#ThrowbackThursday – 1 June
Some of history’s most defining moments can come from people you’d least expect, so let’s take a look at some of the crowning moments and birthdays that happened on 1 June, and have subsequently shaped the world today.
1533 – A Crowning Glory
Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, is a contentious figure in British history. Born in the early 1500s, the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire, Boleyn was educated at the French court during her early years before she met her future husband while she was acting as a lady-in-waiting for his wife at the time, Catherine of Aragon.
The King’s deep attraction to Boleyn led him to challenge the church’s conventions as he requested a divorce from his first wife. A significant religious upheaval followed, as the church struggled to balance diplomacy and its own doctrines.
However, His Majesty was determined to have his way and by 1531, his first wife was banished from court and just two years later, he and Boleyn officially wed. On 1 June, 1533, Boleyn was officially crowned as Queen of England, before she gave birth to a baby girl, Elizabeth I, later in the year.
Ultimately, the marriage between Boleyn and Henry was an unhappy one, as the King accused her of adultery and incest, which would lead to her execution on 19 May, 1536.
1926 – A Blonde Bombshell Arrives
Born in Los Angeles, California on 1 June 1926, Norma Jeane was reared by 12 successive sets of foster parents as well as an orphanage due to her birth mother being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and institutionalised.
In 1946, she was “discovered” by a photographer while working in an aircraft munitions factory and became a popular model before signing with Twentieth Century-Fox, and taking the stage name “Marilyn Monroe”.
The pop icon expanded her repertoire into the world of film, becoming one of the most well-known actresses of the time. Monroe’s 23 movies grossed a total of more than $200 million, as her vulnerability and sensuousness captured the hearts and minds of many around the world.
The starlet eventually died from an overdose of sleeping pills in her Los Angeles home on 4 August 1962 in what has been suspected as suicide.
1937 – A Legend is Born
American actor, director, and narrator, Morgan Freeman, was born on 1 June, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee. He studied theatre arts in Los Angeles, California before he made his Broadway debut in an all-Black production of “Hello Dolly!” in 1967.
The beloved star earned his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a dangerous hustler in the 1987 “Street Smart” film before being nominated for a best-actor Oscar for his work in “Driving Miss Daisy” in 1989. What followed were many years of incredible movies, series, audiobooks and voice layovers for documentaries, earning him the title of one the most-respected performers of his generation.
Freeman was handed a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2018 and continues to make movies and television series today, despite being a respectable 86-years-old.
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