May 28

A solar eclipse predicted by the philosopher Thales occurs during a battle between Lydia and Media, prompting the combatants to declare peace.

A total solar eclipse occurred during a pitched battle between the warring Lydian and Median armies along a river in Asia Minor, an eclipse the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus is said to have accurately predicted; the sudden, unexpected darkness reportedly so unnerved both sides that they immediately halted fighting and negotiated a lasting peace.

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer declares King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn valid, formalizing the break with the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, having already annulled Henry VIII's first marriage days earlier, formally declared the king's secret marriage to the already-pregnant Anne Boleyn valid, a ruling that further solidified and legally cemented England's dramatic break from the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Spanish Armada departs Lisbon with over 130 ships, bound for an invasion of England.

The Spanish Armada, a massive fleet of over 130 ships carrying tens of thousands of soldiers and sailors under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, departed Lisbon bound for an ambitious invasion of Protestant England, an expedition that would end in catastrophic failure amid storms and English naval resistance.

A young George Washington leads a militia force to victory at the Battle of Jumonville Glen, the opening engagement of the French and Indian War.

A young Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, then just twenty-two years old, led a small colonial militia force in a brief but bloody skirmish at Jumonville Glen that killed a French officer, an engagement widely regarded by historians as the opening shots of the broader French and Indian War.

The Paris Commune collapses after French government troops crush the radical socialist government during a brutal final week of fighting.

French government troops under Adolphe Thiers crushed the last remaining pockets of resistance from the radical socialist Paris Commune after a brutal week of intense street fighting and mass executions known as "Bloody Week," ending the roughly two-month experiment in revolutionary municipal self-government.

Japan's navy under Admiral Togo Heihachiro annihilates Russia's Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima.

Japan's Combined Fleet under Admiral Togo Heihachiro annihilated nearly the entirety of Russia's Baltic Fleet at the climactic Battle of Tsushima, employing superior tactics and gunnery to sink or capture most of the Russian ships, a stunning victory that established Japan as a formidable major modern naval power on the world stage.

The Volkswagen automobile manufacturing company is founded in Germany.

The Volkswagen automobile manufacturing company, whose name translates to "people's car," was founded in Germany under an initiative backed by the Nazi government to produce an affordable vehicle for ordinary German families, a project that, after a difficult postwar rebuilding period, evolved into one of the world's largest and most successful automakers.

Belgium surrenders to Nazi Germany, ending the brief but intense Battle of Belgium.

Belgium formally surrendered to invading Nazi Germany after eighteen days of determined but ultimately overwhelmed fighting, ending the brief Battle of Belgium and exposing the vulnerable flank of retreating Allied forces who were simultaneously falling back toward the evacuation beaches of Dunkirk.

West German teenager Mathias Rust evades Soviet air defenses and lands a small private plane in Moscow's Red Square.

West German teenager Mathias Rust evaded extensive, supposedly formidable Soviet air defense systems and successfully landed a small rented Cessna aircraft in Moscow's Red Square, an audacious and embarrassing stunt that led to significant, sweeping purges within the Soviet military and air defense leadership ranks.

Takuma Sato becomes the first Japanese and first Asian driver to win the Indianapolis 500.

Japanese driver Takuma Sato won the prestigious Indianapolis 500 auto race in a closely contested finish, becoming the first Japanese-born and first Asian driver ever to win the historic American open-wheel racing event since its founding in 1911, a milestone he repeated with a second victory three years later.