History Events on May 30

The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp.

#The_Holocaust

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).

#Memorial_Day

The 6.5 Mw? Afghanistan earthquake shook the Takhar Province of northern Afghanistan with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), killing around 4,000-4,500.

#May_1998_Afghanistan_earthquake

The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemat? Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham.

#Auckland_Harbour_Bridge

The new, and then the largest, Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City.

#Cunard_Line

Thirty Years' War: The Peace of Prague is signed.

#Thirty_Years'_War

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.

#Liberia

World War II: One thousand British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.

#Bombing_of_Cologne_in_World_War_II

The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

#Spanish_Armada

The Airbus A300 passenger aircraft first enters service.

#Airbus_A300

Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition: The Treaty of Paris (1814) is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent. Napoleon is exiled to Elba.

#Napoleonic_Wars

The long-time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

#Rafael_Trujillo

The East Indiaman Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, in present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives.

#East_Indiaman

May Thirtieth Movement: Shanghai Municipal Police Force shoot and kill 13 protesting workers.

#May_Thirtieth_Movement

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.

#Korean_War

Hussite Wars: Battle of Lipany: Effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bo?ek of Miletínek defeat and almost annihilate Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.

#Hussite_Wars

The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.

#Nigeria

Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.

#Mariner_program

In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.

#Florida

Henry III becomes King of France.

#Henry_III_of_France

Charles de Gaulle reappears publicly after his flight to Baden-Baden, 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 May 1968 events in France.

#Charles_de_Gaulle

Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stage coach 30 miles southeast of Globe, Arizona.

#Pearl_Hart

Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel.

#Andrew_Jackson

In New York City, a stampede on the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge killed twelve people.

#Brooklyn_Bridge

Minister 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".

#Joaquim_António_de_Aguiar

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

#Lincoln_Memorial

From this date all honors granted by Charles I of England are retroactively annulled by Parliament.

#Charles_I_of_England

European Space Agency is established.

#European_Space_Agency

A 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 rule of Ngo Dinh Diem.

#Buddhist_crisis

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.

#Indianapolis_Motor_Speedway

Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage.

#Nigeria

Cold War: Spain joins NATO.

#Cold_War

Former Congolese Prime Minister, Évariste Kimba, and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.

#Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo

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.

#Nuclear_weapons_testing

The Council of Constance, called by Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.

#Council_of_Constance

The Treaty of London is signed, ending the First Balkan War; Albania becomes an independent nation.

#Treaty_of_London_(1913)

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.

#Hundred_Years'_War

A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

#Columbia_River

World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb the Athenian Acropolis and tear down the German flag.

#World_War_II

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.

#Zhengde_Emperor

Memorial Day massacre: Chicago police shoot and kill ten labor demonstrators.

#Memorial_Day_massacre_of_1937

John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill in London with Prince Albert.

#Queen_Victoria

Beginning of the Peasants' Revolt in England.

#Peasants'_Revolt

The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

#Kansas-Nebraska_Act

In 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.

#Ben_Gurion_Airport

Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted.

#Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions

Depayin 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.

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

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

Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murad V.

The Fatel Razack coming from India, lands in the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad and Tobago carrying the first Indians to the country.

Publication of Gazette de France, the first French newspaper.

King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.

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.