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1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo back from the Moors.

1420 - Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.

1521 - The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.

1659 - Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth.

1787 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States. George Washington presides.

1810 - In the May Revolution, armed citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy during the Semana de Mayo.

1865 - In Mobile, Alabama, 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.

1895 - Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.

1895 - The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president.

1914 - The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.

1925 - Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.

1925 - The National Forensics League of the U.S. is founded.

1926 - Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of Ukrainian People's Republic.

1932 - Goofy makes his debut.

1935 - In a span of 45 minutes at the Big Ten Conference meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jesse Owens sets or ties four track and field world records.

1935 - Babe Ruth hits his 714th and last home run at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, setting a baseball record that will stand for 39 years.

1938 - Spanish Civil War: Bombing of Alicante, 313 deaths.

1940 - World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.

1946 - The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their king.

1953 - Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.

1955 - Kanchenjunga, the third-highest peak in the world, is scaled successfully for the first time.

1961 - Apollo program: U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the moon" before the end of the decade.

1963 - In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established.

1965 - Muhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston in the first minute of the first round of a boxing match.

1966 - Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.

1966 - The first prominent DaZiBao during the Cultural Revolution in China was posted at Peking University.

1967 - Celtic F.C. becomes the first British team to reach a European Cup final and also to win it, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in normal time.

1977 - Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope opens in theaters and eventually becomes the highest grossing film of all time.

1979 - American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, a DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.

1979 - Florida executes John Spenkelink, the first non-voluntary execution in the United States in more than 10 years.

1980 - Televangelist Oral Roberts senses an "overwhelming holy presence" and hallucinates a 900-foot-tall Jesus Christ. The deity reaches down and picks up a 60-story hospital, bragging to the Oklahoman preacher: "See how easy it is for Me to lift it!"

1981 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

1982 - HMS ''Coventry'' is sunk during the Falklands War.

1985 - Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.

1986 - Hands Across America took place.

1992 - Jay Leno takes over as host of The Tonight Show.

1995 - The Bosnian Serb Army kills 72 youngsters in the Bosnian city of Tuzla.

1996 - Bradley Nowell, lead singer of Sublime, dies from a heroin overdose in San Francisco, at age 28.

1997 - A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.

1997 - Strom Thurmond becomes the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Senate, at 41 years and 10 months.

1999 - The two officers scapegoated after the 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor, Rear Admiral Kimmel and Lieutenant General Short are exonerated (posthumously) by the U.S. Senate of all charges of dereliction of duty.

2000 - Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.

2001 - 32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

2001 - 64-year-old Sherman Bull, of New Canaan, Connecticut, becomes the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

2002 - China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.

2002 - A train crash in Tenga, Mozambique kills 197 people.

2003 - Néstor Kirchner becomes President of Argentina after defeating Carlos Menem. He is the first elected President since the economic crisis.

2005 - Liverpool FC win the UEFA Champions League for the fifth time, after coming back from 3 goals down against AC Milan in the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul.

2006 - Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skilling are convicted for their roles in the collapse of Enron.

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1048 - Emperor Shenzong of China (d. 1085)

1334 - Emperor Suko of Japan (d. 1398)

1458 - Mahmud Begada, Sultan of Gujarat (d. 1511)

1606 - Charles Garnier, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)

1661 - Claude Buffier, French philosopher and historian (d. 1737)

1713 - John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)

1725 - Samuel Ward, American politician (d. 1776)

1803 - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English novelist and playwright (d. 1873)

1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher (d. 1882)

1845 - Lip Pike, baseball player (d.1883)

1852 - William Muldoon, wrestler (d. 1933)

1856 - Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general (d. 1942)

1860 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (d. 1944)

1865 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1955)

1865 - Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)

1877 - Billy Murray, American singer (d. 1954)

1878 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, African American entertainer (d. 1949)

1879 - Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-born publisher (d. 1964)

1880 - Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist (d. 1967)

1882 - Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)

1886 - Philip Murray, U.S. (Scottish-born) labor leader (d. 1952)

1887 - Francesco Forgione, "Padre Pio", Catholic saint (d. 1968)

1888 - Miles Malleson, English actor (d. 1969)

1889 - Igor Sikorsky, Russian inventor (d. 1972)

1897 - Gene Tunney, American heavyweight champion (d. 1978)

1898 - Bennett Cerf, American publisher, TV personality (d. 1971)

1900 - Alain Grandbois, French Canadian poet (d. 1975)

1907 - U Nu, Burmese politician (d. 1995)

1909 - Alfred Kubel, German politician (d. 1999)

1912 - Princess Dukhye of Korea (d. 1989)

1913 - Richard Dimbleby, British journalist and broadcaster (d. 1965)

1917 - Steve Cochran, American actor (d. 1965)

1918 - Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)

1921 - Jack Steinberger, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1921 - Hal David, American lyricist and songwriter

1922 - Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)

1922 - Kitty Kallen, American big band singer

1924 - István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)

1925 - Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (d. 1974)

1925 - Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)

1925 - Don Liddle, baseball player (d. 2000)

1927 - Robert Ludlum, American writer (d. 2001)

1929 - Beverly Sills, American soprano

1931 - Georgi Grechko, cosmonaut

1932 - John Gregory Dunne, American writer (d. 2003)

1933 - Ray Spencer, English footballer

1935 - Cookie Gilchrist, American football player

1936 - Tom T. Hall, American singer and songwriter

1938 - Raymond Carver, American writer (d. 1988)

1939 - Dixie Carter, American actress

1943 - Jessi Colter, American singer

1943 - John "Poli" Palmer, British rock musician (Family)

1944 - Frank Oz, English-born puppeteer and director

1944 - Pierre Bachelet, French singer and songwriter (d. 2005)

1948 - Klaus Meine, German musician (Scorpions)

1949 - Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-born novelist

1953 - Daniel Passarella, Argentine football player

1956 - Sugar Minott, Jamaican singer

1956 - David P. Sartor, American concert music composer

1956 - Tatsutoshi Goto, Japanese professional wrestler

1958 - Paul Weller, British musician

1960 - Guy Fletcher, keyboardist (Dire Straits)

1963 - Mike Myers, Canadian actor and comedian

1965 - Simon Fowler, English singer (Ocean Colour Scene)

1966 - McLoud, Swiss composer, musician, and multimedia artist

1967 - Poppy Z. Brite, American author

1968 - Kendall Gill, American basketball player

1969 - Anne Heche, American actress

1969 - Stacy London, American fashion consultant and media personality

1969 - Glen Drover, Guitar player (Megadeth)

1970 - Jamie Kennedy, American actor

1970 - Joey Eischen, Baseball player

1971 - Sonya Smith, American actress

1973 - Demetri Martin, American comedian

1973 - Molly Sims, American supermodel and actress

1973 - Daz Dillinger, American Hip-Hop Producer/rapper, friend of 2pac

1975 - Lauryn Hill, American singer

1976 - Miguel Tejada, Dominican Major League Baseball player

1976 - Cillian Murphy, Irish actor

1978 - Brian Urlacher, American football player

1979 - Carlos Bocanegra, American soccer player

1979 - Jonny Wilkinson, English international and Newcastle Falcons rugby player

1979 - Caroline Ouellette, French Canadian ice hockey player

1980 - Jae Hee, South Korean actor

1982 - Adam Boyd, English footballer

1984 - Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir, Miss Iceland, crowned Miss World in 2005

1985 - Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress

1987 - Timothy Derijck, Belgian footballer

1993 - The Dilley sextuplets, first surviving set of sextuplets in the United States

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709 - Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne

735 - Bede, English historian and monk

967 - Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 926)

992 - Mieszko I first lord and knight of Poland

1085 - Pope Gregory VII

1261 - Pope Alexander IV

1452 - John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury

1555 - Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (b. 1508)

1555 - Henry II of Navarre (b. 1503)

1595 - Valens Acidalius, German critic and poet (b. 1567)

1632 - Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1572)

1667 - Gustaf Bonde, Swedish statesman (b. 1620)

1681 - Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright (b. 1600)

1693 - Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette, French writer (b. 1634)

1741 - Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (b. 1660)

1786 - Peter III of Portugal, consort of Queen Maria I of Portugal (b. 1717)

1789 - Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist (b. 1751)

1797 - John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, British field marshal (b. 1719)

1805 - William Paley, English philosopher (b. 1743)

1848 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (b. 1797)

1849 - Benjamin d'Urban, British general and colonial administrator (b. 1777)

1899 - Rosa Bonheur, French realist painter and sculptor (d. 1822)

1912 - Austin Lane Crothers, American politician (b. 1860)

1917 - Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet (b. 1891)

1924 - Lyubov Popova, Russian painter (b. 1889)

1926 - Symon Petlura, Ukrainian politician and statesman (b. 1879)

1927 - Payne Whitney, American businessman (b. 1876)

1930 - Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1848)

1934 - Gustav Holst, English composer (b. 1874)

1935 - Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English Astronomer (b. 1868)

1940 - Joe De Grasse, American film director (b. 1873)

1943 - Nils von Dardel, Swedish post-impressionist painter (b. 1888)

1951 - Paula von Preradović, Croatian-born writer (b. 1887)

1954 - Robert Capa, Hungarian-born photojournalist (b. 1913)

1965 - Sonny Boy Williamson, American singer, songwriter, and musician (b. 1899)

1968 - Georg von Küchler, German field marshal (b. 1881)

1977 - Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (b. 1904)

1979 - John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer (b. 1949)

1981 - Fredric Warburg, British publisher and author (b. 1898)

1983 - Jean Rougeau, French Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1925)

1986 - Chester Bowles, American politician (b. 1901)

1988 - Ernst Ruska, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)

1993 - David Peterson, American professional wrestler (b. 1959)

1994 - Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (b. 1940)

1995 - Dany Robin, French actress (b. 1927)

1996 - Bradley Nowell, American singer and guitarist (Sublime) (b. 1968)

2003 - Jeremy Michael Ward, American musician (The Mars Volta) (b. 1976)

2004 - Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (b. 1917)

2005 - Sunil Dutt, Indian actor and politician (b. 1929)

2005 - Robert Jankel, British coachbuilder (b. 1938)

2005 - Graham Kennedy, Australian television personality (b. 1934)

2005 - Ruth Laredo, American pianist (b. 1937)

2005 - Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer (b. 1965)

2006 - Desmond Dekker, Jamaican ska musician (b. 1941)

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Argentina - Day of May Revolution/National Day (1810)

Africa Day commemorating the 1963 fouding of he AU's precursor, OAU

Chad, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe - African Liberation Day

Jordan - National Day/Arab Renaissance Day (1946)

Libya, Sudan - Sudan National Day/May Revolution Day (1969)

United States - Memorial Day/Decoration Day, a legal holiday (1868)

Virginia - Confederate Memorial Day (1868)

Lebanon, Liberation Day (1999)

The former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Day of Youth

Ancient Latvia - Urbanas Diena observed

Towel Day, in memory of Douglas Adams

Officially declared Carrie Underwood Day in Oklahoma for her winning American Idol

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Liturgical Feast days

The Ascension, one of the great feasts in the Christian liturgical calendar saints in the Roman Catholic Church:
Saint Bede the Venerable (died 735)
Saint Augustine of Canterbury
Saint Bruno of Würzburg
Saint Frederic
Saint Pope Gregory VII (died 1085)
Saint Hildebert
Saint Reinolf
Saint Marie-Madeleine-Sofie Barat (died 1865)