May 30

Historic Events

2024

Donald Trump is convicted of falsifying business records in his New York trial, the first time a former President of the United States has been found guilty in a criminal case. ›

2020

Crew Dragon Demo-2 launches from Kennedy Space Center, becoming the first crewed orbital spacecraft to launch from the United States since 2011 and the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. ›

2013

Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage. ›

2012

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War. ›

2008

Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted. ›

2008

TACA Flight 390 overshoots the runway at Toncontín International Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and crashes, killing five people. ›

2003

Depayin massacre: At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy are killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi flees the scene, but is arrested soon afterwards. ›

1999

53 people are killed in a stampede at the Nyamiha metro station in Minsk, Belarus. ›

1998

The 6.5 Mw Afghanistan earthquake shakes the Takhar Province of northern Afghanistan with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), killing around 4,000–4,500. ›

1998

Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt TNT equivalent. ›

1990

Croatian Parliament is constituted after the first free, multi-party elections, today celebrated as the National Day of Croatia. ›

1989

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10-metre high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators. ›

1982

Cold War: Spain joins NATO. ›

1979

Downeast Airlines Flight 46 crashes on approach to Knox County Regional Airport in Rockland, Maine, killing 17. ›

1975

The European Space Agency is established. ›

1974

The Airbus A300 passenger aircraft first enters service. ›

1972

The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom. ›

1972

In Ben Gurion Airport (at the time: Lod Airport), Israel, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others. ›

1971

Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars. ›

1968

Charles de Gaulle reappears publicly after his flight to Baden-Baden, West Germany, and dissolves the French National Assembly by a radio appeal. Immediately after, less than one million of his supporters march on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is the turning point of the May 1968 events in France. ›

1967

The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war. ›

1966

Former Congolese Prime Minister, Évariste Kimba, and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu. ›

1963

A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis is held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year presidency of Ngo Dinh Diem. ›

1961

The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. ›

1961

Viasa Flight 897 crashes after takeoff from Lisbon Airport, killing 61. ›

1959

The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham. ›

1958

Memorial Day: The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. ›

1948

A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless. ›

1943

The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp. ›

1942

World War II: One thousand British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany. ›

1941

World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb the Athenian Acropolis and tear down the German flag. ›

1937

Memorial Day massacre: Chicago police shoot and kill ten labor demonstrators. ›

1925

May Thirtieth Movement: Shanghai Municipal Police Force shoot and kill 13 protesting workers. ›

1922

The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. ›

1914

The new, and then the largest, Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City. ›

1913

The Treaty of London is signed, ending the First Balkan War between the Balkan allies and the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans cede all their European territories west of a straight line between Enos and Media and Albania becomes an independent nation. ›

1911

At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race. ›

1899

Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona. ›

1883

In New York City, 12 people are killed in a stampede on the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge. ›

1876

Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murad V. ›

1876

The secret decree of Ems Ukaz is issued by Russian Tsar Alexander II in the German city of Bad Ems, aimed at stopping the printing and distribution of Ukrainian-language publications in the Russian Empire. ›

1868

Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time after a proclamation by John A. Logan, head of the Grand Army of the Republic (a veterans group). ›

1866

Bedrich Smetana's comic opera The Bartered Bride premieres in Prague. ›

1862

American Civil War: The Siege of Corinth ends in a Union victory, with General Henry Halleck capturing the critical rail junction of Corinth, Mississippi from retreating Confederate forces under General P. G. T. Beauregard. ›

1854

The Kansas–Nebraska Act becomes law, establishing the U.S. territories of Kansas and Nebraska. ›

1845

The Fatel Razack, coming from India, lands in the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad and Tobago carrying the first Indians to the country. ›

1842

John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert. ›

1834

Minister of Justice Joaquim António de Aguiar issues a law seizing "all convents, monasteries, colleges, hospices and any other houses" from the Catholic religious orders in Portugal, earning him the nickname of "The Friar-Killer". ›

1815

The East Indiaman Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, in present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives. ›

1814

The First Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1792 extent, and restoring the House of Bourbon to power. ›

1806

Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel. ›

1796

War of the First Coalition: In the Battle of Borghetto, Napoleon Bonaparte manages to cross the Mincio River against the Austrian army. This crossing forces the Austrians to abandon Lombardy and retreat to the Tyrol, leaving the fortress of Mantua as the sole remaining Austrian stronghold in Northern Italy. ›

1723

Johann Sebastian Bach assumes the office of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, presenting his first new cantata, Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, in the St. Nicholas Church on the first Sunday after Trinity. ›

1642

From this date all honors granted by Charles I of England are retroactively annulled by Parliament. ›

1635

Thirty Years' War: The Peace of Prague is signed. ›

1631

Publication of Gazette de France, the first French newspaper. ›

1588

The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel. ›

1574

Henry III becomes King of France. ›

1539

In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold. ›

1536

King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives. ›

1510

During the reign of the Zhengde Emperor, Ming dynasty rebel leader Zhu Zhifan is defeated by commander Qiu Yue, ending the Prince of Anhua rebellion. ›

1434

Hussite Wars: Battle of Lipany: End of the war, the Utraquist defeat and annihilate Taborite forces. ›

1431

Hundred Years' War: In Rouen, France, the 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. ›

1416

The Council of Constance, called by Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy. ›

1381

Beginning of the Peasants' Revolt in England. ›