On This Day: June 7

Updated June 6, 2012, 2:28 pm

On June 7, 1929, the sovereign state of Vatican City came into existence as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome.
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On June 7, 1909, Jessica Tandy, the American stage and film actress, was born. Following her death on Sept. 11, 1994, her obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1654 Louis XIV was crowned king of France in Rheims.

1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence.

1848 Postimpressionist painter Paul Gauguin was born in Paris.

1892 Homer Plessy was arrested when he refused to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans. The case led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark “separate but equal” decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896.

1929 Vatican City became a sovereign state as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome.

1939 King George VI arrived at Niagara Falls, N.Y., from Canada on the first visit to the U.S. by a reigning British monarch.

1972 The musical “Grease” opened on Broadway.

1981 Israeli military planes destroyed a nuclear power plant in Iraq, a facility the Israelis charged could have been used to make nuclear weapons.

1998 James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old African-American man, was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas.

2000 A federal judge ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp.

2002 A yearlong hostage crisis in the Philippines involving three Americans came to a bloody end as Filipino commandos managed to save only one of the captives.

2003 In a national first, New Hampshire Episcopalians elected an openly gay man, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, to be bishop.

2006 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed by a U.S. airstrike.

2009 Roger Federer of Switzerland became the sixth man in tennis history to win a career Grand Slam and tied Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major singles titles when he won the French Open.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actor Liam Neeson turns 60 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Actor-comedian Bill Hader (“Saturday Night Live”) turns 34 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

1928 James Ivory, Director, turns 84

1937 Bert Sugar, Boxing journalist, turns 75

1940 Tom Jones, Singer, turns 72

1946 Jenny Jones, TV talk show host, turns 66

1953 Colleen Camp, Actress, turns 59

1953 Johnny Clegg, Singer, songwriter, turns 59

1954 Louise Erdrich, Author, turns 58

1956 L.A. Reid, Record producer, turns 56

1958 Prince, Rock musician, turns 54

1967 Dave Navarro, Rock musician (Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers), turns 45

1975 Allen Iverson, Basketball player, turns 37

1979 Anna Torv, Actress (“Fringe”), turns 33

1981 Anna Kournikova, Tennis player, turns 31

1988 Michael Cera, Actor, turns 24

Historic Birthdays

Jessica Tandy 6/7/1909 – 9/11/1994 American stage and motion-picture actress.Go to obituary »

83 Gregory XIII 6/7/1502 – 4/10/1585
Italian pope (1572-85)

79 Celia Fiennes 6/7/1662 – 4/10/1741
English travel writer

62 Beau Brummell 6/7/1778 – 3/30/1840
English fashion leader

87 Carlota 6/7/1840 – 1/19/1927
Belgian wife of emperor Maximilian of Mexico

54 Paul Gauguin 6/7/1848 – 5/8/1903
French Post-Impressionist painter

87 Max Kretzer 6/7/1854 – 7/15/1941
German Expressionist writer

60 Charles Rennie Mackintosh 6/7/1868 – 12/10/1928
Scottish architect and designer

35 Kevin O’Higgins 6/7/1892 – 7/10/1927
Irish statesman

73 George Szell 6/7/1897 – 7/30/1970
Hungarian-born American conductor, pianist and composer

73 Elizabeth Bowen 6/7/1899 – 2/22/1973
English novelist and short story writer

1654	Louis XIV was crowned king of France in Rheims.
1776	Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence.
1848	Postimpressionist painter Paul Gauguin was born in Paris.
1892	Homer Plessy was arrested when he refused to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans. The case led to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark “separate but equal” decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896.
1929	Vatican City became a sovereign state as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome.
1939	King George VI arrived at Niagara Falls, N.Y., from Canada on the first visit to the U.S. by a reigning British monarch.
1972	The musical “Grease” opened on Broadway.
1981	Israeli military planes destroyed a nuclear power plant in Iraq, a facility the Israelis charged could have been used to make nuclear weapons.
1998	James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old African-American man, was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas.
2000	A federal judge ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp.
2002	A yearlong hostage crisis in the Philippines involving three Americans came to a bloody end as Filipino commandos managed to save only one of the captives.
2003	In a national first, New Hampshire Episcopalians elected an openly gay man, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, to be bishop.
2006	Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed by a U.S. airstrike.
2009	Roger Federer of Switzerland became the sixth man in tennis history to win a career Grand Slam and tied Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major singles titles when he won the French Open.

1928	James Ivory, Director, turns 84
1937	Bert Sugar, Boxing journalist, turns 75
1940	Tom Jones, Singer, turns 72
1946	Jenny Jones, TV talk show host, turns 66
1953	Colleen Camp, Actress, turns 59
1953	Johnny Clegg, Singer, songwriter, turns 59
1954	Louise Erdrich, Author, turns 58
1956	L.A. Reid, Record producer, turns 56
1958	Prince, Rock musician, turns 54
1967	Dave Navarro, Rock musician (Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers), turns 45
1975	Allen Iverson, Basketball player, turns 37
1979	Anna Torv, Actress (“Fringe”), turns 33
1981	Anna Kournikova, Tennis player, turns 31
1988	Michael Cera, Actor, turns 24

83	Gregory XIII 6/7/1502 – 4/10/1585 Italian pope (1572-85)
79	Celia Fiennes 6/7/1662 – 4/10/1741 English travel writer
62	Beau Brummell 6/7/1778 – 3/30/1840 English fashion leader
87	Carlota 6/7/1840 – 1/19/1927 Belgian wife of emperor Maximilian of Mexico
54	Paul Gauguin 6/7/1848 – 5/8/1903 French Post-Impressionist painter
87	Max Kretzer 6/7/1854 – 7/15/1941 German Expressionist writer
60	Charles Rennie Mackintosh 6/7/1868 – 12/10/1928 Scottish architect and designer
35	Kevin O’Higgins 6/7/1892 – 7/10/1927 Irish statesman
73	George Szell 6/7/1897 – 7/30/1970 Hungarian-born American conductor, pianist and composer
73	Elizabeth Bowen 6/7/1899 – 2/22/1973 English novelist and short story writer