May 30th

Germany announced plans to abandon nuclear power over the next 11 years, outlining an ambitious strategy in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster to replace atomic power with renewable energy sources.

A jury in Rockville, Md., convicted John Allen Muhammad of six of the Washington-area sniper killings.

Vice President Dick Cheney predicted the Iraq war would end before the Bush administration left office, saying "I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency," on CNN's "Larry King Live.".

A solemn, wordless ceremony marked the end of the cleanup at Ground Zero in New York, 8 1/2 months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

An earthquake in Northern Afghanistan (and subsequent aftershocks) killed an estimated 5,000 and injured at least 1,500. A quake on Feb. 4 in the same area had killed about 2,300.

Child molester Jesse K. Timmendequas was convicted in Trenton, N.J., of raping and strangling a 7-year-old neighbor, Megan Kanka. (The case inspired "Megan's Law," which requires that communities be notified when sex offenders move in.).

Britain's Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were granted an uncontested decree ending their 10-year marriage.

Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles played in the first of a record 2,632 consecutive major league baseball games.

The Republic of Biafra is proclaimed. The short-lived state consisted of Nigeria's Eastern Region. Its secession sparked the Nigerian Civil War, which lasted until 1970 and resulted in the region's re-integration into Nigeria.

Benjamin Britten's War Requiem is premiered. The work was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which had been destroyed in World War II. It juxtaposes the traditional Latin Mass for the Dead with war poems by Wilfred Owen.

The Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo, is assassinated. El Jefe had been the Dominican Republic's President for 31 years. Despite the assassination, the intended removal of the dictatorship in the Caribbean country failed as the ruler's son, Ramfis Trujillo, soon stepped into his father's shoes.

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, was dedicated by Chief Justice William Howard Taft.

New country of Albania, forms.

The first Indianapolis 500 was won by Ray Harroun.

1st car accident occurs, Henry Wells hits a cyclist in NYC.

'Decoration Day', later called Memorial Day, first observed in Northern US states.

The territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established.

Mexico ratifies treaty giving US; New Mexico, California & parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona & Colorado in return for $15 million.

Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto landed in Florida.

King Henry VIII of England married his 3rd wife, Jane Seymour, 11 days after he had his 2nd wife, Anne Boleyn executed.

Hundred Years' War: in Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal.