Middle/End of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of Geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.
Paris knife attack: A man is fatally shot by police in Paris after killing one and injuring several others.
The WannaCry ransomware attack impacts over 400,000 computers worldwide, targeting computers of the United Kingdom's National Health Services and Telefónica computers.
A train derailment in Philadelphia, United States, kills eight people and injures more than 200.
Massive Nepal earthquake kills 218 people and injures more than 3,500.
Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crashes on final approach to Tripoli International Airport in Tripoli, Libya, killing 103 out of the 104 people on board.
An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts the largest-ever raid of a workplace in Postville, Iowa, arresting nearly 400 immigrants for identity theft and document fraud.
Mass unrest by the Primeiro Comando da Capital begins in São Paulo (Brazil), leaving at least 150 dead.
Iranian Azeris interpret a cartoon published in an Iranian magazine as insulting, resulting in massive riots throughout the country.
The Riyadh compound bombings in Saudi Arabia, carried out by al-Qaeda, kill 39 people.
Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro, becoming the first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since the Cuban Revolution.
The San Bernardino train disaster kills four people, only to be followed a week later by an underground gasoline pipeline explosion, which kills two more people.
During a procession outside the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal, security guards overpower Juan María Fernández y Krohn before he can attack Pope John Paul II with a bayonet.
In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba (now known as Katanga); the local government asks the US, France and Belgium to restore order.
Indochina Wars: Democratic Kampuchea naval forces capture the SS Mayaguez.
Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attack Australian troops defending Fire Support Base Coral.
The Soviet spacecraft Luna 5 crashes on the Moon.
Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.
World War II: Second Battle of Kharkov: In eastern Ukraine, Red Army forces under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launch a major offensive from the Izium bridgehead, only to be encircled and destroyed by the troops of Army Group South two weeks later.
World War II: The U.S. tanker SS Virginia is torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German submarine U-507.
Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom are crowned in Westminster Abbey.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act, which restricts agricultural production through government purchase of livestock for slaughter and paying subsidies to farmers when they remove land from planting, is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
President Roosevelt signs legislation creating the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the predecessor of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Ten weeks after his abduction, Charles Jr., the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, is found dead near Hopewell, New Jersey, just a few miles from the Lindberghs' home.
The Italian-built airship Norge becomes the first vessel to fly over the North Pole.
North-West Rebellion: The four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat.
In North Africa, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15.
American Civil War: The Battle of Palmito Ranch: The first day of the last major land action to take place during the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory.
American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Union troops assault a Confederate salient known as the "Mule Shoe", with some of the fiercest fighting of the war, much of it hand-to-hand combat, occurring at "the Bloody Angle" on the nor...
American Civil War: Battle of Raymond: Two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army duri...
American Civil War: Union Army troops occupy Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Donner Party of pioneers departs Independence, Missouri for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship and cannibalism.
The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks is fought in Valtetsi.
Finnish War: Swedish-Finnish troops, led by Captain Karl Wilhelm Malmi, conquer the city of Kuopio from Russians after the Battle of Kuopio.
War of the First Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte conquers Venice.
American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
Heinrich XI, count of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, is elevated to Prince by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia after defeating her rival, Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor.
London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured by the Privy Council for libel.
French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry I, Duke of Guise, enters the city and a spontaneous uprising occurs.
National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas, is founded in Lima, Peru.
The Prince of Anhua rebellion begins when Zhu Zhifan kills all the officials invited to a banquet and declares his intent on ousting the powerful Ming dynasty eunuch Liu Jin during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.
Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.
Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland, is founded in Kraków.
Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice.
Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre in Cyprus; she is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.
Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang dynasty after nearly three hundred years of rule.
Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism.