1923 – The 24 Hours of Le Mans is held for the first time – Only three competitors completed the race in 1923. The winners were André Lagarde and Albert Leonard of France, who covered 2210 kilometers in 24 hours.
0017 – Germanicus of Rome celebrated his victory over the Germans.
0451 – The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place. The Armenians are defeated militarily but are guaranteed freedom to openly practice Christianity.
0553 – Moon Jaguar becomes the 10th ruler of the Maya city of Copán (modern Honduras), will reign for 25 years
1328 – William of Ockham, Franciscan Minister-General Michael of Cesena and two other Franciscan leaders secretly leave Avignon, fearing a death sentence from Pope John XXII.
1521 – Martin Luther was banned by the Edict of Worms because of his religious beliefs and writings.
1538 – Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city. Calvin lives in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years.
1637 – Pequot War: A combined Protestant and Mohegan force under German Captain John Mason attacks a Pequot village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Native Americans
1647 – Alse Young becomes the first person executed as a witch in the American colonies, when she is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut
1660 – King Charles II of England landed at Dover after being exiled for nine years.
1691 – Jacob Leiser, leader of the popular uprising in support of William and Mary’s accession to the English throne, was executed for treason.
1736 – The British and Chickasaw Indians defeated the French at the Battle of Ackia.
1770 – The Orlov Revolt, a first attempt to revolt against the Turks before the Greek War of Independence ends in disaster for the Greeks.
1790 – Territory South of River Ohio created by US Congress
1791 – The French Assembly forced King Louis XVI to hand over the crown and state assets.
1796 – French garrison of Fort Charlotte on island of St Lucia surrenders to British forces, 2780 mostly black prisoners of war board ships to England
1798 – British kill about 500 Irish insurgents at the Battle of Tara
1805 – Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned King of Italy in Milan Cathedral.
1828 – Mysterious feral child Kaspar Hauser is discovered wandering the streets of Nuremberg.
1830 – The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.
1835 – A resolution was passed in the U.S. Congress stating that Congress has no authority over state slavery laws.
1836 – The U.S. House of Representatives adopted what has been called the Gag Rule.
1857 – US slave Dred Scott and family freed by owner Henry Taylor Blow, only 3 months after US courts ruled against them in Dred Scott v. Sandford
1864 – The Territory of Montana was organized.
1865 – Arrangements were made in New Orleans for the surrender of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi.
1868 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson was acquitted, by one vote, of all charges in his impeachment trial.
1896 – The last czar of Russia, Nicholas II, was crowned.
1904 – In two days of bitter fighting, the Japanese Army soundly defeats the Russians at Kinchan and captures the forts at Nanshan
1908 – At Masjed Soleyman ( ) in southwest Persia, the first major commercial oil strike in the Middle East is made. The rights to the resource are quickly acquired by the United Kingdom.
1913 – Actors’ Equity Association was organized in New York City.
1919 – The Supreme Council of Allies, meeting at Versailles, decides to recognize two White Russian leaders, Admiral Kolchak and General Denikin, and support them against the Bolsheviks
1923 – The 24 Hours of Le Mans is held for the first time – Only three competitors completed the race in 1923. The winners were André Lagarde and Albert Leonard of France, who covered 2210 kilometers in 24 hours.
1924 – President Coolidge signs Immigration Law (restricting immigration)
1926 – In Morocco, rebel leader Abd el Krim surrendered.
1930 – Supreme Court rules buying liquor does not violate the Constitution
1935 – Police kill 10, wound 100 in the “Memorial Day Massacre” in South Chicago.
1938 – The House Committee on Un-American Activities began its work of searching for subversives in the United States.
1940 – The evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, began during World War II.
1942 – Belgian Jews are required by Nazis to wear a Jewish star
1945 – US drop fire bombs on Tokyo
1946 – British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed a military pact with Russian leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin promised a “close collaboration after the war.”
1948 – The U.S. Congress passed Public Law 557 which permanently established the Civil Air Patrol as the Auxiliary of the new U.S. Air Force.
1956 – The first trailer bank opened for business in Locust Grove, Long Island, NY. The 46-foot-long trailer took in $100,000 in deposits its first day.
1958 – Union Square, San Francisco became a state historical landmark.
1959 – The word “Frisbee” became a registered trademark of Wham-O.
1961 – Civil rights activist group Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee was established in Atlanta, GA.
1969 – The Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth after a successful eight-day dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.
1972 – The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) was signed by the U.S. and USSR. The short-term agreement put a freeze on the testing and deployment of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles for a 5-year period.
1975 – American stuntman Evel Knievel suffered severe spinal injuries in Britain when he crashed while attempting to jump 13 buses in his car.
1977 – George H. Willig was arrested after he scaled the South Tower of New York’s World Trade Center. It took him 3 1/2 hours.
1978 – The first legal casino in the Eastern U.S. opened in Atlantic City, NJ.
1981 – The Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
1987 – Sri Lanka launched Operation Liberation. It was an offensive against the Tamil rebellion in Jaffra.
1989 – Danish parliament allows legal marriage among homosexuals
1992 – Charles Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems, Inc. was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Adobe parking lot in Mountain View, California for $650,000 and is held hostage in a rented house in Hollister, California. The FBI rescues him four days later.
1994 – U.S. President Clinton renewed trade privileges for China, and announced that his administration would no longer link China’s trade status with its human rights record.
1998 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police officers in high-speed chases are liable for bystander injuries only if their “actions shock the conscience.”
2002 – The Mars Odyssey finds signs of huge water ice deposits on the planet Mars.
2004 – The New York Times publishes admission of journalistic failings, claims its flawed reporting and lack of skeptism during buildup to 2003 Iraq War helped promote belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
2012 – Pope Benedict XVI’s butler is arrested for allegedly leaking confidential documents
2014 – Protests across Thailand in response to military coup; General Prayuth warns of a crackdown in demonstrations continue
2018 – Ireland votes to repeal their 8th amendment to allow legalized abortion, 66.4% vote yes
2020 – Costa Rica becomes the first county in Central America to legalize same-sex marriage
2021 – A super “blood” moon, the first total lunar eclipse for two years, visible across the Pacific
2023 – At least 828 civilians have now died and 3,688 have been injured over six weeks of fighting in Sudan, according to the Sudanese American Physicians Association
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
