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Encyclopedia: May 30

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is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). There are 215 days remaining.

Events

*1416 - The Roman Catholic Church burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.
*1431 - Hundred Years' War: In Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal.
*1434 - Hussite Wars (Bohemian Wars): Battle of Lipany - Effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bořek of Miletínek defeat and almost annihilated Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.
*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 - Thirty Years' War: Peace of Prague (1635) signed.
*1806 - Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel after the man had accused Jackson's wife of bigamy.
*1814 - Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition - Treaty of Paris (1814) signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent.
*1854 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.
*1868 - Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") observed in the United States for the first time (By "Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic" John A. Logan's proclaimation on May 5).
*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: Treaty of London, 1913 signed 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 - Memorial Day: 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 Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, 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 launched to Map 70% of the surface and study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface of 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 magnitude 6.6 http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/1998/eq_980530/ earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.
*2003 - The final flight of an Air France Concorde.

Births

*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)
*1757 - Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1844)
*1814 - Mikhail Bakunin, Russian anarchist (d. 1876)
* 1814 - Eugène Charles Catalan, Belgian mathematician (d. 1894)
*1858 - Siegfried Alkan, German composer (d. 1941)
*1875 - Giovanni Gentile, Italian philosopher (d. 1944)
*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)
*1886 - Randolph Bourne, American writer (d. 1918)
*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, German faith healer (d. 1959)
*1907 - Elly Beinhorn, German 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 (d. 2004)
*1912 - Julius Axelrod, American biochemist and Nobel Prize 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,(born George William Jorgensen, Jr.), American activist (d. 1989)
*1927 - Clint Walker, American actor
*1928 - Agnès Varda, French director
*1934 - Aleksei Leonov, Russian 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, African Methodist Episcopal Church 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
*1962 - Kevin Eastman American Comic Book Creator
*1964 - Wynonna Judd, American singer
* 1964 - Tom Morello, American guitarist (Audioslave, Rage Against The Machine)
* 1964 - Andrea Montermini, Italian racing driver
*1966 - Stephen Malkmus, American musician (Pavement)
*1970 - Flora Chan, Hong Kong television actress
*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
* 1974 - Big L, American rap artist
* 1974 - Shin Ha-kyun, South Korean actor
*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
* 1981 - Gianmaria Bruni, Italian racing driver

Deaths

*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 —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, United States 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 and Dave MacDonald, American auto racers, 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 record producer (b. 1938)
*2005 - Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer (b. 1958)
*2006 - Shohei Imamura, Japanese film director (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances

* Trinidad and Tobago – Indian Arrival Day (National Holiday).
* Peru – National Potato Day http://www.cipotato.org/news_more.asp?cod=11&lang=eng.
* United States – Memorial Day (originally – currently last Monday in May).

Liturgical feasts

*Saint Ferdinand III
*Saint Gabinus
*Saint Joan of Arc
*Saint Reinhilde

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links