| 715 |
|
St. Gregory II begins his reign as Catholic Pope. |
| 1535 |
|
French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail for North America. |
| 1536 |
|
Anne Boleyn is beheaded on Tower Green. |
| 1568 |
|
Defeated by the Protestants, Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England where Queen Elizabeth imprisons her. |
| 1588 |
|
The Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon, Spain. |
| 1608 |
|
The Protestant states form the Evangelical Union of Lutherans and Calvinists. |
| 1635 |
|
Cardinal Richelieu of France intervenes in the great conflict in Europe by declaring war on the Hapsburgs in Spain. |
| 1643 |
|
The French army defeats a Spanish army at Rocroi, France. |
| 1780 |
|
Near total darkness descends on New England at noon. No explanation is found. |
| 1856 |
|
Senator Charles Sumner speaks out against slavery. |
| 1858 |
|
A pro-slavery band led by Charles Hameton executes unarmed Free State men near Marais des Cygnes on the Kansas-Missouri border. |
| 1863 |
|
Union General Ulysses S. Grant's first attack on Vicksburg is repulsed. |
| 1864 |
|
The Union and Confederate armies launch their last attacks against each other at Spotsylvania, Virginia. |
| 1921 |
|
Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system. |
| 1935 |
|
The National Football League adopts an annual college draft to begin in 1936. |
| 1964 |
|
U.S. diplomats find at least 40 microphones planted in the American embassy in Moscow. |
| 1967 |
|
U.S. planes bomb Hanoi for the first time. |
|
Born on May 19 |
| 1762 |
|
Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher. |
| 1879 |
|
Lady Nancy Astor (Nancy Witcher Langhorne), the first woman to sit in the British House of Commons. |
| 1890 |
|
Ho Chi Minh (Nguyen That Thanh), Vietnamese nationalist and political leader. |
| 1895 |
|
Johns Hopkins, merchant and philanthropist. |
| 1925 |
|
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little), African-American activist. |
| 1934 |
|
James Lehrer, broadcast journalist. |
| 1941 |
|
Jane Brody, food and health writer. |
| 1941 |
|
Nora Ephron, screenwriter and director. |