1429 – Joan of Arc lifts the Siege of Orléans, turning the tide of the Hundred Years' War.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.
1886 – Pharmacist John Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine.
1912 – Paramount Pictures is founded.
1945 – World War II: V-E Day, combat ends in Europe. German forces agree in Reims, France, to an unconditional surrender.
1972 – U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
1978 – The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
1980 – The World Health Organization confirms the eradication of smallpox.
1997 – A China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 crashes on approach into Bao'an International Airport, killing 35 people.
