On This Day in History

June 1

Historical Events

1215 Peking [Beijing], then a city of over one million, under the control of Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured and looted for a month by the Mongols under Genghis Khan.

An allied Danish-Dutch fleet battles the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, off the east coast of Öland

1676 Battle of Öland: allied Danish-Dutch forces defeat the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, during the Scanian War (1675–79).

1964 Kenya becomes a republic with Jomo Kenyatta as the 1st President.

1998 European Central Bank is founded in Brussels to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy.

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Famous Birthdays

Brigham Young 1801 - 1877 John Hunt Morgan 1825 - 1864

Marilyn Monroe 1926 - 1962 Morgan Freeman 87th Birthday

Also Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, Heidi Klum (51) and Alanis Morissett (50).

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Famous Deaths

Tokugawa Ieyasu 1543 - 1616 James Buchanan 1791 - 1868

Also James Gordon Bennett and Helen Keller.

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Testing Time for Drivers

Deaths caused by accidents on UK roads fell by 1,000 within a year of the official driving test being introduced. But was the half-hour test enough?

Compulsory Driving Tests