Sweden National Day. Celebrates the election of King Gustav Vasa and the new constitutions of 1809 and 1974. The election of King Gustav Vasa was the de facto end of the Kalmar Union and has been seen as a formal declaration of independence.
Browse Historical Events by Month:
What Happened in June?
Deaths, raids, and battles. Examine landmark historical events that took place in June. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
Note: Sources for the historical content shown, include research and reviews of relevant Online History Resources or printed material. When possible, we show a link to a source which provides additional or unique perspective about the event.
We do our best to provide accurate information but would appreciate being notified if any incorrect information is found. You may do so by using our Feedback link.
The Protestant city of Zürich declares war on June 8, 1529, leading to the First War of Kappel in Switzerland. The war was triggered by the execution of Protestant pastor, Jacob Kaiser, who was burned at the stake for heresy in the Catholic canton of Schwyz in May 1529.
A peace treaty favorable to the Protestants was signed dissolving the Catholic alliance with the Austrian Habsburgs and allowing the Reformation to spread in shared territories. However, tensions remained high, eventually leading to the Second War of Kappel in 1531.
The Imperial-Spanish army, led by Antonio de Leyva, decisively defeats the French army under François de Bourbon, Comte de Saint-Pol, at the Battle of Landriano on June 21, 1529, which effectively ended the War of the League of Cognac.
Pope Paul III issues the papal bull "Sublimis Deus", on June 2, 1537, against slavery, condemning the enslavement of indigenous peoples in the Americas. It declared them "true men" with rights to liberty and property, prohibiting their enslavement or deprivation of property. It deemed such actions "a lie perpetuated by Satan".
The decree was influenced by advocates like Bartolomé de Las Casas and aimed to curb the abuses of Spanish conquistadors. Enforcement was challenging with many colonists ignoring it.
%20PD.jpg?auto=format,compress&fit=clip&max-w=1600)
The first Book of Common Prayer is published during the reign of King Edward VI of England. It reflected the England's split from the Roman Catholic Church under the previous monarch Henry VIII and the English Reformation following the break with Rome. It was put together by a religious committee headed by Thomas Cranmer the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was the first time a book of service was written in English. It has been extensively revised a number of times, the last in 1662. It has remained in use as the official liturgical book of the Church of England and other Anglican churches. More
England declares war on France during the Italian War of 1551–1559.
English Privateer, Martin Frobisher leaves Plymouth on June 3, 1578 on his third voyage to Frobisher Bay, Canada. The expedition consisted of 400 men aboard 15 ships. It was, in search of ore believed to contain gold which had been found in a previous trip while searching for the Northwest Passage.
The ore turnout to be worthless "Fools Gold" which was eventually salvaged for road construction and to pave the streets of London resulting in the bankruptcy of the the expedition backers. Frobisher went on to participate in several other successful expeditions and to participate in the fight against the Spanish Armada. He was knighted for valor on 26 July 1588 by Lord Howard. More
Sir Francis Drake is believed to have landed on the coast of California in or near Drakes Bay on the Point Reyes Peninsula, Marin County, California. Drake claimed the land for England, naming it Nova Albion (New Albion). At the time, Drake was searching for a harbor to repair his ship, the Golden Hind which had developed a leak during his circumnavigation trip. More
The Golden Hind RMG - By George Robinson - Public Domain
After a mutiny by the crew of Henry Hudson's ship Discovery on June 22, 1611, Hudson and his son are set adrift along with seven loyal crew members in a small boat. They were never seen again.
Henry Hudson was best known for his explorations of parts of present-day Canada and Northeastern United States during his four voyages, attempting to find a shorter maritime route to Asia. Three of them, sailing for England merchants in 1607, 1608, and 1610–1611, and once for the Dutch East India Company in 1609; resulting in significant discoveries in North America and the Arctic. Several geographical features are named after him, among them the Hudson River, the Hudson Bay, and the Hudson Strait. More
The original Globe Theatre burns down. The theater, located on the south bank of the River Thames in London a landmark debut venue for most of William Shakespeare's plays. It was built in 1599 by the playing company to which Shakespeare belonged. The Globe was known for its open-air, circular design and its ability to hold around 3,000 spectators. The fire occurred during a performance of All is True (known today as Henry VIII). It was rebuilt but later closed and demolished in 1644.
The Petition of Right is formally accepted by England's King Charles I, on June 7, 1628 limiting his power. He agreed not to tax without consent, imprison without cause, or quarter soldiers in homes. Charles later ignored the petition, escalating tensions and contributing to the English Civil War.
Galileo Galilei is convicted of heresy on June 22, 1633, by the Roman Catholic Church's Holy Office (the Inquisition), and is forced to publicly recant his scientific position that the Earth orbits the Sun, his book was banned, and he was sentenced to imprisonment, but it was immediately commuted to permanent house arrest at his villa near Florence where he spent his remaining years.
Galileo supported the heliocentric model of the solar system, proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus, which places the Sun at the center with the Earth revolving around it; this challenged the long-standing geocentric model, which positioned Earth at the center which was endorsed by the Catholic Church. According to legend, after being forced to recant, Galileo muttered "E pur si muove" ("And yet it moves") this phrase encapsulates the idea that despite what one might be forced to say or believe publicly, the Earth still moves around the Sun. More
Circa June 1638
The oldest continuously maintained cemetery in Massachusetts, and according to the American Cemetery Association, in the United States, is the Myles Standish Burial Ground (or Old Burying Ground) in Duxbury. It was established around 1638 and It is the final resting place for many Pilgrims, including the Mayflower's first recorded burial, John Alden.
The cemetery was abandoned in 1887 but it was reactivated in the late 19th century due to renewed interest in the grave of Captain Miles Standish, a prominent figure in the Plymouth Colony's administration and defense.
%20PD%20-%20R.jpg?auto=format,compress&fit=clip&max-w=1600)
The Puritan-led English Parliament during Oliver Cromwell's republican Commonwealth, passed an ordinance which declared the celebration of Christmas to be a punishable offence. Although many people continued to celebrate Christmas in private, Christmas effectively ceased to be celebrated in the great majority of churches overtime. It wasn't until the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 that Christmas Day celebrations were brought back. In Scotland Celebrating Christmas was still deeply frowned upon for centuries. In fact, the 25th December only became a public holiday in Scotland in 1958. More
Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) is crowned King of France at the age of 16, on June 7, 1654, under the regency of his mother, Queen Anne. He went on to consolidate a system of absolute monarchy in France that endured until the French Revolution.
The colonial territory of New Jersey was established on June 24, 1664, when King Charles II granted the land to his brother, the Duke of York, who gave it to his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. who became the Lords Proprietors of the new colony.
England, King Charles II's Privy Council began implementing strict measures starting on June 5, 1665, after deaths during the Plague in London started to rise significantly.
The measures were implemented rapidly and included ordering the shutdown of affected houses, shutting down theaters, restricting the movement of people and marking affected houses with a red cross. This was followed with the issuance by the King of the "Plague Orders" in May 1666 with "Rules and orders for preventing the spreading of the Plague"
The first recorded victims of the Great Plague of London die. The Plague was a bubonic plague epidemic which killed approximately between 75,000 and 100,000 of its 460,000 inhabitants. This outbreak was the last major plague epidemic in England since the Black Death of 1348. More
The Royal Greenwich Observatory was established by King Charles II on June 22, 1675, by a royal warrant. The primary purpose for creating the observatory was to create a scientific institution to determine longitude at sea to improve the safety and efficiency of sea navigation.
Milestones:
March 4, 1675 - On 4 March 1675 Charles II, appoints John Flamsteed to be the ‘astronomical observator’ – a post later to be known as the Astronomer Royal. A royal warrant authorized an annual payment to Flamsteed of £100.
June 22, 1675 - The Royal Greenwich Observatory is established by King Charles II, by a royal warrant authorizing its construction. "The Royal Observatory is Britain’s founded for the specific and practical purpose of ‘rectifying the Tables of the Motions of the Heavens, and the places of the fixed Stars, so as to find out the so much desired Longitude of Places for perfecting the art of Navigation".
August 10, 1675 - Construction of the The Greenwich Royal Observatory starts as the foundation stone is laid by John Flamsteed.
March, 1675 - Christopher Wren, best known as the architect of St Paul’s Cathedral, was tasked with designing the Royal Observatory. Wren suggested using the ruined Greenwich Castle as the site for the new observatory. The old castle's solid foundations could be repurposed and, because it was located in a Royal Park, the land already belonged to the Crown.
July 10, 1676 - The observatory was completed by Sir Christopher Wren and established on the site of the former castle and Flamsteed moves in.
The Greenwich observatory is considered as the birthplace of modern astronomy, and the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian. More
%20-%20Romeyn%20de%20Hooghe,%20Public%20domain,%20via%20Wikimedia%20Commons.jpg?auto=format,compress&fit=clip&max-w=1600)
The battle at Öland takes place in the Baltic Sea, off the east coast of Öland during the Scanian War, resulting in the defeat of the Swedish navy by the allied Danish-Dutch forces. More