| 1461 | | Edward IV secures his claim to the English thrown in defeating Henry VI's Lancastrians at the battle of Towdon. |
| 1638 | | A permanent European colony is established in present-day Delaware. |
| 1827 | | Composer Ludwig van Beethoven is buried in Vienna amidst a crowd of over 10,000 mourners. |
| 1847 | | U.S. troops under General Winfield Scott take possession of the Mexican stronghold at Vera Cruz. |
| 1867 | | The United States purchases Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars. |
| 1879 | | British troops of the 90th Light Infantry Regiment repulse a major attack by Zulu tribesmen in northwest Zululand. |
| 1886 | | Coca-Cola goes on sale for the first time at a drugstore in Atlanta. Its inventor, Dr. John Pemberton, claims it can cure anything from hysteria to the common cold. |
| 1903 | | A regular news service begins between New York and London on Marconi's wireless. |
| 1913 | | The German government announces a raise in taxes in order to finance the new military budget. |
| 1916 | | The Italians call off the fifth attack on Isonzo. |
| 1936 | | Italy firebombs the Ethiopian city of Harar. |
| 1941 | | The British sink five Italian warships off the Peloponnesus coast in the Mediterranean. |
| 1951 | | The Chinese reject Gen. Douglas MacArthur's offer for a truce in Korea. |
| 1951 | | Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I opens on Broadway starring Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner. |
| 1952 | | President Harry Truman removes himself from the presidential race. |
| 1961 | | The 23rd amendment, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote for president, is ratified. |
| 1962 | | Cuba opens the trial of the Bay of Pigs invaders. |
| 1966 | | Leonid Brezhenev becomes First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. He denounces the American policy in Vietnam and calls it one of aggression. |
| 1967 | | France launches its first nuclear submarine. |
| 1971 | | Lt. William L. Calley Jr. is found guilty for his actions in the My Lai massacre. |
| 1973 | | The last U.S. troops withdraw from South Vietnam. |
| 1975 | | Egyptian president Anwar Sadat declares that he will reopen the Suez Canal on June 5, 1975. |
| 1976 | | Eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted for shooting four Kent State students during an anti-war protest on May 4, 1970. |
| 1986 | | A court in Rome acquits six men in a plot to kill the Pope. |
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