1431: At Rouen in English-controlled Normandy, 19-year-old Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who became the saviour of France, is burned at the stake for heresy by an English-dominated tribunal in Rouen, France. Joan was born in 1412, the daughter of a tenant farmer at Domremy, on the borders of the duchies of Bar and Lorraine.
1842: An assassination attempt was made on Queen Victoria as she drove down Constitution Hill in London with her husband Prince Albert. The would-be assassin was John Francis.
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1903: The British parliament passes a resolution on the atrocities and human rights abuses carried out by Belgium’s King Leopold II through his personal colonial businesses in the Belgian Congo. The resolution asks that “measures may be adopted to abate the evils prevalent in that State (Belgian Congo).”
1911: The first Indianapolis 500 is held. Ray Harroun won the first running of the 500-mile automobile race, which is today one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events.
1922: Statue at the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial—honouring Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, and “the virtues of tolerance, honesty, and constancy in the human spirit”—was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1933: In British Nigeria, the Sultan of Sokoto in Kaduna and the Emir of Gwandu inform the British colonial Lieutenant-Governor that they wish to donate part of their government salaries to pay for the salaries of European school teachers, to support the education of Nigerian children. The global depression hit hard colonial government revenue (which dropped from £8,268,928 in 1926 to £4,857,612 in 1931) and Governor Cameron slashed the education budget by a third between 1920 and 1934, requiring the dismissal of European teachers.
1942: Cologne, Germany: World War II. During World War II the British Royal Air Force dispatched more than 1,000 bombers against Cologne, Germany.
1956: U.S. jazz legend Louis Armstrong (pic: fourth from left) arrives in Accra, Gold Coast (Ghana) on a goodwill visit, and leads his band and local trumpeters on the airport tarmac in a rousing When the Saints Go Marching In. Armstrong will influence local Highlife music, a fusion of African rhythm and American jazz, and be influenced himself by the style. Four years ago, an English activist against South Africa’s apartheid system, Father Trevor Huddleston, told Armstrong about a talented South African boy who wished to be a musician, and Armstrong gifted one of his trumpets to teenage Hugh Masekela, who will become South Africa’s foremost jazz trumpeter.
1961: The Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo, is assassinated.
El Jefe had been the Dominican Republic’s President for 31 years. Despite the assassination, the intended removal of the dictatorship in the Caribbean country failed as the ruler’s son, Ramfis Trujillo, soon stepped into his father’s shoes.
1967: The Republic of Biafra proclaimed. After years of perceived suppression under Nigeria’s military government, the breakaway state of Biafra proclaims its independence from Nigeria. On May 30, 1967, Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and other non-Igbo representatives of the area established the Republic of Biafra. The short-lived state consisted of Nigeria’s Eastern Region. Its secession sparked the Nigerian Civil War, which lasted until 1970 and resulted in the region’s reintegration into Nigeria.
1972: The Official IRA announced a ceasefire, but the Provisional IRA said it would continue fighting until the British left Northern Ireland.
1972: The Angry Brigade, a small British anarchist group, went on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom. As a result of the trial, John Barker, Jim Greenfield, Hilary Creek, and Anna Mendelssohn received prison sentences of 10 years.
1987: Mike Tyson won a technical knockout against Pinklon Thomas, winning the heavyweight boxing title.
1989: British singer Cliff Richard released his 100th single record, entitled ‘The Best of Me’.
2011: Germany abandons nuclear energy. The government’s decision followed the nuclear meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima power plant and years of hands-on protests and activism by Germany’s powerful anti-nuclear movement.
2012: Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes that were committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war.
BIRTHS ON THIS DAY: May 30
Steven Gerrard, 44 years
Steven George Gerrard MBE is an English professional football manager and former player who was born on 30 May 1980. He manages the Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq. He spent the majority of his playing career as a central midfielder for Liverpool and the England national team, captaining both.
Jamie Uys (30 May 1921 – 29 January 1996)
South African film director and actor was born on 30 May 1921 in Boksburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa. He directed 24 films primarily in the Afrikaans language, including the 1980 global comedy hit The Gods Must Be Crazy. His personal favourites were his popular wildlife films shot in the Kalahari Desert. He died at the age of 74.
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