May 30
May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (151st in
leap years). There are 215 days remaining.
*
1416 - The
Roman Catholic Church burns
Jerome of Prague following a trial for
heresy.
*
1431 - In
Rouen,
France, 19-year-old
Joan of Arc is
burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal.
May 30 is now her feast day as a
saint of the
Roman Catholic Church.
*
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.
*
1635 -
Peace of Prague (1635) (
30 Years War).
*
1806 -
Andrew Jackson kills
Charles Dickinson 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.
*
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 A. Logan).
*
1871 - The
Paris Commune falls.
*
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 Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at
26th Street and
Madison Avenue.
*1879 - An
F4 tornado strikes
Irving,
Kansas, killing 18 and injuring 60.
*
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.
*
1914 - New & then largest
Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sails on her maiden voyage from
Liverpool, England to
New York City.
*
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.
*
1969 - Riots on the
Caribbean island of
Curaçao*
1970 -
Jimi Hendrix plays at
Berkeley Community Theatre one of the last live performances before his death.
*
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.
*
1975 -
Bob Watson, of the
Houston Astros scores the 1,000,000th run in baseball history.
*
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.
*
2003 - The final flight of an
Air France Concorde takes place.
*
1010 -
Emperor Renzong of China (d.
1063)
*
1423 -
Georg Purbach, German mathematician and astronomer (d.
1461)
*
1623 -
John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, English politician (d.
1686)
*
1672 (O.S.) -
Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia (d.
1725)
*
1718 -
Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician (d.
1793)
*
1719 -
Roger Newdigate, English politician (d.
1806)
*
1814 -
Michael Bakunin, Russian anarchist (d.
1876)
* 1814 -
Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian mathematician (d.
1894)
*
1858 -
Siegfried Alkan, German composer (d.
1941)
*
1878 -
Mike Donlin, baseball player (d.
1933)
*
1879 -
Colin Blythe, English cricketer (d.
1917)
*
1881 -
Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (d.
1968)
*
1882 -
Wyndham Halswelle, Scottish runner (d.
1915)
*
1895 -
Maurice Tate, English cricketer (d.
1956)
*
1896 -
Howard Hawks, American film director (d.
1977)
*
1899 -
Irving Thalberg, American film producer (d.
1936)
*
1901 -
Cornelia Otis Skinner, American writer and actress (d.
1979)
*
1902 -
Stepin Fetchit, American dancer and actor (d.
1985)
*
1906 -
Bruno Gröning, a faith healer in Germany (d.
1959)
*
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 (d.
2004)
*
1912 -
Julius Axelrod, American biochemist and
Nobel laureate (d.
2004)
* 1912 -
Erich Bagge, German physicist
* 1912 -
Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (d.
1980)
*
1918 -
Guadalupe "Pita" Amor, Mexican poet (d.
2000)
*
1920 -
Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete (d.
1978)
* 1920 -
Franklin Schaffner, American film director (d.
1989)
*
1922 -
Hal Clement, American writer (d.
2003)
*
1926 -
Christine Jorgensen, activist (d.
1989)
*
1927 -
Clint Walker, American actor
*
1928 -
Agnès Varda, French director
*
1934 -
Aleksei Leonov, cosmonaut
*
1936 -
Keir Dullea, American actor
*
1939 -
Michael J. Pollard, American actor
*
1943 -
James Chaney, American civil rights activist (d.
1964)
* 1943 -
Gale Sayers, American football player
*
1944 -
Meredith MacRae, American actress (d.
2000)
*
1947 -
Vashti Murphy McKenzie, bishop
*
1950 -
Bertrand Delanoë, French politician
*
1951 -
Stephen Tobolowsky, American actor
* 1951 -
Zdravko Čolić, Bosnian singer
*
1953 -
Colm Meaney, Irish actor
*
1955 -
Topper Headon, British musician (
The Clash)
*
1958 -
Marie Fredriksson, Swedish singer and songwriter (
Roxette)
*
1961 -
Harry Enfield, British comedian
*
1964 -
Wynonna Judd, American singer
* 1964 -
Tom Morello, American musician (
Audioslave,
Rage Against The Machine)
*
1966 -
Stephen Malkmus, American musician (
Pavement)
*
1971 -
Idina Menzel, American actress and singer
*
1972 -
Manny Ramirez, Dominican
Major League Baseball player
*
1973 -
Leigh Francis, British comedian
*
1974 -
Cee-Lo, American musician
*
1977 -
Rachael Stirling, British actress
* 1977 -
Fabrice Akwa, Angolan footballer
*
1979 -
Rie Kugimiya, Japanese
seiyuu (voice actress)
*
1980 -
Steven Gerrard, English footballer
*
1981 -
Devendra Banhart, American singer and songwriter
*
1159 -
Wladislaus II the Exile of Poland (b.
1105)
*
1252 - King
Ferdinand III of Castile*
1416 -
Jerome of Prague, Czech theologian (executed) (b.
1379)
*
1431 -
Joan of Arc, French peasant girl that joined the French royal army, heroine and saint (burned at the stake) (b.
1412)
*
1434 -
Prokop the Great,
Hussite general
*
1469 -
Lope de Barrientos â€"a powerful
bishop in
Castile*
1574 - King
Charles IX of France (b.
1550)
*
1576 -
Harada Naomasa, Japanese retainer and samurai
*
1593 -
Christopher Marlowe, English playwright (b.
1564)
*
1640 -
Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter (b.
1577)
*
1696 -
Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell, First Lord of the British Admiralty (b.
1638)
*
1718 -
Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, Dutch favorite of
William III of England (b.
1670)
*
1730 -
Arabella Churchill, English mistress of
James II of England (b.
1648)
*
1744 -
Alexander Pope, English writer (b.
1688)
*
1770 -
François Boucher, French painter (b.
1703)
*
1778 -
Voltaire, French philosopher and author (b.
1694)
*
1865 -
John Catron, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
*
1868 -
Souji Okita, 1st Captain of the Shinsengumi (b.
1823*
1901 -
Victor D'Hondt, Belgian mathematician (b.
1841)
*
1912 - Wilbur Wright, Aviation pioneer (
Wright Brothers) (b.
1867)
*
1925 -
Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian (b.
1876)
*
1926 -
Vladimir Steklov, Russian physicist (b.
1864)
*
1934 -
Togo Heihachiro, Japanese admiral (b.
1848)
*
1941 -
Prajadhipok, Rama VII, king of Thailand (b.
1893)
*
1951 -
Hermann Broch, Austrian author (b.
1886)
*
1953 -
Dooley Wilson, American musician and actor (b.
1886)
*
1955 -
Bill Vukovich, Auto racer, killed during 1955
Indianapolis 500 (b.
1918)
*
1960 -
Boris Pasternak, Russian writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (b.
1890)
*
1961 -
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic (b.
1891)
*
1964 -
Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-born nuclear physicist (b.
1898)
*
1964 -
Eddie Sachs, American auto racer, killed during 1964
Indianapolis 500 (b.
1927)
*
1967 -
Claude Rains, English actor (b.
1889)
*
1971 -
Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (b.
1886)
*
1975 -
Steve Prefontaine, American runner (b.
1951)
* 1975 -
Michel Simon, French actor (b.
1895)
*
1980 -
Carl Radle, American bass guitarist (b.
1942)
*
1981 -
Ziaur Rahman, President of Bangladesh (b.
1936)
*
1986 -
Perry Ellis, American fashion designer (b.
1940)
*
1993 -
Sun Ra, American musician (b.
1914)
*
2000 -
Tex Beneke, American bandleader, singer, and saxophone player (b.
1914)
*
2003 -
Mickie Most, English musician (b.
1938)
*
2005 -
Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer (b.
1958)
*
2006 -
Shohei Imamura, Japanese film director (b.
1926)
*
Trinidad and Tobago –
Indian Arrival Day (National Holiday).
*
Peru –
National Potato Day [
1].
*
United States –
Memorial Day (originally – currently last
Monday in
May).
Liturgical feasts
*
Saint Ferdinand III*
Saint Gabinus*
Saint Jeanne d'Arc*
Saint Reinhilde*
BBC: On This Day*
On this day in CanadaMay 29 -
May 31 -
April 30 -
June 30 -
listing of all days
