TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY

0		Feast of St. Boris I Michael, Tsar of the Bulgars
73		The Romans occupy Masada, finding that the garrison has committed suicide
1399		Pope Boniface IX proclaims a Crusade against Count Onorato I of Fondi
1501		Condottiero Ermes Bentivoglio massacred the Marescotti family at Bologna
1598		Treaty of Vervins: Spanish & French make peace
1645		Battle of Mergentheim: Franz von Mercy's Imperialists defeat Turenne's French
1668		Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle: ends French "War of Devolution" (1667-1668) to annex the Spanish Netherlands
1703		Portugal and England renew their ancient alliance
1776		France & Spain agree to donate arms to the American rebels
1798		the "United Irishmen" uprising began against Union with Great Britain -- Learn More
1808		Madrid rose against French occupation, igniting the Peninsular War, and inspiring Goya
1813		Battle of Lutzen: Napoleon defeats the Russo-Prussians
1815		the Austrians defeated Joachim Murat's invasion of northern Italy from Naples in the Battle of Tolentino -- Learn More
1848		Battle of Chiapuzza: Italian Nationalists defeat the Austrians
1863		Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, died May 10th -- Learn More
1912		Flying a Short S38 'amphibian' Lt. Charles R. Samson, RN, becomes the first man to take off from a moving ship, battleship HMS 'Hibernia'
1933		Hitler bans labor unions in Germany, as Nazi Storm troopers sack union offices and collect records
1934		Nazis institute "People's Courts"
1942		USS 'Drum' (SS-228) sinks Japanese seaplane carrier 'Mizuho' off Honshu.
1943		Japanese aircraft bomb Darwin, Australia
1945		Berlin surrendered to the Red Army
1945		German forces in Italy surrender
1945		Hungary's Crown of St. Stephen is entrusted to the U.S., which returns it to Hungary in 1978
1953		Hussein bin Talal is installed as King Hussein of Jordan (1953-2000)
1964		US Aircraft Transport 'Card' (ex CVE-11) sunk by Viet Cong UDT at Saigon
1982		Falklands War: sub HMS 'Conqueror' sinks Argentine CL 'Belgrano', c. 300 die
1997		Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain (1997-2007)

BORN

1451		Duke René II of Lorraine and of Bar was born, claimant to the Crown of Naples, and a player in the "Italian Wars" -- Learn More
1729		Tsarina Catherine II "the Great" of Russia (1762-1796)
1810		Giacchino Pecci - Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903)
1849		Prince Bernhard von Bülow, German Chancellor (1900-09), d. 1929
1860		Theodore Herzl, journalist, founder of Zionism, d. 1904
1871		Francis Patrick Duffy, chaplain to the 'Fighting 69th' and "The Great White Way', d. 1932 -- Learn More
1892		Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, the Red Baron, kia 1918
1935		King Faisal II of Iraq (1939-58), murdered 1958
1935		King Hussein ibn Talal of Jordan (1952-2000)
1938		Constantine Bereng Seeiso - King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (1966-1995)

DIED

903		Tsar St. Boris I of Bulgaria (852-889)
1250		Sultan Turanshah of Egypt (1249-1250), the last Ayyubid, assassinated
1285		Manfredo Manfredi, Lord of Serravalle al Senio, and his son Alberghetto, murdered by his brother Alberigo Manfredi, for their lands
1424		Ridolgo III da Varano, Lord of Camerino (1399-1424), condottiero with 64 children, at c. 60.
1501		Agamennone Marescotti, Patrician of Bologna, Agesilao Marescotti, Antenore Marescotti, Marescotto Marescotti, Scipione Marescotti, Tideo Marescotti, and their brother-in-law Bedoro de Preti, Patricians of Bologna, murdered by Ermes Bentivoglio for conspiring with Cesare Borgia
1519		Leonardo from Vinci, military engineer to the Borgia, friend to Machiavelli, artist, scientist, at 67
1679		Archbishop James Sharp of St. Andrew's in Scotland (1661-1679), accidentally murdered at 76 less one day, by some assassins waiting to kill someone else
1845		August Pauly, scholar ("Real-Encyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft"), at 48
1849		Baron David Hendrik Chassé, 84, Dutch soldier, Napoleonic Wars, Belgian War for Independence -- Learn More
1945		Martin Bormann, 44, Hitler's henchman, probably killed by Soviet troops while trying to flee Berlin
1969		Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen, 89, German diplomat and politician
1972		J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI (1924-1972), at 77
2002		William T. Tutte, 84, British master codebreaker