This Day in History

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May 30

Today is Memorial Day (United States).

70 - Roman emperor Titus breaches Jerusalem's Second Wall.

1431 - In Rouen, France, Joan of Arc is burned at the stake. She is ~19 years old.

1536 – King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour (no, not that one, a different one), 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.

1806 – Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson had accused Jackson's wife, Rachel, of bigamy.

1868 – Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time.

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.

1922 – The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C..

1942 – World War II: One thousand 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.

1966 – Launch of Surveyor 1, the first US spacecraft to land on an extraterrestrial body.

1968 - The Beatles begin recording what will become known as "The White Album".

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 – The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom.

2005 – American student Natalee Holloway disappears while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba, and caused a media sensation in the United States.

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.

2013 – Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage.

Births

1846 – Peter Carl Fabergé; 1896 – Howard Hawks; 1902 – Stepin Fetchit; 1908 – Mel Blanc; 1909 – Benny Goodman; 1918 – Bob Evans; 1927 – Clint Walker; 1936 – Keir Dullea; 1939 – Michael J. Pollard; 1939 – Tim Waterstone (founded Waterstone's book stores); 1943 – Gale Sayers; 1944 – Meredith MacRae; 1953 – Colm Meaney; 1955 – Topper Headon (The Clash), Jake "The Snake" Roberts; 1958 – Ted McGinley; 1962 – Kevin Eastman (co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); 1963 – Shauna Grant (porn actress); 1964 – Wynonna Judd,Tom Morello; 1974 – CeeLo Green; 1975 – Marissa Mayer (CEO Yahoo); 1979 – Clint Bowyer

Deaths

1431 – Joan of Arc; 1593 – Christopher Marlowe; 1640 – Peter Paul Rubens; 1778 – Voltaire; 1911 – Milton Bradley; 1912 – Wilbur Wright; 1947 – Georg von Trapp (of the "The Sound of Music" von Trapps); 1953 – Dooley Wilson ('Sam' from "Casablanca"); 1960 – Boris Pasternak; 1967 – Claude Rains ('Capt. Renault' from "Casablanca"); 1986 – Perry Ellis; 1993 – Sun Ra; 2012 – John Fox, Andrew Huxley; 2015 – Beau Biden