June 6 in History

The launch of SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 4 (IFT-4)

Russo-Ukrainian war: The Kakhovka Dam is destroyed.

Syrian civil war: The Battle of Raqqa begins with an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to capture the city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Eastern Mediterranean event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated at ten meters in diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya. The explosion is estimated to have a force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.

China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 crashes near Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, killing all 160 people on board.

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat wins the first presidential election in Mongolia.

Copa Airlines Flight 201 breaks apart in mid-air and crashes into the Darién Gap in Panama, killing all 47 aboard.

The grave of "Wolfgang Gerhard" is opened in Embu, Brazil; the exhumed remains are later proven to be those of Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's "Angel of Death"; Mengele is thought to have drowned while swimming in February 1979.

1982 Lebanon War: The war begins as forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.

Chief Minister of Sabah Faud Stephens, Peter Joinud Mojuntin, and several other politicians are killed in a plane crash near Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Malaysia.

British referendum results in continued membership of the European Economic Community, with 67% of votes in favour.

Soyuz 11 is launched. The mission ends in disaster when all three cosmonauts, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev are suffocated by uncontrolled decompression of the capsule during re-entry on 29 June.

Hughes Airwest Flight 706 collides with a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II of the United States Marine Corps over the San Gabriel Mountains, killing 50.

March Against Fear: African-American civil rights activist James Meredith is wounded in an ambush by white sniper James Aubrey Norvell. Meredith and Norvell are photographed by Jack R. Thornell, whose photo will receive the 1967 Pulitzer Prize in Photography, the last one to be awarded in the category.

World War II: Commencement of Operation Overlord: The Allied invasion of Normandy begins with the execution of Operation Neptune—commonly referred to as D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history. Nearly 160,000 Allied troops cross the English Channel with about 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. By the end of the day, the Allies have landed on five invasion beaches and are pushing inland.

World War II: Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges by British paratroopers, also known as Operation Coup de Main (incorrectly referred to as Operation Deadstick.)

World War II: The United States Navy's victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway is a major turning point in the Pacific Theater. All four Japanese fleet carriers taking part—Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū and Hiryū—are sunk, as is the heavy cruiser Mikuma. The American carrier Yorktown and the destroyer Hammann are also sunk.

New Deal: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 into law, establishing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The first drive-in theater opens in Camden, New Jersey.

The original Chrysler Corporation is founded by Walter Chrysler from the remains of the Maxwell Motor Company.

World War I: U.S. Marine Corps suffers its worst single day's casualties during the Battle of Belleau Wood while attempting to recapture the wood at Château-Thierry (the losses are exceeded at the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943).

The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. It is the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.

Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect and support the miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike.

The Chicago "L" elevated rail system begins operation.

The Great Seattle Fire destroys all of downtown Seattle.

The Shewan forces of Menelik II of Ethiopia defeat the Gojjame army in the Battle of Embabo. The Shewans capture Negus Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam, and their victory leads to a Shewan hegemony over the territories south of the Abay River.

American Civil War: The First Battle of Memphis, a naval engagement fought on the Mississippi River, results in the capture of Memphis, Tennessee by Union forces from the Confederates.

Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales. The date is still celebrated as Queensland Day.

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.

The June Rebellion in Paris is put down by the National Guard.

Alexis St Martin is accidentally shot in the stomach, leading to William Beaumont's studies on digestion.

War of 1812: In the Battle of Stoney Creek, considered a critical turning point in the war, a British force of 700 under John Vincent defeats an American force twice its size under William Winder and John Chandler.

Seven Years' War: British forces begin the Siege of Havana and temporarily capture the city.

Shivaji is crowned as the first Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire at Raigad Fort.

Swedish Queen Christina abdicates her throne in favour of her cousin Charles Gustav and converts to Catholicism.

Swedish regent Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden and, marking a symbolic end to the Kalmar Union, 6 June is designated the country's national day.

War of the League of Cambrai: In the Battle of Novara, Swiss troops defeat the French under Louis II de la Trémoille, forcing them to abandon Milan; Duke Massimiliano Sforza is restored.

The M8.2–8.8 Lo Mustang earthquake affects Tibet and Nepal, causing severe damage in Kathmandu and parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain.

Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed by Constantine's uncle Alexander on his deathbed.

Rayan Aït-Nouri, French-Algerian footballer

Haechan, South Korean singer

Kenny Pickett, American football player

Jack Hetherington, Australian rugby league player

Julian Green, American soccer player

Yvon Mvogo, Swiss footballer

Vic Mensa, American rapper and singer

DeAndre Hopkins, American football player

Gavin Hoyte, English born footballer who represented Trinidad and Tobago

Anthony Rendon, American baseball player

Pape Souaré, Senegalese footballer

Jeanna Giese, American rabies survivor

Anthony Pilkington, Irish footballer

Gin Wigmore, New Zealand singer and songwriter

Sebastian Larsson, Swedish footballer

Drew McIntyre, Scottish professional wrestler

Becky Sauerbrunn, American footballer; twice a winner of the FIFA Women's World Cup, also an Olympic gold medallist

Michael Krohn-Dehli, Danish footballer

Pete Hegseth, American author, political commentator and 29th United States Secretary of Defense

Roberto De Zerbi, Italian football manager

Mirko Šarić, Argentine footballer (died 2000)

David Connolly, Irish footballer

Uncle Kracker, American musician

Sonya Walger, British-American actress

Jackie Arklöv, Swedish mercenary and convicted murderer

Natalie Morales, American television journalist and NBC News anchor

Paul Giamatti, American actor and producer

Sophie Jamal, Canadian endocrinologist involved in scientific misconduct

Tony Yeboah, Ghanaian footballer

Jason Isaacs, English actor

Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japanese director

Steve Vai, American musician

Raudin Anwar, Indonesian diplomat

Colin Quinn, American comedian and actor

Björn Borg, Swedish tennis player; winner of eleven Grand Slam singles titles including five consecutive Wimbledons

Sam Simon, American director, producer and screenwriter; co-developer of The Simpsons (died 2015)

Sandra Bernhard, American stand-up comic and actress

Lee Smolin, American theoretical physicist

Władysław Żmuda, Polish footballer and manager; 91 caps for Poland and voted Best Young Player at the 1974 FIFA World Cup

Harvey Fierstein, American actor and playwright; winner of four Tony Awards

Dwight Twilley, American pop/rock singer and songwriter (died 2023)

Holly Near, American folk singer and songwriter

Arlene Harris, American entrepreneur, inventor, investor and policy advocate

David Blunkett, British Labour politician; Home Secretary 2001–2004

Robert Englund, American actor; best known for Nightmare on Elm Street

Ada Kok, Dutch butterfly stroke swimmer; winner of three Olympic medals including gold in 1968

Keith Daniel Williams, American convicted rapist and triple murderer (died 1996)

Tony Levin, American bass player and songwriter

Monty Alexander, Jamaican jazz pianist

Phillip Allen Sharp, American molecular biologist; 1993 Nobel Prize laureate (Physiology or Medicine)

Tommie Smith, American sprinter and football player; winner of 1968 Olympic 200m gold medal in a world record time

Richard Smalley, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate in 1996 for chemistry (died 2005)

Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-born American journalist (died 2012)

Willie John McBride, Northern Irish rugby player who toured with the British Lions five times

Louis Andriessen, Dutch pianist and composer (died 2021)

Gary U.S. Bonds, American singer-songwriter

Marian Wright Edelman, American child rights activist

Eddie Giacomin, Canadian Hockey goaltender

D. Ramanaidu, Indian actor, director, and producer, founded Suresh Productions (died 2015)

Levi Stubbs, American soul singer; lead vocalist of the Four Tops (died 2008)

Jon Henricks, Australian swimmer; winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1956

Grant Green, American jazz guitarist and composer (died 1979)

Albert II, King of the Belgians from 9 August 1993 to 21 July 2013 (abdicated)

Taichi Yamada, Japanese screenwriter and novelist (died 2023)

Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2013)

David Scott, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut who was the commander of Apollo 15

Richard Hickock, American convicted murderer (died 1965)

Frank Tyson, English-Australian cricketer, coach and journalist (died 2015)

James Barnor, Ghanaian photographer

Sunil Dutt, Indian actor, director, producer, and politician (died 2005)

Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (died 1998)

Maxine Kumin, American poet and author (died 2014)

Frank Chee Willeto, American soldier and politician, 4th Vice President of the Navajo Nation and a noted code talker during World War II (died 2013)

V. C. Andrews, American author, illustrator, and painter (died 1986)

Jean Pouliot, Canadian broadcaster (died 2004)

Virginia Oliver (died 2026), American lobster fisherwoman

Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, English army officer and politician, 6th Secretary General of NATO (died 2018)

Kenneth Connor, English comedy actor (died 1993)

Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2009)

Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman, founded the Tracinda Corporation (died 2015)

Hamani Diori, Nigerien academic and politician, 1st President of Niger (died 1989)

Vincent Persichetti, American pianist and composer (died 1987)

Isaiah Berlin, Latvian-English historian and philosopher (died 1997)

Bill Dickey, American baseball player and manager who played in eight World Series, winning seven (died 1993)

Max August Zorn, German mathematician and academic who is noted for Zorn's lemma (died 1993)

Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer and conductor (died 1978)

Jimmie Lunceford, American saxophonist and bandleader (died 1947)

Jan Struther, English author, poet and hymnwriter who created the character Mrs Miniver (died 1953)

Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia (died 1970)

Manfred Sakel, Ukrainian-American psychiatrist and physician (died 1957)

Jacobus Johannes Fouché, South African politician, 2nd State President of South Africa (died 1980)

Ninette de Valois, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (died 2001)

Joel Rinne, Finnish actor (died 1981)

Henry Allingham, English World War I soldier and supercentenarian (died 2009)

Italo Balbo, Italian air marshal and fascist politician who played a key role in developing Mussolini's air force (died 1940)

Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, Indian author and academic (died 1986)

Erich Marcks, German general in WWII who planned Operation Barbarossa (died 1944)

Ted Lewis, American singer, clarinet player, and bandleader (died 1971)

Thomas Mann, German author and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955)

Alix of Hesse, German princess and Russian empress (died 1918)

Arthur Henry Adams, Australian journalist and author (died 1936)

Robert Falcon Scott, English sailor and explorer (died 1912)

David T. Abercrombie, American entrepreneur and co-founder of lifestyle brand Abercrombie & Fitch (died 1931)

Henry Newbolt, English historian, author, and poet (died 1938)

Aleksandr Lyapunov, Russian mathematician and physicist (died 1918)

Angelo Moriondo, Italian inventor of the espresso machine (died 1914)

Karl Ferdinand Braun, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate in 1909 for physics (died 1918)

Henriette Wulfsberg, Norwegian school owner and writer (died 1906)

Eliza Orzeszkowa, Polish author and publisher (died 1910)

Friedrich Bayer, German pharmacist, founded Bayer (died 1880)

Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin, German philologist and scholar (died 1856)

Alexander Pushkin, Russian author and poet (died 1837)

John Trumbull, American soldier and painter (died 1843)

Nathan Hale, American soldier (died 1776)

Joseph I of Portugal, King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death (died 1777)

Claude-Jean Allouez, French-American missionary and explorer (died 1689)

Pierre Corneille, French playwright and producer (died 1684)

Diego Velázquez (date of baptism), Spanish painter and educator (died 1660)

Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (died 1603)

Regiomontanus (Johannes Müller von Königsberg), German mathematician, astronomer, and bishop (died 1476)

Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess grandmaster; arguably the best player never to become World Chess Champion (born 1931)

Peter Shaffer, English playwright and screenwriter; works included Equus and Amadeus (born 1926)

Vincent Bugliosi, American lawyer and author; prosecuting attorney in the Tate–LaBianca murders case (born 1934)

Ludvík Vaculík, Czech journalist and author; noted for The Two Thousand Words which inspired the Prague Spring (born 1926)

Lorna Wing, English psychiatrist and physician; pioneered studies of autism (born 1928)

Jerome Karle, American crystallographer and academic; awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research into the molecular structure of chemical compounds (born 1918)

Esther Williams, American swimmer and actress (born 1921)

Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player; together with Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov, formed the famed KLM Line. (born 1960)

Jean Dausset, French-Spanish immunologist and academic; awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his studies of the genetic basis of immunological reaction (born 1916)

Billy Preston, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (born 1946)

Anne Bancroft, American film actress; winner of the 1963 Academy Award for Best Actress for The Miracle Worker (born 1931)

George Davis Snell, American geneticist and immunologist; awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1980 for his studies of histocompatibility (born 1903)

Mark McManus, Scottish actor (born 1935)

Barry Sullivan, American film actor (born 1912)

Stan Getz, American saxophonist and jazz innovator (born 1927)

Hans Leip, German author, poet, and playwright who wrote the lyrics of Lili Marleen (born 1893)

Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and academic (born 1905)

Jack Haley, American actor (born 1897)

J. Paul Getty, American businessman, founded the Getty Oil Company (born 1892)

Robert F. Kennedy, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 64th United States Attorney General (born 1925)

William Baziotes, American painter and academic (born 1912)

Yves Klein, French painter (born 1928)

Tom Phillis, Australian motorcycle racer (born 1934)

Carl Gustav Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist (born 1875)

Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter and educator (born 1875)

Louis Lumière, French film director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1864)

James Agate, English author and critic (born 1877)

Gerhart Hauptmann, German novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862)

Louis Chevrolet, American race car driver and businessman, founded Chevrolet and Frontenac Motor Corporation (born 1878)

Constantin Noe, Megleno-Romanian editor and professor (born 1883)

Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, English field marshal and politician, 12th Governor General of Canada (born 1862)

Lillian Russell, American actress and singer (born 1860)

Yuan Shikai, Chinese general and politician, 2nd President of the Republic of China (born 1859)

John A. Macdonald, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Canada (born 1815)

Henri Vieuxtemps, Belgian violinist and composer (born 1820)

Robert Stirling, Scottish minister and engineer, invented the stirling engine (born 1790)

William Quantrill, American Confederate guerrilla band leader (born 1837)

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Italian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Italy (born 1810)

Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (born 1748)

Antonio Cachia, Maltese architect, engineer and archaeologist (born 1739)

Patrick Henry, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Virginia (born 1736)

Martino Martini, Italian Jesuit missionary (born 1614)

Nakagawa Kiyohide, Japanese daimyo (born 1556)

João de Castro, Portuguese soldier and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (born 1500)

Vecchietta, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (born 1412)

Robert Passelewe, Bishop of Chichester

William III of Dampierre, Count of Flanders

Henry I, King of Castile and Toledo (born 1204)

Norbert of Xanten, German bishop and saint (born 1060)

Agnes of Aquitaine, Queen of Aragon and Navarre

Alexander III, Byzantine emperor (born 870)

Abu Musa Utamish, vizier to the Abbasid Caliphate

Qiao Xuan, Chinese official (born c. 110)