May 31

Mongol forces under Genghis Khan capture the city of Zhongdu, present-day Beijing, from the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty.

Mongol forces under Genghis Khan captured the heavily fortified city of Zhongdu, the capital of the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the site of present-day Beijing, after a prolonged siege that reportedly left the city's population decimated, a major early conquest in the Mongol Empire's rapid and violent expansion across Asia.

King Henry III of France lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf, which becomes the oldest standing bridge across the Seine in Paris.

King Henry III of France laid the ceremonial foundation stone for the Pont Neuf across the Seine River in Paris, a bridge that, despite its name literally meaning "new bridge," and despite construction delays caused by the ongoing French Wars of Religion, remains the oldest standing bridge in the city today.

The Great Clock of Westminster, housed in what is now called Elizabeth Tower, begins operation in London.

The Great Clock of Westminster, housed in the iconic tower now officially named Elizabeth Tower and famously associated with its enormous bell nicknamed Big Ben, began keeping time over the London skyline, becoming one of the most recognizable timepieces and landmarks in the world.

The catastrophic Johnstown Flood devastates Pennsylvania after a dam failure, killing more than 2,200 people.

A poorly maintained earthen dam above the industrial town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, catastrophically failed after days of unusually heavy rainfall, unleashing a massive wall of water that destroyed the town below almost instantly and killed more than 2,200 people in one of the deadliest disasters in American history.

The RMS Titanic is launched at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The RMS Titanic, then the largest ship ever built, was ceremonially launched, still unfinished and without engines or interior fittings, from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, drawing enormous crowds eager to witness the massive hull slide into the water for the first time.

The Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of World War I, begins between the British and German fleets in the North Sea.

The Battle of Jutland began in the North Sea between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and Germany's Imperial High Seas Fleet, becoming the largest and most significant naval battle of World War I, though its tactically inconclusive outcome left overall British strategic naval dominance and the blockade of Germany largely intact.

South Africa formally becomes a republic, severing its remaining constitutional ties to the British monarchy.

South Africa formally became an independent republic, severing its remaining constitutional and ceremonial links to the British monarchy following a narrow whites-only referendum, a political transition that occurred even as the country continued imposing its brutal, internationally condemned system of apartheid racial segregation.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed, enabling the transport of crude oil across the state.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was completed after three grueling years of construction across challenging Arctic permafrost and mountainous terrain, enabling the continuous transport of crude oil roughly 800 miles from Alaska's remote North Slope oil fields to the ice-free southern shipping terminal at Valdez.

Air France retires the last of its Concorde supersonic aircraft, ending an era of commercial supersonic passenger travel.

Air France flew its final scheduled commercial Concorde flight, formally retiring the iconic supersonic aircraft from active passenger service due to rising maintenance costs and declining demand following a fatal 2000 crash, effectively ending an era of dedicated commercial supersonic passenger air travel that had begun in the 1970s.

Sprinter Usain Bolt sets a new world record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 9.72 seconds.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt set a new world record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 9.72 seconds at a Reebok Grand Prix track meet in New York City, an early, striking sign of the extraordinary sprinting dominance he would go on to display months later at that summer's Beijing Olympics.