Portal:War/Selected anniversaries/May

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Selected anniversaries in May

May 1

• 1328 - Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – England recognises Scotland as an independent nation.
• 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay - The United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.
• 1941 - World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.

May 2

• 1808 - Peninsular War: The people of Madrid rise up in rebellion against French occupation.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering for the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia 8 days later.
• 1866 - Peruvian defenders fight off Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.
• 1945 - World War II: Fall of Berlin – The Soviet Union announces the capture of Berlin and Soviet soldiers hoist their red flag over the Reichstag building. German forces surrender in Italy. German forces surrender to the New Zealand Army in Trieste.
• 1964 - Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the USS Card while docked at Saigon. Viet Cong forces are suspected of placing a bomb on the ship.
• 1982 - Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano.

May 3

• 1808 - Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.
• 1945 - World War II: Sinking of the floating-jails Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the RAF in the Lübeck Bay.
• 1946 - World War II: The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• 1951 - The United States Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry S Truman.

May 4

• 1471 - Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury – Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales.
• 1855 - American adventurer William Walker departs from San Francisco with about 60 men to conquer Nicaragua.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chancellorsville – The battle ends with a Union retreat.
• 1869 - The Naval Battle of Hakodate takes place in Japan.
• 1910 - The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
• 1942 - World War II: Battle of the Coral Sea – The battle begins with the launch of attack aircraft from American and Japanese aircraft carriers.

May 5

• 1862 - Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
• 1864 - American Civil War: The Battle of the Wilderness begins in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
• 1916 - American marines invade the Dominican Republic.
• 1936 - Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• 1945 - World War II: German troops in the Netherlands and Denmark capitulate to Canadian and British forces, liberating these countries from Nazi occupation.

May 6

• 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.
• 1757 - Battle of Prague - A Prussian army fought an Austrian army in Prague during the Seven Years' War.
• 1942 - World War II: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.
• 1945 - World War II: The Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the Eastern Front, begins.

May 7

• 1864 - American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
• 1915 - World War I: a German U-boat sinks the RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people.
• 1920 - Polish-Bolshevik War: Polish-Ukrainian troops capture Kiev during the Kiev Offensive.
• 1937 - Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrive in Spain to assist Franco's forces.
• 1945 - World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document will take effect the next day.

May 8

• 1846 - Mexican-American War: The Battle of Palo Alto – Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.
• 1919 - Edward George Honey first proposed the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I, which later resulted in the creation of Remembrance Day.
• 1942 - World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end. This is the first time in the naval history where two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
• 1972 - Vietnam War – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announces his order to place mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.

May 9

• 1915 - World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
• 1940 - World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.
• 1941 - World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma cryptography machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
• 1945 - World War II: The final German surrender to Marshal Georgy Zhukov at Berlin-Karlshorst is signed by Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as the representative of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as the Chief of Staff of OKW, and Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg as Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine.

May 10

• 1775 - American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen.
• 1796 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
• 1801 - First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States.
• 1857 - Indian Mutiny: In India, the Sepoys revolt against the British Army.
• 1940 - World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
• 1941 - World War II: The House of Commons in London is destroyed by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.

May 11

• 1745 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy – At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army.
• 1862 - American Civil War: The ironclad CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Yellow Tavern – Confederate General JEB Stuart is mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern, Virginia.
• 1943 - World War II: American troops invade Attu in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.
• 1944 - World War II: The Allies start a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line.

May 12

• 1264 - The Battle of Lewes, between King Henry III of England and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, begins.
• 1588 - French Wars of Religion: Henry III of France flees Paris after Henry of Guise enters the city.
• 1689 - King William's War: William III of England joins the League of Augsburg starting a war with France.
• 1780 - American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
• 1797 - First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".

May 13

• 1568 - Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary Queen of Scots are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother.
• 1846 - Mexican-American War: The United States declares war on Mexico.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch – In far south Texas, more than a month after Confederate General Lee's surrender, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victory.
• 1940 - World War II: Germany's conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse River. Churchill makes his "blood, tears, toil and sweat" speech to the House of Commons.

May 14

• 1509 - Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Venetians.
• 1747 - A British fleet under Admiral George Anson defeats the French at first battle of Cape Finisterre.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Jackson (MS).
• 1940 - World War II: Rotterdam is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
• 1955 - Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defence treaty called the Warsaw Pact.

May 15

• 1525 - The Battle of Frankenhausen ends the Peasants' War.
• 1701 - The War of the Spanish Succession begins.
• 1756 - The Seven Years' War begins when England declares war on France.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Resaca, Georgia ends.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia – Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.
• 1970 - President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army Generals.

May 16

• 1943 - World War II: The Dambuster Raids by RAF 617 Squadron on German dams.

May 17

• 1809 - Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
• 1900 - Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
• 1967 - Six-Day War: President Abdul Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
• 1987 - An Iraqi fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. warship USS Stark (FFG-31), killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.

May 18

• 1268 - The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch; Baibars' destruction of the city of Antioch was so great as to permanently negate the city's importance.
• 1803 - Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
• 1863 - American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins, ending on July 4.
• 1917 - World War I: The Selective Service Act passes the U.S. Congress giving the President the power of conscription.
• 1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino - Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.

May 19

• 1643 - Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power.
• 1802 - The Légion d'Honneur is founded by Napoleon Bonaparte.
• 1848 - Mexican-American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexico ratifies the treaty thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of five other modern-day U.S. states to the USA for USD $15 million.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends.

May 20

• 685 - The Battle of Dunnichen or Nechtansmere is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
• 1217 - The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.
• 1631 - The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
• 1813 - Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church - In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
• 1941 - World War II: Battle of Crete – German paratroops invade Crete.

May 21

• 1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson – Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
• 1879 - War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique, Chile, battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique.
• 1941 - World War II: 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor becomes the first United States ship sunk by a German U-boat.
• 1956 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.

May 22

• 1455 - Wars of the Roses: At the First Battle of St Albans, Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England.
• 1939 - World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.
• 1942 - Mexico enters World War II on the side of the Allies

May 23

• 1430 - Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne
• 1568 - Dutch rebels led by Louis of Nassau, brother of William I of Orange, defeat Jean de Ligne, Duke of Aremberg and his loyalist troops in the Battle of Heiligerlee, opening the Eighty Years' War.
• 1618 - The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War.
• 1863 - The Siege of Port Hudson starts.
• 1900 - American Civil War: Sergeant William Harvey Carney becomes the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for his heroism in the assault on the Battery Wagner.
• 1915 - World War I: Italy joins the Allies after they declare war on Austria-Hungary.
• 1945 - World War II: The Flensburg government under Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz was dissolved when its members were captured and arrested by British forces at Flensburg in Northern Germany.

May 24

• 1798 - Irish republican rebellion against British rule begins.
• 1822 - Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
• 1846 - Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
• 1900 - Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
• 1941 - World War II: In the North Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks HMS Hood killing all but three crewmen on what was the pride of the Royal Navy.

May 25

• 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo back from the Moors.
• 1938 - Spanish Civil War: Bombing of Alicante, 313 deaths.
• 1940 - World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.
• 1953 - Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.

May 26

• 1637 - Pequot War: A combined Puritan and Mohegan force under English Captain John Mason attacks a Pequot village in Connecticut, massacring approximately 500 Native Americans.
• 1736 - Battle of Ackia: British and Chickasaw soldiers repel a French and Choctaw attack on the Chickasaw village of Ackia, near present-day Tupelo, Mississippi. The French, under Louisiana governor Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, had sought to link Louisiana with Acadia and the other northern colonies of New France.
• 1865 - American Civil War: Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, Texas.
• 1940 - World War II: Battle of Dunkirk - In France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk.

May 27

• 1813 - War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.
• 1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima begins.
• 1940 - World War II: 97 out of 99 members of a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are massacred while trying to surrender at Dunkirk. The German commander, Captain Fritz Knoechlein, is eventually hanged for war crimes.
• 1941 - World War II: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing 2,300 men.
• 1942 - World War II: Operation Anthropoid - assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague.
• 1965 - Vietnam War: United States warships begin bombardments of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam for the first time.

May 28

• 585 BC - A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.
• 1503 - The Treaty of Everlasting Peace between Scotland and England is signed, which would actually last 10 years.
• 1588 - The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, begins to set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel. (It will take until May 30 for all ships to leave port).
• 1754 - French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette Couty in southwestern Pennsylvania.
• 1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by Admiral Togo Heihachiro and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
• 1940 - World War II: Belgium surrenders to Germany.

May 29

• 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Sassanid capital, but is impossible to conquer it.
• 1167 - Battle of Legnano, in which The Lombard League defeats Emperor Frederick I.
• 1453 - Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire.
• 2004 - The World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

May 30

• 1434 - Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were defeated and almost annihilated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars.
• 1635 - Peace of Prague (1635) (30 Years War)
• 1814 - The First Treaty of Paris is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent. Napoleon I of France is exiled to Elba on the same day.
• 1913 - First Balkan War: A peace treaty is signed in London ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.
• 1941 - World War II: Germany captures Crete.
• 1942 - World War II: 1000 British bombers launch a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.
• 1958 - The bodies of several unidentified soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

May 31

• 1223 - Battle of the Kalka River between the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan and East Slavic warriors.
• 1862 - American Civil War: The Battle of Seven Pines.
• 1864 - American Civil War: The Battle of Cold Harbor begins.
• 1902 - Second Boer War: The last Afrikaner resistance forces sign a peace treaty with the British at Pretoria, ending the war, and ensuring British control of South Africa.
• 1916 - World War I: The German and British navies clash in the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of the war.
• 1942 - World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia; the Luftwaffe bombs Coventry, England.