On this day

June 2, 1946

Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from June 2, 1946

Notable Births

Lasse Hallström

1946Lasse Hallström, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter[†]

Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all music videos by the pop group ABBA, and came to international attention with his 1985 feature film My Life as a Dog, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. He is also known for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), The Cider House Rules (1999), and Chocolat (2000).

Peter Sutcliffe

1946Peter Sutcliffe, English serial killer (died 2020)[†]

Peter William Sutcliffe, also known as Peter Coonan, was an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering thirteen women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. Press reports dubbed him the Yorkshire Ripper, an allusion to the Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper. Sutcliffe was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. Two of his murders took place in Manchester; all the others took place in West Yorkshire. Criminal psychologist David Holmes characterised Sutcliffe as being an "extremely callous, sexually sadistic serial killer."

Historical Events

1946 Italian institutional referendum

1946Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum, King Umberto II of Italy is exiled.[†]

An institutional referendum was held by universal suffrage in the Kingdom of Italy on 2 June 1946, a key event of contemporary Italian history. Until 1946, Italy was a kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy, reigning since the unification of Italy in 1861 and previously rulers of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1922, the rise of Benito Mussolini and the creation of the Fascist regime in Italy, which eventually resulted in engaging the country in World War II alongside Nazi Germany, considerably weakened the role of the royal house.