1199 – English King Richard I was killed by an arrow at the siege of the castle of Chaluz in France.
1607 – An expedition led by Captain Christopher Newport arrived at the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico for supplies before continuing on their journey. On May 14, they went ashore and founded Jamestown, Virginia, as the first permanent English colony in America.
1652 – Jan van Riebeeck established a settlement at Cape Town, South Africa.
1789 – The first U.S. Congress began regular sessions at the Federal Hall in New York City.
1875 – Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the multiple telegraph, which sent two signals at the same time.
1896 – The first modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece.
1917 – The U.S. Congress approved a declaration of war on Germany and entered World War I on the Allied side.
1924 – Four planes left Seattle on the first successful flight around the world.
1927 – William P. MacCracken, Jr. earned license number ‘1’ when the Department of Commerce issued the first aviator’s license.
1938 – The United States recognized the German conquest of Austria.
1941 – German forces invaded Greece and Yugoslavia.
1965 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorized the use of ground troops in combat operations in Vietnam.
1967 – In South Vietnam, 1,500 Viet Cong attacked Quangtri and freed 200 prisoners.
1988 – Mathew Henson was awarded honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Henson had discovered the North Pole with Robert Peary.
