Events

• 585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.

• 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.

• 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 heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port).

• 1644 – Bolton Massacre by Royalist troops under the command of the Earl of Derby.

• 1754 – French and Indian War: in the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under 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.

• 1774 – American Revolutionary War: the first Continental Congress convenes.

• 1830 – President Andrew Jackson signs The Indian Removal Act which relocates Native Americans.

• 1859 – Big Ben is drawn on a carriage pulled by 16 horses from Whitechapel Bell Foundry to the Palace of Westminster.

• 1860 – One of the worst storms ever to hit the region lashes the east coast of England, sinking more than 100 ships and killing at least 40 people. Among those rescued at sea is the crew of the brig Hannah, captained by George Jezzard, the great-great-great-grandfather of the actor David Suchet

• 1863 – American Civil War: The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first African American regiment, leaves Boston, Massachusetts, to fight for the Union.

• 1892 – In San Francisco, California, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.

• 1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Togo Heihachiro and the Imperial Japanese Navy.

• 1918 – The Democratic Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declare their independence.

• 1926 – 28th May 1926 coup d'état: Ditadura Nacional is established in Portugal to suppress the unrest of the First Republic.

• 1930 – The Chrysler Building in New York City officially opens.

• 1934 – Near Callander, Ontario, the Dionne quintuplets are born to Ovila and Elzire Dionne, and later become the first quintuplets to survive infancy.

• 1934 – The Glyndebourne festival in England is inaugurated.

• 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 – Neville Chamberlain becomes British Prime Minister.

• 1940 – World War II: Belgium surrenders to Germany.

• 1940 – World War II: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War.

• 1942 – World War II: in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Nazis in Czechoslovakia kill over 1800 people.

• 1952 – Memphis Kiddie Park opens in Brooklyn, Ohio. The park's Little Dipper roller coaster would become the oldest operating steel roller coaster in North America.

• 1952 – The women of Greece are given the right to vote.

• 1955 – Henry Bolte becomes Premier of the state of Victoria.

• 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.

• 1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed.

• 1970 – The formerly united Free University of Brussels officially splits into two separate entities, the French-speaking Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

• 1974 – Northern Ireland's power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.

• 1975 – Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.

• 1977 – In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 people inside.

• 1978 – Second round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta. The election is won by incumbent Sangoulé Lamizana.

• 1979 – Constantine Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community.

• 1982 – Falklands War: British forces defeat the Argentines at the Battle of Goose Green.

• 1987 – 19-year-old West German pilot Mathias Rust evades Soviet Union air defenses and lands a private plane in Red Square in Moscow. He is immediately detained and is not released until August 3, 1988.

• 1987 – A robot probe finds the wreckage of the near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

• 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.

• 1995 – The Russian town of Neftegorsk is hit by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that kills at least 2,000 people, 1/2 of the total population.

• 1996 – U.S. President Bill Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, James McDougal and Susan McDougal, and Arkansas Governor 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, 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.

• 1999 – Two Swedish police officers are murdered with their own fire arms by the bank robbers Jackie Arklöv and Tony Olsson after a car chase.

• 2002 – NATO declares Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance.

• 2002 – The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars.

• 2003 – Peter Hollingworth becomes the first Governor-General of Australia to resign his office as a result of criticism of his conduct.

• 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.

Births

• 1140 – Xin Qiji, Chinese poet (d. 1207)

• 1371 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1419)

• 1524 – Selim II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1574)

• 1582 – William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, English statesman (d. 1662)

• 1588 – Pierre Seguier, Chancellor of France (d. 1672)

• 1641 – Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Slovenian polymath (d. 1693)

• 1660 – King George I of Great Britain (d. 1727)

• 1676 – Jacopo Riccati, Italian mathematician (d. 1754)

• 1692 – Joseph Butler, English philosopher (d. 1752)

• 1738 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (d. 1814)

• 1759 – William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1806)

• 1779 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet (d. 1852)

• 1807 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-born zoologist and geologist (d. 1873)

• 1818 – P.G.T. Beauregard, American Confederate general (d. 1893)

• 1836 – Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist (d. 1918)

• 1837 – George Ashlin, Irish architect (d. 1921)

• 1837 – Tony Pastor, American vaudeville performer (d. 1908)

• 1853 – Carl Larsson, Swedish painter (d. 1919)

• 1858 – Carl Rickard Nyberg, Swedish inventor (d. 1939)

• 1872 – Marian Smoluchowski, Polish physicist (d. 1917)

• 1878 – Paul Pelliot, French sinologist (d. 1945)

• 1883 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian activist (d. 1966)

• 1883 – Clough Williams-Ellis, Welsh architect (d. 1978)

• 1884 – Edvard Beneš, Czech politician (d. 1948)

• 1886 – Santo Trafficante, Sr., Sicilian-born American mobster (d. 1954)

• 1888 – Jim Thorpe, American athlete (d. 1953)

• 1888 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian Prime Minister (d. 1942)

• 1889 – Richard Réti, Austrian-Czech chess grandmaster (d. 1929)

• 1892 – Sepp Dietrich, German SS officer (d. 1966)

• 1900 – Tommy Ladnier, American musician (d. 1939)

• 1908 – Ian Fleming, English author (d. 1964)

• 1909 – Red Horner, Canadian hockey player (d. 2005)

• 1910 – T-Bone Walker, American singer (d. 1975)

• 1910 – Lady Rachel Kempson, English actress (d. 2003)

• 1911 – Thora Hird, British actress (d. 2003)

• 1911 – Fritz Hochwälder, Austrian author (d. 1986)

• 1912 – Patrick White, Australian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1990)

• 1912 – Herman Johannes, Indonesian scientist and politician (d. 1992)

• 1914 – W. G. G. Duncan Smith, British World War II pilot (d. 1996)

• 1915 – Joseph Greenberg, American linguist (d. 2001)

• 1916 – Walker Percy, American author (d. 1990)

• 1917 – Papa John Creech, American musician (d. 1994)

• 1918 – Johnny Wayne, Canadian comedian (Wayne and Shuster) (d. 1990)

• 1921 – Heinz G. Konsalik, German author (d. 1999)

• 1922 – Lou Duva, American boxing trainer

• 1923 – György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (d. 2006)

• 1923 – Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Indian actor and politician (d. 1998)

• 1925 – Bülent Ecevit, Prime Minister of Turkey (d. 2006)

• 1925 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone

• 1931 – Carroll Baker, American actress

• 1934 – Annette Dionne, Dionne quintuplets

• 1934 – Cecile Dionne, Dionne quintuplets

• 1934 – Emilie Dionne, Dionne quintuplets (d. 1954)

• 1934 – Marie Dionne, Dionne quintuplets (d. 1970)

• 1934 – Yvonne Dionne, Dionne quintuplets(d. 2001)

• 1936 – Betty Shabazz, American civil rights activist (d. 1997)

• 1936 – Claude Forget, French-Canadian politician

• 1938 – Jerry West, American basketball player

• 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican musician

• 1940 – Shlomo Riskin

• 1941 – Beth Howland, American actress

• 1942 – Stanley B. Prusiner, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

• 1943 – Terry Crisp, Canadian hockey coach

• 1943 – Elena Souliotis, Greek soprano (d. 2004)

• 1944 – Rudy Giuliani, 107th Mayor of New York City

• 1944 – Gladys Knight, American singer and actress

• 1944 – Patricia Quinn, Northern Irish actress

• 1944 – Gary Stewart, American singer (d. 2003)

• 1944 – Billy Vera, American actor and musician

• 1944 – Faith Brown, British actress

• 1945 – John Fogerty, American musician (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

• 1945 – Hunter "Patch" Adams, American doctor

• 1945 – John N. Bambacus, American politician

• 1946 – Satchidanandan, Indian poet

• 1946 – Skip Jutze, American baseball player

• 1947 – Sondra Locke, American actress

• 1947 – Zahi Hawass, Egyptian Egyptologist

• 1947 – Lynn Johnston, Canadian cartoonist

• 1949 – Wendy O. Williams, American musician (The Plasmatics) (d. 1998)

• 1950 – Ian Bradley, British writer and academic

• 1950 – Jim Harris, American professional wrestler

• 1952 – Russell J. Wintner, American film executive

• 1953 – Arto Lindsay, American guitarist and singer

• 1954 – John Tory, Canadian politician

• 1954 – Townsend Coleman, American voice actor

• 1954 – Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist (d. 1988)

• 1955 – John McGeoch, Scottish musician (Siouxsie & the Banshees) (d. 2004)

• 1955 – Mark Howe, American ice hockey player

• 1956 – Julie Peasgood, British actress

• 1956 – Jerry Douglas, American dobro player

• 1956 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (d. 1980)

• 1957 – Kirk Gibson, American baseball player

• 1957 – Ben Howland, American college basketball coach

• 1957 – Colin Barnes, English footballer

• 1959 – John Morgan, British etiquette expert (d. 2000)

• 1960 – Mark Sanford, 115th Governor of South Carolina & former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina

• 1962 – Roland Gift, English musician (Fine Young Cannibals)

• 1962 – Brandon Cruz, American actor

• 1962 – James Michael Tyler, American actor

• 1963 – Houman Younessi, Iranian-born scientist

• 1963 – Michelle Collins, British actress

• 1963 – Gavin Harrison, British drummer (Porcupine Tree)

• 1964 – Jeff Fenech, Australian boxer

• 1964 – Christa Miller, American actress

• 1964 – David Baddiel, British comedian and television presenter

• 1964 – Phil Vassar, American country music singer

• 1965 – Chris Ballew, American musician

• 1967 – Glen Rice, American basketball player

• 1968 – Kylie Minogue, Australian actress and singer

• 1969 – Mike DiFelice, American baseball player

• 1969 – Justin Kirk, American actor

• 1970 – Morgan Fox, Canadian model and 1990 Playboy playmate

• 1970 – Jimi Goodwin, English Musician (Doves)

• 1970 – Ian Cashmore, English actor and paranormal investigator

• 1970 – Glenn Quinn, Irish actor (d. 2002)

• 1970 – Bobby Bognar, American singer (The Piper Downs)

• 1971 – Isabelle Carré, French actress

• 1971 – Ekaterina Gordeeva, Russian figure skater

• 1971 – Monika Schnarre, Canadian model

• 1972 – Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist

• 1972 – Kate Ashfield, British actress

• 1972 – Doriva, Brazilian footballer

• 1974 – Alicia Minshew, American actress

• 1975 – Charmaine Sheh, Hong Kong actress

• 1976 – Glenn Morrison, Australian rugby league player

• 1976 – Alexei Nemov, Russian gymnast

• 1976 – Liam O'Brien, American voice actor

• 1977 – Jeremy Borash, American professional wrestling announcer

• 1977 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American television panelist (The View)

• 1979 – Jesse Bradford, American actor

• 1979 – Ronald Curry, American football player

• 1979 – Joeri Jansen, Belgian athlete

• 1979 – Monica Keena, American actress

• 1980 – Mark Feehily, Irish musician (Westlife)

• 1980 – Miguel Alfonso Pérez Aracil, Spanish footballer

• 1981 – Daniel Cabrera, Dominican baseball player

• 1981 – Adam Green, American singer-songwriter

• 1982 – Alexa Davalos, American actress

• 1982 – Jhonny Peralta, Dominican baseball player

• 1982 – Desiree del Valle, Filipina actress

• 1983 – Steve Cronin, American footballer

• 1983 – Toby Hemingway, British Actor

• 1983 – Humberto Sanchez, Dominican baseball player

• 1983 – Nick Dennis, Australian singer

• 1984 – Beth Allen, New Zealand actress

• 1985 – Colbie Caillat, American singer-songwriter

• 1986 – Berrick Barnes, Australian rugby player

• 1986 – Joseph Cross, American actor

• 1986 – Charles N'Zogbia, French footballer

• 1986 – Michael Oher, American football player

• 1988 – David Perron, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths

• 576 – Saint Germain of Paris (b. 496)

• 1357 – King Afonso IV of Portugal (b. 1291)

• 1556 – Saitō Dōsan, Japanese daimyo (b. 1494)

• 1672 – John Trevor, English politician (b. 1626)

• 1747 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French writer (b. 1715)

• 1750 – Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (b. 1720)

• 1787 – Leopold Mozart, Austrian composer (b. 1719)

• 1805 – Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer (b. 1743)

• 1808 – Richard Hurd, English Bishop of Worcester and writer (b. 1720)

• 1811 – Henry Dundas, British minister (b. 1742)

• 1816 – Ras Wolde Selassie, Ethiopian warlord

• 1828 – Daikokuya Kōdayū, Japanese castaway (b. 1751)

• 1843 – Noah Webster, American author and lexicographer (b. 1758)

• 1849 – Anne Brontë, English author (b. 1820)

• 1864 – Simion Bărnuţiu, Romanian philosopher and politician (b. 1808)

• 1878 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)

• 1916 – Ivan Franko, Ukrainian writer (b. 1856)

• 1927 – Boris Kustodiev, Russian painter (b. 1878)

• 1937 – Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (b. 1870)

• 1940 – Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (b. 1868)

• 1947 – August Eigruber, Austrian war criminal (b. 1907)

• 1948 – Unity Mitford, English fascist sympathizer (b. 1914)

• 1953 – Hori Tatsuo, Japanese writer (b. 1904)

• 1968 – Fyodor Matveyevich Okhlopkov, Yakut-born Soviet sniper (b. 1908)

• 1971 – Audie Murphy, American actor and war hero (b. 1924)

• 1971 – Jean Vilar, French actor (b. 1912)

• 1972 – King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)

• 1975 – Ezzard Charles, American heavyweight boxing champion (b. 1921)

• 1976 – Steffan Danielsen, Faroese painter (b. 1922)

• 1978 – Arthur Brough, English actor (b. 1905)

• 1980 – Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician (b. 1895)

• 1981 – Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński, Archbishop of Warsaw (b. 1901)

• 1982 – Lt Col 'H'. Jones VC, British soldier (Falklands War) (b. 1940)

• 1983 – Erastus Corning 2nd, American-born 72^nd Mayor of Albany, New York (b. 1909)

• 1984 – Eric Morecambe, British comedian (Morecambe and Wise) (b. 1926)

• 1988 – Sy Oliver, Jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader (b. 1910)

• 1993 – Billy Conn, American boxer and actor (b. 1917)

• 1994 – Julius Boros, American golfer (b. 1920)

• 1994 – Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr., American writer (b. 1916)

• 1998 – Phil Hartman, Canadian actor, comedian (b. 1948)

• 2001 – Francisco Varela, Chilean biologist and philosopher (b. 1946)

• 2001 – Joe Moakley, American-born Former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts (b. 1927)

• 2001 – Francis Bebey, Cameroonian-born French musician and novelist (b. 1929)

• 2002 – Jean Berger, German composer (b. 1909)

• 2003 – Oleg Makarov, cosmonaut (b. 1933)

• 2003 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian-born physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1917)

• 2003 – Martha Scott, American actress (b. 1912)

• 2004 – Umberto Agnelli, Swiss-born Italian automobile executive (b. 1934)

• 2004 – Francis Brunn, German juggler (b. 1922)

• 2006 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian author and ski jumper (b. 1920)

• 2007 – Marquise Hill, American football player (b. 1982)

• 2007 – Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Japanese politician (b. 1945)

• 2008 – Robert Justman, American television producer (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

• Azerbaijan and Armenia: Republic Day (both 1918).

• Ethiopia: Downfall of the Derg Day

• Philippines: National Flag Day

• Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:

• *Germain of Paris

• *Augustine of Canterbury

• *William of Gellone

• *Bernard of Menthon

• *Lanfranc