585 BC A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
1371 John the Fearless (born), French husband of Margaret of Bavaria (died 1419)
1503 James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married according to a papal bull by Pope Alexander VI. A Treaty of Everlasting Peace Between Scotland and England signed on that occasion results in a peace that lasts ten years.
1509 Caterina Sforza (died), Italian daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza (born 1463)
1533 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid.
1588 The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port.)
1641 Johann Weikhard von Valvasor (born), Slovenian polymath (died 1693)
1660 George I of Great Britain (born) (died 1727)
1692 Geminiano Giacomelli (born), Italian composer (died 1740)
1738 Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (born), French physician (died 1814)
1754 French and Indian War: in the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
1779 Thomas Moore (born), Irish poet and composer (died 1852)
1807 Louis Agassiz (born), Swiss-American paleontologist and geologist (died 1873) (born)
1830 The U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which relocates Native Americans.
1837 George Ashlin, Irish architect, co-designed St Colman’s Cathedral (died 1921)
1843 Noah Webster (died), American lexicographer and author (born 1758)
1849 Anne Brontë (died), English author and poet (born 1820)
1858 Carl Richard Nyberg (born), Swedish inventor and businessman, developed the blow torch (died 1939)
1878 Paul Pelliot (born), French sinologist and explorer (died 1945)
1879 Milutin Milanković (born), Serbian mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (died 1958)
1888 Jim Thorpe (born), American football player and coach (died 1953)
1892 In San Francisco, California, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
1907 The first Isle of Man TT race was held.
1908 Ian Fleming (born), English journalist and author (died 1964)
1910 T-Bone Walker (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1975)
1917 Papa John Creach, American violinist (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, and The Dinosaurs) (died 1994)
1936 Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication.
1937 The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., who pushes a button signaling the start of vehicle traffic over the span.
1937 Volkswagen (VW), the German automobile manufacturer was founded.
1940 World War II: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium.
1944 Gladys Knight, American singer-songwriter and actress (Gladys Knight & the Pips)
1944 Rudy Giuliani, American lawyer and politician, 107th Mayor of New York City
1945 John Fogerty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Golliwogs)
1945 Patch Adams, American physician and author, founded the Gesundheit! Institute
1951 The British radio comedy program The Goon Show was broadcast on the BBC for the first time.
1952 The women of Greece are given the right to vote.
1958 Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, heavily reinforced by Frank Pais Militia, overwhelm an army post in El Uvero.
1961 Peter Benenson’s article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International.
1963 Gavin Harrison, English drummer (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson, and OSI)
1964 The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed.
1971 Audie Murphy (died), American lieutenant and actor, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1924)
1971 Marco Rubio, American politician
1987 The 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet Union air defenses and lands a private plane in the Red Square in Moscow, Russia. He is immediately detained and will not be released until August 3, 1988.
1991 The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War.
1993 Eritrea and Monaco join the United Nations.
1996 The U.S. President Bill Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud.
1998 Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions.
1999 In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.
2002 The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars.
2004 The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq’s interim government.
2008 The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty.
2010 Gary Coleman (died), American actor (born 1968)
2012 The discovery of Flame, a complex malware program targeting computers in Middle Eastern countries, is announced.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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