• 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy was sacked and burned, according to the calculations of Eratosthenes.
• 631 - Emperor Taizong of Tang, the Emperor of China, sent envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to persuade the release of enslaved Chinese prisoners who were captured during the transition from Sui to Tang from the northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were then returned to China.
• 758 - Abbasid Arabs and Uyghur Turks arrive simultaneously at Chang'an, the Tang Chinese capital, in order to offer tribute to the imperial court. The Arabs and Turks bicker and fight over diplomatic prominence at the gate, in order to present tribute before the other. A settlement was reached when both were allowed to enter at the same time, but through two different gates to the palace.
• 1429 - Hundred Years' War: The start of the Battle of Jargeau.
• 1509 - Marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon.
• 1594 - Philip II recognized the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paved way to the creation of the Principalía [for example,elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines].
• 1774 - Jews in Algiers escape the attacks of the Spanish army.
• 1776 - Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to a committee to draft a declaration of independence.
• 1788 - Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
• 1805 - A fire consumed large portions of Detroit in the Michigan Territory.
• 1825 - The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City.
• 1837 - The Broad Street Riot occurred in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between English-Americans and Irish-Americans.
• 1866 - The Allahabad High Court (then Agra High Court) is established in India.
• 1892 - The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: U.S. war ships start to sail for Cuba.
• 1901 - New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands.
• 1907 - George Dennett, aided by Gilbert Jessop, dismisses Northamptonshire for 12 runs, the lowest total in first-class cricket.
• 1917 - King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father Constantine I abdicated under pressure by allied armies occupying Athens.
• 1935 - Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States, at Alpine, New Jersey.
• 1936 - International Surrealist Exhibition opens in London, England.
• 1937 - Great Purge: The Soviet Union executes eight army leaders under Joseph Stalin.
• 1938 - Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Wuhan starts.
• 1938 - Second Sino-Japanese War: The Nationalist government created the 1938 Yellow River flood to halt the Japanese forces. 500,000 to 900,000 civilians are killed.
• 1940 - World War II: British forces bomb Genoa and Turin in Italy.
• 1940 - World War II: First attack of the Italian Air force on the island of Malta.
• 1942 - World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union.
• 1955 - Eighty-three are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• 1962 - Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
• 1963 - American Civil Rights Movement: Alabama Governor George Wallace stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students from attending that school.
• 1963 - Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.
• 1964 - World War II veteran Walter Seifert runs amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.
• 1967 - Mexico becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1970 - After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first females to do so.
• 1972 - Eltham Well Hall rail crash, caused by an intoxicated train driver, kills six people and injures 126
• 1978 - Altaf Hussain founded students' political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation a.k.a (APMSO) in Karachi University
• 1998 - Compaq Computer pays $9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in largest high-tech acquisition.
• 2001 - Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
• 2002 - Antonio Meucci is acknowledged as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress.
• 2004 - Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of Phoebe.
• 2004 - Ronald Reagan's funeral held at Washington National Cathedral.

Births