Poor Gabriel's Almanac

Interesting things that happened June 5th:

Birthdays on this date:

In 1599 Diego Velázquez, painter
In 1606 Pierre Corneille, dramatist
In 1723 Adam Smith (in Kirkcaldy, Scotland), economist (An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations), philosopher
In 1756 John Trumbull, painter
In 1799 Alexander Pushkin, poet
In 1883 John Maynard Keynes (in Cambridge, England), another economist
In 1900 Dennis Gabor, inventor of holography (3D laser photography)
In 1903 Aram Khachaturian, composer
In 1917 Kirk Kerkorian, American capitalist
In 1923 V.C. Andrews, author
In 1926 Klaus Tennstedt, conductor
In 1928 Tony Richardson, director
In 1929 Robert Lansing, actor (The Equalizer)
In 1934 Roy Innis, civil rights activist
+ Bill Moyers, news gatherer and commentator
In 1939 Marian Wright Edelman, children's rights activist
In 1945 David E. Bonior, US Rep. (D-MI, 1977-2003), Majority Whip (1991-95), Minority Whip (1995-2002)
In 1956 Kenny G, saxophone player

Events worth noting:

+ Constitution Day (Denmark)
+ Memorial Day (South Korea)
+ National Holiday (Sweden)
In 1523 Gustav Vasa is elected King of Sweden; Kalmar Union is disolved.
In 1683 Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) opens; world's 1st university museum.
In 1718 Future furniture icon Thomas Chippendale is baptized.
In 1783 Joseph Jaques Montgolfier becomes the first to fly (10 minute) in a hot-air balloon.
In 1808 Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte, is crowned King of Spain.
In 1832 The Paris student uprisings of 1832 end.
In 1833 Ada Lovelace (future first computer programmer) meets Charles Babbage.
In 1849 Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy.
In 1855 Anti-foreign, anti-Roman Catholic Know-Nothing Party's first convention.
In 1859 Queensland is established as a separate colony from New South Wales.
In 1862 Susan B. Anthony is fined for attempting to vote.
In 1863 CSS "Alabama" captures the "Tailsman" in the Mid Atlantic.
In 1864 Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones is killed at Piedmont.
In 1875 Pacific Stock Exchange formally opens.
In 1894 Governor Davis H. Waite orders the Colorado state militia to protect miners engaged in the Cripple Creek miners' strike.
In 1917 10 million American men began registering for the draft in WW I.
In 1920 First rivet driven on Bank of Italy headquarters at 1 Powell.
In 1925 The Chrysler Corporation was founded by Walter Percy Chrysler.
In 1926 Indians triple play Yankees and win 15-3.
In 1933 The United States went off the gold standard.
+ The first drive-in theater opens (Camden, New Jersey).
In 1934 FDR signs the Securities Act of 1933, SEC established.
In 1940 First synthetic rubber tire exhibited Akron, OH.
In 1944 The Battle of Normandy begins; 155,000 Allied troops hit the beaches.
+ Liberation of Rome by Allied forces.
+ First B-29 bombing raid one plane lost; engine failure.
In 1947 Secretary of State George C. Marshall outlines `The Marshall Plan'.
In 1966 Civil rights activist James Meredith is shot.
+ Presbyterian Church in Canada agrees ordain women.
In 1967 Richard Speck sentenced to death in the electric chair.
+ Israel, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt begin Six-Day War.
In 1968 Sen. Robert F. Kennedy shot and mortally wounded at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the Democratic Primary.
In 1974 Sweden becomes a parliamentary monarchy.
In 1975 Suez Canal reopens (after 6 Day War caused it to close).
In 1977 Revolution in the Seychelles Islands.
+ First personal computer, the Apple II, goes on sale.
In 1978 California voters pass Proposition 13, limiting property taxes.
In 1980 Soyuz T-2 is launched.
In 1981 TODAY/PC ran for first time.
+ CDC reports on 'Pneumocystis carinii' previously healthy young men -- the report turns out to be the first published report on AIDS.
In 1982 Conquistador Cielo wins the Belmont Stakes by 14 1/2 lengths.
+ Israeli Forces invade southern Lebanon.
In 1993 Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections.
In 2004 Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th US president, dies.
In 2012 Transit of Venus (between Earth and Sun) begins (22:09 UTC).

And remember ...

National Adopt-a-Cat Month
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
Effective Communications Month
Learn French Month
National Accordion Awareness Month
National Candy Month
National Dairy Month
National Iced Tea Month
National Rivers Month
National Rose Month
National Soul Food Month

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Although efforts have been taken to ensure the accuracy of this information, several errors have been found in the past. Don't place any bets on the basis of what you find here. If you spot an error, write to Poor Gabriel at poorgabriel@mystery.com .