Depayin massacre: at least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy were killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene, but was arrested soon afterwards.

272 days following the September 11 attacks, closing ceremonies are held for the clean up and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City. The last remaining steel beam is removed and transported to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island.

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

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

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

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

Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.

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 in France.

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

launch of Surveyor 1 the first US spacecraft to achieve landing on an extraterrestrial body.

Former Congolese Prime Minister Evariste Kimba and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.

A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis is held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem.

Long time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo is assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened by Governor-General Lord Cobham.

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.

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

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

World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb on the Athenian Acropolis, tear down the Nazi swastika.

May 30 Movement: Shanghai Municipal Police Force shot 13 protesting workers to death.

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

Alexander I becomes king of Greece.

The new and then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, sets sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.

First Balkan War: the Treaty of London, 1913 is signed ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.

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

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

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.

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

The Paris Commune falls.

Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time (By "Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic" John A. Logan's proclamation on May 5).

Westminster's Big Ben rang for the first time in London.

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

John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill, London with Prince Albert.

Joaquim António de Aguiar issue a law extinguishing "all convents, monasteries, colleges, hospices and any other houses of the regular religious orders", earning him the nickname of "The Friar-Killer".

The Rideau Canal in eastern Ontario is opened.

End of the Hambach Festival in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

The East Indiaman ship Arniston is wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, near Cape Agulhas, present-day South Africa, with the loss of 372 lives.

Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition

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

From this date all honours granted by Charles I are retrospectively annulled by Parliament.

Thirty Years' War: the Peace of Prague (1635) is signed.

Publication of La Gazette, first French newspaper.

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

Henry III becomes King of France.

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

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

Hussite Wars|Hussite Wars (Bohemian Wars): Battle of Lipany

Hundred Years' War: in Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. Because of this the Catholic Church remember this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.

The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burns Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.

Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. The Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometres.