Ken Jennings begins his 74-game winning streak on the syndicated game show ''Jeopardy!''

Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.

The Bhutan Broadcasting Service brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time.

In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

United States Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady's F-16 is shot down over Bosnia while patrolling the NATO no-fly zone.

The Lower Ohio Valley tornado outbreak spawns 66 confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, killing 12. Petersburg, Indiana, is the hardest-hit town in the outbreak, with 6 deaths.

Operation Bluestar, a military offensive, is launched by the Indian government at Harmandir Sahib, also known as Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for the Sikhs, in Amritsar. The operation continues until June 6 with casualties, most of them civilians, in excess of 5,000.

Pope John Paul II first official visit to his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.

Luis Monge is executed in Colorado's gas chamber, in the last pre-''Furman'' execution in the United States.

Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into riots, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group Movement 2 June.

Surveyor program: ''Surveyor 1'' lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on another world.

The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations between both countries, discontinued since 1948.

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised.

Birth of the Italian Republic: In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic. After the referendum the king of Italy Umberto II di Savoia is exiled.

World War II: German paratoopers murder Greek civilians in the village of Kondomari.

Because of a lineup revision by Miller Huggins, Wally Pipp is replaced by Lou Gehrig at first base for the New York Yankees, beginning a streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, topped only by Cal Ripken, Jr. in {{by|1995}}. Exactly 16 years later to the day, in 1941, Gehrig dies from Amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act into law, granting citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States.

Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.

Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his newest invention: the radio.

U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in the White House, becoming the only president to wed in the executive mansion.

Hristo Botev, a national revolutionary of Bulgaria, is killed in Stara Planina

The Portland Rum Riot occurs in Portland, Maine.

The Slavic congress in Prague begins.

P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.

Jean-Paul Marat recites the names of 29 people to the French National Convention. Almost all of these people are guillotined, followed by 17,000 more over the course of the next year during the Reign of Terror.

Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act is enacted, allowing a governor in colonial America to house British soldiers in uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings if suitable quarters are not provided.

Pontiac's Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison's attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.

Bridget Bishop is the first person to go to trial in the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Found guilty, she is hanged on June 10.

First Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France.

First Crusade: The first Siege of Antioch ends as Crusader forces take the city. The second siege would later start on June 7.

Sack of Rome: The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks