Today:
1671 – Thomas Blood attempted to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London but was caught in the act.
1864 – The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House began during the American Civil War in Virginia.
1873 – The Vienna Stock Exchange crashed, starting the Panic of 1873 in Europe.
1901 – Australia opened its first national parliament in Melbourne.
1926 – The first successful flight over the North Pole was made by Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett.
1941 – The British Royal Navy captured a German U-boat, U-110, and obtained an Enigma machine.
1945 – Victory Day was celebrated in the Soviet Union as Nazi Germany officially surrendered in World War II.
1955 – West Germany joined NATO, marking a significant step in its postwar integration into the Western alliance.
1974 – The U.S. House of Representatives began formal impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
2004 – Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was assassinated in a bombing during a World War II memorial parade in Grozny.