1595 – Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library
1738 – John Wesley is converted, launching the Methodist movement; celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day
1844 – Samuel Morse taps out “What hath God wrought” in the world’s first telegraph message
1941 – German battleship Bismarck sinks the British battle cruiser HMS Hood; 1,416 die, 3 survive
1956 – 1st Eurovision Song Contest: Lys Assia for Switzerland wins singing “Refrain” in Lugano
1986 – Margaret Thatcher becomes 1st British Prime Minister to visit Israel
1988 – Section 28 passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality. Repealed 2001/2004
1994 – Four men convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City were each sentenced to 240 years in prison; the terrorist attack had killed 6 people and injured some 1,000.
2000 – Israel ended its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, withdrawing the last of its troops from its self-declared security zone.
2004 – North Korea bans mobile phones.
2014 – Yingluck Shinawatra, former prime minister of Thailand, is detained by the army after a military coup
2017 – UEFA Europa League won by Manchester United 2-0 against Ajax in Stockholm
2018 – Actor Morgan Freeman accused of sexual harassment by several women in CNN report
2020 – Millions of cicadas in a once in 17-year event about to emerge from the earth in the US south posing crop danger and noise issues, according to scientists from Virginia Tech
2020 – British PM Boris Johnson refuses to sack his senior aide Dominic Cummings, after it is revealed he broke the country’s lockdown rules to drive across the country
Births & Deaths:
1819 – Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Ireland (1837-1901), born in London
1941 – American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who was hailed as the Shakespeare of his generation, was born in Duluth, Minnesota.
Film:
1895 – Henry Irving becomes the first actor to receive a knighthood
Music:
1956 – 1st Eurovision Song Contest: Lys Assia for Switzerland wins singing “Refrain” in Lugano
Sport
1935 – 1st major league night baseball game, in Cincinnati (Reds 2, Phil 1)
