Events

• AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem.
  • Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall.
  • The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometres.
• 1381 – Beginning of the Peasants’ Revolt in England.
• 1431 – Hundred Years’ War: In Rouen, France, the 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal.
  • The Roman Catholic Church remembers this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.
• 1434 – Hussite Wars: Battle of Lipany: Effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bořek of Miletínek defeat and almost annihilate Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1635 – Thirty Years’ War: The Peace of Prague is signed.
• 1806 – Future US President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel.
• 1814 – The First Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1792 extent, and restoring the House of Bourbon to power.
• 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).
• 1913 – The Treaty of London is signed, ending the First Balkan War; Albania becomes an independent nation.
• 1941 – World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb the Athenian Acropolis and tear down the German flag.
• 1942 – World War II: One thousand British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.
• 1943 – World War II: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp.
• 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.
• 1961 – The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
• 1967 – The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.
• 1982 – Cold War: Spain joins NATO.
• 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.
• 2008 – Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted.
• 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.
• Anguilla Day, commemorates the beginning of the Anguillian Revolution in 1967.

People (Births)

• 1768 – Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty, French general (d. 1815).
• 1819 – William McMurdo, English general (d. 1894).
• 1879 – Colin Blythe, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1917).
• 1881 – Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (d. 1968).
• 1882 – Wyndham Halswelle, English runner and soldier (d. 1915).
• 1884 – Siegmund Glücksmann, German soldier and politician (d. 1942).
• 1890 – Roger Salengro, French soldier and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1936).
• 1915 – Len Carney, English footballer and soldier (d. 1996).
• 1916 – Justin Catayée, French soldier and politician (d. 1962).
• 1919 – René Barrientos, Bolivian general and politician, 55th President of Bolivia (d. 1969).
• 1934 – Alexei Leonov, Russian general, pilot, and cosmonaut (d. 2019).
• 1948 – Johan De Muynck, Belgian former professional road racing cyclist.
• 1958 – Michael López-Alegría, Spanish-American captain, pilot, and astronaut.
• 1976 – Margaret Okayo, Kenyan runner.
• 1991 – Jonathan Fox, English swimmer.

People (Deaths)

• 1434 – Prokop the Great, Czech general (b. 1380).
• 1718 – Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle, Dutch-English general (b. 1670).
• 1829 – Philibert Jean-Baptiste Curial, French general (b. 1774).
• 1934 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (b. 1848).
• 1947 – Georg von Trapp, Austrian captain (b. 1880).
• 1961 – Rafael Trujillo, Dominican soldier and politician, 36th President of the Dominican Republic (b. 1891).
• 1975 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (b. 1951).
• 1975 – Tatsuo Shimabuku, Japanese martial artist, founded Isshin-ryū (b. 1908).
• 1976 – Mitsuo Fuchida, Japanese captain (b. 1902).
• 1981 – Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi general and politician, 7th President of Bangladesh (b. 1936).
• 2001 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general and historian (b. 1915).
• 2010 – Dufferin Roblin, Canadian commander and politician, 14th Premier of Manitoba (b. 1917).
• 2014 – Leonidas Vasilikopoulos, Greek admiral (b. 1932).
• 2015 – Beau Biden, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 44th Attorney General of Delaware (b. 1969).