HistoryPod

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30th May 1431: Joan of Arc executed in the French city of Rouen for heresy May 30, 2026

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Joan was accused of being a witch and a heretic due to the voices she heard and visions she witnessed, but the crime that condemned her to death was that of wearing men’s ...

29th May 1854: Paddington Station opens as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway May 29, 2026

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The completed station was formally opened for use on 29 May 1854 to link London with the west of England and South Wales, reflecting the broader growth of rail transport during the mid-nineteenth ...

28th May 1987: Mathias Rust, an 18-year-old amateur pilot from West Germany, illegally landed a private aircraft near Moscow’s Red Square May 28, 2026

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Rust approached Moscow in the early evening and, after passing the city's ‘Ring of Steel’ anti-aircraft defences, touched down on a bridge next to St Basil’s Cathedral and taxied his aircraft into Red ...

27th May 1199: King John of England crowned at Westminster Abbey in London May 27, 2026

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John ruled for seventeen years before contracting dysentery while in Kings Lynn, an illness from which he later ...

26th May 1972: The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty at the Moscow Summit May 26, 2026

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The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was intended to limit the development and deployment of missile defence systems during the Cold War to avoid further offensive build-up or create incentives for a first ...

25th May 1961: US President John F. Kennedy announces his plans for a manned moon landing before the end of the decade May 25, 2026

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Kennedy's $24 billion of investment did work, and Apollo 11 achieved Kennedy's goal by landing on the moon on 20 July ...

24th May 1956: First Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Lugano, Switzerland May 24, 2026

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The first Eurovision Song Contest featured only seven countries, and was broadcast across Europe using a terrestrial microwave relay network that linked the countries of Europe together like an invisible spider’s ...

23rd May 1701: Captain Kidd, the Scottish privateer, executed in London after being convicted of piracy and murder May 23, 2026

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Kidd was executed for piracy and murder at Execution Dock on the River Thames, and his body was subsequently placed in gibbet and displayed over the River Thames at Tilbury ...

22nd May 1455: Wars of the Roses begin at the First Battle of St Albans between Richard, Duke of York, and King Henry VI May 22, 2026

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The Wars of the Roses were fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York, both of whom had claims to the ...

21st May 1972: Laszlo Toth attacks and seriously damages Michelangelo’s Pietà statue May 21, 2026

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Hungarian-born geologist Laszlo Toth attacked and seriously damaged Michelangelo’s Pietà statue with a ...

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