June 9 in History

At least 40 people are killed and more than 70 wounded in a suicide bombing at a wedding party in Arghandab, Kandahar.

An explosion kills 17 people and injures at least 46 at a hotel in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Two bombs explode at a train station near Algiers, Algeria, killing at least 13 people.

Kosovo War: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO sign a peace treaty.

Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 crashes into the Tararua Range during approach to Palmerston North Airport on the North Island of New Zealand, killing four.

The Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney, Australia, kills seven.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men.

In horse racing, Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown.

Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.

The civilian Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Phan Huy Quát, resigns after being unable to work with a junta led by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ.

Vietnam War: The Viet Cong commences combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in the war.

The USS George Washington is launched. It is the first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.

Aeroflot Flight 105 crashes on approach to Magdan-13 Airport, killing 24.

First ascent of Broad Peak by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl.

Joseph N. Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings, giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

The Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence kills 94 people in Massachusetts.

Foundation of the International Council on Archives under the auspices of the UNESCO.

World War II: Ninety-nine civilians are hanged from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks.

World War II: The Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, occupied by Finland since 1941.

A Chicago Tribune reporter, Jake Lingle, is killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a $100,000 gambling debt owed to Al Capone.

Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross.

Bulgaria's military takes over the government in a coup.

Åland's Regional Assembly convenes for its first plenary session in Mariehamn, Åland; today, the day is celebrated as Self-Government Day of Åland.

William Jennings Bryan resigns as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.

Indian nationalist Birsa Munda dies of cholera in a British prison.

Treaty of Tientsin is signed to end the Sino-French War, with China eventually giving up Tonkin and Annam – most of present-day Vietnam – to France.

American Civil War: The Battle of Brandy Station in Virginia, the largest cavalry battle on American soil, ends Confederate cavalry dominance in the eastern theater.

American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson concludes his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic.

The Beyoglu Protocol turns the district of Mount Lebanon into an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire and grants the Christians more power over the Druze.

Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa for the Mormon Trail.

End of the Congress of Vienna: The new European political situation is set.

Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battles of Arklow and Saintfield.

The British schooner Gaspee is burned in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.

James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of the future U.S. state of Georgia.

Jacques Cartier is the first European to describe and map the Saint Lawrence River.

The Parisian Faculty of Theology fines Simon de Colines for publishing the Biblical commentary Commentarii initiatorii in quatuor Evangelia by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples.

Duccio's Maestà, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.

Abbasid Revolution: Abu Muslim Khorasani begins an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which is carried out under the sign of the Black Standard.

Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse.

Nero dies by suicide after quoting Vergil's Aeneid, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.

The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia.

The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy.

Xolo Maridueña, American actor.

Diego Lainez, Mexican footballer

Laurie Hernandez, American gymnast

George Jennings, Australian rugby league player

Zach Hyman, Canadian ice hockey player

Yannick Agnel, French swimmer

Boyd Cordner, Australian rugby league player

Gino Peruzzi, Argentine footballer

Lucien Laviscount, English actor

Aaron M. Johnson, American jazz saxophonist

Matthias Mayer, Austrian skier

Antonella Alonso, Venezuelan pornographic actress

Dídac Vilà, Spanish footballer

Logan Browning, American actress

Jason Demers, Canadian ice hockey player

Sara Isaković, Slovenian swimmer

Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Greek footballer

Mae Whitman, American actress

Jaan Mölder, Estonian race car driver

Doug Legursky, American football player

Yadier Pedroso, Cuban baseball player (died 2013)

Ashley Postell, American gymnast

Richard Kahui, New Zealand rugby player

Sonam Kapoor, Indian model and actress

Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player

Yuli Gurriel, Cuban baseball player

Jake Newton, Guyanese footballer

Asko Paade, Estonian basketball player

Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer

Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer

Firas Al-Khatib, Syrian footballer

Josh Cribbs, American football player

Dwayne Jones, American basketball player

Danny Richar, Dominican-American baseball player

Yoshito Ōkubo, Japanese footballer

Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer-songwriter

Natalie Portman, Israeli-American actress

Parinya Charoenphol, Thai boxer, model, and actress

D'banj, Nigerian singer-songwriter and harmonica player

Mike Fontenot, American baseball player

Udonis Haslem, American basketball player

Lehlohonolo Seema, South African footballer

Marcin Wasilewski, Polish footballer and pundit

Dario Dainelli, Italian footballer

Amanda Lassiter, American basketball player

Matt Bellamy, English singer, musician and songwriter

Shandi Finnessey, American model and actress, Miss USA 2004

Miroslav Klose, German footballer

Heather Mitts, American soccer player

Hayden Schlossberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Usman Afzaal, Pakistani-English cricketer

Paul Hutchison, English cricketer

Olin Kreutz, American football player

Peja Stojaković, Serbian basketball player

Otto Addo, German-Ghanaian footballer and manager

Ameesha Patel, Indian actress and model

Andrew Symonds, English-Australian cricketer (died 2022)

Samoth, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Randy Winn, American baseball player

Aigars Apinis, Latvian discus thrower and shot putter

Tedy Bruschi, American football player and sportscaster

Frédéric Choffat, Swiss director, producer, and cinematographer

Grant Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player

Matt Horsley, Australian footballer and coach

Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer and sportscaster

Jean Galfione, French pole vaulter and sportscaster

Jackie McKeown, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist

André Racicot, Canadian ice hockey player

Eric Wynalda, American soccer player, coach, and sportscaster

Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper and coach

Rubén Maza, Venezuelan runner

Jian Ghomeshi, Iranian-Canadian radio personality

Tamela Mann, American singer and actress

Gloria Reuben, Canadian-American actress

Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and bass player (died 2009)

Gilad Atzmon, Israeli-English saxophonist, author, and activist

Johnny Depp, American actor

David Koepp, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Yuval Banai, Israeli singer-songwriter and guitarist

Ken Rose, American football player

David Trewhella, Australian rugby league player

Thomas Benson, American football player

Michael J. Fox, Canadian-American actor, producer, and author

Aaron Sorkin, American screenwriter, producer, and playwright

Steve Paikin, Canadian journalist and author

Peter Fowler, Australian golfer

David Ancrum, American basketball player and coach

Randy Read, English crystallographer and academic

Berit Aunli, Norwegian skier

Patricia Cornwell, American journalist and author

Marek Gazdzicki, Polish nuclear physicist

Joaquín, Spanish footballer

John Le Lievre, British squash player (died 2021)

Kayhan Mortezavi, Iranian director

Francine Raymond, French Canadian singer-songwriter

Nikolai Tsonev, Bulgarian politician

Rudolf Wojtowicz, Polish footballer

Pete Byrne, English singer-songwriter

Paul Chapman, Welsh guitarist and songwriter (died 2020)

Gregory Maguire, American author

Elizabeth May, American-Canadian environmentalist, lawyer, and politician

George Pérez, American author and illustrator (died 2022)

Ken Navarro, Italian-American guitarist and composer

Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer-songwriter (died 2004)

Billy Knight, American basketball player

Michael Patrick Cronan, American graphic designer and academic (died 2013)

James Newton Howard, American composer, conductor, and producer

Dave Parker, American baseball player and coach (died 2025)

Brian Taylor, American basketball player

Trevor Bolder, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (died 2013)

Fred Jackson, American football player and coach

Giorgos Kastrinakis, Greek-American basketball player

Kiran Bedi, Indian police officer and activist

Jim Bailey, American football player

Gudrun Schyman, Swedish social worker and politician

Tim Sullivan, American novelist (died 2024)

Robert Indermaur, Swiss painter

Deyda Hydara, Gambian journalist and publisher, co-founded The Point (died 2004)

James Kelman, Scottish author and playwright

Peter Kilfoyle, English politician

Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, Italian politician and diplomat, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs

Robbie Vincent, English radio broadcaster and DJ

Faina Melnik, Soviet discus thrower (died 2016)

Janric Craig, 3rd Viscount Craigavon, English accountant and politician

Wally Gabler, American football player and sportscaster

John Fitzpatrick, English race car driver

Joe Haldeman, American sci-fi author

Charles Saatchi, Iraqi-English businessman, co-founded Saatchi & Saatchi

Anton Burghardt, German footballer and manager (died 2022)

Nicholas Lloyd, English journalist

Richard A. Cash, American global health researcher (died 2024)

Jon Lord, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (died 2012)

André Vallerand, Canadian businessman and politician

Ileana Cotrubaș, Romanian soprano and actress

Eric Fernie, Scottish historian and academic

David Hobbs, English race car driver and sportscaster

Dick Vitale, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster

Charles Webb, American author (died 2020)

Jeremy Hardie, English economist and businessman

Giles Havergal, Scottish actor, director, and playwright

Charles Wuorinen, American composer and educator (died 2020)

Harald Rosenthal, German hydrobiologist and academic

Nell Dunn, English playwright, screenwriter and author

Mick O'Dwyer, Irish Gaelic footballer and manager (died 2025)

George Radda, Hungarian chemist and academic

Dutch Savage, American wrestler and promoter (died 2013)

Michael Mates, English colonel and politician

Jackie Wilson, American singer-songwriter (died 1984)

Jackie Mason, American stand-up comedian (died 2021)

Nandini Satpathy, Indian author and politician, 8th Chief Minister of Odisha (died 2006)

Bill Virdon, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 2021)

Al Cantello, American javelin thrower and coach (died 2024)

Barbara, French singer (died 1997)

Jordi Pujol, Spanish physician and politician, 126th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya

Johnny Ace, American singer and pianist (died 1954)

R. Geraint Gruffydd, Welsh critic and academic (died 2015)

George Nigh, American politician, 17th and 22nd Governor of Oklahoma (died 2025)

Jim Nolan, American basketball player (died 1983)

Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, American singer and bass player (died 2010)

Happy Rockefeller, American philanthropist, 31st Second Lady of the United States (died 2015)

Keith Laumer, American soldier and author (died 1993)

Herman Sarkowsky, German-American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Seattle Seahawks (died 2014)

Ed Farhat, American wrestler and manager (died 2003)

Gerald Götting, German politician (died 2015)

George Axelrod, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2003)

Hein Eersel, Surinamese linguist and Minister of Education (died 2022)

John Gillespie Magee Jr., Anglo-American pilot and poet (died 1941)

Fernand Seguin, Canadian biochemist and academic (died 1988)

Arthur Hertzberg, American rabbi and scholar (died 2006)

Jean Lacouture, French journalist, historian, and author (died 2015)

John Hospers, American philosopher and politician (died 2011)

Eric Hobsbawm, Egyptian-English historian and author (died 2012)

Jurij Brězan, German soldier and author (died 2006)

Siegfried Graetschus, German SS officer (died 1943)

Robert McNamara, American businessman and politician, 8th United States Secretary of Defense (died 2009)

Jim McDonald, American football player and coach (died 1997)

Les Paul, American guitarist and songwriter (died 2009)

Patrick Steptoe, English scientist (developed in vitro fertilization) (died 1988)

Ingolf Dahl, German-American pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1970)

Robert Cummings, American actor, singer, and director (died 1990)

Ted Hicks, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand (died 1984)

Luis Kutner, American lawyer, author, and activist (died 1993)

Branch McCracken, American basketball player and coach (died 1970)

Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and businessman, founded Repository for Germinal Choice (died 1997)

Felice Bonetto, Italian race car driver (died 1953)

Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (died 1996)

Skip James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1969)

Fred Waring, American singer, bandleader, and television host (died 1984)

Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (died 1952)

Catherine Filene Shouse, American philanthropist (Wolf Trap Institute) (died 1994)

Archie Weston, American football player and journalist (died 1981)

Irish Meusel, American baseball player and coach (died 1963)

Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter (died 1964)

Leslie Banks, English actor, director, and producer (died 1952)

Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, Polish general and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Poland (died 1962)

Robert Kerr, Irish-Canadian sprinter and coach (died 1963)

Harry DeBaecke, American rower (died 1961)

Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968)

Launceston Elliot, Scottish weightlifter and wrestler (died 1930)

Jane Avril, French model and dancer (died 1943)

Albéric Magnard, French composer and educator (died 1914)

Carl Nielsen, Danish violinist, composer, and conductor (died 1931)

Jeanne Bérangère, French actress (died 1928)

Pierre Duhem, French physicist, mathematician, and historian (died 1916)

Gustav Tammann, Russian-German chemist and physicist (died 1938)

Charles Joseph Bonaparte, American lawyer and politician, 46th United States Attorney General (died 1921)

Michael Ancher, Danish painter and academic (died 1927)

Frank Norton, American baseball player (died 1920)

Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1914)

Hazard Stevens, American military officer, mountaineer, politician and writer (died 1918)

Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, English author (died 1919)

Michele Rua, Italian Catholic priest and saint (died 1910)

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician and politician (died 1917)

Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer and academic (died 1910)

Otto Nicolai, German composer and conductor (died 1849)

George Stephenson, English engineer, designed the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (died 1848)

Samuel Slater, English-American engineer and businessman (died 1835)

Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, English general and politician, Governor of Barbados (died 1815)

Giuseppe Demachi, Italian violinist and composer (died 1791)

Shiva Rajaram, infant Chattrapati of the Maratha Empire (died 1726)

Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1747)

Peter the Great, Russian emperor (died 1725)

Feodor III of Russia (died 1682)

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1705)

Sarah Rapelje, the "first white child" of New Netherland (died 1685)

Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (died 1665)

Władysław IV Vasa, Polish king (died 1648)

Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer and theorist (died 1666)

Daniel Heinsius, Belgian poet and scholar (died 1655)

Blanche II of Navarre (died 1464)

Deokjong of Goryeo, ruler of Korea (died 1034)

Cyril Karabus, South African paediatric oncologist (born 1935)

Alexander Yanchulev, Bulgarian politician and engineer (born 1938)

Sly Stone, American musician and record producer (Sly and the Family Stone)

Pik-Sen Lim, Malaysian-British actress and voice artist.

James Lawson, American activist, professor, and minister (born 1928)

Alain Touraine, French sociologist (born 1925)

Julee Cruise, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (born 1956)

Billy Kametz, American voice actor (born 1987)

Matt Zimmerman, Canadian actor (born 1934)

Amir Liaquat Hussain, Pakistani politician, columnist and television host. (born 1971)

Pau Donés, Spanish singer (born 1966)

Bushwick Bill, Jamaican-American rapper (born 1966)

Fadil Vokrri, Kosovo Albanian football administrator and player (born 1960)

Adam West, American actor and investor (born 1928)

Pumpkinhead, American rapper (born 1975)

Pedro Zerolo, Spanish lawyer and politician (born 1960)

Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (born 1926)

Stuart Long, American boxer and Catholic priest (born 1963)

Rik Mayall, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1958)

Elsie Quarterman, American ecologist and academic (born 1910)

Alicemarie Huber Stotler, American lawyer and judge (born 1942)

Gustave Tassell, American fashion designer (born 1926)

Bob Welch, American baseball player and coach (born 1956)

Iain Banks, Scottish author (born 1954)

Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor (born 1926)

John Burke, English rugby player (born 1948)

Walter Jens, German philologist, historian, and academic (born 1923)

Zdeněk Rotrekl, Czech poet and historian (born 1920)

Régis Clère, French cyclist (born 1956)

John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (born 1943)

Ivan Minatti, Slovene poet and translator (born 1924)

Hawk Taylor, American baseball player and coach (born 1939)

Abram Wilson, American-English trumpet player and educator (born 1973)

M. F. Husain, Indian painter and director (born 1915)

Tomoko Kawakami, Japanese voice actress (born 1970)

Mike Mitchell, American basketball player (born 1956)

Ken Brown, British Guitarist who was a member of The Quarrymen (born 1940)

Dick May, American race car driver (born 1930)

Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (born 1931)

Suleiman Mousa, Jordanian historian and author (born 1919)

Frankie Abernathy, American purse designer, cast-member on The Real World: San Diego (born 1981)

Drafi Deutscher, German singer-songwriter (born 1946)

Rosey Brown, American football player and coach (born 1932)

Brian Williamson, Jamaican activist, co-founded J-FLAG (born 1945)

John Abramovic, American basketball player (born 1919)

Jacob Lawrence, American painter and academic (born 1917)

Lois Mailou Jones, American painter and academic (born 1905)

Stanley Knowles, American-Canadian academic and politician (born 1908)

Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903)

Alexis Smith, Canadian-born American actress (born 1921)

Claudio Arrau, Chilean-American pianist and educator (born 1903)

George Wells Beadle, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903)

Helen Hardin, American painter (born 1943)

Allen Ludden, American game show host (born 1917)

Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player and civil servant (born 1884)

Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan journalist, author, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899)

Chuck Bennett, American football player and coach (born 1907)

John Creasey, English author and politician (born 1908)

Erich von Manstein, German general (born 1887)

Gilberto Parlotti, Italian motorcycle racer (born 1940)

Bernard Cronin, Australian author and journalist (born 1884)

Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, British businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (born 1879)

Jacques Villon, French painter (born 1875)

Camille Guérin, French veterinarian, bacteriologist and immunologist (born 1872)

Harry S. Hammond, American football player and businessman (born 1884)

Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1876)

Robert Donat, English actor (born 1905)

Chandrashekhar Agashe, Indian industrialist and lawyer (born 1888)

Hans Bergsland, Norwegian fencer (born 1878)

Thomas Hicks, Australian tennis player (born 1869)

Ferdinand Jodl, German general (born 1896)

Ernest Graves Sr., American football player, coach, and general (born 1880)

Adolf Busch, German-Austrian violinist and composer (born 1891)

František Erben, Czech gymnast (born 1874)

Louis Bennison, American stage and silent film actor (born 1884)

Margaret Lawrence, American stage actress (born 1889)

Alice Gossage, American journalist (born 1861)

Victoria Woodhull, American activist for women's rights (born 1838)

Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (born 1846)

Sarah Roberts, English woman who was the subject of a vampire legend (born 1872).

Adolf Bötticher, German historian and author (born 1842)

William Grant Stairs, Canadian-English captain and explorer (born 1863)

Mike Burke, American baseball player (born 1854)

Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and conchologist (born 1795)

Anna Atkins, English botanist and photographer (born 1799)

Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (born 1812)

William Carey, English minister and missionary (born 1761)

Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Caribbean-French violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1745)

Jeanne Guyon, French mystic and author (born 1648)

Banda Singh Bahadur, Indian commander (born 1670)

Peregrine Palmer, English politician (born 1605)

William Lilly, English astrologer (born 1602)

Thomas Tomkins, Welsh-English composer (born 1572)

Leonard Calvert, Colonial governor of Maryland (born 1606)

José de Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit missionary (born 1534)

Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1525)

Jeanne d'Albret, Navarrese queen and Huguenot leader (born 1528)

William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English accountant and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (born 1506)

Philippe de Vitry, French composer and poet (born 1291)

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Sienese painter (born 1290)

Otto I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester

Otto I of Olomouc (born 1045)

Gebhard of Supplinburg, Saxon count

Yang Wo, Prince of Hongnong

Shahrbaraz, king of the Persian Empire

Columba, Irish missionary and saint (born 521)

Spearthrower Owl, Teotihuacan figure active in Mayan Tikal

Ephrem the Syrian, hymnographer and theologian (born 306)

Nero, Roman emperor (born 37)