Events

• 1457 BC – Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC) between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh. It is the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.

• 1012 BC – Solar Eclipse seen at Ugarit, 6:09–6:39 PM.

• 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch bishop of Alexandria.

• 1092 – Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.

• 1450 – 'Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is assassinated.

• 1502 – Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his fourth and final journey to the New World.

• 1671 – Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

• 1726 – Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.

• 1868 – The city of Reno, Nevada, is founded.

• 1873 – Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds the Long Depression.

• 1874 – The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, traveling two routes.

• 1877 – Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.

• 1887 – Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.

• 1901 – Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.

• 1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100mph.

• 1911 – The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio placed by the Vatican in the Index of Forbidden Books.

• 1914 – J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3000 first-class wickets.

• 1915 – World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.

• 1920 – Polish-Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreschatyk.

• 1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd's diary seems to indicate that this did not happen).

• 1927 – The Australian Parliament first convenes in Canberra.

• 1933 – About 25,000 books, including at least one copy of the Bible, burned by the Nazis in Germany.

• 1936 – Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.

• 1937 – Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy took to the airwaves becoming an overnight radio sensation.

• 1940 – World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks the French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.

• 1941 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma cryptography machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.

• 1942 – Holocaust: The SS murder 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto is destroyed and all its inhabitants murdered or deported.

• 1945 – World War II: Ratification in Berlin-Karlshorst of the German unconditional surrender of May 8 in Rheims, France, with the signatures of Marshal Georgy Zhukov for the Soviet Union, and for the Western Headquarters Sir Arthur Tedder, British Air Marshal and Eisenhower’s deputy, and for the German side of Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as the representative of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as the Chief of Staff of OKW, and Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine.

• 1945 – World War II: General Alexander Löhr, commander of German Army Group E in Topolšica signs the unconditional surrender of German occupying forces in former Yugoslavia ending World War II in Slovenia.

• 1945 – World War II: Partisans liberate Ljubljana.

• 1945 – World War II: Hermann Göring is captured by the United States Army.

• 1945 – World War II: Vidkun Quisling is arrested in Norway.

• 1945 – World War II: The Red Army enters Prague (capitulation of Nazi occupation troops).

• 1945 – World War II: The Soviet Union marks Victory Day.

• 1945 – World War II: The Channel Islands are formally liberated by the British.

• 1946 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Humbert II.

• 1949 – Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco.

• 1950 – Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the "Schuman declaration", is considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.

• 1950 – L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is released.

• 1955 – Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.

• 1955 – Sam and Friends debuts on a local United States television channel, marking the first television appearance of both Jim Henson and what would become Kermit the Frog and The Muppets.

• 1956 – First ascent of Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain.

• 1960 – The FDA announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.

• 1961 – Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings.

• 1970 – Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.

• 1974 – Watergate Scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.

• 1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. 35 people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.

• 1980 – In Norco, California, five masked gunman hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.

• 1980 – The first meeting of Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury takes place in Ghana.

• 1987 – A Polish LOT Ilyushin IL-62M "Tadeusz Kościuszko" (SP-LBG) crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing 183 people.

• 1988 – The new Australian Parliament House opens in Canberra.

• 1992 – Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Karabakh War.

• 2001 – In Ghana 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium)that followed a controversial decision by the referee handling a crucial match between arch-rivals Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.

• 2002 – The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries.

• 2002 – In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb explodes during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130.

• 2004 – Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed in a land mine bomb blast under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya.

• 2006 – Estonia ratifies the European Constitution.

Births

• 1147 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1199)

• 1741 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (d. 1816)

• 1800 – John Brown, American abolitionist (d. 1859)

• 1837 – Adam Opel, German engineer and industrialist (d. 1895)

• 1860 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (d. 1937)

• 1866 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Leader of Indian Independence Movement (d. 1915)

• 1873 – Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1933)

• 1874 – Howard Carter, British archaeologist (d. 1939)

• 1882 – George Barker, American painter (d. 1965)

• 1882 – Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder (d. 1967)

• 1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (d. 1955)

• 1886 – Francis Biddle, United States Attorney General (d. 1968)

• 1887 – Sir Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan Philanthropist (d. 1957)

• 1892 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria-Hungary (d. 1989)

• 1893 – William Moulton Marston, American psychologist, writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman) (d. 1947)

• 1895 – Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d. 1963)

• 1895 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)

• 1888 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector and museum director (d. 1964)

• 1907 – Kathryn Kuhlman, famed evangelist (d. 1976)

• 1907 – Baldur von Schirach, Nazi official (d. 1974)

• 1907 – Fred Warngård, Swedish athlete (d. 1950)

• 1908 – Mary Goldsmith, American ceramist (d. 2007)

• 1909 – Don Messer, Canadian country musician (d. 1973)

• 1912 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor (d. 1963)

• 1912 – Per Imerslund, Norwegian writer (d. 1943)

• 1914 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian musician and conductor (d. 2005)

• 1914 – Hank Snow, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 1999)

• 1918 – Moisis Michail Bourlas, Greek member of the World War II resistance

• 1918 – Orville L. Freeman, American politician (d. 2003)

• 1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist

• 1919 – Arthur English, English actor and comedian (d. 1995)

• 1920 – Richard Adams, English author

• 1920 – William Tenn, American author

• 1921 – Daniel Berrigan, American peace activist

• 1921 – Sophie Scholl, resistance fighter in Nazi Germany (d. 1943)

• 1921 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet (d. 2004)

• 1923 – Johnny Grant, American radio personality, television producer (d. 2008)

• 1924 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian writer and musician (d. 1997)

• 1927 – Manfred Eigen, German biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

• 1928 – Ralph Goings, American painter

• 1928 – Pancho Gonzalez, American tennis player (d. 1995)

• 1928 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater

• 1929 – Kay Dotrice, British actress (d. 2007)

• 1930 – Joan Sims, British actress (d. 2001)

• 1931 – Vance Brand, American astronaut

• 1932 – Geraldine McEwan, English actress

• 1933 – Jessica Steele, English romance novelist

• 1934 – Alan Bennett, British author

• 1935 – Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (The Ventures)

• 1935 – Roger Hargreaves, English children's author (Mr. Men) (d. 1988)

• 1936 – Albert Finney, British actor

• 1936 – Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician

• 1937 – José Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect

• 1937 – David Prater, American singer (Sam & Dave) (d. 1988)

• 1938 – Charles Simic, Yugoslavian-born poet, 15th Poet Laureate of the United States

• 1939 – Ralph Boston, American athlete

• 1939 – Pierre Desproges, French humorist (d. 1988)

• 1939 – Ion Ţiriac, Romanian tennis manager

• 1940 – James L. Brooks, American film producer and writer

• 1942 – John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General

• 1942 – Tommy Roe, American singer and songwriter

• 1943 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish journalist, writer, and historian (d. 2009)

• 1944 – Richie Furay, American musician (Poco and Buffalo Springfield)

• 1945 – Steve Katz, American musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears)

• 1946 – Candice Bergen, American actress

• 1946 – Clint Holmes, English-born American singer and songwriter

• 1948 – Hans Georg Bock, German mathematician

• 1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player

• 1949 – Billy Joel, American musician

• 1951 – Alley Mills, American actress

• 1953 – Bruno Brokken, Belgian high jumper

• 1955 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (d. 1991)

• 1955 – Anne-Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano

• 1955 – Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia

• 1956 – Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress

• 1960 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player

• 1962 – John Corbett, American actor

• 1962 – David Gahan, English singer (Depeche Mode)

• 1962 – Paul Heaton, English singer/songwriter (Beautiful South)

• 1963 – Sanja Doležal, Croatian singer (Novi fosili)

• 1964 – Kevin Saunderson, American music producer and disc jockey

• 1965 – Ken Nomura, Japanese racing driver

• 1965 – Janu Tornell, American model and Survivor contestant

• 1965 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1968 – Marie-José Perec, French athlete

• 1969 – Amber, Dutch musician

• 1969 – Hudson Leick, American actress

• 1970 – Doug Christie, American basketball player

• 1970 – Ghostface Killah, American rapper

• 1971 – Paul McGuigan, English bassist (Oasis)

• 1972 – Dana Perino, former White House press secretary

• 1972 – Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and artist

• 1972 – Daniela Silivaş, Romanian gymnast and Olympic Champion

• 1973 – Chu Sang-mi, South Korean actress

• 1975 – Brian Deegan, freestyle motocross innovator

• 1975 – Chris Diamantopoulos, Canadian actor

• 1975 – Tamia, Canadian singer

• 1977 – Choi Jeong-yoon, South Korean actress

• 1977 – Maggie Dixon, American college basketball coach (d. 2006)

• 1977 – Iñigo Landaluze, Spanish cyclist

• 1978 – Leandro Damián Cufré, Argentine footballer

• 1978 – Aaron Harang, American baseball player

• 1979 – Dionysis Boukouvalas, Greek composer, pianist and musicologist

• 1979 – Pierre Bouvier, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)

• 1979 – Rosario Dawson, American actress

• 1979 – Matt Morris, American singer-songwriter

• 1979 – Andrew W.K., American musician

• 1979 – Brandon Webb, American baseball player

• 1980 – Jo Hyeon-jae, South Korean actor

• 1980 – Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer

• 1980 – Angela Nikodinov, American figure skater

• 1980 – Tony Schmidt, German racing driver

• 1981 – Bill Murphy, American baseball player

• 1981 – Yu Yokoyama, Japanese actor and singer

• 1982 – Rachel Boston, American actress

• 1983 – Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player

• 1983 – Ryuhei Matsuda, Japanese actor

• 1983 – Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player

• 1984 – Prince Fielder, American baseball player

• 1985 – Jake Long, American football player

• 1985 – Audrina Patridge, American actress

• 1988 – Skye Regan, Canadian actress and writer

• 1988 – John Ryan Fitzpatrick, Canadian race truck driver

• 1992 – Chris Gutierrez, Filipino actor

• 1993 – Ryosuke Yamada, Japanese actor and singer

• 1997 – Zane Huett, American actor

Deaths

• 1315 – Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1282)

• 1446 – Mary of Enghien, Queen of Naples (b. 1368)

• 1657 – William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony (b. 1590)

• 1707 – Dieterich Buxtehude, German composer

• 1745 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer(b. 1663)

• 1747 – John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and diplomat (b. 1673)

• 1760 – Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (b. 1700)

• 1789 – Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French artillery specialist (b. 1715)

• 1790 – William Clingan, American delegate to the Continental Congress

• 1791 – Francis Hopkinson, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1737)

• 1805 – Friedrich Schiller, German poet and historian (b. 1759)

• 1861 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (b. 1805)

• 1889 – William S. Harney, U.S. general (b. 1800)

• 1914 – C.W. Post, American food manufacturer (b. 1854)

• 1915 – François Faber, Luxembourgish cyclist (b. 1887)

• 1918 – George Coşbuc, Romanian poet (b. 1866)

• 1931 – Albert Abraham Michelson, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)

• 1938 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish industrialist (b. 1866)

• 1949 – Prince Louis II of Monaco (b. 1870)

• 1950 – Esteban Terradas i Illa, Catalan mathematician, scientist, and engineer (b. 1883)

• 1955 – Kate Booth, the oldest daughter of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1858)

• 1957 – Ezio Pinza, Italian bass (b. 1892)

• 1965 – Leopold Figl, Austrian politician (b. 1902)

• 1968 – Mercedes de Acosta, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (b. 1893)

• 1968 – Finlay Currie, British actor (b. 1878)

• 1968 – Marion Lorne, American actress (b. 1885)

• 1970 – Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (b. 1884)

• 1970 – Walter Reuther, American labor leader (b. 1907)

• 1976 – Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (b. 1920)

• 1976 – Ulrike Meinhof, German revolutionist (b. 1934)

• 1977 – James Jones, American writer (b. 1921)

• 1978 – Aldo Moro, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)

• 1979 – Cyrus Eaton, Canadian-American businessman and industrialist (b. 1883)

• 1981 – Ralph Allen, English footballer (b. 1906)

• 1985 – Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b. 1915)

• 1986 – Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa and 1st sherpa to climb Mt. Everest (b. 1914)

• 1989 – Keith Whitley, American country music singer (b. 1955)

• 1993 – Jacques Dextraze, French Canadian military officer (b. 1919)

• 1994 – Elias Motsoaledi, South African freedom fighter (b. 1924)

• 1997 – Marco Ferreri, Italian film director (b. 1928)

• 1998 – Alice Faye, American actress (b. 1915)

• 2001 – James E. Myers, American songwriter (Rock Around the Clock) and producer (b. 1919)

• 2002 – Dan Devine, American football coach (b. 1924)

• 2003 – Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator from Louisiana (b. 1918)

• 2004 – Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen president (b. 1951)

• 2004 – Alan King, American comedian (b. 1927)

• 2005 – Nasrat Parsa, Afghani singer (b. 1969)

• 2007 – Dwight Wilson, second-to-last Canadian WWI veteran (b. 1901)

• 2007 – Edith Rodriguez, hospital emergency room refused to treat (b. 1964)

• 2008 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league footballer and coach (b. 1929)

• 2008 – Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist (b. 1942)

• 2009 – Chuck Daly, American basketball coach (b. 1930)

• 2009 – Evgenios Spatharis, Greek shadow theatre artist (b. 1924)

Holidays and observances

• Armenia: Victory Day to simultaneously mark the capture of Shusha in the Karabakh War and the victorious end of World War II.

• Europe Day (aka the European Union Day), commemorating the Schuman Declaration.

• Guernsey, Jersey: Liberation Day (commemorating the end of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II).

• Romania: Independence Day

• Roman Empire – Feast of the Lemures (See Lemures).

• Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Moldova and other Post-Soviet states: Victory Day (also observed by many Russophones in other parts of the world)

• Scientology: Anniversary of Dianetics

• Eastern Orthodox Church: Saint Christopher (Αγιος Χριστόφορος)

• Beatus of Lungern

• Beatus of Vendome

• Saint Gerontius (d. 501)

• Saint Pachomius (d. 346)

• Saint Tudi

• Saint George Preca (d. 1962)