| 585 | BC | a solar eclipse (which had been predicted by Thales) ended the Battle of the Hylas between King Cyaxerxes of Media and King Alyattes of Lydia |
| 0 | | Feast of St. Bernard of Menthon, Patron of Travelers |
| 0 | | Armed Forces Day in Croatia and the "Day of Greatness" in Pakistan, celebrating the country's nuclear weapons |
| 640 | | Consecration of Pope Severinus, though elected in 638, d. Aug 2, 640 |
| 861 | | The Vikings sack and burn Paris |
| 1156 | | Naval Battle of Brindisi: William II's Norman-Sicilians defeat the Byzantines |
| 1349 | | Anti-Semitic outbreak at Breslau, 60 die |
| 1358 | | Saint-Leu starts France's "Jacquerie" peasant uprising |
| 1731 | | The Papal States order confiscation of all Hebrew books |
| 1754 | | in a skirmish near Ft. Duquesne George Washington defeated a small Franco-Indian force -- Learn More |
| 1774 | | First Continental Congress convenes |
| 1813 | | Second Battle of Sackett's Harbor: Americans defeat a British attack from across Lake Onario |
| 1813 | | USS 'Essex' and prize capture 5 British whalers in the Pacific |
| 1830 | | Congress authorizes Indian removal from the Eastern states |
| 1849 | | Spanish troops land at Gaeta, to campaign against the Roman Republic |
| 1860 | | Henry B. Hallowell enlisted in the Marine Corps -- Learn More |
| 1900 | | Britain annexes the Orange Free State |
| 1910 | | Austrian Army Lt. Adolf Hofrichter received a death sentence for using poison to speed up promotions -- Learn More |
| 1917 | | Tenth Battle of the Isonzo ends (from May 12) |
| 1926 | | Portugal: Military coup by Gen Manuel Gomes da Costa initiates nearly 40 years of right-wing dictatorial rule |
| 1937 | | Neville Chamberlain becomes PM of Great Britain, to May 1940 |
| 1940 | | King Leopold III surrenders Belgium to the Germans |
| 1940 | | Norway: Anglo-French forces capture Narvik |
| 1945 | | Okinawa: c. 100 kamikaze raid Allied fleet, inflicting considerable damage but sinking only one destroyer |
| 1954 | | USAF Maj. Arthur Murray takes the Bell 'X-1A' to 90,440 feet |
| 1961 | | The American Republican Army (membership 2) blows up communications facilities in Nevada and Utah. |
| 1967 | | Sir Francis Chichester completes the first one stop single-handed circumnavigation of the globe, at Plymouth, and is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, with sword used by Elizabeth I to knight Francis Drake after his round-the-world voyage |
| 1971 | | USSR 'Mars 3' launched, first spacecraft to make a soft landing on Mars |
| 1974 | | Neo-Fascist terror bombing in Brescia, 6 die |
| 1980 | | First 55 women graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy |
| 1987 | | German Mathias Rust, 19, lands a light plane in Red Square |
| 1991 | | Ethiopian rebels seize Addis Ababa |
| 970 | BC | King Solomon of Israel (971-931 BC) [Trad] |
| 1369 | | Muzio Attendolo Sforza, Condottiero, drowned 1424 -- Learn More |
| 1371 | | John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (1404-1419) |
| 1524 | | Ottoman Sultan Selim II "the Drunkard" or "the Blond" (1566-1574) |
| 1577 | | Count Floris II van Pallandt of Culemborg, d. 1598 |
| 1660 | | King George I of England (1714-27) |
| 1759 | | William Pitt the Younger, British Prime Minister (1783-1801, 1804-06), d. 1806 |
| 1818 | | Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, General, C.S.A., d. 1893 |
| 1819 | | William Birney, Brig Gen, U.S. d. 1907 |
| 1828 | | Alpheus Baker, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1891 |
| 1830 | | George Lucas Hartsuff, Maj Gen, U.S., d. 1874 |
| 1838 | | Basil Wilson Duke, Brig Gen, C.S.A., d. 1916 |
| 1908 | | Ian Fleming, British spymaster, author ("James Bond"), d. 1964 |
| 1259 | | King Christopher I of Denmark (1252-1259), at c. 40 |
| 1357 | | King Afonso IV of Portugal (1325-57), at 66 |
| 1509 | | Caterina Sforza Riario de'Medici, 46, Countess of Forli, warrior, daughter, wife, and mother of warriors, foe of Cesare Borgia -- Learn More |
| 1644 | | Antonio Maria Marescotti, Patrician of Bologna, assassinated. |
| 1827 | | William M. James, British naval historian, c. 47 -- Learn More |
| 1940 | | Prince Frederick Charles von Hesse, 72, German officer, titular Landgrave of Hesse (1925-1940), King-Elect of Finland (Oct 9-Dec 14, 1918) |
| 1971 | | Audie Murphy, America's "Most decorated soldier" of WW II, actor ("To Hell and Back"), at 45 in an air accident |
| 1972 | | Edward, Duke of Windsor (1936-1972), at 77, sometime King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (Jan 20-Dec 11, 1936), usless human being |
| 2013 | | Victor Kulikov, 91, the last Marshal of the Soviet Union, who soldiered from 1939 to 1990 |