334 BC – The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus.
337 – Constantine the Great, Emperor of Christian Rome (306-37), dies at 47
1200 – King John of England and King Philip II of France sign the Treaty of Le Goulet.
1455 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (killed in battle)
1802 – Martha Washington, 1st US First Lady (1789-97), dies at 70
1807 – A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason.
1812 – Action of 22 May 1812: A small French two-frigate squadron comprising Ariane and Andromaque, returning from a commerce raiding campaign in the Atlantic, meets the 74-gun HMS Northumberland while trying the slip to Lorient through the British blockade.
1813 – Richard Wagner, Leipsig Germany, composer (Ring, Flying Dutchman) born
1816 – A mob in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England, riots over high unemployment and rising grain costs; the rioting spreads to Ely the next day.
1819 – The SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The ship arrived at Liverpool, England, on June 20.
1826 – HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
1840 – The transportation of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
1849 – Future U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is issued a patent for an invention to lift boats over obstacles in a river, making him the only U.S. President to ever hold a patent.
1856 – Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beats Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in the hall of the United States Senate for a speech Sumner had made attacking Southerners who sympathized with the pro-slavery violence in Kansas (“Bleeding Kansas”).
1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle, UK, author brought Sherlock Holmes to life twice.. Born
1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson: Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
1864 – American Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army’s Red River Campaign ends with the Union unable to achieve any of its objectives.
1871 – The U.S. Army issues an order for abandonment of Fort Kearny in Nebraska.
1872 – Reconstruction: U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signs the Amnesty Act into law restoring full civil and political rights to all but about 500 Confederate sympathizers.
1885 – Prior to burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo was exposed under the Arc de Triomphe during the night.
1897 – The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames is officially opened
1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their “Flying-Machine”.
1907 – Laurence Olivier, England, actor (Rebecca, Hamlet, Jazz Singer) Born
1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the contiguous US during the 20th century.
1928 – T. Boone Pickens, American businessman was birthed.
1930 – Harvey Milk, American lieutenant and politician (d. 1978) was born.
1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
1942 – Mexico enters World War II on the side of the Allies.
1942 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee disbands, and a new trade union, the United Steelworkers, is formed.
1942 – World War II: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox enlists in the United States Marine Corps as a flight instructor.
1942 – [Theodore] Ted Kaczynski, Evergreen Park Illinois, alleged American terrorist (Unabomber) born
1943 – Joseph Stalin disbands Comintern.
1945 – Ricky Fenson, English bass player (The Rolling Stones, Steampacket and Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames) was born.
1945 – Operation Paperclip: United States Army Major Robert B. Staver recommends that the U.S. evacuate German scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology.
1947 – Cold War: In an effort to fight the spread of Communism, the U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs an act into law that will later be called the Truman Doctrine. The act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, each battling an internal Communist movement.
1950 – Bernie Taupin, lyricist (writes with Elton John) Born
1954 – Jerry Dammers, keyboardist (Specials) Born
1959 – Morrissey, British rock vocalist (Everyday is Like Sunday), activist.. Born
1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.
1964 – The U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the goals of his Great Society social reforms to bring an “end to poverty and racial injustice” in America.
1965 – Jay Carney, American journalist, 29th White House Press Secretary was birthed.
1967 – Vietnam War: Vinh Xuan massacre.
1967 – Langston Hughes, American poet (Weary Blues) and playwright (Mulatto), dies at 65
1968 – The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
1970 – Naomi Campbell, model/actress (Cool as Ice, Unzipped), born in London, England
1972 – Alison Eastwood, daughter of actor Clint/actress (Tightrope) Born
1980 – Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man.
1990 – North and South Yemen are unified to create the Republic of Yemen.
1990 – Rocky Graziano, boxer/writer/actor (Mr Rock & Roll), dies at 71 of heart failure
1992 – After 30 years, 66-year-old Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time.
1997 – Kelly Flinn, the US Air Force’s first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court-martial.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: A federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal, involving President Bill Clinton.
2002 – In Washington, D.C., the remains of the missing Chandra Levy are found in Rock Creek Park.
2002 – American civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
2009 – The Credit CARD Act of 2009 was signed into U.S. law by the President, Barack Obama.
2014 – An explosion occurs in the city of Ürümqi, the capital of China’s far-western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.