1532 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.
1770 – A 14-year old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste who later becomes king of France.
1771 – The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The “Regulators”, occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
1812 – Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. Bessarabia is annexed by Imperial Russia.
1843 – The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri.
1861 – H. H. Holmes [Herman Webster Mudgett], Gilmanton, New Hampshire, American serial killer – Birthed
1866 – The U.S. Congress eliminates the half dime coin and replaces it with the five cent piece, or nickel.
1868 – United States President Andrew Johnson is acquitted in his impeachment trial by one vote in the United States Senate.
1875 – Quake in Venezuela & Colombia kills 16,000
1888 – Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.
1891 – The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, and will feature the world’s first long distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electrical current (the most common form today).
1905 – Henry Fonda, Grand Is Nebraska, actor (Mr Roberts, On Golden Pond) Born
1910 – Henri E Cross [Delacroix], French painter, dies at 53
1918 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
1919 – [Wladziu Valentino] Liberace, West Allis Wisconsin, pianist (Liberace Show, Evil Chandell-Batman) Born
1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc.
1927 – Supreme Court ruled bootleggers must pay income tax
1929 – In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards are awarded.
1943 – The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
1944 – Danny Trejo, American actor (Bad Ass, Machete) Born
1946 – Robert Fripp, guitarist (King Crimson) Born
1946 – Roger Earl, rocker (Foghat) Born
1949 – William Sputnik Spooner, rock guitarist (Grateful Dead, Tubes) Born
1951 – Jonathan Richman, rocker (Modern Lovers-New England, Egyptian Reggae) Born
1953 – Pierce Brosnan, County Meath Ireland, actor (Remington Steele, Golden Eye) Born
1953 – American journalist William N. Oatis is released after serving 22 months of a ten-year prison sentence for espionage in Czechoslovakia.
1955 – Debra Winger, Columbus Oh, actress (Officer & Gentleman) Born
1956 – H. B. Reese, American candy-maker and businessman, created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (b. 1876) died.
1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
1965 – Krist Novoselic, American bass player, songwriter, author, and activist (Nirvana, Flipper, Sweet 75, The No WTO Combo, and Eyes Adrift) was born.
1966 – Beach Boys’ “Pets Sounds” is released
1966 – Janet Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actress was born.
1966 – The Communist Party of China issues the “May 16 Notice”, marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
1969 – Venera 5 lands on Venus, returns data on atmosphere
1974 – Sonny Sandoval, American singer (P.O.D.) Born
1975 – India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state holds a referendum in which the popular vote is in favor of merging with India.
1979 – Asa Philip Randolph, labor leader & civil rights pioneer, dies at 90
1980 – Brian May of rock group Queen collapses on stage with hepatitis
1984 – Andy Kaufman, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1949) died.
1984 – Irwin Shaw, US writer (Rich Man, Poor Man), dies at 71
1986 – Megan Fox, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, American actress (Transformers) and model – Born
1986 – The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain.
1988 – A report by United States’ Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
1990 – Sammy Davis, Jr., American singer, dancer, and actor (b. 1925) died.
1990 – Jim Henson, American puppeteer, director, screenwriter, and producer, created The Muppets (b. 1936) died.
1991 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
1995 – Japanese police arrest cult leader Shoko Asahara & charged him with Nerve-gas attack on Tokyo’s subways two months earlier
2005 – Kuwait permits women’s suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.
2010 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell, and Elf) (b. 1942) died.
2011 – Space shuttle Endeavour launches for its final commission in space
2013 – Dick Trickle, American race car driver, commits suicide by gunshot at 71
2013 – Pope Francis calls for ethical financial reform to fight speculation
2013 – Human stem cells are successfully cloned