Military History Anniversaries 1 thru 31 May

Significant events in U.S. Military History for the next 30 days are:

1. May 01 1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Results - British victory. Casualties and losses: PA Militia 92 - GB 7.

1. May 01 1862 - Civil War: The Union Army completes the Capture of New Orleans.

1. May 01 1863 – Civil War: First of 7 day Battle of Chancellorsville. Results - Confederate victory. Casualties and losses: US 17,197 - CSA 13,303.

1. May 01 1898 – Spanish*American War: Battle of Manila Bay – The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first engagement of the war.

1. May 01 1945 – WW2: Start of Operation Chowhound to help feed civilians in the Netherlands via food airdrops who were in danger of starvation in the Dutch famine.

1. May 01 1945 - WW2: Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide in the Reich Garden outside the Führerbunker. Their children are murdered by their mother by having cyanide pills inserted into their mouths.

The Goebbels

1. May 01 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident – Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U–2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.

1. May 01 2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".

1. May 02 1863 – Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia eight days later.

1. May 02 1945 – WW2: Italian Campaign – General Heinrich von Vietinghoff signs the official instrument of surrender of all Wehrmacht forces in Italy.

1. May 02 1945 – WW2: The US 82nd Airborne Division liberates Wöbbelin concentration camp finding 1000 dead inmates, most starved to death.

1. May 02 1964 – Vietnam: An explosion sinks the USS Card while docked at Saigon. Viet Cong forces are suspected of placing a bomb on the ship.

1. May 03 1926 – US marines land in Nicaragua (9mo after leaving) and stay until 1933.

1. May 03 1942 – Japanese naval troops during the first part of Operation Mo invade Tulagi and nearby Islands in the Solomons enabling them to threaten/ interdict the supply/communication routes between the U.S and Australia/New Zealand. Leads to the Battle of the Coral Sea

1. May 03 1945 – WW2: USS Lagarto (SS–371) sunk by Japanese minelayer Hatsutaka in Gulf of Siam. 86 killed.

1. May 04 1942 – WW2: Battle of Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. It was the 1st sea battle fought solely in air.

1. May 04 1942 – WW2: Civilians issued first ration books—War Ration Book Number One, or the "Sugar Book through more than 100,000 schoolteachers, PTA groups, and other volunteers.

War Ration Book Number One front and back

1. May 04 1956 – Cold War: Operation Redwing – Beginning ofr a 78 day period in which a series of 17 second-generation thermonuclear and fission devices are detonated at bikini and Enewetak Atolls.

Redwing Apache 1.9 MT Detonation July 1956

1. May 05 1864 – Civil War: The inconclusive 3 day Battle of the Wilderness in Spotsylvania County, Virginia kicks off Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in Virginia. Casualties and losses: US 17,666 - CSA 11,125.

1. May 05 1916 – US marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until 1924.

1. May 05 1945 – WW2: Admiral Karl Dönitz, President of Germany after Hitler's death, orders all German U–boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.

1. May 06 1863 – Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville ends with a Union retreat. It is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because of his risky decision to divide his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force.

1. May 06 1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.

1. May 06 1941 – At California's March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show.

1. May 06 1942 – WW2: On Corregidor, the last American forces in the Philippines surrender to the Japanese.

1. May 06 1945 – WW2: Axis Sally delivers her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops (first was on December 11, 1941).

1. May 07 1763 - Indian Wars: Pontiac's Rebellion begins - Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.

1. May 07 1864 - Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.

1. May 07 1915 – WWI: German submarine U–20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many formerly pro–Germans in the United States against the German Empire.

1. May 07 1917 – Fighter pilot Albert Ball, the United Kingdom’s leading flying ace with 44 victories, crashed to his death in a field in France on the Western Front.

1. May 07 1942 – WW2: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Japanese Imperial Navy light aircraft carrier Shoho. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.

1. May 07 1945 – WW2: Germany signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.

1. May 07 1954 – Vietnam: 55 day Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.

1. May 07 1960 – Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960 – Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American pilot Gary Powers, whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union six days earlier.

1. May 07 1984 – Vietnam: Agent Orange class–action suit brought by Vietnam veterans settled out of court for $180 Million.

1. May 08 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. Casualties and losses: UA 56- MEX 357.

1. May 08 1942 – WW2: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end with Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington. The battle marked the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.

1. May 08 1945 – WW2: Combat in Europe ends [VE Day]. German forces agree in Rheims, France, to an unconditional surrender.

1. May 08 1972 – Vietnam: 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.

1. May 09 1945 – WW2: Operation Meetinghouse - 334 B-29’s raid Japan with 279 of them dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. This firebombing was the single deadliest air raid of WWII. Casualties and losses: US 14 B-29’s – JP 88,000 killed, 41,000 injured, and1 million residents lost their homes.

1. May 09 1951 – Korean War: Air raid on Chinese positions at Yalu River.

1. May 10 1775 – American Revolution: A small Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold captures Fort Ticonderoga.

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Ethan Allen demanding the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga

1. May 10 1797 – First Navy ship, the "United States," is launched.

USS United States

1. May 10 1801 – First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America.

1. May 10 1863 – Civil War: Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after he is accidentally shot by his own troops.

1. May 10 1864 – Civil War: Colonel Emory Upton leads a 10–regiment 'Attack–in–depth' assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton, although slightly wounded, is immediately promoted to Brigadier general.

1. May 10 1865 – Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.

1. May 10 1865 – Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingers until his death on June 6.

1. May 10 1941 – WW2: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Germany.

1. May 10 1946 – Cold War: First successful launch of an American V–2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.

1. May 10 1960 – The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.

1. May 10 1969 – Vietnam: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.

1. May 11 1846 – Mexican*American War: President James K. Polk asked for and received a Declaration of War against Mexico, starting the Mexican–American War.

1. May 11 1862 - Civil War: The ironclad CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.

CSS Virginia

1. May 11 1943 – WW2: American troops invade Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.

1. May 11 1944 – WW2: The Allies start a major offensive against the Axis Powers on the Gustav Line.

1. May 11 1945 – WW2: Off the coast of Okinawa, the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill, is hit by two kamikazes, killing 346 of her crew. Although badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U.S. under her own power.

1. May 12 1780 – American Revolution: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.

1. May 12 1863 – Civil War: Battle of Raymond: two divisions of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps (ACW) turn the left wing of Confederate General John C. Pemberton's defensive line on Fourteen Mile Creek, opening up the interior of Mississippi to the Union Army during the Vicksburg Campaign.

1. May 12 1864 – Civil War: the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House: thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers die in "the Bloody Angle".

1. May 12 1865 – Civil War: The Battle of Palmito Ranch - The first day of the last major land action to take place during the Civil War, resulting in a Confederate victory.

1. May 12 1949 – Cold War: The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.

1. May 12 1962 – Douglas MacArthur delivers his famous "Duty, Honor, Country" valedictory speech at the United States Military Academy.

1. May 13 1846 – Mexican*American War: The United States declares war on Mexico.

1. May 13 1861 – Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.

1. May 13 1864 – Civil War: Battle of Resaca - The 3 day battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta, Georgia.

1. May 13 1865 – Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch - in far south Texas, more than a month after Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victor. Casualties and losses: US 117 - CSA 9.

1. May 13 1945 – WW2: US troops conquer Dakeshi Okinawa.

1. May 14 1863 – Civil War: The Battle of Jackson takes place. Casualties and losses: US 286 - CSA 850.

1. May 14 1943 – WW2: Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur(I) was attacked and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-177 off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Attacking a hospital ship was considered a war crime under the 1907 Hague Convention. Of the 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard, 268 died, including 11 of the 12 nurses present.

1. May 14 1955 – Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.

1. May 14 2005 – The former USS America, a decommissioned supercarrier of the United States Navy, is deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live–fire exercises. She is the largest ship ever to be disposed of as a target in a military exercise.

USS America 24 April 1983

1. May 15 1776 - American Revolution: The Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.

1. May 15 1850 - The Bloody Island Massacre takes place in Lake County, California, in which a large number of Pomo Indians in Lake County are slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry, led by Nathaniel Lyon.

1. May 15 1864 – Civil War: Battle of Resaca, Georgia ends. Casualties and losses: US ~4500 - CSA 2800.

1. May 15 1864 – Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia – In a small engagement fought near this central Shenandoah Valley town, a Union force composed of about 10,000 men from a variety of states is opposed by a smaller Confederate force made up primarily of Virginians. Among the troops on the southern side are cadets from the Virginia Military Institute. During the climax of the battle, these boys, ages 12 to 16, charge across an open field, taking casualties but capturing a battery of guns on a commanding hill. Ten cadets are killed and 50 are wounded. Though the battle would end in a Confederate victory, in the long run, it would prove to be futile due to the overwhelming numbers of Union forces which would quickly regroup and advance again down the Valley, burning fields and barns as they moved.

1. May 15 1940 – WW2: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation.

1. May 15 1941 – WW2: First flight of the Gloster E.28/39 the first British and Allied jet aircraft.

1. May 15 1942 – WW2: Lieutenant Ronald Reagan, a cavalry officer, applies for reassignment to the Army Air Force, where he would eventually put his thespian background to use on World War II propaganda films.

1. May 15 1942 – WW2: In the United States, a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.

1. May 15 1945 – WW2: The Battle of Poljana, the final skirmish in Europe is fought near Prevalje, Slovenia. Casualties and losses: Axix 600 – Allies 100.

1. May 15 1962 – Vietnam: US marines arrive in Laos.

1. May 15 1972:  The U.S. Army Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) reverted to the full control of Japan but the U.S retained its rights to nuclear free bases.

1. May 15 1988 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

1. May 15 1997 – The United States government acknowledges the existence of the "Secret War" in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other "Secret War" veterans.

Laos Memorial in Fresno CA

· May 16 1771 – The Battle of Alamance: Pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels (The Regulators) occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina. It was a protest against local taxation and corrupt government. Casualties and losses: Militia 9 to 27 killed + 61 wounded – Regulators 9 killed + 7 later executed for treason.

· May 16 1940 – WW2: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium and begins invasion of France.

· May 16 1943 – The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends. Casualties and losses: Ger 110 – Jews ~16,000 killed + 56,885 deported.

· May 17 1987 – An Iraqi missile hits the American frigate USS Stark in the Persian Gulf. 37 sailors die.

· May 17 2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.

· May 18 1863 – Civil War: The 47 day Siege of Vicksburg begins. Casualties and losses: US 4,835 - CSA 32,697.

· May 18 1917 – WWI: The Selective Service Act of 1917 is passed, giving the President of the United States the power of conscription.

· May 18 1944 – WW2: Battle of Monte Cassino – 122 day battle ends after seven days of the 4th battle as German paratroopers evacuate. Casualties and losses: Allies 55,000 - Axis ~20,000.

· May 18 1974 – India conducted its first nuclear test explosion at Pokhran, the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

· May 19 1776 – American Revolution: A Continental Army garrison surrenders in the Battle of The Cedars.

· May 19 1848 – Mexican*American War: Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern–day U.S. states to the United States for US$15 million.

· May 19 1951 – Korea: United Nations forces begin counter offensive in Korea.

· May 19 1967 – Vietnam: U.S. planes bomb Hanoi for the first time.

· May 20 1864 – Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church – in the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory. Combined casualties ~1500.

· May 20 1902 – Latin America Interventions: U.S. military occupation of Cuba (since Jan 1, 1899) ends.

· May 20 1940 – The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.

· May 20 1941 – WW2: Battle of Crete - German paratroops invade Crete.

· May 20 1951 – Korea: U.S. Air Force Captain James Jabara becomes the first jet air ace in history.

· May 20 1956 – Cold War: Operation Redwing - The first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

· May 20 1969 – Vietnam: US troop capture Hill 937/Hamburger Hill after 10 days of fighting. Casualties and losses: US 444 - NVN 678.

· May 21 1863 – Civil War: The Union Army succeeds in closing off the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, in preparation for the coming siege.

· May 21 1864 – Civil War: The 13 day Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends. Casualties and losses: US 18,399 - CSA 13,421.

· May 21 1941 – First U.S. ship sunk by a German U-boat. SS Robin Moore crew and passengers allowed to man lifeboats by U-69 Commander before he torpedoed and shelled the ship. Event happened before U.S. entered into war with Germany.

· May 21 1951 – Korea: The U.S. Eighth Army counterattacks to drive the Communist Chinese and North Koreans out of South Korea.

· May 22 1863 – Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson – Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate–controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.

· May 22 1864 – Civil War: After ten weeks, the Union Army's Red River Campaign ends with the Union unable to achieve any of its objectives. Casualties and losses: US 5,500 - CSA 4,300.

· May 22 1871 – Indian Wars: The U.S. Army issued an order for abandonment of Fort Kearny in Nebraska. The fort had been utilized mostly as a supply post, and not as defensive position in the Indian Wars.

· May 22 1939 – WW2: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel. Generally, the Pact obliged Germany and Italy to aid the other country immediately, militarily or otherwise, in the event of war being declared, and to collaborate in military and wartime production

· May 22 1942 – WW2: Mexico enters World War II on the side of the Allies after German submarines attacked two Mexican oil tankers. Some 300,000 Mexican citizens went to the U.S. to work in factories that produced war supplies and to help in any way that would benefit the Allies.

· May 22 1942 – WW2: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox enlists in the United States Marine Corps as a flight instructor.

· May 22 1944 – WW2: Anzio Beachhead, Italy - Allied forces, including elements of three National Guard divisions—the 34th (IA, MN, ND), 36th (TX) and 45th (AZ, CO, OK)—begin their final push to break out of the besieged positions just south of Rome for four months. The breakout would be completed on May 31, with the Allies entering Rome on June 5.

· May 22 1945 – WW2: Operation Paperclip - United States Army Major Robert B. Staver recommends that the U.S. evacuate German scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology.

· May 22 1947 – Cold War: In an effort to fight the spread of Communism, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs an act into law that will later be called the Truman Doctrine. The act grants $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, each battling an internal Communist movement.

· May 22 1967 – Vietnam: Vinh Xuan massacre conducted by South Korean forces resulted in the deaths of at least 15 unarmed women and children, and old men who refused to leave their villages.

· May 22 1968 – Last radio message received from USS Scorpion (SSN–589). Declared lost 6 JUN. Cause not ascertainable; most probable inadvertent activation of battery of torpedo resulting in a possible "hot run" torpedo detonation off Azores. 99 died.

· May 23 1846 – Mexican*American War: President Mariano Paredes of Mexico unofficially declares war on the United States.

· May 23 1900 – MOH: Civil War hero Sgt. William H. Carney becomes the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor, 37 years after the Battle of Fort Wagner.

· May 23 1939 – USS Squalus (SS-192) foundered in a test dive off Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 26 died. The remaining 33 were rescued the next day.

· May 23 1915 – WWI: Italy joins the Allies after they declare war on Austria-Hungary.

· May 23 1945 – WW2: Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Schutzstaffel, commits suicide while in Allied custody.

· May 23 1945 – WW2: The short lived Flensburg Government formed after the suicide of Adolf Hitler to rule Germany under Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz is dissolved when its members are captured and arrested by British forces at Flensburg in Northern Germany.

· May 24 1846 – Mexican*American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey. Casualties and losses: US 450 - Mex 450.

· May 24 1861 – Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.

· May 24 1941 – WW2: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks then-pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three of her 1,419 crewmen.

· May 25 1915 – WWI: Second Battle of Ypres ends with 105,000 casualties.

· May 25 1953 – First atomic cannon is fired in Nevada.

· May 26 1783 – American Revolution: A Great Jubilee Day held at North Stratford, Connecticut celebrated end of fighting in American Revolution.

· May 26 1865 – 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.

· May 26 1940 – WW2: The Siege of Calais ends with the surrender of the British and French garrison. Casualties and losses: Allies 4,000 – Ger 750 to 800.

· May 26 1940 – WW2: Battle of Dunkirk – In France, Allied forces begin a massive 9-day evacuation from Dunkirk, France. Casualties and losses: Allies 51,000 + 50,000 vehicles + 9 destroyers + 200 marine vassals + 177 aircraft – Ger 20 to 30,000 + 100 tanks + 240 aircraft.

· May 26 1942 – WW2: Battle of Gazala - Western Desert Rommel Campaign fought around the port of Tobruk. Casualties and losses: Allies ~50,000 + 1,188 tanks – Axis ~5,000 + 400 tanks.

· May 26 1945 – WW2: U.S. drop fire bombs on Tokyo.

Tokyo burns under B-29 firebomb assault

· May 26 1948 – The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557, which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.

· May 26 2004 – The U.S. Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.

· May 27 1813 – War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.

· May 27 1863 – Civil War: First Assault on the Confederate works at the 48 day Siege of Port Hudson.

· May 27 1940 – WW2: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive.

· May 27 1941 – WW2: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men.

· May 27 1942 – WW2: Operation Anthropoid - Reinhard Heydrich, one of the main architects of the Holocaust is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.

· May 27 1944 – WW2: American General MacArthur lands on Biak Island in New Guinea.

· May 27 1958 – The F-4 Phantom II makes its first flight.

· May 27 1965 – Vietnam: American warships begin the first bombardment of National Liberation Front targets within South Vietnam.

· May 27 1967 – The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.

· May 28 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 County in southwestern Pennsylvania.

· May 28 1940 – WW2: Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany to end the Battle of Belgium.

· May 28 1940 – WW2: Norwegian, French, Polish and British forces recapture Narvik in Norway. This is the first allied infantry victory of the War.

· May 28 1942 – WW2: In retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Nazis in Czechoslovakia kill over 1,800 people.

· May 29 1780 – American Revolution: At the Battle of Waxhaws the British continue fighting after the Continentals lay down their arms killing 113 and critically wounding all but 53 that remained.

· May 29 1916 – U.S. forces invade the Dominican Republic and stay until 1924.

· May 29 1931 – Michele Schirru, a citizen of the United States, is executed by Italian military firing squad for intent to kill Benito Mussolini.

· May 29 1932 – Some 43,000 veterans, their families, and supporters begin to assemble in Washington, D.C. in the Bonus Army to request immediate payment of cash bonus certificates issued to them for redemption in 1945.

· May 29 1940 – The first flight of the Vought F4U Corsair.

· May 29 1945 – WW2: U.S. 1st Marine division conquerors Shuri–castle Okinawa.

· May 29 1945 – First combat mission of the Consolidated B-32 Dominator heavy bomber.

· May 29 2004 – The National WW2 Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

· May 30 1868 – Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time (By "Commander–in–chief of the Grand Army of the Republic" John A. Logan's proclamation on May 5). It begins when two women place flowers on both Confederate and Union graves.

· May 30 1912 – First Nicaraguan Campaign: U.S. Marines are sent to Nicaragua to protect American interests.

· May 30 1958 – Memorial Day: The remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

· May 30 1965 – Vietnam: Viet Cong offensive against U.S. base Da Nang, begins.

· May 31 1862 – Civil War: Battle of Seven Pines begins.

· May 31 1900 – U.S. troops arrive in Peking to help put down the Boxer Rebellion.

U.S. Marines - Part of the international relief expedition sent to lift the siege of Peking.

· May 31 1912 – Cuban Pacification Campaign: U.S. Marines land on Cuba to help quell the Negro Rebellion

[Source: Various April 2015 ++]

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