* 1431 – Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by the English in Rouen, France.
* 1574 – Henry III of France becomes king upon the death of his brother Charles IX.
* 1631 – The Peace of Cherasco ends the War of the Mantuan Succession, which had pitted the French and Savoyard armies against the Spanish and Imperial armies in northern Italy.
* 1793 – The Girondins, a moderate republican political faction in the French Revolution, are defeated by the radical Jacobin faction led by Maximilien Robespierre.
* 1814 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the War of the Sixth Coalition and restoring the Bourbon monarchy in France.
* 1848 – The Wisconsin Territory becomes the 30th state of the United States.
* 1911 – The Indianapolis 500 is held for the first time, with Ray Harroun winning the inaugural race.
* 1922 – The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
* 1942 – The first mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp begins, marking the start of the Holocaust in Poland.
* 1967 – The Eastern Region of Nigeria declares its independence as the Republic of Biafra, leading to the Nigerian Civil War.
* 1975 – The European Economic Community (EEC) is expanded to include the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark.
* 1982 – The Falklands War begins when Argentine forces invade the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory.
* 1999 – The Seattle World Trade Organization conference opens amid massive protests against globalization.
* 2010 – The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes, causing the largest marine oil spill in history and killing 11 workers.