On this day: Robert Kennedy shot in Los Angeles

Events, birthdays and anniversaries for 5 June
On this day in 1968 Robert Kennedy, brother of the assasinated JF Kennedy, was shot in Los Angeles and died the next day. Picture: APOn this day in 1968 Robert Kennedy, brother of the assasinated JF Kennedy, was shot in Los Angeles and died the next day. Picture: AP
On this day in 1968 Robert Kennedy, brother of the assasinated JF Kennedy, was shot in Los Angeles and died the next day. Picture: AP

National day of Denmark

1592: Act passed which established Presbyterian government in the Scottish Church after the Reformation.

1592: With the passing of an act “concerning the Office of Lyon King of Armes and his brether Herauldis” the Parliament of Scotland instituted what has proved to be the best regulated system of armorial bearings in Europe.

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1716: Treaty of Westminster was signed between Britain and Holy Roman Empire for mutual defence.

1900: British forces took Pretoria, South Africa.

1916: Lord Kitchener, British general and conqueror of the Sudan, was lost at sea when his ship HMS Hampshire, bound for Russia, struck a mine off Orkney.

1926: British-Turkish agreement on Mosul, with most of area assigned to Iraq.

1945: Allied Control Commission assumed control throughout Germany, which was divided into four occupation zones.

1946: The Victory Parade took place in London, at which King George VI took the salute in The Mall.

1947: Marshall Aid by America was inaugurated for European post-war recovery.

1967: The Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq began.

1968: Robert Kennedy, senator and younger brother of the late President John F Kennedy, was shot in the Hotel Ambassador in Los Angeles by a Jordanian-Arab, and died the next day.

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1972: Greece and China announced establishment of diplomatic relations.

1975: President Anwar Sadat re-opened the Suez Canal to all but Israeli shipping, after eight years of closure.

1975: Referendum was held on British membership of European Community. The national vote was: Yes 17,378,581; No 8,470,073. In Scotland the vote was Yes 1,332,286; No 948,039, on a 61 per cent turnout. Shetland and Western Isles had majorities against.

1977: The Apple II, the first personal computer, went on sale.

1988: Kay Cottee arrived in Sydney to complete the first solo non-stop round-the-world voyage by a woman.

1991: The all-white South African House of Assembly voted to repeal a key apartheid law, the 40-year-old Group Areas Act, under which almost 4 million black people had been evicted from their land because they were living in “white” areas.

1994: The Queen, Prime Minister John Major and American President Bill Clinton attended the first of several ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day.

1995: Superman actor Christopher Reeve underwent six hours of surgery to stabilise his neck, broken in a riding accident which left him paralysed.

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2001: Tropical Storm Allison made landfall on the upper-Texas coastline and dumped large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm caused $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the costliest tropical storm in US history.

2006: Serbia declared independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

2011: Rafael Nadal overcame Roger Federer in four sets to equal Bjorn Borg’s record of six French Open crowns.

BIRTHDAYS

Mark Wahlberg, actor and producer, 43; Laurie Anderson, musician, 67; Moira Anderson OBE, Scottish singer, 76; Charlie Clements, actor, 27; Dame Margaret Drabble DBE, author, 75; Alexander Henry Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee, 65; Ken Follett, novelist, 65; Kenny G, saxophonist, 58; Sir David Hare, playwright, 67; Ron Livingston, actor, 47; Nigel Rees, broadcaster, writer and founder of BBC radio’s Quote… Unquote, 70; Sheila Sim actress, 92; Richard Stone, portrait painter, 63; Fraser Watts, Scottish cricketer, 35.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1723 Adam Smith, Kirkcaldy-born economist and philosopher; 1819 John Couch Adams, astronomer, co-discoverer of the planet Neptune; 1878 “Pancho” Villa, Mexican guerrilla leader and revolutionary; 1882 Igor Stravinsky, composer; 1883 John Maynard Keynes, economist; 1886 Dr Kurt Hahn, German-born founder of Gordonstoun School; 1894 Lord Thomson of Fleet, newspaper and television proprietor; 1899 Frederico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet and dramatist; 1920 Peter Jones, actor, comedian and playwright; 1981 Jade Goody, reality television star (Big Brother).

Deaths: AD755 Boniface, English missionary (murdered in Germany); 1826 Carl von Weber, composer, pianist; 1916; 1921 Georges Feydeau, French dramatist; 1953 Bill Tilden, Wimbledon and Australian tennis champion; 1999 Mel Tormé, singer; 2004 Ronald Reagan, 40th United States president 1981-89; 2012 Barry Unsworth, British novelist; 2012 Ray Bradbury, American sci-fi author.

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