On this day in history —

• One of the largest naval battles in history, the Battle of Yamen (厓門戰役), results in the end of the Song Dynasty at the hands of invading Mongols (1279)
• The most powerful Confederate cruiser, the CSS Georgiana, is sunk outside Charleston, South Carolina (1863)
• The first motion picture footage is taken by the Lumière brothers (1895)
• Time zones and Daylight Savings Time begin in the USA (1918)
• Nevada legalizes gambling and easy divorce as a response to the Great Depression (1931)
• The Sydney (Australia) Harbor Bridge opens (1932)
• The first combat unit of the Tuskegee Airmen is activated (1941)
• Frank “The Enforcer” Nitti commits suicide rather than risk jail (1943)
• Hitler issues the “Nero Decree” to destroy German infrastructure rather than let it fall into Allied hands. It is not carried out. (1945)
• Pool champion Willie Mosconi sets a world record of running 526 consecutive balls without a miss (1954)
• Bob Dylan’s first album is released. It attracts little notice. (1962)
• C-SPAN goes live (1979)
• The Falklands War begins (1981)
• Jim Bakker leaves The PTL Club as a result of scandal and financial irregularities. (1987)
• The NATO Libyan intervention begins (2011)

It’s the birthday of —

• Bruce Willis, actor (1955)
• Harvey Weinstein, producer (1952)
• Glenn Close, actress (1947)
• Sirhan Sirhan (سرحان بشارة سرحان), assassin (1944)
• Joe Kapp, football player (1938)
• Ursula Andress, sex symbol (1936)
• Philip Roth, author (1933)
• Ornette Coleman, saxophonist (1930)
• Patrick McGoohan, prisoner and secret agent man (1928)
• Richie Ashburn, baseball player (1927)
• Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor (1925)
• Tige Andrews, Mod Squad boss (1920)
• Irving Wallace, author (1916)
• Jay Berwanger, first Heisman winner (1914)
• Adolf Eichmann, Nazi (1906)
• Albert Speer, Nazi (1905)
• John Sirica, Watergate judge (1904)
• Frédéric Joliot-Curie, scientist (1900)
• Jackie “Moms” Mabley, comedienne (1894)
• Earl Warren, Supreme Court chief justice (1891)
• William Jennings Bryan, “great commoner” (1860)
• Alfred von Tirpitz, admiral (1849)
• Wyatt Earp, lawman (1848)
• Sir Richard Francis Burton, adventurer (1821)
• David Livingstone, presumably (1813)

Deaths —

• Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction writer (2008)
• Paul Scofield, actor (2008)
• Luther Ingram, singer (2007)
• Calvert DeForest, aka Larry “Bud” Melman (2007)
• John DeLorean, car designer (2005)
• “Joltin’ Jo” Weaver, Girls Professional Baseball League player (2000)
• Willem de Kooning, artist (1997)
• Bun Cook, hockey player (1988)
• Anne Klein, fashion designer (1974)
• Edward Platt, Get Smart chief (1974)
• Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan creator (1950)
• “Big Bill” Thompson, Chicago mayor (1944)
• Arthur Balfour, British prime minister (1930)
• Robert de La Salle, Great Lakes explorer (1687)
• Ibn Khaldun (أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي‎), historian and philosopher (1406)

Holidays —

• Minna Canth’s Day (Finland)
• Father’s Day (Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Honduras, and Bolivia)
• Return of the Swallows (Mission San Juan Capistrano, California)
• Saint Joseph’s Day (Western Christianity)
• Unity Day (Kashubian region of Poland)
• Quinquatria (Ancient Rome)