On this day: June 2

Events on June 2

• 1615 The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France. Wikipedia
• 1793 French Revolution: François Hanriot, leader of the Parisian National Guard, arrests 22 Girondists selected by Jean-Paul Marat, setting the stage for the Reign of Terror. Wikipedia
• 1848 The Slavic Congress opens in Prague. Wikipedia
• 1878 Nobiling assassination attempt by anarchist Karl Nobiling targeting the German Kaiser, Wilhelm I. Wikipedia
• 1886 The wedding of Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom (wedding depicted) took place in the White House, in the only time that a U.S. president has married in the building. Wikipedia
• 1919 First Red Scare: The anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani set off eight bombs in eight cities across the United States. Wikipedia
• 1919 Anarchists simultaneously set off bombs in eight separate U.S. cities. Wikipedia
• 1924 U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: German paratroopers murder Greek civilians in the villages of Kondomari and Alikianos. Wikipedia
• 1946 Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum, King Umberto II of Italy is exiled. Wikipedia
• 1953 Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London. Wikipedia
• 1955 The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between the two countries, discontinued since 1948. Wikipedia
• 1955 The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration, legitimising different interpretations of Marxism in non-Soviet countries. Wikipedia
• 1962 One of the most violent football matches took place at the World Cup as Chile defeated Italy in a group match. Wikipedia
• 1962 During the FIFA World Cup, police intervene multiple times in fights between Chilean and Italian players in one of the most violent games in football history. Wikipedia
• 1966 Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world. Wikipedia
• 1967 Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran are brutally suppressed, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group 2 June Movement. Wikipedia
• 1979 Pope John Paul II starts his first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country. Wikipedia
• 1990 The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 66 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12. Wikipedia
• 1997 In Denver, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people died. He was executed four years later. Wikipedia
• 2003 Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Wikipedia
• 2012 Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Wikipedia
• 2014 Telangana officially becomes the 29th state of India, formed from ten districts of northwestern Andhra Pradesh. Wikipedia
• 2022 Following a request from Ankara, the United Nations officially changes the name of the Republic of Turkey in the organization from what was previously known as "Turkey" to "Türkiye". Wikipedia
• 2023 A collision between two passenger trains and a parked freight train near the city of Balasor, Odisha in eastern India, results in 296 deaths and more than 1,200 people injured. Wikipedia
• 2023 A collision between two passenger trains and a parked freight train near the city of Balasore, Odisha, in eastern India resulted in 296 deaths and more than 1,200 people injured. Wikipedia

Born on June 2

• 1535 Pope Leo XI (died 1605) Wikipedia
• 1731 Martha Washington, First Lady of the United States (died 1802) Wikipedia
• 1740 Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and politician (died 1814) Wikipedia
• 1835 Pope Pius X (died 1914) Wikipedia
• 1840 Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet (died 1928) Wikipedia
• 1857 Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1919) Wikipedia
• 1857 Edward Elgar, English composer and educator (died 1934) Wikipedia
• 1865 Adelaide Casely-Hayford, Sierra Leone Creole advocate and activist for cultural nationalism (died 1960) Wikipedia
• 1904 Johnny Weissmuller, Hungarian-American swimmer and actor (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1923 Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1930 Pete Conrad, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (died 1999) Wikipedia
• 1933 Sasao Gouland, governor of Chuuk State, Micronesia (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1940 Constantine II of Greece (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1941 Charlie Watts, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1952 Gary Bettman, American sports executive, 14th Commissioner of the National Hockey League Wikipedia
• 1972 Wentworth Miller, American actor and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1977 Zachary Quinto, American actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1978 Yi So-yeon, biotechnologist and astronaut, the first Korean in space Wikipedia
• 1979 Morena Baccarin, Brazilian-American actress Wikipedia
• 1987 Sonakshi Sinha, Indian actress Wikipedia
• 1988 Sergio Agüero, Argentine footballer Wikipedia
• 1988 Awkwafina, American actress, rapper, and comedian Wikipedia

Died on June 2

• 657 Pope Eugene I Wikipedia
• 1701 Madeleine de Scudéry, French author (born 1607) Wikipedia
• 1882 Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (born 1807) Wikipedia
• 1948 Karl Brandt, German SS officer (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 1948 Wolfram Sievers, German SS officer (born 1905) Wikipedia
• 1970 Bruce McLaren, New Zealand race car driver and engineer, founded the McLaren racing team (born 1937) Wikipedia
• 1970 Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian soldier, journalist, and academic (born 1888) Wikipedia
• 1978 Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, Spanish footballer and coach (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 1987 Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (born 1893) Wikipedia
• 1988 Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, director, and producer (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 1990 Rex Harrison, English actor (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2008 Mel Ferrer, American actor (born 1917) Wikipedia
• 2008 Bo Diddley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2015 Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Children's Day (North Korea) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Alexander (martyr) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Elmo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Felix of Nicosia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Marcellinus and Peter Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Martyrs of Lyon, including Blandina Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pope Eugene I Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pothinus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Sadok and 48 Dominican martyrs from Sandomierz Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: June 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Civil Aviation Day (Azerbaijan) Wikipedia
• Coronation of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, also Social Forestry Day (Bhutan) Wikipedia
• Day of Hristo Botev (Bulgaria) Wikipedia
• Decoration Day (Canada) Wikipedia
• Festa della Repubblica (Italy) Wikipedia
• Gawai Dayak, harvest festival in the state of Sarawak (Malaysia) Wikipedia
• International Sex Workers Day Wikipedia
• Telangana Day (Telangana, India) Wikipedia
• Alberti Day (New York City, USA) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “June 2” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.