TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

May 30, 1911

The first Indy 500took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the winner was Ray Harroun, who drove a Marmon Wasp for more than 61⁄2 hours at an average speed of 74.6 mph and collected a prize of $10,000.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1381

The Peasants’ Revolt against economic injustice erupted in England during the reign of King Richard II; the king and his men, initially caught off-guard, were able to crush the rebellion several weeks later.

1431

Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.

1883

12people were trampled to death in a stampede sparked by a rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing.

1922

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln.

1935

Babe Ruth played in his last major league baseball game for the Boston Braves, leaving after the first inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies, who won both games.

1943

During World War II, American troops secured the Aleutian island of Attu from Japanese forces.

1958

Unidentified American service members killed in World War II and the Korean War were interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

1989

Student protesters in Beijing erected a “Goddess of Democracy” statue in Tiananmen Square.