On This Day - What Happened On June 2 - Encyclopedia Britannica

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1953 Elizabeth II crowned queen On this day in 1953, 27-year-old Elizabeth II, the elder daughter of King George VI, was crowned queen of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey, having taken the throne upon her father's death in February 1952. Test your knowledge of the queens of England Bill Ingalls/Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA

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Johnny Weissmuller American swimmer and actor bornJune 2, 1904Freidorf, RomaniadiedJanuary 20, 1984 (aged 79)Acapulco, MexicoCopyright RKO 1956 Mani Ratnam Indian filmmaker 1953 Cornel West American philosopher and political activist 1930 Pete Conrad American astronaut 1904 Johnny Weissmuller American swimmer and actor 1840 Thomas Hardy British writer See All Biographies On This Day

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2008 American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Bo Diddley, who was one of the most influential performers of rock music's early period, died in Florida at age 79. Take our quiz about rock and rollREX/Shutterstock.com 2002 The TV crime drama The Wire, a realistic depiction of everyday life and civic dysfunction in Baltimore, debuted on HBO.© 2002 Blown Deadline Productions/HBO Entertainment 1997 A jury in Denver, Colorado, found Timothy McVeigh guilty of murder and conspiracy in the deaths of 168 people in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He was executed in June 2001.Bill Waugh—AP/Shutterstock.com 1946 In the aftermath of World War II, the people of Italy passed a referendum to replace the governing monarchy with a republic.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1941 American professional baseball player Lou Gehrig, who was nicknamed “the Iron Horse” for his record-setting number of consecutive games played, died at age 37, two years after being diagnosed with ALS. Test your knowledge of baseballAP 1940 Constantine II, king of Greece from 1964 to 1974, was born in Psikhikó, near Athens. Take our quiz about kings and emperorsEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1886 Frances Folsom, age 21, married U.S. President Grover Cleveland in the White House and became the youngest first lady in American history. Test your knowledge of U.S. first ladiesLibrary of Congress, Washington, D.C. 1865 Confederate soldiers yielded to Union troops in Galveston, Texas, marking the end of one of the final land operations of the American Civil War. How much do you know about the American Civil War? 1840 Novelist and poet Thomas Hardy, who set much of his work in Wessex, an imaginary county in southwestern England, was born in Dorset. Take our quiz about English authorsEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1740 The Marquis de Sade, the French nobleman known for his perverse sexual preferences and erotic writings, was born in Paris. How much do you know about French writers?Historia/REX/Shutterstock.com SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.