On This Day for June 9 - Landslide reelection victory for Margaret Thatcher, Peter I (the Great) is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. June 09 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Peter I (the Great) READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1983 Landslide reelection victory for Margaret Thatcher READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2008: American baseball player Ken Griffey, Jr., hit his 600th career home run, becoming the sixth player in major league history to accomplish the feat. [Test your knowledge of baseball.] 1973: American racehorse Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes (by an unprecedented 31 lengths) to capture the Triple Crown; he earlier had won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. [ Take our quiz about famous horses.] 1942: On this day the residents of the village of Lidice (now in the Czech Republic) were rounded up, most to be massacred the next day in reprisal for the assassination by Czech underground fighters of Reinhard Heydrich, deputy leader of the Nazi paramilitary group SS. [Test your knowledge of Nazi officials.] 1940: German tank forces under Major General Erwin Rommel crossed the Seine River in a push to the Atlantic coast of France during World War II. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about wartime Germany.] 1891: American composer and lyricist Cole Porter, who brought a worldly élan to the American musical, was born in Peru, Indiana. [Test your knowledge of composers.] 1870: English writer Charles Dickens, generally considered the greatest Victorian novelist, died at Gad's Hill near Chatham, Kent. [Take our quiz about famous novels.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1981 Natalie Portman Israeli American actress 1963 Johnny Depp American actor 1961 Michael J. Fox Canadian actor 1672 Peter I emperor of Russia 1891 Cole Porter American composer and lyricist 1915 Les Paul American inventor and musician SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2021 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help