May 27th

Earthquake strikes Java, Indonesia at 5:53:58 AM local time (22:53:58 UTC May 26) devastating Bantul and the city of Yogyakarta, killing over 6,600 people.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.

Michael Fortier, the government's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after apologizing for not warning anyone about the deadly plot.

The Supreme Court ruled Paula Jones could pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton while he was in office.

After a year and a half of bloodshed, Russian President Boris Yeltsin met with the leader of the Chechen rebels and negotiated a cease-fire.

Actor Christopher Reeve was paralyzed when he was thrown from his horse during a jumping event in Charlottesville, Va.

Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia after spending two decades in exile.

Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India's first prime minister, died.

Czech resistance fighters kill Reinhard Heydrich. The high-ranking German Nazi official was one of the main architects of the Holocaust. In retaliation, the Nazis murdered all male inhabitants over 15 years of age in the Czech village of Lidice and deported most of the remaining people to concentration camps.

British ships sank the German battleship Bismarck off the coast of France, resulting in the loss of 2,300 lives.

British and Allied forces begin the evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo) during WWII.

The Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, Calif., opened.

The Queen Mary left England on its maiden voyage, arriving in France four hours later.

The Supreme Court struck down the National Industrial Recovery Act.

Walt Disney's cartoon Three Little Pigs is released. The animated short film is one of the best-known cartoons of all time. In 1934, it was awarded the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Golfer Sam Snead was born in Ashwood, Va.

Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey was born in Wallace, S.D.

A tornado struck St. Louis and East St. Louis, Ill., killing 255 people.

The world's first chess tournament is held in London. Adolf Anderssen, a maths teacher from Wrocław, won the tournament, which was held parallel to the 1851 Great Exhibition.

Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Russian Tsar Peter the Great.

Habeaus Corpus Act (strengthening person's right to challenge unlawful arrest & imprisonment) passes in England.

The first recorded execution of a witch reportedly took place in Massachusetts when Achsah Young was hanged.