What Happened in June 2021

Historical Events

  • Jun 1 Malaysia begins a full two-week lockdown as COVID-19 cases surge with record 9,020 news cases recorded May 29
  • Jun 1 Prehistoric carvings, between 4,000 and 5,000 years old depicting deer, found in Scotland for the first time at Kilmartin Glen, Argyll

Event of Interest

Jun 1 US President Joe Biden visits Tulsa, Oklahoma, marking 100 year anniversary of racial massacre in the Greenwood neighborhood

  • Jun 1 US President Joe Biden's administration suspends oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing Donald Trump's decision
  • Jun 3 Devon Conway becomes 7th batsman in cricket history to score a double century in his Test debut; run out for 200 for New Zealand in 1st Test against England at Lord's
  • Jun 3 NASA administrator Bill Nelson announces two new missions to study ‘Lost Habitable’ world of Venus in 2028 and 2030 [1]
  • Jun 3 NASA launches 128 baby squid and 5,000 microscopic animals, to study effects of spaceflight, to the International Space Station aboard Space X's Falcon 9 rocket [1]
  • Jun 4 Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli makes a desperate plea for vaccines amid his country's devastating COVID-19 second wave, reporting nearly 9,000 daily cases late May
  • Jun 5 153rd Belmont Stakes: 2-1 favourite Essential Quality wins with Luis Saez aboard
  • Jun 5 At least 160 killed by suspected Islamist extremists in Solhan, Burkina Faso amid a deepening security crisis in the region [1]

Event of Interest

Jun 5 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promises to save the country's shores from a build-up of 'sea snot' (marine mucilage) due to pollution and climate change

  • Jun 6 Four members of a London, Ontario, family killed when they are struck by a truck in an anti-Muslim attack
  • Jun 6 US Open Women's Golf, Olympic GC Lake Course: Yuka Saso of the Philippines sinks 10-foot birdie putt on 3rd playoff hole to edge Japan's Nasa Hataoka; becomes 2nd teenager to win the event
  • Jun 7 Auckland named world's most livable city (due to success with COVID) and Damascus named the worst by The Economist Intelligence Unit
  • Jun 7 Multicellular organisms (bdelloid rotifer) frozen for 24,000 years in Siberia to return to life after Russian scientists have them thawed [1]
  • Jun 7 Two passenger trains collide in Pakistan, killing at least 40 people in Sindh province
  • Jun 7 UN International Labor Director says global impact of the pandemic four times worse than 2008 Economic Crisis, pushed 100 million workers into poverty [1]

Event of Interest

Jun 7 US Vice President Kamala Harris visiting Guatemala on her first foreign trip announces task forces on corruption and human trafficking

  • Jun 8 National Geographic announces it is officially recognizing the South Ocean as the world's fifth ocean

Loki

Jun 9 Marvel TV series "Loki" starring Tom Hiddleston premieres on Disney+

  • Jun 9 One of the worst ever plagues of mice in New South Wales, Australia, prompts local government to commit $100 million in support to farmers [1] [2]
  • Jun 9 Record price for a coin sold at auction as 1933 'Double Eagle' gold coin sells for $18.9 million in New York
  • Jun 9 US President Joe Biden begins his first foreign trip, arriving in the UK to attend a G7 summit

El Chapo Finally Recaptured

Jun 10 Emma Coronel Aispuro, wife of drug lord El Chapo, pleads guilty to helping run his criminal operations and aiding his 2015 prison escape

  • Jun 10 European Space Agency announces new Venus mission, the probe EnVision to study Venus' tesserae (its continent-like terrains) [1]
  • Jun 10 UN says famine is affecting 350,000 people in Tigray, Ethiopia, the worst starvation calamity in the world right now
  • Jun 10 Zahid Quraish confirmed as America's first Muslim federal judge for the District of New Jersey by the US Senate

Event of Interest

Jun 11 Pulitzer Prizes awarded to Katori Hall for drama, The New York Times for pandemic coverage and special citation for Darnella Frazier for recording the murder of George Floyd

  • Jun 11 US lobsterman survives being swallowed by a humpback whale off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts
  • Jun 12 Danish star soccer midfielder Christian Eriksen suffers an on-field cardiac arrest during Euro 2020 game with Finland in Copenhagen; revived with a defibrillator; game controversially restarts with 1-0 Finland win
  • Jun 12 French Open Women's Tennis: Czech doubles specialist Barbora Krejčíková wins her first major singles title 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia

French Open Men's Tennis

Jun 13 French Open Men's Tennis: Novak Đoković wins his 19th Grand Slam singles title; beats Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

  • Jun 13 G7 summits ends in Cornwall, England, with leaders promising one billion vaccine doses for poorer nations

Event of Interest

Jun 13 Israel's Knesset votes in a new coalition government with Naftali Bennett as Prime Minister, ousting Benjamin Netanyahu after a record 12 years

Sports History

Jun 14 Cristiano Ronaldo removes sponsors coke bottles from his press table at the European Championships, prompting the company share price to drop $4 billion

  • Jun 14 Heatwave event begins across western US and Canadian states with Denver at 101 degrees and Helena 105 degrees

COVID-19 Pandemic

Jun 15 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warns of possible food shortages and COVID-19 restrictions while addressing national conference

NY Lifts Restrictions

Jun 15 NY Governor Andrew Cuomo announces a "return to life as we know it" lifting all COVID-19 restrictions after the state passes 70% vaccinated with one dose

  • Jun 15 US death toll from COVID-19 tops 600,000 (Johns Hopkins), with 65% of adults vaccinated with at least one dose
  • Jun 16 Summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland, over issues including cyberattacks and human rights
  • Jun 17 China launches its Shenzhou-12 spacecraft with three astronauts arriving at its new space station Tiangong six and a half hours later
  • Jun 17 US President Joe Biden signs into law the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act making June 19th a federal holiday commemorating emancipation
  • Jun 18 Jurist and conservative Ebrahim Raisi elected President of Iran on a low turn out
  • Jun 18 Record 82 million people now forcibly displaced, or over 1% of world's population, according to UN refugee agency [1]
  • Jun 20 Brazil's COVID-19 death toll passes 500,000, the second highest in the world
  • Jun 20 China announces it has administered 1 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine

US Golf Open

Jun 20 US Open Men's Golf, Torrey Pines GC: Jon Rahm beats Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa by 1 stroke to become first Spaniard to win the event

  • Jun 21 Carl Nassib becomes the first openly gay player in the NFL in a post on Instagram
  • Jun 21 Colombia's COVID-19 recorded death toll passes 100,000, the tenth country in the world to do so
  • Jun 21 New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is the first openly transgender athlete to be selected for the Olympics
  • Jun 21 Swedish government of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven toppled after a no confidence vote for the first time in Swedish history

Event of Interest

Jun 22 Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pardons nine Catalan politicians and activists for the 2017 illegal secession referendum

  • Jun 22 Unesco says Australia's Great Barrier Reef should be put on list of World Heritage Sites that are "in danger"
  • Jun 23 1st ICC World Test Championship final, Southampton: New Zealand dismisses India for meagre 170; completes tricky chase of 139 on 6th day to win inaugural cricket title

Music History

Jun 23 Britney Spears requests a judge end her court-ordered conservatorship, states "I think this conservatorship is abusive. I don't think I can live a full life"

  • Jun 23 Rembrandt's masterpiece "The Night Watch" seen in its entirety for first time in 300 years after AI used to fill in pieces trimmed at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
  • Jun 23 US Supreme Court rules in favor of teen kicked off cheerleading team after profane social media post, saying school violated her free speech [1]
  • Jun 24 Residential tower Champlain Towers South collapses at 1.30am in Surfside, Miami Beach, with 156 people missing (98 bodies eventually recovered)
  • Jun 24 Second discovery of the remains of 761 people, mainly indigenous children announced at former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan
  • Jun 25 Former US police officer Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 years and six months for the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis
  • Jun 25 New species of ancient human announced after finding of massive fossilized skull - Homo longi "Dragon Man" from North East China [1]
  • Jun 25 New type of ancient human announced "Nesher Ramla Homo" lived 140,000-120,000 years ago, a possible ancestor of Neanderthals, uncovered in Ramla, Israel [1]
  • Jun 25 Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola ties Tom Seaver's 51-year old MLB league record of 10 consecutive strike outs, in 2-1 loss to the Mets in New York

COVID-19 Pandemic

Jun 25 WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirms the COVID-19 Delta variant is the most transmissible to date, now present in 85 countries and spreading rapidly [1]

  • Jun 26 British Health Minister Matt Hancock resigns after photos of him kissing an aide (and not social distancing) emerge
  • Jun 26 Largest-ever pile up in the Tour de France caused by a spectator with a sign during Stage 1. Spectator later hunted down and arrested.
  • Jun 26 South Africa announces 14-day lockdown to counter a third COVID-19 wave of infections fueled by the Delta variant, with only 2.5 million vaccines administrated [1]
  • Jun 26 Sydney goes into a two-week lockdown amid a Delta variant COVID-19 outbreak and low levels of vaccination
  • Jun 27 Boat sinks off Tunisia, drowning 43 migrants with 84 rescued by Tunisian navy [1]
  • Jun 27 Heat dome envelops the Pacific Northwest with Portland posting highest temperature since records began of 112 F (broken the next day)
  • Jun 27 Hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada at 46.6 C (116 F) in Lytton, British Columbia (breaks record 2 days later with 49.6 C)
  • Jun 27 Women's PGA Championship, Atlanta AC: Nelly Korda beats fellow American Lizette Salas by 3 strokes to win her first major title
  • Jun 28 AirCar, prototype flying car capable of flying 1,000km (600 miles), at height of 8,200ft (2,500m), completes 35 min test flight between Nitra and Bratislava airports in Slovakia
  • Jun 28 Mexico's Supreme Court decriminalizes marijuana use by adults
  • Jun 28 Tigray Defense Forces retake Tigray's regional capital of Mekelle in Ethiopia's Tigray War. The Ethiopian government declares a unilateral ceasefire to save face but neither side sticks to it. [1]
  • Jun 28 US Supreme Court declines to hear school's appeal in transgender bathroom case made by Gavin Grimm in Virginia, upholding an earlier decision it was discriminatory

Event of Interest

Jun 29 Former South African President Jacob Zuma sentenced to 15 months in prison on contempt of court charges

  • Jun 29 Lytton, British Columbia, records Canada's highest-ever temperature of 49.6C (121.3F), before being destroyed by a wildfire the next day
  • Jun 29 World's first known plague victim identified in the remains of a 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer in Latvia [1]
  • Jun 30 American Abhimanyu Mishra becomes the youngest chess grandmaster ever at 12 years and 4 months, surpassing Sergey Karjakin
  • Jun 30 American actress Allison Mack sentenced to three years for her role in the NXVIM sex cult in New York state
  • Jun 30 Bangladesh begins a one-week lockdown enforced by the army as COVID-19 cases soar due to the Delta variant
  • Jun 30 Extreme heat wave caused at least 100 deaths in British Columbia according to state Coroners' Office [1]

Film & TV History

Jun 30 Pennsylvania Supreme overturns comedian Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge Cosby in return for Cosby's testimony in a related civil suit; Cosby immediately released from prison

  • Jun 30 World's oldest man is 112-year-old Emilio "Don Millo" Flores Márquez (born 8 August 1908) from Puerto Rico according to Guinness World Records [1]

Famous Birthdays

  • Jun 4 Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, born in Santa Barbara, California

Famous Weddings

  • Jun 29 WWE stars Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins marry

Famous Deaths

  • Jun 1 Adnan Al Sharqi, Lebanese soccer manager (Lebanon 1974–76, 1987–93, 2006–08; Ansar 11 x league titles), dies from cancer at 79
  • Jun 1 Alexander Maykapar, Russian harpsichordist, organist, and musicologist, dies at 74
  • Jun 1 Vince Promuto, American football guard (Pro Bowl 1963, 64; Washington Redskins), dies of congestive heart failure at 82
  • Jun 2 Bill Scanlon, American tennis player (World #9 1984; 6 x ATP titles), dies from cancer at 64
  • Jun 2 Ottorino Sartor, Peruvian soccer goalkeeper (27 caps; Defensor Arica, CNI), dies at 75
  • Jun 3 F. Lee Bailey, American criminal defense attorney (Sam Shepard; Boston Strangler; Patty Hearst; OJ Simpson), dies at 87
  • Jun 4 Clarence Williams III, American actor (Mod Squad; 52 Pick Up; Purple Rain), dies of colon cancer at 81
  • Jun 7 Jim Fassel, American football coach (University of Utah 1985–89; New York Giants 1997-2003), dies from a heart attack at 71
  • Jun 7 John McDonnell, American track, cross country coach (University of Arkansas 1972–2008; 40 x NCAA C'ships; 8 x NCAA Triple Crown; 30 x NCAA coach of the year), dies at 82
  • Jun 7 Tim Pickup, Australian rugby league five eighth (11 Tests; North Sydney, Canterbury), RL executive (Adelaide Rams) and boxing manager (Jeff Harding), dies from dementia at 72
  • Jun 7 Yoo Sang-chul, South Korean soccer midfielder (124 caps; 2002 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team; Ulsan Hyundai), dies from pancreatic cancer at 49
  • Jun 8 John Angus, English soccer defender (1 cap; Burnley 439 games), dies at 82
  • Jun 9 Gottfried Böhm, German architect (Pritzker Prize - 1986), dies at 101 [1]
  • Jun 10 Neno, Portuguese soccer goalkeeper (9 caps; Vitória de Guimarães, Benfica), dies from a heart attack at 59
  • Jun 11 John Gabriel [Jack Monkarsh], American stage and screen actor (Ryan's Hope), singer, lyricist, and producer, dies at 90
  • Jun 12 Anatoly Chukanov, Russian cyclist (Olympic gold Soviet Union team time trial 1976; UCI Road World C'ships gold 1977), dies at 67
  • Jun 12 Igor Zhelezovski, Belarusian speed skater (record 6 x World Sprint Champion; Olympic silver 1994; bronze 1988), dies from COVID-19 at 57
  • Jun 12 Jim "Mudcat" Grant, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1963, 65; Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, and 5 other teams), singer, and writer (Black Aces), dies at 85 [1]
  • Jun 13 Ned Beatty, American stage and screen actor (Deliverance; Hear My Song; Network; Nashville), dies at 83
  • Jun 13 Ziona Chana, Indian head of a Christian sect and 'world's largest family' (38 wives, 89 children), dies at 76 [1]
  • Jun 14 Enrique Bolaños, President of Nicaragua (2002-07), dies at 93
  • Jun 14 Markis Kido, Indonesian badminton player (Olympic gold men's doubles 2008 [with Hendra Setiawan]; World C'ships gold 2007; World Cup gold 2006), dies from a heart attack at 36
  • Jun 15 Jim Phelan, American college basketball coach (Mount Saint Mary's University 1954–2003), dies at 92
  • Jun 16 Frank Bonner [Boers], American actor (WKRP in Cincinnati - "Herb Tarlek"; The Hoax; Just The Ten Of Us), and television director, dies of complications from Lewy body dementia at 79
  • Jun 17 Kenneth Kaunda, 1st President of Zambia (1964-91), dies at 97
  • Jun 18 Giampiero Boniperti, Italian soccer striker (38 caps; Juventus 443 games), executive (chairman Juventus) and politician (deputy in European Parliament), dies from heart failure at 92
  • Jun 18 Jeannette Altwegg, English figure skater (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 90
  • Jun 19 Champ, Biden family pet and First Dog, dies at The White House at 13
  • Jun 20 Luis del Sol, Spanish soccer midfielder (16 caps; Betis, Real Madrid, Juventus, Roma) and manager (Betis), dies at 86
  • Jun 20 [Beverly] Joanne Linville, American character actress, dies at 93
  • Jun 21 Pat Lupo, American rock bassist (Beaver Brown Band, 1972-94 - "On The Dark Side"; "Tough All Over"), dies at 66
  • Jun 21 Tom Kurvers, American ice hockey defenseman (Hobey Baker Award 1984; Stanley Cup 1986 Montreal Canadiens), dies from adenocarcinoma at 58
  • Jun 22 René Robert, Canadian ice hockey winger (NHL All Star 1972-73, 74-75; Buffalo Sabres 1st 100 point player 1974-75), dies after a heart attack at 72
  • Jun 23 Eldon Danenhauer, American football offensive tackle (AFL All Star 1962, 65; Denver Broncos 1960-65), dies at 85
  • Jun 23 Ellen McIlwaine, American blues singer-songwriter, and slide guitarist ("Honky Tonky Angel"; “In My Time of Dying"), dies of esophageal cancer at 75
  • Jun 24 Benigno Aquino III, 15th President of the Philippines (Liberal Party: 2010-16), dies of diabetes related kidney failure at 61
  • Jun 24 Eleazar Soria, Peruvian soccer defender (29 caps, Copa America 1975; Universitario, Independiente, Sporting Cristal), dies at 73
  • Jun 24 Richard Hoffmann, Austrian violinist, composer, and pedagogue (Oberlin, 1954-2004), dies at 96
  • Jun 24 Sonny Callahan [Herbert Leon Callahan], American politician (Rep-R-Alabama 1985-2003), dies at 88
  • Jun 25 Jack Ingram, American auto racer (NASCAR Busch Series champion 1982, 1985), dies at 84
  • Jun 25 Marcos Ferrufino, Bolivian soccer defender (9 caps; Bolívar 252 games) and manager (San José, Real Potosí), dies from COVID-19 at 58
  • Jun 26 Frederic Rzewski, American concert pianist, and composer (Spacecraft), dies of a heart attack at 83
  • Jun 26 Johnny Solinger, American rock singer-songwriter (Skid Row, 1999 to 2015), dies of liver failure at 55
  • Jun 26 Jon Hassell, American composer and trumpet player (Dream Theory In Malaya), dies at 84
  • Jun 26 Marcelo Campo, Argentine rugby union winger (20 Tests Argentina, 6 South America; Pueyrredón SC), dies from a heart attack at 63
  • Jun 26 Mike Gravel, American politician (US Senator (D) - Alaska, 1969-81), and peace activist (Pentagon Papers), dies at 91
  • Jun 27 Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill, Cuban Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz composer, arranger, and conductor, dies of pneumonia at 79
  • Jun 27 Noel Furlong, Irish businessman and poker player (World Series of Poker main event 1999), dies at 83
  • Jun 28 Jock Aird, Scottish soccer defender (4 caps Scotland, 2 New Zealand; Burnley), dies at 94
  • Jun 28 Sergio Victor Palma, Argentine boxer (WBA Super Bantamweight champion 1980-82), dies from COVID-19 at 65
  • Jun 29 Carlos Vilar, Argentine sailor (Snipe World Championships gold 1948, 51), dies from COVID-19 at 91
  • Jun 29 Donald Rumsfeld, American politician (US Congress, 1963-69; Nixon Whitehouse, 1969-74; Secretary of Defense, 1975-77 & 2001-06), dies at 88
  • Jun 29 Goolam Rajah, South African cricket administrator (manager RSA national team 1991-2011), dies from COVID-19 at 74
  • Jun 29 John Lawton, British rock singer (Lucifer's Friend, 1970-76, 1981-82, 2014–21; Uriah Heep, 1977-79), dies at 74
  • Jun 29 Stuart Damon [Zonis], American stage and screen actor (General Hospital, 1977-2007 - "Dr. Alan Quartermaine"), dies of kidney failure at 84
  • Jun 29 Yitzhak "Vicky" Peretz, Israeli soccer striker (40 caps; Maccabi Tel Aviv, Strasbourg, Rennes), dies at 68
  • Jun 30 Inge Danielsson, Swedish soccer midfielder (17 caps; Ifö/Bromölla IF, Helsingborgs IF, AFC Ajax, IFK Norrköping), dies at 80
  • Jun 30 Janet Moreau Stone, American athlete (Olympic gold 4x100m relay 1952), dies at 93
  • Jun 30 Vic Briggs, British guitarist (The Animals, 1966-68), and producer; later known as Antion Vikram Singh, he created Sikhi devotional and Hawaiian music, dies at 76