- 1430 – Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was captured at the Siege of Compiègne.
- 1498 – Girolamo Savonarola (pictured) of Florence was executed for heresy, uttering prophecies, sedition, and other crimes.
- 1533 – The marriage of Henry VIII of England and his first wife Catherine of Aragon was annulled.
- 1568 – The Dutch Revolt broke out when rebels led by Louis of Nassau invaded Friesland at the Battle of Heiligerlee.
- 1873 – The North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, was established to bring law and order to and assert Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Territories.
- 1934 – American criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and killed by police on a desolate road near their Bienville Parish, Louisiana hideout outside the Town of Gibsland.
