What happened on May 30 ?

1416 - The Roman Catholic Church burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.

1431 - In Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. May 30 is now her feast day as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

1434 - Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were defeated and almost annihilated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars.

1536 - King Henry VIII of England marries Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.

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

1574 - Henry III becomes King of France.

1588 - The last ship of the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

1635 - Peace of Prague (1635) (30 Years War).

1806 - Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel after the man had accused Jackson's wife of bigamy.

1814 - The First Treaty of Paris is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent. Napoleon I of France is exiled to Elba on the same day.

1854 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.

1868 - Memorial Day (then known as "Decoration Day") is observed in the United States for the first time (it was proclaimed on May 5 by General John A. Logan).

1871 - The Paris Commune falls.

1876 - Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz is deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.

1879 - New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.

1879 - An F4 tornado strikes Irving, Kansas, killing 18 and injuring 60.

1883 - In New York City, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse causes a stampede which crushes twelve people.

1911 - At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race in his Marmon Wasp.

1913 - First Balkan War: A peace treaty is signed in London ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.

1914 - New & then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.

1922 - In Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.

1935 - Babe Ruth plays in his last baseball game, in the uniform of the Boston Braves.

1941 - World War II: Germany captures Crete.

1942 - World War II: 1000 British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.

1948 - A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

1958 - The bodies of several unidentified soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

1967 - At the Ascot Speedway in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined-up in a row.

1967 - The Nigerian state of Biafra secedes, sparking a civil war.

1969 - Riots on the Caribbean island of Curaçao

1970 - Jimi Hendrix plays at Berkeley Community Theatre one of the last live performances before his death.

1971 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.

1972 - The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.

1972 - In Tel Aviv, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.

1975 - Bob Watson, of the Houston Astros scores the 1,000,000th run in baseball history.

1982 - Spain becomes the 16th member of NATO and the first nation to enter the alliance since West Germany's admission in 1955.

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

1998 - A 6.6 magnitude earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.

2003 - The final flight of an Air France Concorde takes place.