June 1st is

Hazelnut Cake Day

Heimlich Maneuver Day *

National Olive Day

National Penpal Day

Say Something Nice Day *

Oscar the Grouch’s Birthday

International Children’s Day *

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MORE! Parveen Kumar, Randol Fawkes and Connie Chung, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Cape Verde – Dia da Criança
(Youth and Children’s Day)

Indonesia – Pancasila Day *

Kenya – Madaraka Day
(National Day)

Malaysia – Sarawak: Hari Gawai
(Iban and Biydayuh harvest festival)

Mexico – National Maritime Day

Mongolia – Mothers’ and Childrens’ Day

Palau – President’s Day

Samoa – Independence Day

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On This Day in HISTORY

193 – Roman Emperor Didius Julianus, who just nine weeks earlier had assassinated his predecessor, Pertinax, then bought the throne from the Praetorian Guard, is killed by a soldier from the legions commanded by General Septimius Severus, who swept into Rome to depose him. Severus is the last to take the throne in the ‘Year of the Five Emperors,’ he survives as Emperor for next the 18 years

Septimius Severus

1076 – Mstislav I Vladimirovich the Great born, Grand Prince of Kiev (1125-1132); figured prominently in the Norse Sagas under the name Harald; known for building several churches in Kiev and Novgorod. St. Nicolas Cathedral (1113) and the cathedral of St. Anthony cloister (1117) have survived to the present day

1215 – The Mongols under Genghis Khan capture Zhongdu (now Beijing)

The Siege of Zhongdu, in the Persian Jami’ al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani

1310 – Marguerite Porète, French mystic, burned at the stake for heresy in Paris. After a lengthy trial, she refuses to recant her beliefs or remove her book, The Mirror of Simple Souls, from circulation. Condemned for her belief that in a state of contemplative love of God, the soul has no need of Masses or intercession by priests or even prayer. Her book is also suspect because it is written in Old French instead of Latin

1495 – First known written reference to Scotch Whisky – in the Exchequer Rolls 1949-1945, Volume x, page 487: : “To Brother John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt.”  John Cor, a Tironensian monk from Lindores Abbey in Fife, was probably an apothecary, in service to King James IV.  Lindores Abbey was dubbed the ‘Birthplace of Scotch Whisky’

1533 – Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England, beginning her “1000 days”

1563 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, born; English Secretary of State (1596-1612), Lord High Treasurer (1608-1612), and Lord Privy Seal (1598-1612)

1633 – Geminiano Montanari born, Italian astronomer and lens-maker; proponent of the experimental approach to science

1657 – The first Quakers arrive in New Amsterdam (now New York City)

1660 – Mary Dyer, one of four Quakers known as the Boston Martyrs, is hanged after repeatedly returning to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in protest of Quakers being banned by the Puritans for their ‘heretical’ beliefs

1773 – The Jonge Thomas, a Dutch East India ship, anchored at the mouth of the Salt River in Table Bay, broke loose from its anchor during a violent storm, and hit jagged rocks, breaking the ship in half.  The passengers and sailors on board began falling into the raging sea, and many drowned attempting to swim to shore. Wolraad Woltemade rode his horse into the water, threw out a rope, and towed two men to shore, then went back out seven more times. He rescued 14 people before he and his horse were drowned when too many of the remaining people on board panicked, grabbed on to them, and drowned both Woltemade and his horse. The Dutch East India Company honored his heroism by naming one of their ships De Held Woltemade, and in 1970, the Woltemade Decoration for Bravery was instituted as the highest civilian decoration for bravery in South Africa. The award was changed in 1988 to the Woltemade Cross, but that was discontinued in 2002 as part of establishing a new South African honours system

1774 – As punishment for the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Port Act, enacted by the British Parliament in March, outlawing the use of the Port of Boston for “landing and discharging, loading or shipping, of goods, wares, and merchandise” is enforced on this day by a blockade. The day is widely observed in Massachusetts as a day of mourning, with fasting and prayer, bells tolled, and flags at half-mast. Even Bostonians not in favor of rebellion are angered, as they are being punished just as much as the raiders. Other colonies send relief supplies, an early sign of a uniting front by the American colonies against British rule

1797 – Abby Hadassah Smith born, suffragist, and women’s property rights advocate, subject of Abby Smith and her Cows written by her sister Julia Evelina Smith. The Town of Glastonbury raised taxes on the Smith sisters and two other widows, but their male neighbors’ property values had not risen, so the sisters refused to pay the taxes without being granted a right to vote in town meetings. Seven of Abby’s cows were seized and sold for taxes (January 1874). When she protested this seizure of property, 15 acres of her pastureland were also seized for delinquent taxes (June 1874). The sisters took the town to court and ultimately won their case

Judith Evelina Smith, left and Abby Hadassah Smith

1804 – Mikhail Glinka born, first Russian composer to be widely recognized within Russia; important influence on development of a ‘Russian style’ of classical music

1822 – Clementina Maude born, Vicountess Hawarden; noted English Victorian amateur photographer who produced over 800 photographs, many of them of family members; she exhibited some of her work at the 1863 exhibition of the Photographic Society of London, for which she was awarded a medal for “artistic excellence,”and was elected as a member of the society; over 700 of her portraits were donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum

1843 – Henry Faulds born, Scottish physician, missionary and scientist; proponent of the use of fingerprinting in forensic work

1868 – Annie MacKinnon Fitch born, mathematician, Ph.D., Cornell University (1894), dissertation: “Concomitant Binary Forms in Terms of the Roots.” Wells College Professor of Mathematics, elected to American Mathematical Society (1897). “It seems to me worthwhile that some women are intelligent about things mathematical even if their own accomplishments are not great.” Also member of American Association for  Advancement of Science and League of Women Voters

1869 – Thomas Edison patents an electric voting machine

1873 – Elena Alistar-Romanescu born in Bessarabia (Eastern Europe, now part of Moldava and the Ukraine), physician, and one of only two women members of Sfatul Ţării (Moldovan governing council, 1971-1918) under the Russian Federative Republic, just before union with Romania

1877 – U.S. troops are authorized to pursue bandits into Mexico

1878 – John Masefield, English author and poet; UK Poet Laureate (1930-1967)

1889 – James Daugherty born, American author, illustrator, and painter; 1940 Newbery Medal for Daniel Boone

1890 – The U.S. Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine to count census returns

1896 – In Paris, France, the first recorded automobile theft occurs when the Peugeot of Baron de Zuylen de Nyevelt is stolen by his mechanic

1901 – John Van Druten born, English-American playwright; Bell, Book and Candle

1908 – Julie Campbell Tatham born, American author of children’s novels and books for adults, which were often about Christian Science; newspaper reporter and short story writer; noted for her Trixie Belden and Ginny Gordon series, both published under the name Julie Campbell

1916 – Louis Brandeis, son of immigrants, lawyer and social activist, becomes the first Jew to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court; one of the first to use testimony from experts in other professions to support the case he was making in his briefs; defender of freedom of speech and the right to privacy

1916 – The National Defense Act increases the strength of the U.S. National Guard by 450,000 men

1921 – The Tulsa Massacre: the day after a false story is printed in the Tulsa Tribune that a black man had attacked white girl, the Greenwood “Little Africa” section of Tulsa, home to the wealthiest black community of the day in America, is firebombed and its residents attacked by white mobs, looting and burning 40 square blocks, killing 300 African Americans and leaving 9,000 homeless. White deputies and National Guard members arrested and detained 6,000 black citizens, released only when vouched for by a white employer or other white Tulsan

1921 – Nelson Riddle born, American composer and bandleader

1922 – The Royal Ulster Constabulary is founded, the police force of Northern Ireland until 2001. During “the Troubles,” it is the most dangerous police force in which to serve in the world: 319 officers are killed and almost 9,000 injured, mostly in attacks by the Provisional IRA

1924 – William Sloane Coffin born, American minister and peace activist

1925 – The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland, proclaims June 1 to be International Children’s Day *

1925 – Dilia Díaz Cisneros born, Venezuelan poet and teacher, founder of three national public schools in Caracas: “Bogotá” (1965),  “Los Jardines” (1968), and “Caracciolo Parra León” (1971)

1926 –Marilyn Monroe born, iconic American movie star, actress and singer; after several box office hits, which made her a major “sex symbol,” she founded her own production company, and negotiated more control of the roles she played; raised mostly in foster homes and an orphanage, she struggled with substance abuse, depression and anxiety; Monroe died in 1962, at the age of 36, from an overdose of barbiturates

1928 – Alberta Daisy Schenck Adams born, civil rights activist for equality of indigenous peoples, before Alaska statehood. Instrumental in passage of the Alaska Civil Rights Act passed by the Territorial Legislature 10 years before the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision

1934 – Doris Buchanan Smith born, American children’s author; best known for A Taste of Blackberries, an ALA Notable Children’s Book, and a Newberry Medal finalist which deals honestly with childhood bereavement

1937 – Ezrom Kgobokanyo Sebata Legae born, South African artist; art instructor at the
Jubilee Art Centre (1964-1970); awarded a travel scholarship in 1970 sponsored by the United States/South Africa Leadership Exchange Programme, and visited the U.S. Legae was director of the art programme at Africa Music and Drama Association (1972-1974), and has exhibited extensively both in South Africa and abroad

Ezrom Legae – ‘Dreamer’

1937 – Colleen McCullough born, Australian author, best known for her international best-selling novel, The Thorn Birds; she was also a neuroscientist, who was a research associate and teacher in the Yale Medical School Department of Neurology (1967-1976)

1939 – First flight of the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter-bomber airplane

1940 – Katerina Gogou born, Greek poet, author and actress; her poetry is known for its rebellious anarcho-communist content

1941 – First of two days of the Farhud, a pogrom which erupts against the Baghdadi Jews as the pro-Nazi Iraqi government is collapsing; 180 Jews are killed, 1,000 more are injured, and over 350 non-Jews trying to stop the violence are also killed, many of them Muslims defending the lives and property of their Jewish neighbors; 900 Jewish homes are destroyed

1942 – Professor Dame Parveen Kumar born in Lahore, when it was still part of British India; British physician, Professor of Medicine and Education at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University; President of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund and of the Medical Women’s Federation; President of the British Medical Association in 2006; one of the founders in 1999 of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)

1945 – Frederica von Stade born, American bel canto mezzo-soprano; debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1971-72 season; the role of Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro made her an international star, and remained a signature role

1950 – Jean Lampert born, English Green Party politician; Member of the European Parliament for the London Region since 1999, and recipient of the inaugural Justice and Human Rights MEP of the Year award in 2005; Green Party Principal Speaker (1998-1999); Vice President of the Waltham Forest Race Equality Council since 1999

1951 – Lola Young born, Baroness Young of Hornsey, British actress, author and Crossbench peer since 2004; published her book, Fear of the Dark: Race, Gender and Sexuality in Cinema, in 1995; Commissioner in the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (2000-2001); head of culture at the Greater London Authority (2001-2004) for which she was created a life peer in 2004

1951 – The International Convention on the Use of Designations of Origin and Names for Cheeses is signed by members of the European Parliament

1954 – Jill Black born, Lady Black of Derwent; second woman Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom since 2017; specialist in family law; Queen’s Council (1994-1996); High Court judge (1996-1999); Recorder (1999); appointed a Lady Justice of Appeal (2010-2017), and a member of the Privy Council

1956 –Sir Randol Fawkes Labour Day * – the Bahamas Federation of Labour sponsors a huge Labour Day Parade; in 1960, the Bahamian House of Assembly approved a resolution to make the first Friday in June a Labour Day Public Holiday, beginning in 1961; after Randol Fawkes, dubbed “The Father of Labour” in the Bahamas, died in 2000, the day was renamed in his honour

Dr. Martin Luther King with Randol Fawkes, circa 1958

1957 – Dorota Kędzierzawska born, Polish director of documentary and feature films; notable films include Crows, Nothing, I Am, Time to Die and Devils, Devils, which was screened at Cannes in 1991

1967 – The Beatles release Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the UK; it will be released in the U.S. on June 2

1968 – Susan Jones born, British Labour Party politician; Member of Parliament for Clwyd South since 2010, who took her Oath of Allegiance to the Queen in Welsh; advocate for the use of the Welsh language, for support of military families, and for transparency concerning  all MP’s expenses – she publishes her expenses on her website every month

1968 – Simon & Garfunkel’s single “Mrs Robinson” is #1 on the charts

1974 – Heimlich Maneuver Day * – the Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine

1974 – Alanis Morissette born in Canada, Canadian-American alternative rock singer-songwriter, and record producer

1974 – Sarah Teather born, British Liberal Democrat politician, Member of Parliament (2003-2010); Minister of State for Children and Families (2010-2012); founder of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Guantanamo Bay; chair of the APPG on Refugees, their 2015 report on immigration detention found it was used excessively, and recommended a limit of 28 days for holding an individual in an immigration removal centre

1975 – The musical Chicago opens on Broadway

1980 – The Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour news channel is launched

1981 – Amy Schumer born, stand-up comic, and the creator, co-producer, co-writer and star of the Comedy Central series, Inside Amy Schumer (2013-2016), which won a 2014 Peabody Award, and a 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. She wrote the screenplay and starred in the movie Trainwreck (2015), and published a best-selling memoir, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, in 2016. She often uses her comedy to address political issues like rape culture and gun control. She was arrested in Washington DC while protesting the nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court of Brett Kavanaugh, accused of sexual assault by Professor of Psychology Christine Blasey Ford, and of sexual misconduct by two other women

1988 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the U.S. and the USSR comes into effect

1990 – U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev sing the Chemical Weapons Accord, agreeing to reduce chemical weapons stockpiles by December 2002

1993 – Connie Chung becomes the second woman to co-anchor the evening news, 17 years after Barbara Walters became the first in 1976

2007 – The UK bans tobacco smoking from public places

2009 – General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the fourth largest bankruptcy in U.S. history

2010 – Say Something Nice Day * is started by Mayor Keith Summey of North Charleston, to urge all citizens to treat everyone with courtesy and respect

2015 – Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Mauritian biodiversity scientist, is designated the first woman president of Mauritius

2016 – Pancasila Day * becomes a national holiday, commemorating a speech made on June 1, 1945, by Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno, outlining five governing principles for the new nation, which he called pancasila (five principles in Indonesian)

2018 – The European Union opened a case challenging the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The tariffs went into effect over the protests of U.S. allies in Europe as well as Canada and Mexico. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom initiated the case immediately thereafter. “We are not in a trade war, but we are in a very difficult situation caused by the United States,” Malmstrom said, labeling the tariffs “illegal under WTO rules.”

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