Historical Events on 30 May

Historical Events on 30 May

1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.
1431 - Hundred Years' War: in Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal.
1434 - Hussite Wars (Bohemian 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.
1536 - King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.
1539 - In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.
1574 - Henry III becomes King of France.
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 (1635) is signed.
1642 - From this date all honours granted by Charles I are retrospectively annulled by Parliament
1806 - Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson had accused Jackson's wife of bigamy.
1814 - Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition - the Treaty of Paris (1814) is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent.
1832 - The Rideau Canal in eastern Ontario is opened.
1842 - John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill, London with Prince Albert.
1854 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.
1868 - Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time (By "Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic" John A. Logan's proclamation on May 5).
1871 - The Paris Commune falls.
1876 - Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.
1879 - New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
1879 - An F4 tornado strikes Irving, Kansas, killing 18 and injuring 60.
1883 - In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede that crushes twelve people.
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.
1913 - First Balkan War: the Treaty of London, 1913 is signed ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.
1914 - The new and then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.
1917 - Alexander I becomes king of Greece.
1922 - In Washington, D.C. the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.
1925 - In China protests erupt against the Great Powers infringing on Chinese sovereignty.
1941 - World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb on the Athenian Acropolis, tear down the Nazi swastika and replace it with the Greek flag.
1941 - World War II: Germany captures Crete.
1942 - World War II: 1000 British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.
1948 - A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.
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.
1959 - The Auckland Harbour Bridge is officially opened today in Auckland, New Zealand.
1961 - Long time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic.
1966 - Former Congolese Prime Minister Evariste Kimba and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.
1967 - At the Ascot Park in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined up in a row.
1967 - The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.
1969 - Riots on the Caribbean island of Curaçao
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.
1972 - In Tel Aviv members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
1972 - The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.
1982 - Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the first nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955.
1989 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
1998 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.