May 30: Encyclopedia II - May 30 - Events

May 30 - Events

May 30 - Political

• 1416 - The Roman Catholic Church burns Jerome of Prague as a heretic.
• 1431 - In Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake.
• 1536 - King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.
• 1574 - Henry III becomes King of France.
• 1635 - Peace of Prague (30 Years War)
• 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.
• 1883 - In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede which crushes twelve people.
• 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.
• 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 - The Nigerian state of Biafra secedes, sparking a civil war.
• 1969 - Riots on the Caribbean island of Curaçao.
• 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 - 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.
• 2003 - The final flight of an Air France Concorde takes place.

May 30 - Military

• 1434 - Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were defeated and almost annihilated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars.
• 1539 - In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
• 1588 - The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.
• 1941 - World War II: Germany captures Crete.
• 1942 - World War II: 1000 British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.

May 30 - Scientific

• 1971 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.

May 30 - Natural Disasters

• 1879 - An F4 tornado struck Irving, Kansas, killing 18 and injuring 60.
• 1948 - A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
• 1998 - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.
• 2002 - Three mountain climbers are killed when they fall into a crevasse and their rescue helicopter subsequently crashes into the mountain side and goes into a roll.

May 30 - Sports

• 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.
• 1911 - At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500-Mile Race for automobiles ends with Ray Harroun becoming the first winner in his Marmon Wasp.
• 1912 - Joe Dawson wins the second Indianapolis 500-Mile Race after Ralph DePalma's Mercedes breaks down within sight of the finish; Dawson's two laps in the lead are the fewest ever in a single race by a winner.
• 1935 - Babe Ruth plays in his last baseball game, in the uniform of the Boston Braves.
• 1967 - At the Ascot Speedway in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined-up in a row.
• 1976 - Johnny Rutherford wins a rain-shortened 60th Indianapolis 500 at the 102 lap (255 mile) mark, the shortest race in event history.
• 1982 - Baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr plays the first of 2,632 consecutive games. His streak will end on September 20, 1998.

May 30 - Cultural

• 1998 - Ginger Spice leaves the Spice Girls.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Events", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki