May 30 in History

Historical Events on May 30

1431 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.

1539 In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.

1941 World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb the Athenian Acropolis and tear down the German flag.

1943 The Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Romani family camp) at Auschwitz concentration camp.

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.

1967 The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.

1968 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.

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

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.

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Famous Birthdays on May 30

1949 Bob Willis

1971 Idina Menzel

1979 Clint Bowyer

1980 Steven Gerrard

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Famous Deaths on May 30

1431 Joan of Arc

1778 Voltaire

1912 Wilbur Wright

1960 Boris Pasternak

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