June 3rd

Events -

350 - Iulius Nepotianus proclaimed himself Roman Emperor, in competition with Magnentius, who had overthrown co-Emperor Constans in January 350.  Nepotianus was a cousin of Constans and his co-Emperor Constantius II, as the son of Eutropia, half-sister of Constans' and Constantius' father Constantine I.  Nepotianus was grandson of Emperor Constantius I and great-grandson of Emperor Maximian.  After ruling Rome for 28 days, Nepotianus was killed by Magnentius' general Marcellinus.  Magnentius later committed suicide after the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353.

1665 - James Stuart, Duke of York and commander of the Royal Navy (later King James II), defeated the Dutch fleet during the Battle of Lowestoft, the first battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. 

1937 - Edward, Duke of Windsor (formerly King Edward VIII) married Wallis Simpson at the Château de Candé, near Tours, France.  As the marriage was not sanctioned by the Church of England, a clergyman from Darlington, County Durham, offered to perform the ceremony privately.  Members of the British Royal Family were forbidden by King George VI from attending, upsetting the Duke, who had wanted his other brothers to attend.

Born on this date - 

1537 - Infante João Manuel of Portugal, eighth son of King João III of Portugal and Catherine of Austria (daughter of Felipe I of Castile and Juana "the Mad" of Castile).  After the death of his four older brothers, João became heir to the throne.  He died 3 1/2 years before his father on January 2, 1554 at the age of 16, but not before marrying and producing a posthumous son, the future Sebastião I.

1540 - Karl II Franz, Archduke of Austria, son of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and Anne of Bohemia and Hungary.  He was a paternal grandson of Felipe I of Castile and Juana "the Mad" of Castile and a maternal grandson of Vladislav II of Bohemia and Hungary.  Karl married his niece Maria Anna of Bavaria, and became the father of future Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II.  He died at the age of 50 on July 10, 1590. 

1843 - Christian Frederik Vilhelm Carl of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, later King Frederik VIII of Denmark.  His parents were Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (heir-apparent to the throne of Denmark, later King Christian IX) and Louise of Hesse-Kassel.  Among his siblings were Tsarina Maria Feodorovna of Russia (former Dagmar of Denmark), Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom and King George I of Greece.  He had been Crown Prince for 43 years when he finally acceded the throne on January 29, 1906.  He married Princess Louise of Sweden in 1869 and produced two future kings among their many children - King Christian X of Denmark and King Haakon VII of Norway (born Christian Frederik Carl Georg Valdemar Axel of Denmark).  Frederik ruled Denmark for six years before dying on May 14, 1912 at the age of 68.

1865 - George Frederick Ernest Albert, later King George V of England.  He was the son of Albert Edward, then-Prince of Wales, and Alexandra of Denmark.  As a second son, George was not expected to inherit the throne, so was groomed for a naval career.  The early death of his older brother Eddy in January 1892 left George second in line for the throne behind his father, and also left George with Eddy's fiancée, Princess Victoria Mary "May" of Teck.  George and May married the following year, and among their six children were two future Kings of England - Edward VIII (who abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson) and George VI (father of Queen Elizabeth II).  George V died on January 20, 1936 at the age of 70 and after a reign of nearly 26 years, his end hastened by a lethal dosage of morphine and cocaine.

Died on this date -

1395 - Tsar Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria, aged 44-45.  He was born around 1350-1351 as the son of Tsar Ivan Alexander and Sarah-Theodora, a Jewish convert to Eastern Orthodoxy.  The death of his older half-brother in 1355 made Ivan heir to the throne.  He was co-ruler with his father until February 17, 1371, when his father died, ruling alone for just over 26 years before he was executed by the Ottomans.  His older half-brother Ivan Sratsimir, who had been passed over in the succession in favor of Ivan Shishman, became Tsar since both of Ivan Shishman's sons had died young. Ivan Sratsimir did not last long as Tsar, being captured and strangled by the Ottomans in 1397.  The two brothers were the final medieval Tsars of Bulgaria.

1411 - Leopold IV, Duke of Further Austria, aged 39-40.  Leopold was born in 1371, the son of Leopold III of Austria and Viridis Visconti.  Leopold married Catharine of Burgundy, but they had no children.  Since neither Leopold nor his older brother Wilhelm had children, Austria was divided between their younger brothers Ernst and Friedrich after Leopold's death.

2004 - Frances Ruth Roche, age 68.  Frances was best known as the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales.  Frances was born January 20, 1936 as the daughter of Edmund Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, and Ruth Sylvia Gill.  Frances married John Spencer, then-Viscount Althorp, and had four children, among them Diana, Princess of Wales.  She died of complications from Parkinson's disease and brain cancer.