Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

June 2

1966
First successful U.S. soft landing of a manmade object on the moon: Surveyor I.

1899
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: The notorious outlaws commit their first train robbery, netting them $30,000.

1896
Wireless telegraphy is first patented by Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi.

1886
Pres. Grover Cleveland marries Miss Frances Folsom in the White House.

1875
Alexander Graham Bell discovers the principle of sending sound by wire. He transmited the sound of a twanging clock spring.

1858
The Donati Comet is discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Donati.

1783
Slavery: New Hampshire constitution goes into effect. It prohibited slavery.

1948
Jerry Mathers, American child actor. TV: Leave It to Beaver (the Beaver).

1944
Marvin Hamlisch, American Oscar-Grammy-winning composer. Music: A Chorus Line (1975), The Way We Were (1973), and The Sting (1973).

1941
William Guest, American singer, one of Gladys Knight's Pips. Music: Midnight Train to Georgia (1973, #1).

1941
Stacy Keach (William Stacy Keach Jr.), American actor. TV: Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (Mike Hammer).

1941
Charlie Watts, British rock drummer for the Rolling Stones.

1938
Sally Kellerman, American actress. Film: M*A*S*H (1970, Hot Lips). TV: Hidden Valley salad dressing commercials.

1930
Charles Conrad Jr., American astronaut, third person to walk on the Moon (1969).

1929
Chuck Barris, American producer. TV: The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and the Gong Show.

1904     d. 1984
Johnny Weismuller, American swimmer, actor, won three gold medals in the 1924 and two in the 1928 Olympics. He is famous for his portrayal of Tarzan.

1857     d. 1934
Sir Edward Elgar, English composer, famous for his "Pomp and Circumstance" marches.

1835     d. 1914
Saint Pius X, Italian religious leader, 257th Pope (1903-14), canonized in 1954.

1740     d. 1814
Marquis de Sade (Count Donatien Alphonse Francois Sade), French obscene author, from whom the word "sadism" is derived.

2001     b. 1908
Imogene Coca (Imogene Fernandez de Coca), American actress, comedienne.

1990     b. 1908
Rex Harrison (Reginald Carey Harrison), British Tony-Oscar-winning actor. Film: Anna and the King of Siam (1946, the King), My Fair Lady (1964), and Doctor Dolittle (1967).

1969     b. 1915
Leo Gorcey, American actor. Film: He played Spit in the movies featuring the Dead End Kids, East Side Kids, and Bowery Boys.

1947     b. 1861
Jesse Wilford Reno, American inventor. He patented the first escalator (1892).

1943     b. 1883
Alan Roy Dafoe, Canadian physician, delivered the world's first known surviving quintuplets (1934).

1941     b. 1903
Henry Louis Gehrig, American Baseball Hall of Famer (1939). Record holder for the most consecutive games played (2,130 from 1925-39) and for the most major-league grand slams (23). He died of the disease which now bears his name.

1910     b. 1819
Marius Petipa, French-born Russian choreographer. Stage: The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and Swan Lake (1895).

657     b. ????
Saint Eugene I, Italian religious leader, 75th Pope (654-657).

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