| | 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy was sacked and burned, according to the calculations of Eratosthenes. |
| | 1429 - Hundred Years' War: The start of the Battle of Jargeau. |
| | 1509 - Marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon. |
| | 1580 - Juan de Garay founds Buenos Aires. |
| | 1594 - Philip II recognized the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paved way to the creation of the Principalía [i.e., elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines]. |
| | 1770 - Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef. |
| | 1774 - Jews in Algiers escape the attacks of the Spanish army. |
| | 1776 - Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to a committee to draft a declaration of independence. |
| | 1788 - Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska. |
| | 1825 - The first cornerstone is laid for Fort Hamilton in New York City. |
| | 1837 - The Broad Street Riot occurred in Boston, fueled by ethnic tensions between English-Americans and Irish-Americans. |
| | 1866 - The Allahabad High Court (then Agra High Court) is established in India. |
| | 1892 - The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia. |
| | 1898 - Spanish-American War: U.S. war ships start to sail for Cuba. |
| | 1901 - New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands. |
| | 1907 - George Dennett, aided by Gilbert Jessop, dismisses Northamptonshire for 12 runs, the lowest total in first-class cricket. |
| | 1932 - William Forgan Smith becomes QLD Premier |
| | 1935 - Inventor Edwin Armstrong gives the first public demonstration of FM broadcasting in the United States, at Alpine, New Jersey. |
| | 1936 - International Surrealist Exhibition opens in London, England. |
| | 1937 - Great Purge: The Soviet Union executes eight army leaders under Joseph Stalin. |
| | 1940 - World War II: British forces bomb Genoa and Turin in Italy. |
| | 1940 - World War II: First attack of the Italian Airforce on the island of Malta. |
| | 1942 - World War II: The United States agrees to send Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union. |
| | 1945 - William Lyon Mackenzie King is re-elected as Canadian prime minister. |
| | 1945 - Franck Committee recommends against a surprise nuclear bombing of Japan. [1] |
| | 1955 - Eighty-three are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. |
| | 1956 - First Puerto Rican Parade was held in Harlem New York. |
| | 1962 - Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island. |
| | 1963 - American Civil Rights Movement: Alabama Governor George Wallace stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students from attending that school. |
| | 1963 - Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam. |
| | 1964 - World War II veteran Walter Seifert runs amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance. |
| | 1967 - Mexico becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty. |
| | 1970 - After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first females to do so. |
| | 1977 - Seattle Slew wins the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. |
| | 1978 - Altaf Hussain founded students' political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation a.k.a (APMSO) in Karachi University |
| | 1985 - A Fabergé Egg was sold for £1,375,00 in New York. |
| | 1988 - Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Wembley Stadium, London. |
| | 1988 - The name of the General Public License (GPL) is mentioned for the first time. |
| | 1998 - Compaq Computer pays $9 billion for Digital Equipment Corporation in largest high-tech acquisition. |
| | 2001 - Timothy McVeigh is executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. |
| | 2002 - Antonio Meucci was recognised as the first inventor of the telephone by the United States Congress. |
| | 2004 - Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of Phoebe. |
| | 2004 - Ronald Reagan's funeral held at Washington National Cathedral. |
| | 2005 - G8 finance ministers agree to cancel the debt owed by 18 of the poorest countries. |