Almanac - Friday June 14, 2024

1884 John McCormack, Irish-American operatic and popular tenor ("I Hear You Calling Me"; "It's A Long Way To Tipperary"), born in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland (d. 1945)

1903 – Alonzo Church, American mathematician and logician (d. 1995)

1904 – Margaret Bourke-White, American photographer and journalist (d. 1971)

1909 – Burl Ives, American actor and singer (d. 1995)

1910 – Rudolf Kempe, German pianist and conductor (d. 1976)

1925 – Pierre Salinger, American journalist and politician, 11th White House Press Secretary (d. 2004)

1928 – Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Argentinian-Cuban physician, author, guerrilla leader and politician (d. 1967)

1946 – Donald Trump, American businessman, television personality and 45th President of the United States

1947 – Barry Melton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1948 – Laurence Yep, American author and playwright

1949 – Harry Turtledove, American historian and author

1949 Papa Wemba [Wembadio Kikumba], Congolese singer, known as the "King of Rumba Rock", born in the Kasai region, Belgian Congo (d. 2016)

1961 – Boy George, English singer-songwriter and producer

1969 – Steffi Graf, German tennis player

1970 – Heather McDonald, American comedian, actress, and author

1978 – Diablo Cody, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1982 – Lang Lang, Chinese pianist

….and on this day in history….

1404 – Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr, having declared himself Prince of Wales, allies himself with the French against King Henry IV of England.

1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an open boat.

1846 – Bear Flag Revolt begins: Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.

1872 – Trade unions are legalized in Canada.

1900 – Hawaii becomes a United States territory.

1907 – The National Association for Women's Suffrage succeeds in getting Norwegian women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown depart from St. John's, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.

1937 – U.S. House of Representatives passes the Marihuana Tax Act.

1951 – UNIVAC I is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.

1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words "under God" into the United States Pledge of Allegiance.

1966 – The Vatican announces the abolition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("index of prohibited books"), which was originally instituted in 1557.

2002 – Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.