Eric Bana (born 1968) is an Australian actor and producer. He began his career in the comedy series Full Frontal before gaining notice in the comedy drama The Castle (1997) and in Chopper (2000) for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Bana gained Hollywood’s attention for his performance in the war film Black Hawk Down (2001) and for playing Bruce Banner in the superhero film Hulk (2003). In 2009, he played the villain Nero in the science-fiction film Star Trek, which was a critical and commercial success. Bana continued to work steadily in the 2010s, portraying Lieutenant Commander Erik S. Kristensen in Lone Survivor (2013), and playing police Sergeant Ralph Sarchie in the horror film Deliver Us from Evil (2014). In 2020, he returned to Australia to star in outback thriller The Dry. Bana is the recipient of several Australian Film Institute awards and was appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2019 for his services to drama. (Full article…)

Gopal Mukund Huddar

• … that Indian anti-colonial activist and anti-fascist soldier Gopal Mukund Huddar (pictured) engaged in palm reading with his fellow inmates while imprisoned in a Francoist concentration camp?
• … that expatriate votes in Salvadoran elections increased from fewer than 300 in 2009 to more than 300,000 in 2024?
• … that Laura Bowman starred in the first sound horror film with an all-black cast?
• … that in the 2023 Jetline roller coaster accident the lap bars bent so far out of position that three riders were ejected?
• … that Emmanuel Oyebadejo discovered his affinity for American football while attending medical school in England?
• … that Reed Green Coliseum got its nickname, “The Yurt”, from a dissatisfied ESPN writer?
• … that Australian Eva Buzo swam the English Channel in 13 °C (55 °F) waters, breaking the women’s world record for the earliest in-season channel crossing?
• … that Georgian nationalist Leo Kereselidze and his associates robbed a Russian imperial treasury without anyone getting killed?
• … that Mint Fantôme once hosted a “Spit and Greet” at a convention?

Jordan Staal

• In ice hockey, the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup Final (Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jordan Staal pictured).
• In basketball, the New York Knicks defeat the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA Finals.
• Elon Musk becomes the world’s first US-dollar trillionaire after his company SpaceX raises the largest initial public offering.
• Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand, a possible heir to the throne, dies at the age of 47 after a three-year comatose state.

June 16

Valentina Tereshkova

• 1755 – After a two-week siege, the French commander of Fort Beauséjour in present-day New Brunswick, Canada, surrendered to British forces, marking the end of Father Le Loutre’s War.
• 1883 – In the Victoria Hall disaster, 183 children were crushed to death when they ran down the stairs to collect gifts after a variety show in Sunderland, England.
• 1960 – Psycho, a psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on a novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, premiered.
• 1963 – Aboard Vostok 6, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova (pictured) became the first woman in space.
• 2016 – Jo Cox, a British Member of Parliament, was murdered in her constituency.