EVENTS
- 68 – Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide.
- Roman Emperor Nero
- 1732 – James Oglethorpe is given a royal charter to start the colony of Georgia.
- 1898 – The British signed a 99-year lease for Hong Kong, located on the southeastern coast of China. Hong Kong, consisting of an area measuring 400 square miles, was administered as a British Crown Colony until July 1, 1997, when its sovereignty reverted to the People’s Republic of China.
- 1928 – Charles Kingsford Smith completes the world’s first trans-Pacific flight. The Australian aviator and his 4-man crew had departed Oakland, California on the morning on May 31. Nine days later, after several stops, they landed safely in Brisbane.
- 1934 – Donald Duck makes his film debut in The Wise Little Hen. The short-tempered duck typically wearing a sailor suit is one of Walt Disney’s most famous cartoon characters. Donald’s first book appearance was in The Adventures of Mickey Mouse, which was published in 1931.
- 1946 – Bhumibol Adulyadej is crowned King of Thailand. At the time of his death on October 13, 2016, he was the world’s longest reigning head of state, with 70 years on the throne.
- 1957 – Four Austrian climbers become the first to conquer Broad Peak. Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl reached the 8051 meter-high summit of one of the world’s highest mountains on the border of Pakistan and China.
- 1967 – Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel’s occupation of the territory and the establishment of Israeli settlements in the area continue to hamper negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing Middle East conflict.
- 1973 – The horse Secretariat wins the Triple Crown.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1640 – Leopold I (Holy Roman Emperor)
- 1891 – Cole Porter (American composer)
- 1915 – Les Paul (Guitar maker)
- 1939 – Dick Vitale (Basketball commentator)
- 1961 – Aaron Sorkin (American screenwriter, producer, playwright)
- 1961 – Michael J. Fox (Actor)
Michael J. Fox - 1963 – Johnny Depp (Actor)
- 1981 – Natalie Portman (Actress)
DEATHS
- 68 – Nero (Roman emperor)
- 1870 – Charles Dickens (English author)
- 1974 – Miguel Ángel Asturias (Guatemalan journalist, author, poet, Nobel Prize laureate)
Miguel Ángel Asturias - 2011 – M. F. Husain (Indian painter, director)
- 2013 – Iain Banks (Scottish author)
