Person report

★22 May 1915
California's Lassen Peak violently erupted, the only volcanic eruption in the contiguous U.S. in the 20th century until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.

★26 Mar 1917
First World War: Attempting to advance into Palestine, the British were defeated by Ottoman troops at the First Battle of Gaza.

★10 Apr 1919
Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata was shot to death near Ciudad Ayala, Morelos.

★14 May 1940
World War II: The bulk of Dutch forces surrendered to the Wehrmacht, ending the Battle of the Netherlands.

★09 Apr 1945
The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, the most successful capital ship surface raider of the Second World War, was sunk by British bombers.

★27 Jun 1952
The Congress of Guatemala passed Decree 900, redistributing unused lands of sizes greater than 224 acres to local peasants and having a major effect on the nation's land reform movement.

★08 Oct 1952
Three trains collided at Harrow & Wealdstone station in London, killing 112 people and injuring 340.

★13 Apr 1956
The Vietnamese National Army captured Ba Cụt, military commander of the Hoa Hao religious sect, which ran a de facto state in southern Vietnam in opposition to Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem.

★02 Nov 1959
American intellectual Charles Van Doren caused a national scandal when he admitted that he had foreknowledge of the questions and answers when he appeared on the television quiz show Twenty-One.

★13 Jan 1963
Togo's first president, Sylvanus Olympio, was assassinated by military officers in a coup d'état led by Emmanuel Bodjollé, Étienne Eyadéma, and Kléber Dadjo.

Historical data by Wikipedia Contributors CC BY-SA 3.0.