2 June: On this day in history
What events happened on 2 June in history? We round up the events, births and deaths…
2 June 1581
After being deposed by a rival faction led by the Duke of Lennox, James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, the last of four regents during the minority of James VI, was executed in Edinburgh. He had been found guilty of complicity in the murder of James VI's father, Lord Darnley, 14 years earlier. The method of execution selected was the Maiden, an early form of guillotine, which Morton himself was said to have introduced to Scotland after seeing it being used in England.
2 June 1763
During Pontiac’s Rebellion, a force of Ojibwe Indians captured Fort Michilimackinac from the British. They managed to approach the fort without arousing suspicion by staging a game of baaga’adowe (an early version of lacrosse) outside its gates.
2 June 1962
The ‘battle of Santiago’. Chile beat Italy 2–0 in an ill-tempered World Cup group match, which saw numerous fights, police intervention and two Italian players sent off. The British referee, Ken Aston, is said to have later observed: “I wasn’t reffing a football match. I was acting as an umpire in military manoeuvres.” Introducing the match highlights, BBC commentator David Coleman said: “The game you are about to see is the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game.”
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