• Pope Innocent IV authorizes torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition (1252)
• Anne Boleyn goes on trial for treason, adultery, and incest (1536)
• Johannes Kepler confirms the third law of planetary motion (1618)
• The Treaty of Westphalia is signed (1648)
• The War of the Spanish Succession begins (1701)
• The first machine gun is patented (1718)
• The National Woman Suffrage Association is founded (1869)
• Las Vegas is founded (1905)
• Standard Oil is declared a monopoly by the US Supreme Court (1911)
• Mickey Mouse premiers (1928 — video link)
• The Moscow Metro opens (1935)
• The first McDonald’s opens (1940)
• The first allied jet fighter, the Gloster E.28/39 has its maiden flight (1941)
• The first Arab-Israeli War begins (1949)
• Sputnik 3 (1958) and Sputnik 4 (1960) are launched
• The final Mercury mission lifts off (1963)
• The first female US Army generals are appointed (1970)
• Alabama governor George Wallace is shot (1972)
• The Soviets begin withdrawing from Afghanistan (1988)
• At age 17, Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted, around the world

 Birthdays

• 장헌대왕; 莊憲大王 (Sejong the Great), Korean monarch (1397)
• Claudio Monteverdi, composer (1567 — baptismal date)
• Klemens von Metternich, diplomat (1773)
• দেবেন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর (Debendranath Tagore), philosopher and religious reformer (1817)
• L. Frank Baum, creator of the Land of Oz (1856)
• Pierre Curie, physicist (1859)
• Katherine Anne Porter, author (1890)
• Михаи́л Булга́ков (Mikhail Bulgakov), author (1891 — O.S. May 3*)
• Prescott Bush, banker and politician, father of George H. W. Bush (1895)
• Richard J. Daley, Chicago mayor (1902)
• Clifton Fadiman, game show host and author (1904)
• Joseph Cotten, actor (1905)
• Abraham Zapruder, filmed the JFK assassination (1905)
• James Mason, actor (1909)
• Paul Samuelson, economist (1915)
• Eddy Arnold, singer-songwriter (1918)
• Richard Avedon, photographer (1923)
• Jasper Johns, painter (1930)
• Ken Venturi, golfer (1931)
• Anna Maria Alberghetti, actress and singer (1936)
• Wavy Gravy, clown and activist (1936)
• Ralph Steadman, illustrator (1936)
• Paul Zindel, author and playwright (1936)
• Madeline Albright, former US Secretary of State (1937)
• Trini Lopez, singer and guitarist (1937)
• Roger Ailes, Fox News head (1940)
• Lainie Kazan, actress and singer (1940)
• Brian Eno, singer-songwriter (1948)
• Chazz Palminteri, actor (1952)
• George Brett, baseball player (1953)
• Melle Mel, rapper (1961)
• Emmitt Smith, football player (1969)
• Ahmet Zappa, singer-songwriter (1974)
• Josh Beckett, basketball player (1980)
• Zara Phillips, equestrienne and royal granddaughter (1981)

Deaths

• Valentinian II, Roman emperor (392)
• Emily Dickinson, poet (1886)
• Charles Williams, author (1945)
• Edward Hopper, painter (1967)
• Theodore H. White, journalist (1986)
• June Carter Cash, singer-songwriter (2003)
• Jerry Falwell, televangelist (2007)
• Alexander Courage, wrote the original Star Trek theme (2008)
• Wayman Tisdale, basketball player (2009)

Holidays and Celebrations

• 葵祭, Aoi Matsuri (Kyoto, Japan)
• Army Day (Slovenia)
• Constituent Assembly Day (Lithuania)
• Independence Day (Paraguay)
• International Day of Families (worldwide)
• La Corsa dei Ceri (Gubbio)
• Mercuralia (ancient Rome)
• Nakba Day (Palestinian communities)
• Peace Officers Memorial Day (United States)
• Teacher’s Day (Mexico, South Korea)

Informal and made-up holidays include Hyperemis Gravidarum Awareness Day, National Chocolate Chip Day, National Tuberous Sclerosis Day, and Nylon Stockings Day.

_{*O.S., or Old Style, refers to the fact that Russia did not convert from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar until 1918.}