HISTORY AT A GLANCE
TODAY is Tuesday, May 30, the 150th day of 2017. There are 215 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1963 – A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis is held outside South Vietnam’s National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem. 1966 – The former Congolese Prime Minister, Évariste Kimba, and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu. 1966 – Launch of Surveyor 1, the first US spacecraft to land
on an extraterrestrial body. 1967 – The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence
as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war. 1968 – Charles de Gaulle reappears publicly after his flight to Baden-Baden, Germany, and dissolves the French National Assembly by a radio appeal. Immediately after, less than one million of his supporters march on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is the turning point of May 1968 events in France. 1971 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars. 1972 – The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25
bombings throughout the United Kingdom. 1972 – In Tel Aviv, Israel, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others. 1974 – The Airbus A300 passenger aircraft first enters
service. 1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 33-foot high “Goddess of Democracy” statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators. 1998 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits northern Afghanistan,
killing up to 5,000. 1998 – Nuclear Testing: Pakistan conducts an underground test in the Kharan Desert. It is reported to be a plutonium device with yield of 20kt. 2003 – Depayin massacre: At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy are killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene, but is arrested soon afterwards. 2012 – Former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War. 2013 – Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage.