May 30Birthdays & History

On this day: May 30 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1381Beginning of the Peasants' Revolt in England.Europe
2. 1416The Council of Constance, called by Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.Europe
3. 1431Hundred Years' War: In Rouen, France, the 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal.Europe
4. 1434Hussite Wars: Battle of Lipany: End of the war, the Utraquist defeat and annihilate Taborite forces.Europe
5. 1510During the reign of the Zhengde Emperor, Ming dynasty rebel leader Zhu Zhifan is defeated by commander Qiu Yue, ending the Prince of Anhua rebellion.Asia
6. 1536King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.Europe
7. 1539In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.North America
8. 1574Henry III becomes King of France.Europe
9. 1588The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.Europe
10. 1631Publication of Gazette de France, the first French newspaper.Europe
11. 1635Thirty Years' War: The Peace of Prague is signed.Europe
12. 1642From this date all honors granted by Charles I of England are retroactively annulled by Parliament.Europe
13. 1723Johann 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.Europe
14. 1796War 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.Europe
15. 1806Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel.North America
16. 1814The First Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1792 extent, and restoring the House of Bourbon to power.Europe
17. 1815The East Indiaman Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, in present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives.Africa
18. 1834Minister 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".Europe
19. 1842John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert.Europe
20. 1845The Fatel Razack, coming from India, lands in the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad and Tobago carrying the first Indians to the country.AsiaLatin America
21. 1854The Kansas–Nebraska Act becomes law, establishing the U.S. territories of Kansas and Nebraska.North America
22. 1862American 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.North America
23. 1866Bedrich Smetana's comic opera The Bartered Bride premieres in Prague.Europe
24. 1868Decoration 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).North America
25. 1876Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murad V.Middle East
26. 1876The 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.Europe
27. 1883In New York City, 12 people are killed in a stampede on the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge.North America
28. 1899Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona.North America
29. 1911At 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.North America
30. 1913The 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.EuropeMiddle East
31. 1914The 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.EuropeNorth America
32. 1922The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.North America
33. 1925May Thirtieth Movement: Shanghai Municipal Police Force shoot and kill 13 protesting workers.Asia
34. 1937Memorial Day massacre: Chicago police shoot and kill ten labor demonstrators.North America
35. 1941World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb the Athenian Acropolis and tear down the German flag.Europe
36. 1942World War II: One thousand British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.Europe
37. 1943The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp.Europe
38. 1948A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.North America
39. 1958Memorial 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.North AmericaAsia
40. 1959The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham.Oceania
41. 1961Viasa Flight 897 crashes after takeoff from Lisbon Airport, killing 61.Europe
42. 1961The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.Latin America
43. 1963A 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.Asia
44. 1966Former Congolese Prime Minister, Évariste Kimba, and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.Africa
45. 1967The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.Africa
46. 1968Charles 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.Europe
47. 1971Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.World
48. 1972The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom.Europe
49. 1972In 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.Middle EastAsia
50. 1974The Airbus A300 passenger aircraft first enters service.Europe
51. 1975The European Space Agency is established.Europe
52. 1979Downeast Airlines Flight 46 crashes on approach to Knox County Regional Airport in Rockland, Maine, killing 17.North America
53. 1982Cold War: Spain joins NATO.Europe
54. 1989Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10-metre high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.Asia
55. 1990Croatian Parliament is constituted after the first free, multi-party elections, today celebrated as the National Day of Croatia.Europe
56. 1998The 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.Asia
57. 1998Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt TNT equivalent.Asia
58. 199953 people are killed in a stampede at the Nyamiha metro station in Minsk, Belarus.Europe
59. 2003Depayin 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.Asia
60. 2008Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted.World
61. 2008TACA Flight 390 overshoots the runway at Toncontín International Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and crashes, killing five people.Latin America
62. 2012Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.Africa
63. 2013Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage.Africa
64. 2020Crew 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.North America
65. 2024Donald 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.North America

Source: Wikipedia "May 30" / CC BY-SA 4.0