On This Day: 30 May

Attempts by MP and JP John Bampton to collect unpaid poll taxes in Brentwood, Essex, end in a violent confrontation that sparks the Peasants' Revolt		1381
Joan of Arc is burned as a heretic in Rouen, on the orders of the English regent, John, Duke of Bedford		1431
Columbus sets sail on his third voyage		1498
Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour, a lady–in–waiting to each of his first two wives – and his third wife		1536
Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay, Florida, with 600 soldiers and aiming to find gold		1539
Henry III becomes King of France, on the death of his elder brother Charles IX (who himself had succeeded his elder brother Francis II) from tuberculosis at the age of 23		1574
Spanish defeat an English force under Sir John Norris at Cranon, Brittany		1592
Christopher Marlowe is killed (allegedly) in a tavern brawl		1593
The Gazette de France, the first French newspaper, is published for the first time		1631
Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II and Elector John George I of Saxony (representing most of the Protestant Estates of the Holy Roman Empire) sign the Peace of Prague, effectively ending the civil war aspect of the Thirty Years' War; but other actions would continue until the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648		1635
Parliament retroactively annuls all honours granted by Charles I		1642
Grenadier Guards formed		1656
Future US President Andrew Jackson kills his rival plantation owner and horse breeder Charles Dickinson in a duel		1806
Napoleon annexes Tuscany		1808
House of Representatives is opened in Washington		1808
Following Napoleon's abdication on 13 April, as a result of negotiations at Fontainebleau, the signing of the Treaty of Paris returns French borders to their 1792 extent and exiles Napoleon to Elba		1814
The British East India Company's ship Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas (in present–day South Africa), with the loss of 372 lives – only six on board survive		1815
Portuguese 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 – earning him the nickname of 'O Mata–Frades' (the Friar–Killer)		1834
John Francis attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria as she rides down Constitution Hill with Prince Albert		1842
The Indian ship Fatel Razack lands off Trinidad, bringing the first 227 indentured Indian labourers into the British colony		1845
Smetana's opera The Bartered Bride first performed, in Prague		1866
Memorial Day (following on from the previous year's Decoration Day) first observed in the USA, to honour those who lost their lives while serving in the US Armed Forces		1869
Morris William Travers and Sir William Ramsay discover krypton, noticing a brilliant green line in a spectrum		1898
Japanese forces occupy Dairen, Russia		1904
Three thousand London cab drivers go on strike		1904
Ray Harroun, driving a Marmon Wasp, wins the first Indianapolis 500 race		1911
Turkey's signing of the Treaty of London ends the Balkan War and creates the state of Albania		1913
The Lincoln Memorial, in Washington DC, is dedicated		1922
Various incidents in Canton, including the shooting of Chinese students in Shanghai, provoke a Chinese boycott of British goods		1925
Labour wins the general election –Ramsay Macdonald becomes prime minister		1929
Hill station of Quetta, India, destroyed by an earthquake; 20,000 killed		1935
1,047 bombers attack Cologne – the RAF's first 1,000–bomber raid of World War II		1942
The British Citizenship Act confers British citizenship on all Commonwealth subjects		1948
Auckland Harbour Bridge, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor–General Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham (cousin of Humphrey Lyttelton)		1959
The first hovercraft is launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight		1959
Former Prime Minister Évariste Kimba is one of several Congolese politicians publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu		1966
The Eastern Region of Nigeria declares itself independent as the Republic of Biafra		1967
King Hussein of Jordan and President Abdel Nasser of Egypt sign a joint defence agreement; Nasser declares "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel"		1967
The threat of revolution recedes in France after Charles de Gaulle (reappearing publicly for the first time after his flight to Baden–Baden) dissolves the National Assembly and announces an election, and about 800,000 of his supporters march through the Champs–Élysées waving the tricolour		1968
The British Trans–Arctic Expedition completes the first surface crossing of the Arctic, taking 464 days		1969
The Open University receives its Royal Charter		1969
Mariner 9 is launched at Cape Kennedy, on a mission to map the surface of Mars and study temporal changes in the planet's atmosphere and surface		1971
The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom		1972
The official wing of the IRA announces a ceasefire, reserving the right of self–defence against attacks by the British Army and sectarian groups; but the Provisional IRA (formed in 1969) dismisses the truce as having "little effect" on the situation		1972
Airbus Industrie's first product, the A300, enters service		1974
The European Space Agency is established in Paris		1975
President Zia Rahman of Bangladesh is shot dead in an attempted military coup		1981
Spain joins NATO		1982
The Goddess of Democracy, a 10–metre–high statue constructed on the spot from foam and papier–maché over a metal armature, is unveiled by student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Beijing		1989
Food riots in Argentina threaten the economic policies of new president Carlos Menem		1989
France bans imports of British beef because of fears over BSE		1990
Binyamin Netanyahu narrowly defeats Shimon Peres in Israel's prime ministerial election		1996
Northern Ireland votes for representatives at talks about peace talks		1996
The Duke and Duchess of York's marriage is annulled by decree absolute		1996
Sara Thornton is released after a successful appeal against her conviction for the murder of her husband		1996
Over 4,000 lives are lost in an earthquake in northern Afghanistan		1998
Pakistan conducts its second nuclear test – Chagai–II – in the Kharan Desert in the south–west of the country		1998
Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas (78), a judge and close confidant of late President Francois Mitterrand, is jailed for six months after being found guilty of illegally receiving funds from oil giant Elf Aquitaine between 1989 and 1992; his ex–lover Christine Deviers–Joncour, and two top Elf executives, are also jailed for their roles in the country's biggest sleaze scandal of recent times		2001
At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy are killed by a government–sponsored mob in the town of Tabayin (Depayin), in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi flees the scene, but is arrested soon afterwards		2003
The Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted in Dublin (it was opened for signature on 3 December 2008 in Oslo, and entered into force on 1 August 2010, six months after it had been ratified by 30 states)		2008
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is sentenced to 50 years in prison by the Sierra Leone Tribunal (a judicial body set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations) for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War		2012

You are here:

On This Day: 30 May