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- 0631 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.
- 1184 -BC - Trojan War: Troy was sacked and burned, according to the calculations of Eratosthenes.
- 1488 Battle of Sauchieburn, Scotland
- 1509 Marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon.
- 1517 Sir Thomas Pert reached Hudson Bay
- 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 Principala [i.e., elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines].
- 1727 UK hist George I dies – George II Hanover becomes king
- 1770 Capt Cook runs aground on Australian Great Barrier Reef
- 1774 Jews in Algiers escape the attacks of the Spanish army.
- 1788 First British ship built on Pacific coast begun at Nootka Sound, BC
- 1788 Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska.
- 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte takes the island of Malta.
- 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.
- 1859 Comstock silver load discovered near Virginia City, Nevada
- 1864 300' (90 m) of Meigg's Wharf washed away in storm
- 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.
- 1895 Charles E. Duryea receives the first U.S. patent to an American inventor for a gas-powered automobile.
- 1900 Australians in action at Diamond Hill
- 1901 Cook Islands annexed & proclaimed part of New Zealand
- 1903 King Alexander and Queen Draga of Belgrade are assassinated by members of the Serbian army.
- 1905 Penns Railroad debuts fastest train in world (NY-Chicago in 18 hrs)
- 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.
- 1920 Republicans nominate Warren G Harding for president
- 1930 William Beebe sets a deepwater dive record of 1,426 feet off the coast of Bermuda in a bathysphere (diving chamber).
- 1932 E Delporte discovers asteroid #1222 Tina
- 1932 William Forgan Smith becomes Premier of the Australian state of Queensland.
- 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.
- 1936 Presbyterian Church of America founded at Philadelphia
- 1937 Great Purge: The Soviet Union executes eight army leaders under Joseph Stalin.
- 1937 Marx Brothers' "A Day At The Races" released
- 1939 King & Queen of England taste first "hot dogs" at FDR's party
- 1940 World War II: First attack of the Italian Air force on the island of Malta.
- 1942 US & USSR sign Lend-Lease agreement during WW II
- 1943 An Axis garrison at Pantelleria, in the central Mediterranean area, surrenders after six days and nights of heavy bombing.
- 1944 First Serbian Orthodox cathedral in US, Cathedral of St Sava, NYC
- 1947 WW II sugar rationing finally ends
- 1951 Mozambique becomes an oversea province of Portugal
- 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.
- 1956 First Puerto Rican Parade was held in Harlem, New York.
- 1957 12 die in a train crash in Vroman Colo
- 1959 Postmaster General bans D.H. Lawrence's book, Lady Chatterley's Lover
- 1960 House packed with wedding celebrants collapses killing 30 (Pakistan)
- 1962 Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
- 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.
- 1963 Gov Wallace tries to prevent blacks registering at U of Alabama
- 1963 JFK says segregation is morally wrong & that it is "time to act"
- 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.
- 1966 French & German media mistakenly report death of Roger Daltry
- 1967 Israel and Syria accept terms of a U.N. cease-fire.
- 1967 Mexico becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
- 1967 Race riot in Tampa Florida; National Guard mobilizes
- 1968 Paul McCartney records the song "Blackbird" for the White Album; he was the only person in the whole of the studio at the time.
- 1969 Number one hit on UK music charts - The Beatles - The Ballad Of John & Yoko
- 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.
- 1970 US leaves Wheelus AFB Libya
- 1972 Eltham Well Hall rail crash, caused by an intoxicated train driver, kills six people and injures 126
- 1974 Bundy victim Georgann Hawkins disappears from UW, Seattle, Wash
- 1977 Dutch marines rescued hostages from a Moluccan held train in Holland
- 1977 ELO releases "Telephone Line"
- 1977 Seattle Slew wins Belmont Stakes & Triple Crown
- 1978 Altaf Hussain founded students' political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation a.k.a (APMSO) in Karachi University
- 1981 Southern Iran a 6.9 quake killed 3000 with many injured, and extensive damage in Kerman Province.
- 1982 Israel & Syria stop fighting in Lebanon
- 1982 Larry Holmes defeats Gerry Cooney, retains WBC heavyweight crown
- 1982 Movie "ET The Extra-Terrestrial" released (highest grossing film)
- 1985 A Faberg Egg was sold for 1,375,00 in New York.
- 1987 Margaret Thatcher is first British PM in 160 years to win 3rd cons term
- 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Wembley Stadium, London.
- 1988 The name of the General Public License (GPL) is mentioned for the first time.
- 1990 UN appoints Olivia Newton-John environmental ambassador
- 1991 Chicago Bulls beat LA Lakers 4 games to 1 for the NBA title
- 1991 Microsoft releases MS DOS 5.0
- 1993 Visitor posting - Tyler Lewis McCorkle is born in Jellico, Tennessee - USA
- 1996 A gas tube underneath a shopping mall in Osasco, Sao Paulo - Brazil exploded causing the death of 42 and injuring other 472 people.
- 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.
- 2005 G8 finance ministers agree to cancel the debt owed by 18 of the poorest countries.
- 2010 Opening ceremony World Cup soccer at Johannesburg's Soccer City. - South Africa. Nelson Mandela, who had planned to attend, skipped the event after his 13-year-old great-granddaughter was killed in a car crash.
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