May 30
May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). There are 215 days remaining.
Events
- 1416 - The Catholic Church burns Jerome of Prague as a heretic.
- 1431 - In Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by a pro-English tribunal.
- 1434 - Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were defeated and almost annihilated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars.
- 1536 - King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.
- 1539 - In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
- 1574 - Henry III becomes King of France.
- 1588 - The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.
- 1806 - Andrew Jackson kills a man in a duel after the man had accused Jackson's wife of bigamy.
- 1814 - The First Treaty of Paris is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent. Napoleon I of France is exiled to Elba on the same day.
- 1854 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.
- 1871 - The Paris Commune falls.
- 1868 - Memorial Day (then known as "Decoration Day") is observed in the United States for the first time (it was proclaimed on May 5 by General John Logan).
- 1876 - Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.
- 1879 - New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
- 1883 - In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede which crushes twelve people.
- 1911 - At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race in his Marmon Wasp.
- 1913 - First Balkan War: A peace treaty is signed in London ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.
- 1922 - In Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.
- 1935 - Babe Ruth plays in his last baseball game, in the uniform of the Boston Braves.
- 1941 - World War II: Germany captures Crete.
- 1942 - World War II: 1000 British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.
- 1948 - A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
- 1958 - The bodies of several unidentified soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.
- 1967 - At the Ascot Speedway in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined-up in a row.
- 1967 - The Nigerian state of Biafra secedes, sparking a civil war.
- 1971 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.
- 1972 - The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.
- 1972 - In Tel Aviv, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
- 1982 - Baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr plays the first of 2,632 consecutive games. His streak will end on September 20, 1998.
- 1982 - Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the first nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955.
- 1989 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
- 1998 - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.
- 1999 - Kenny Bräck wins the 83rd Indianapolis 500
- 2003 - The final flight of an Air France Concorde takes place.
- 2004 - Buddy Rice wins a rain-shortened 88th Indianapolis 500
Births
- 1672 - Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia (d. 1725)
- 1814 - Michael Bakunin, Russian anarchist (d. 1876)
- 1879 - Colin Blythe, Kent and England left arm spinner (d. 1917)
- 1882 - Wyndham Halswelle, British runner
- 1895 - Maurice Tate, Sussex and England all-rounder (d. 1956)
- 1896 - Howard Hawks, American film director (d. 1977)
- 1899 - Irving Thalberg, American film producer (d. 1936)
- 1901 - Cornelia Otis Skinner, Broadway producer, writer, director, and actress (d. 1979)
- 1902 - Stepin Fetchit, American dancer and actor (d. 1985)
- 1907 - Elly Beinhorn, pilot
- 1908 - Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- 1908 - Mel Blanc, American voice actor (d. 1989)
- 1909 - Benny Goodman, American clarinetist and bandleader (d. 1986)
- 1910 - Inge Meysel, German actress (b. 2004)
- 1912 - Julius Axelrod, American biochemist
- 1912 - Joseph Stein, playwright
- 1912 - Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (d. 1980)
- 1912 - Erich Bagge, German physicist
- 1920 - Franklin Schaffner, American film director (d. 1989)
- 1920 - Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (d. 1978)
- 1922 - Hal Clement, American science fiction writer (d. 2003)
- 1926 - Christine Jorgensen, transsexual activist (d. 1989)
- 1927 - Clint Walker, actor
- 1934 - Aleksei Leonov, cosmonaut and first person to walk in space
- 1936 - Keir Dullea, American actor
- 1939 - Michael J. Pollard, American actor
- 1943 - Gale Sayers, American football star
- 1951 - Stephen Tobolowsky, actor
- 1953 - Colm Meaney, Irish actor (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine)
- 1955 - Topper Headon, British musician, drummer with The Clash
- 1964 - Wynonna Judd, American country music singer
- 1964 - Tom Morello, Bandmember of Audioslave
- 1972 - Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox baseball player
- 1973 - Leigh Francis (aka Avid Merrion), British comedian.
- 1980 - Steven Gerrard English footballer
Deaths
- 1252 - King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon (b. 1198/1199)
- 1416 - Jerome of Prague, Czech theologian (b. 1379)
- 1431 - Joan of Arc, French commander and saint (burned at the stake by a pro-English tribunal) (b. 1412)
- 1574 - King Charles IX of France (b. 1550)
- 1576 - Harada Naomasa, Japanese retainer and samurai under Oda Nobunaga
- 1593 - Christopher Marlowe, English playwright (b. 1564)
- 1640 - Peter Paul Rubens, Belgian (Flemish) painter (b. 1577)
- 1770 - François Boucher, French painter (b. 1703)
- 1744 - Alexander Pope, English poet, and writer (b. 1688)
- 1778 - Voltaire, French philosopher, author (b. 1694)
- 1865 - John Catron, associate justice of the United States
- 1951 - Hermann Broch, Austrian author (b. 1886)
- 1953 - Dooley Wilson, American musician, actor
- 1960 - Boris Pasternak, Russian author (b. 1890)
- 1961 - Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic (b. 1891)
- 1964 - Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-American nuclear physicist (b. 1898)
- 1967 - Claude Rains, English actor (b. 1889)
- 1971 - Marcel Dupré, French composer (b. 1886)
- 1975 - Steve Prefontaine, American distance runner (b. 1951)
- 1986 - Perry Ellis, fashion designer
- 1993 - Sun Ra, American musician (b. 1914)
- 2000 - Tex Beneke, bandleader, singer, saxophone player
- 2003 - Mickie Most, English musician (b. 1938)
- 2003 - Hans Peter Willberg, literature critic
- 2005 - Futagoyama Oyakata, former Takanohana II, The Prince of Sumo
- 2005 - Tomasz Pacyński, Polish science fiction and fantasy writer (b. 1958)
Holidays and observances
- United States - Memorial Day (originally - currently last Monday in May)
- Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day in Fiji (last Monday in May)
External links
May 29 - May 31 - April 30 - June 30 - listing of all days