130 Fun Facts About June

How many days does June have?

It is one of four 30-day months, alongside April, September and November.

June is ultimately named after which Roman goddess?

The Latin month was Iunius; the Old English name it displaced was ærra liþa.

In the original Roman calendar, June was which month of the year?

January and February were tacked on to the start later; Roman scholars dated the change to 153 BC.

In AD 65, June was briefly renamed Germanicus in honour of which Roman emperor?

A senator argued the name Junius had become unlucky after two Junius Silanus executions; the new name did not outlast the emperor.

Which emperor renamed June "Aelius" in AD 184, renaming every month after part of his own title?

The vanity project was repealed as soon as he died in AD 192.

Which reformer's calendar of 46 BC first made June 30 days long?

The reform fixed the year at 365 days with a regular leap day, slightly too long, which Gregory corrected in 1582.

Per Ovid, a priestess advised delaying his daughter's wedding until after which date?

Mid-May to mid-June was considered unlucky for marriage; Plutarch, by contrast, thought all of June better than May.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice most often falls on which date of the month?

It can land anywhere from 20 to 22 June and is the shortest day of the year south of the equator.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on which date?

It runs all the way to 30 November.

June's full moon is most commonly known by which name?

It coincides with strawberry-picking season; other names include the rose moon and the honey moon.

Which of these is NOT one of the three June birthstones recognised in the United States?

Emerald belongs to May; June is unusual in having three stones.

The rose and which climbing plant are the birth flowers of June?

Roses are also the source of one of the alternative names for June's full moon.

Someone born on 25 June has which zodiac sign?

Gemini covers 21 May to 21 June, and Cancer runs from 22 June to 22 July.

In most countries, Father's Day is celebrated on which day in June?

Global Running Day, by contrast, is the first Wednesday of the month.

In the United States, June is observed as which month-long celebration?

It is also Caribbean-American Heritage Month and National Safety Month there, and ALS Awareness Month in Canada.

The Stonewall riots began in the early hours of 28 June 1969 in which New York neighbourhood?

The Stonewall Inn was Mafia-owned and the police raid that night quickly spun out of control.

In Catholicism, June is dedicated to which devotion?

The Feast of the Sacred Heart falls on the Friday after the second Sunday after Pentecost, so it usually lands in June.

Brazil's month-long Festas Juninas celebrate what?

They fill the whole of June and are held across the country.

Juneteenth marks General Gordon Granger enforcing emancipation in 1865 in which state?

The name, a blend of June and nineteenth, was first used in the 1890s; it became a federal holiday in 2021.

D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history, took place on which day of June 1944?

The five landing beaches were Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword; Omaha, with its high cliffs, saw the worst casualties.

The D-Day landings themselves were codenamed what?

Overlord was the name for the whole invasion of Normandy; Neptune covered the assault phase on the beaches.

Flag Day in the United States, on 14 June, commemorates the adoption of the flag in which year?

Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the day in 1916 and Congress made it official in 1949.

Magna Carta was sealed by King John on 15 June 1215 at which meadow beside the Thames?

John had first met the rebel barons there five days earlier.

The Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's final defeat, was fought on 18 June 1815 in what is now which country?

It was a Sunday, and Wellington's British-led army was joined by Blücher's Prussians.

On 17 June 1972, burglars tied to Nixon's campaign were caught inside which organisation's headquarters?

The offices were in the Watergate complex, which gave the whole scandal its name.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 by which student?

He was one of six would-be assassins in the city that day; the others in the options were part of the same plot.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly how many years after the Sarajevo assassination?

The date was chosen deliberately, and the signing took place in the palace's Hall of Mirrors.

How many Japanese fleet carriers were sunk at the Battle of Midway on 4-7 June 1942?

Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū and Hiryū all went down, six months to the day after Pearl Harbor.

Custer's Last Stand, on 25-26 June 1876, was fought along which river?

The Lakota call it the Battle of the Greasy Grass; it was fought in what was then Montana Territory.

Which war began on 25 June 1950 when the North crossed the 38th parallel?

Fighting lasted until the armistice of 27 July 1953.

The first iPhone went on sale in the United States on 29 June of which year?

Steve Jobs had unveiled it in January; the iPhone 3G followed almost exactly a year later.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published on 26 June 1997 by which house?

The publisher's chief executive reportedly took the gamble after his eight-year-old daughter loved the manuscript.

Anne Frank received the notebook that became her diary for her 13th birthday on which day of June 1942?

It was an autograph book with a red-and-white checked cover and a small lock; the family went into hiding less than a month later.

Bloomsday, 16 June, celebrates the day in 1904 on which the events of which novel take place?

Joyce picked the date because it was the day of his first outing with Nora Barnacle, his future wife.

In June 1983, which astronaut became the first American woman in space aboard the shuttle Challenger?

At 32 she was also the youngest American to have flown in space at that time.

On 17 June 1885, the French steamer Isère arrived in New York carrying what in crates?

The disassembled statue was reassembled on its pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island.

On the night of 11 June 1962, Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers escaped from which prison?

They left papier-mâché heads in their beds and paddled off on a raft made of raincoats; they were never found.

Loving Day, 12 June, marks the 1967 Supreme Court ruling that struck down state bans on what?

The decision was unanimous and overturned Virginia's Racial Integrity Act.

Action Comics #1, cover-dated June 1938, introduced which superhero?

It sold for 10 cents; pristine copies now change hands for millions.

Helen Keller, the first deafblind American to earn a college degree, graduated from which college?

She lost her sight and hearing to an illness at 19 months old.

Which actress, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, has a 1 June birthday?

She was born in Los Angeles in 1926 and spent much of her childhood in foster homes.

Which Beatle was born on 18 June 1942?

Fellow June babies include Alan Turing (23rd), Lionel Messi (24th) and Henry VIII (28th).

Which mathematician and codebreaker was born on 23 June 1912?

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, is another June-born computer scientist, on the 8th.

Which English king, famous for his six marriages, was born on 28 June 1491?

He shares the birthday with the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, born in 1712.

Which pop star died on 25 June 2009?

James Madison, Charles Dickens and Machiavelli are among the other notable June deaths.

Which novelist, author of Great Expectations, died on 9 June 1870?

He shares his death date with the emperor Nero, who died on 9 June AD 68.

The record one-hour rainfall, 305 mm, fell in 1947 in a small city in which US state?

The place was Holt, Missouri; the 48-hour record belongs to Cherrapunji, India, in June 1995.

The Arietids, which peak on 8 June, are unusual among meteor showers because they mostly occur when?

They run from 22 May to 2 July and are among the most intense daytime showers of the year.

In which country was South America's lowest temperature, -32.8°C, recorded on 1 June 1907?

It was measured in the town of Sarmiento in Chubut Province, in Patagonia.

Which is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, traditionally starting on the last Monday in June?

Glastonbury Festival and, every four years, the FIFA World Cup are June's other big fixtures.

What is unusual about the day of the week on which June begins?

Every other month shares its starting weekday with at least one other month in a given year.

North of the Arctic Circle, the June solstice brings which phenomenon?

Inside the Antarctic Circle it is the opposite: the Sun stays below the horizon for more than 24 hours.

Which engineer, who invented the turbojet engine, was born on 1 June 1907?

He was a Royal Air Force air officer as well as an engineer.

What was the Old English name for June, displaced by the Latin-derived word?

The Anglo-Norman forms join and junie shaped the modern spelling.

Roman scholars dated the calendar reset that made June the sixth month to which year?

January and February had originally been the 11th and 12th months.

Plutarch implied June was a better month for weddings than which other month?

Ovid, by contrast, was told to wait until after mid-June for his daughter's wedding.

The Julian calendar, still used by some Orthodox churches, runs how many days behind the Gregorian?

It will slip to 14 days behind in 2100.

The greatest 48-hour rainfall ever, nearly 2.5 metres in June 1995, fell in which Indian town?

Meghalaya's hills are among the wettest places on Earth.

Which inventor of the World Wide Web was born on 8 June 1955?

He built the first web browser at CERN in 1990.

Which Argentine footballer was born on 24 June 1987?

He shares a June birthday month with Che Guevara, another Argentine.

Which Argentine-born revolutionary of the Cuban Revolution was born on 14 June 1928?

He was a trained doctor before he was a guerrilla.

Which Russian composer was born on 17 June 1882?

His Rite of Spring caused a near-riot at its 1913 premiere.

Which national hero of the Philippines was born on 19 June 1861?

His novels helped inspire the Philippine Revolution.

Which US president, the seventh, died on 8 June 1845?

The founder of Islam, Muhammad, also died on an 8 June, in 632.

Which Macedonian king died on 10 or 11 June 323 BC?

He was 32 and had never lost a battle.

Which English physician who first described the circulation of blood died on 3 June 1657?

His De Motu Cordis appeared in 1628.

Which Holy Roman Emperor, nicknamed 'red beard', died on 10 June 1190?

He drowned crossing a river on the Third Crusade.

Which Canadian hockey legend died on 10 June 2016?

'Mr. Hockey' played professionally across five decades.

Which last German Emperor died in exile on 4 June 1941?

He had lived in the Netherlands since abdicating in 1918.

Which drink gets its own World Day on 1 June?

International Children's Day is marked the same day in many countries.

What leisurely activity is celebrated by a world day on 19 June?

The day encourages people to slow down and enjoy life.

Midsummer on 21 June is also associated with which French-born world music celebration?

It has spread far beyond France as World Music Day.

The feast of the Nativity of which saint falls on 24 June?

His eve on 23 June is marked with bonfires across Europe.

Which pair of apostles share a feast on 29 June?

It honours their martyrdom in Rome.

Which quadrennial tournament, TV's most-watched sporting event, usually kicks off in June?

Wimbledon and Glastonbury round out a busy June for spectators.

Glastonbury Festival takes place at Worthy Farm near which Somerset village?

Founder Michael Eavis was inspired by a 1970 Led Zeppelin gig at the Bath Festival.

How much did a ticket cost for the first Glastonbury festival in 1970?

About 1,500 people attended.

Juneteenth was the first new federal holiday since which one was adopted in 1983?

President Biden signed the act in 2021.

Which activist known as the 'grandmother of Juneteenth' campaigned for the federal holiday?

She led walks in many states to promote the idea.

Early Juneteenth pilgrimages went to which port city where emancipation was announced?

Celebrations began with church gatherings as early as 1866.

The Juneteenth flag was created in 1997 by which activist?

It was first hoisted at Roxbury Heritage State Park in Boston in 2000.

In which decade was the name 'Juneteenth' first used?

It is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth.

Traditional Juneteenth food and drink share what colour?

Picnics, rodeos and Miss Juneteenth contests are also traditions.

Who founded Father's Day in Washington state in 1910?

She and her five brothers had been raised by their father alone.

Grace Golden Clayton proposed a fathers' day in 1908 to honour men killed in what?

Her idea was not taken up at the time.

In Catholic Europe, Father's Day has traditionally fallen on 19 March, whose feast day?

Spain, Italy and Portugal follow this tradition.

On which day is Vatertag, Germany's Father's Day, celebrated?

It is a federal holiday, 40 days after Easter.

Which president issued the 1916 proclamation designating 14 June as Flag Day?

Congress made it official by law in 1949.

Which state was the first to make Flag Day a state holiday, in 1937?

The celebrations began in the town of Rennerdale.

Which branch of the US military celebrates its birthday on 14 June, exactly two years before the flag's adoption?

It was founded as the Continental Army in 1775.

Finland's pre-Christian solstice festival, Ukon juhla, was named after which god?

Today the holiday is called Juhannus.

Which president first proclaimed June as 'Gay and Lesbian Pride Month', in 1999?

Obama later broadened the name to LGBT Pride Month.

World Environment Day on 5 June was born out of a 1972 UN conference in which city?

It was the Conference on the Human Environment.

The Belmont Stakes is nicknamed 'The Test of the Champion' and 'The Run for the' what?

The winner is draped in a blanket of white carnations.

By how many lengths did Secretariat win the 1973 Belmont Stakes?

His time of 2:24 is still the track and dirt world record.

In which year was the 24 Hours of Le Mans first run?

It is the oldest active endurance race in the world.

Le Mans is held on which track, partly made up of closed public roads?

The Le Mans start inspired Porsche to put its ignition switch left of the wheel.

Whose car crashed into the crowd in the 1955 Le Mans disaster, killing more than 80?

It remains the deadliest accident in motorsport history.

Which driver holds the Le Mans record with nine wins between 1997 and 2013?

Six of those wins came in a row.

The first U.S. Open golf championship in 1895 was played at a club in which state?

Newport Country Club hosted it in October that year.

Trooping the Colour takes place at which London venue?

It has marked the sovereign's official birthday since 1748.

Which monarch founded Ascot racecourse in 1711?

The Royal Enclosure still enforces a strict dress code.

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates which poet and minister of the state of Chu?

Sticky rice dumplings called zongzi are eaten in his memory.

What are the sticky rice dumplings eaten at the Dragon Boat Festival called?

The festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

Which Japanese entrepreneur pioneered large-scale cultured pearl farming?

His innovations came in the early 20th century.

Which Spanish king kept the famous La Peregrina pearl for himself instead of giving it to his daughter?

Centuries later Richard Burton bought it for Elizabeth Taylor.

The June birthstone alexandrite was named in honour of which future Russian emperor?

Finnish mineralogist Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld discovered it in the Urals.

What is the shimmering optical effect that gives moonstone its name?

The stone is a member of the feldspar group.

Which US state made moonstone its official gem in 1970 to honour the Moon landings?

The Apollo missions launched from Kennedy Space Center.

Gemini, the sign for most June birthdays, is represented by which mythological twins?

They were known as the Dioscuri in Greek mythology.

Italy's Republic Day on 2 June commemorates a 1946 referendum on what?

Italians chose a republic over the monarchy; the Frecce Tricolori fly over Rome each year.

Russia Day on 12 June marks the 1990 adoption of what?

It has been celebrated annually since 1992.

The Philippines' 12 June Independence Day marks its 1898 declaration of independence from whom?

The US only recognised independence on 4 July 1946.

Sweden's National Day on 6 June honours the 1523 election of which king?

It only became a public holiday in 2005.

Denmark's Constitution Day on 5 June recalls the first constitution signed in which year?

The current constitution was signed on the same date in 1953.

Canada's National Indigenous Peoples Day, on the solstice, was first celebrated in which year?

The date was chosen partly because many Indigenous communities celebrate then.

Which leader proposed the International Day of Yoga in a 2014 UN address?

He suggested 21 June because it is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere.

Most fighting in the 17 June 1775 battle of the Siege of Boston took place on which height?

'Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes' is the battle's apocryphal order.

What nickname was given to the man who blocked a column of tanks near Tiananmen Square on 5 June 1989?

Protesters had erected a 10-metre Goddess of Democracy statue days earlier.

Which 13th-century canoness of Liège spent forty years working to establish the feast of Corpus Christi?

Thomas Aquinas proposed the feast to Pope Urban IV.

Which Parliamentarian force crushed the Royalists at Naseby on 14 June 1645?

The battle in Northamptonshire was decisive in the First English Civil War.

Which English king lost to Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn on 23-24 June 1314?

It was the great Scottish victory of the First War of Independence.

In the Six-Day War of June 1967, Israel captured the West Bank from which country?

It also took the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria.

The Great Seattle Fire destroyed the city's business district on 6 June of which year?

The city was rebuilt with brick and stone on raised streets.

World Refugee Day, marked on 20 June, was first established by the UN in which year?

It marked the 50th anniversary of the Refugee Convention.

Inti Raymi, the Inca sun festival celebrated on 24 June in Cusco, originally marked what event?

Held in the Haukaypata main square, it is today reckoned the second-largest festival in South America.

In which year was the last Inti Raymi held with an Inca emperor present?

A historical reconstruction directed by Faustino Espinoza Navarro revived the ceremony as a theatrical event in 1944.

Austria marks the Midsummer solstice with a procession of up to 30 ships down which river?

The 90-minute cruise through the Wachau wine valley is accompanied by fireworks, bonfires and illuminated castle ruins.

The name of the Slavic solstice festival Kupala Night ultimately derives from a word meaning what?

Bathing in rivers, jumping over bonfires and floating flower wreaths for divination are all part of the night's rituals.

At which New York hotel was the first Tony Awards ceremony held on 6 April 1947?

The ceremony now usually falls in June; the first winners received scrolls, cigarette lighters and jewellery rather than medallions.