Today is Sunday, June 1, the 152nd day of 2025. There are 213 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On June 1, 2008, a fire at Universal Studios Hollywood destroyed 3 acres of the studio’s property, including a vault that held as many as 175,000 irreplaceable master audio recordings from hundreds of musicians including Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, Elton John and Nirvana.
Also on this date:
In 1813, the mortally wounded commander of the USS Chesapeake, Capt. James Lawrence, gave the order, “Don’t give up the ship,” during a losing battle with the British frigate HMS Shannon during the War of 1812.
In 1916, the Senate voted 47-22 to confirm Louis Brandeis as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, the first Jewish American to serve on the nation’s highest bench.
In 1943, a civilian flight from Portugal to England was shot down by German bombers during World War II, killing all 17 people aboard, including actor Leslie Howard.
In 1957, Don Bowden, a student at the University of California at Berkeley, became the first American to break the four-minute mile during a meet in Stockton, California, with a time of 3:58.7.
In 1962, former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was executed after being found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his actions during World War II.
In 1980, Cable News Network, the first 24-hour television news channel, made its debut.
In 1990, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed an agreement to stop producing and reduce existing stockpiles of chemical weapons held by the two Cold War superpowers.
In 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shot and killed nine members of the Nepalese royal family, including his parents, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, before mortally wounding himself.
In 2009, General Motors filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, becoming the largest U.S. industrial company to enter bankruptcy protection.
In 2020, police violently broke up a protest by thousands of people in Lafayette Park across from the White House, using chemical agents, clubs and punches to send protesters fleeing; the protesters had gathered following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis a week earlier. Later that day, President Donald Trump, after declaring himself “the president of law and order” and threatening to deploy the U.S. military in a speech, walked across the empty park to be photographed holding a Bible in front of St. John’s Church, which had been damaged a night earlier.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Singer Pat Boone is 91.
- Actor Morgan Freeman is 88.
- Actor Brian Cox is 79.
- Actor Jonathan Pryce is 78.
- Rock musician Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones) is 78.
- Country singer-songwriter Ronnie Dunn is 72.
- Actor Lisa Hartman Black is 69.
- Actor Teri Polo is 56.
- Model-TV personality Heidi Klum is 52.
- Singer Alanis Morissette is 51.
- Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile is 44.
- Actor-comedian Amy Schumer is 44.
- Tennis Hall of Famer Justine Henin is 43.
- Comedian Nikki Glaser is 41.
- Actor Zazie Beetz is 34.
- Actor Tom Holland is 29.
- Actor Willow Shields is 25.