Sunday 16 June 2024 Calendar with holidays, observances and special days

Holidays and observances

• Berkshire Hathaway Day
• Birth Anniversary of Guru Rinpoche in Bhutan (is on the 10th day of the 5th lunar month)
• Bloomsday (Dublin, Ireland)
• Broadcaster's Day in Ecuador
• Engineer's Day in Argentina
• Father's Day (Ñelebrated on the third Sunday of June øò Argentina, Aruba, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Kenya, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Peru, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Venezuela, United Kingdom)
• Father's Day in Seychelles
• Father's Day in the Philippines (is officially celebrated every third Sunday of June)
• Fresh Veggies Day
• IBM Day
• International Biotechnologist Day
• International Day of Solidarity with the People in Struggle of South Africa
• International Day of the African Child (Organisation of African Unity)
• International Domestic Workers Day
• National Day of the Troubadour and Poet of the Panamanian Décima in Panama
• National Fudge Day in USA
• National Vegemite Day in Australia
• National Volunteer Week in New Zealand (Held from the third Sunday in June)
• Oracle Company Day (Hardware and Software, Engineered to Work Together)
• Sussex Day (The event takes place on St Richard's Day, the feast day of St Richard of Chichester, Sussex's patron saint)
• World Sea Turtle Day (WWF is the world’s leading independent conservation organisation)
• Youth Day in South Africa

Events

• 2012 – China successfully launches its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, including the first female Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, to the Tiangong-1 orbital module.
• 2012 – The United States Air Force's robotic Boeing X-37B spaceplane returns to Earth after a classified 469-day orbital mission.
• 2010 – Bhutan becomes the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.
• 1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada's former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979-81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.
• 1963 – Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 Mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
• 1944 – At age 14, George Junius Stinney, Jr. becomes the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th century.
• 1925 – The most famous Young Pioneer camp of the Soviet Union, Artek, is established.
• 1911 – IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.
• 1903 – Roald Amundsen commences the first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage, leaving Oslo, Norway.
• 1897 – A treaty annexing the Republic of Hawaii to the United States is signed; the Republic would not be dissolved until a year later.
• 1884 – The first purpose-built roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson's "Switchback Railway", opens in New York's Coney Island amusement park.
• 1795 – Cornwallis's Retreat, also known as the First Battle of Groix.

Births

• 1988 – Jermaine Gresham, American football player. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he received All-American honors.
• 1987 – Diana DeGarmo, American singer-songwriter and actress. The following year, DeGarmo ventured into a career in musical theatre.
• 1984 – Dan Ryckert, American writer and entertainer. Daniel Joseph Ryckert (born June 16, 1984 in Olathe, Kansas) is an American producer, writer, and former video game journalist.
• 1980 – Brandon Armstrong, American basketball player. Born in San Francisco, California, he played college basketball at Pepperdine University, and was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 23rd overall pick of the 2001 NBA draft, but was traded, along with fellow Rockets draft picks Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for the draft rights to New Jersey's Eddie Griffin.
• 1977 – Kerry Wood, American baseball player. Kerry Lee Wood (born June 16, 1977) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees.
• 1975 – Anthony Carter, American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for Saddleback College and Hawaii.
• 1973 – Eddie Cibrian, American actor. He played Cole Deschanel on the television series Sunset Beach and has also appeared in films and as a cast member in several other television series, filling such roles as Jimmy Doherty on Third Watch, Russell Varon in Invasion, Jesse Cardoza in CSI: Miami and Eddie Valetik in Take Two.
• 1971 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper and producer (d. 1996), was an American rapper and actor. He is considered by many as one of the most significant rappers of all time.
• 1970 – Cobi Jones, American soccer player and manager. He can also be seen on Fox Sports, BeIN Sports, the Pac-12 Network and as the host of the Totally Football Show: American Edition.
• 1970 – Phil Mickelson, American golfer. He has won 44 events on the PGA Tour, including five major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), a PGA Championship (2005), and an Open Championship (2013).
• 1970 – Younus AlGohar, Pakistani poet and academic, co-founded Messiah Foundation International. Younus AlGohar (یونس الگوھر, born Mohammad Younus; 16 June 1968) is a co-founder of Messiah Foundation International (also known as Kalki Avatar Foundation and Mehdi Foundation International), a spiritual organisation claiming that Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi is the Messiah (Mahdi) and which also advocates Shahi's mystical teachings.
• 1968 – Adam Schmitt, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer. He recorded albums in his Mixolydian Studios, working with artists such as Hum and Uncle Tupelo.
• 1966 – Phil Vischer, American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-created VeggieTales. Phillip Roger "Phil" Vischer (born June 16, 1966) is an American animator, puppeteer, writer, voice actor and songwriter who created the computer-animated video series VeggieTales alongside Mike Nawrocki.
• 1965 – Michael Richard Lynch, Irish computer scientist and entrepreneur; co-founded HP Autonomy. His entrepreneurship is associated with Silicon Fen.
• 1965 – Richard Madaleno, American politician. Madaleno served as chair of the Montgomery County Senate Delegation from 2008 to 2011.
• 1964 – Danny Burstein, American actor and singer. He has also won two Drama Desk Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, and received three Grammy Award nominations.
• 1963 – The Sandman, American wrestler. The Sandman is a mythical character in Western and Northern European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes.
• 1962 – Arnold Vosloo, South African-American actor. Peyton Westlake / Darkman in Darkman II and Darkman III, Zartan in G.I.
• 1962 – Wally Joyner, American baseball player and coach. Wallace Keith Joyner (born June 16, 1962) is a retired Major League Baseball player.
• 1959 – The Ultimate Warrior, American wrestler (d. 2014), was an American professional wrestler, who most famously wrestled under the ring name The Ultimate Warrior for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1987 to 1991 and again in 1992 and 1996. During his 1998 stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he was known as The Warrior.
• 1958 – Darrell Griffith, American basketball player. He played collegiately at the University of Louisville.
• 1957 – Ian Buchanan, Scottish-American actor. Ian Buchanan (born 16 June 1957) is a Scottish television actor who has appeared on multiple American soap operas including Twin Peaks, General Hospital, Port Charles, The Bold and the Beautiful, All My Children, and Days of Our Lives.
• 1955 – Laurie Metcalf, American actress. She has won three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for an Academy Award.
• 1954 – Matthew Saad Muhammad, American boxer and trainer (d. 2014), was an American professional boxer who was the WBC Light Heavyweight Champion of the World for two-and-a-half years.
• 1953 – Valerie Mahaffey, American actress. She later won fame through her portrayal of extroverted and friendly but ultimately insane women on the television shows Wings, Desperate Housewives and Devious Maids.
• 1951 – Charlie Dominici, American singer and guitarist, was called Majesty) and later being replaced by James LaBrie. Most recently, Dominici has fronted his own self-named progressive metal band, who have released three albums.
• 1949 – Ralph Mann, American hurdler and author. He was an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, and later earned a Ph.D. in Biomechanics from the Washington State University.
• 1948 – Ron LeFlore, American baseball player and manager. He retired with the Chicago White Sox in 1982.
• 1947 – Buddy Roberts, American wrestler (d. 2012), was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Buddy Roberts. Primarily a tag team wrestler, Roberts is known for his appearances as one of The Hollywood Blonds in the 1970s and as one of The Fabulous Freebirds in the 1980s.
• 1947 – Tom Wyner, English-American voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Thomas Halperin "Tom" Wyner (born 16 June 1947) is a voice actor, producer, director, and writer.
• 1946 – Jodi Rell, American politician, 87th Governor of Connecticut. Rell also served as the state's 85th Lieutenant Governor.
• 1946 – Mark Ritts, American actor, puppeteer, and producer (d. 2009), was an American actor, puppeteer, television producer and director, and author. Ritts also produced and directed many independent videos and television spots as president of Mark Ritts Productions, Inc., for clients around the world.
• 1946 – Rick Adelman, American basketball player and coach. He served as head coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
• 1946 – Tom Harrell, American trumpet player and composer. He received a Grammy Award nomination for his big band album, Time's Mirror.
• 1942 – Eddie Levert, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Levert is best known as the lead vocalist of the group, The O'Jays.
• 1941 – Lamont Dozier, American songwriter and producer. Michelle Dozier Michael Renee Dozier Beau Alexandre Dozier (b. 1979) Paris Ray Dozier (b. 1984)
• 1940 – Neil Goldschmidt, American lawyer and politician, 33rd Governor of Oregon. Neil Edward Goldschmidt (born June 16, 1940) is an American businessman and Democratic politician from the state of Oregon who held local, state and federal offices over three decades.
• 1939 – Billy "Crash" Craddock, American singer-songwriter. Switching to country music, he gained popularity in United States in the 1970s with a string of top ten country hits, several of which were number one hits, including "Rub It In", "Broken Down in Tiny Pieces", and "Ruby Baby".
• 1938 – Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist, short story writer, critic, and poet. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel them (1969), two O.
• 1937 – Erich Segal, American author and screenwriter (d. 2010), was an American author, screenwriter, educator and classicist. He was best known for writing the bestselling novel Love Story (1970) and the hit motion picture of the same name.
• 1935 – Jim Dine, American painter and illustrator. He is sometimes considered to be a part of the Neo-Dada movement.
• 1930 – Vilmos Zsigmond, Hungarian-American cinematographer and producer (d. 2016). His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wave movement.
• 1924 – Faith Domergue, American actress (d. 1999), was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age sixteen by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes' RKO Radio Pictures and cast as the lead in the studio's thriller Vendetta, which had a troubled four-year production before finally being released in 1950.
• 1920 – Isabelle Holland, Swiss-American author (d. 2002), was an American author of fiction for children and adults. She wrote gothic novels, adult mysteries, romantic thrillers and many books for children and young adults.
• 1920 – John Howard Griffin, American journalist and author (d. 1980), was an American journalist and author from Texas who wrote about racial equality. He is best known for his project to temporarily pass as a black man and journey through the Deep South of 1959 to see life and segregation from the other side of the color line.
• 1917 – Irving Penn, American photographer (d. 2009), was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at Vogue magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Issey Miyake and Clinique.
• 1917 – Katharine Graham, American publisher (d. 2001). She led her family's newspaper, The Washington Post, from 1963 to 1991.
• 1915 – John Tukey, American mathematician and academic (d. 2000), was an American mathematician best known for development of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm and box plot. The Tukey range test, the Tukey lambda distribution, the Tukey test of additivity, and the Teichmüller–Tukey lemma all bear his name.
• 1909 – Archie Carr, American ecologist and zoologist (d. 1987), was an American herpetologist, ecologist and a pioneering conservationist. He was a Professor of Zoology at the University of Florida.
• 1907 – Jack Albertson, American actor (d. 1981), was an American actor, comedian, dancer, and singer who also performed in vaudeville. Albertson is known for his role as John Cleary in The Subject Was Roses (1968), for which he received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971); Manny Rosen in The Poseidon Adventure (1972); and Ed Brown in the television sitcom Chico and the Man (1974–78).
• 1902 – Barbara McClintock, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992), was an American scientist and cytogeneticist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1927.
• 1902 – George Gaylord Simpson, American paleontologist and author (d. 1984). Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern synthesis, contributing Tempo and Mode in Evolution (1944), The Meaning of Evolution (1949) and The Major Features of Evolution (1953).
• 1899 – Helen Traubel, American operatic soprano (d. 1972), was an American opera and concert singer. A dramatic soprano, she was best known for her Wagnerian roles, especially those of Brünnhilde and Isolde.
• 1896 – Murray Leinster, American author and screenwriter (d. 1976), was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of science fiction and alternate history literature. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.
• 1888 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (d. 1980), was Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College until 1953; Chairman of the science division, Westmont College, 1953–57; Professor Emeritus of Science, Westmont College; Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Astronomy, Pasadena City College.
• 1880 – Otto Eisenschiml, Austrian-American chemist and author (d. 1963), was an Austrian-born chemist and industrial executive in the American oil industry, and a controversial author. He may be best known for his provocative 1937 book on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in which he proposed that a senior member of Lincoln's Cabinet orchestrated the plot to kill the president.
• 1838 – Cushman Kellogg Davis, American lieutenant and politician, 7th Governor of Minnesota (d. 1900), was an American Republican politician who served as the seventh Governor of Minnesota and as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota.
• 1836 – Wesley Merritt, American general and politician, Military Governor of the Philippines (d. 1910), was an American major general who served in the cavalry of the United States Army during the American Civil War, American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, and the Philippine–American War. Following the latter war, he became the first American Military Governor of the Philippines.
• 1829 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (d. 1909). Geronimo (Mescalero-Chiricahua: Goyaałé Athabaskan pronunciation: "the one who yawns," June 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Apache tribe.
• 1738 – Mary Katherine Goddard, American publisher (d. 1816), was an early American publisher, and the postmaster of the Baltimore Post Office from 1775 to 1789. She was the second printer to print the Declaration of Independence.
• 1713 – Meshech Weare, American farmer, lawyer, and politician, 1st Governor of New Hampshire (d. 1786), was an American farmer, lawyer, and revolutionary statesman from Seabrook and Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. He served as the first "President" of New Hampshire (the office that, since 1791, has been known as "Governor") from 1776 to 1785.

Deaths

• 2014 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (b. 1960)
• 2013 – Sam Farber, American businessman, co-founded OXO (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (b. 1945)
• 2005 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican-American author and critic (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Fred Wacker, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1918)
• 1996 – Mel Allen, American sportscaster and game show host (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Kristen Pfaff, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1967)
• 1988 – Miguel Piñero, Puerto Rican-American actor and playwright (b. 1946)
• 1987 – Marguerite de Angeli, American author and illustrator (b. 1889)
• 1984 – Lew Andreas, American football player and coach (b. 1895)
• 1979 – Nicholas Ray, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1911)
• 1977 – Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1912)
• 1970 – Brian Piccolo, American football player (b. 1943)
• 1959 – George Reeves, American actor and director (b. 1914)
• 1952 – Andrew Lawson, Scottish-American geologist and academic (b. 1861)
• 1940 – DuBose Heyward, American author (b. 1885)
• 1939 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1905)
• 1930 – Elmer Ambrose Sperry, American inventor, co-invented the gyrocompass (b. 1860)
• 1930 – Ezra Fitch, American lawyer and businessman, co-founded Abercrombie & Fitch (b. 1866)
• 1929 – Vernon Louis Parrington, American historian and scholar (b. 1871)
• 1878 – Crawford Long, American surgeon and pharmacist (b. 1815)
• 1792 – Benjamin Tupper, American general and surveyor (b. 1738)