06/1567
Shane O'Neill, head of the O'Neill dynasty in Ireland (born 1530)
Shane O'Neill was an Irish chieftain of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster in the mid-16th century. Shane O'Neill's career was marked by his ambition to be the O'Neill—sovereign of the dominant O'Neill family of Tír Eoghain. This brought him into conflict with competing branches of the O'Neill family and with the English government in Ireland, who recognised a rival claim. Shane's support was considered worth gaining by the English even during the lifetime of his father Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone. But rejecting overtures from the 3rd Earl of Sussex, the lord deputy from 1556, Shane refused to help the English against the Scottish settlers on the coast of Antrim, allying himself for a short time instead with the MacDonnells, the most powerful of these settlers. Shane viewed the Scottish settlers as invaders, but decided to stay his hand against them with hopes of using them to strengthen his position with the English. However, tensions quickly boiled over and he declared war on the Scottish MacDonnell's defeating them at the Battle of Glentaisie despite the MacDonnells calling for reinforcements from Scotland. The Scottish MacDonnells would later assassinate Shane O'Neill and collect the bounty on his head.
02/06/1453
Álvaro de Luna, Duke of Trujillo, Constable of Castile
Álvaro de Luna y Fernández de Jarava, was a Castilian statesman, favourite of John II of Castile. He served as Constable of Castile and as Grand Master of the Order of Santiago. He earned great influence in the Crown's affairs in the wake of his support to John II against the so-called Infantes of Aragon. Once he lost the protection of the monarch, he was executed in Valladolid in 1453.
02/06/1418
Katherine of Lancaster, queen of Henry III of Castile
Catherine of Lancaster was Queen of Castile by marriage to King Henry III of Castile. She governed Castile as regent from 1406 until 1418 during the minority of her son.
02/06/1292
Rhys ap Maredudd, Welsh nobleman and rebel leader
Rhys ap Maredudd was a senior member of the Welsh royal house of Deheubarth, a principality of Medieval Wales. He was the great grandson of The Lord Rhys, prince of south Wales, and the last ruler of a united Deheubarth. He is best known for his leadership of a revolt in south Wales in 1287–88 whilst King Edward I of England was away in Gascony.
02/06/1258
Peter I, Count of Urgell
Peter I was the second son of King Sancho I of Portugal and his wife Dulce, infanta of Aragon, and would eventually become Count of Urgell and Lord of the Balearic Islands. Most of what is known about him comes from the Tratado da Vida e Martírio dos Cinco Mártires de Marrocos.
02/06/1200
Bishop John of Oxford
John of Oxford was a medieval Bishop of Norwich.
02/06/0910
Richilde of Provence (born 845)
Richilde of Provence was the second wife of the Frankish emperor Charles the Bald. By her marriage, she became queen and later empress. She ruled as regent in 877.
02/06/0891
Al-Muwaffaq, Abbasid general (born 842)
Abu Ahmad Ṭalḥa ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Muwaffaq bi'Llah, better known by his laqab as Al-Muwaffaq Billah, was an Abbasid prince and military leader, who acted as the de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate for most of the reign of his brother, Caliph al-Mu'tamid. His stabilization of the internal political scene after the decade-long "Anarchy at Samarra", his successful defence of Iraq against the Saffarids and the suppression of the Zanj Rebellion restored a measure of the Caliphate's former power and began a period of recovery, which culminated in the reign of al-Muwaffaq's own son, the Caliph al-Mu'tadid.
02/06/0657
Pope Eugene I
Pope Eugene I was the bishop of Rome from 10 August 654 to his death on 2 June 657. He was chosen to become Pope after the deposition and banishment of Martin I by Emperor Constans II over the dispute about Monothelitism.