In 1863, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, made up of freed Blacks, left Boston to fight for the Union in the Civil War.

In 1892, the Sierra Club was organized in San Francisco.

In 1918, American troops fought their first major battle during World War I as they launched an offensive against the German-held French village of Cantigny; the Americans succeeded in capturing the village.

In 1934, the Dionne quintuplets — Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne — were born to Elzire Dionne at the family farm in Ontario, Canada.

In 1937, Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of Britain.

In 1940, during World War II, the Belgian army surrendered to invading German forces.

In 1959, the U.S. Army launched Able, a rhesus monkey, and Baker, a squirrel monkey, aboard a Jupiter missile for a suborbital flight which both primates survived.

In 1964, the charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization was issued at the start of a meeting of the Palestine National Congress in Jerusalem.

In 1972, Edward, the Duke of Windsor, who had abdicated the English throne to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson, died in Paris at age 77.

In 1977, 165 people were killed when fire raced through the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky.

In 1987, to the embarrassment of Soviet officials, Mathias Rust, a young West German pilot, landed a private plane in Moscow’s Red Square without authorization. (Rust was freed by the Soviets the following year.)

In 1998, comic actor Phil Hartman of “Saturday Night Live” and “NewsRadio” fame was shot to death at his home in Encino, California, by his wife, Brynn, who then killed herself.

In 2013, calling it perhaps the biggest money-laundering scheme in U.S. history, federal prosecutors charged seven people with running what amounted to an online, underworld bank, saying that Liberty Reserve handled $6 billion for drug dealers, child pornographers, identity thieves and other criminals around the globe.

Sen. John McCain, quietly slipped into Syria for a meeting with anti-government fighters, whom he supported the U.S. arming. McCain was a fierce critic of Obama administration policy there while stopping short of backing U.S. ground troops in Syria, but he supported aggressive military steps against the Assad regime.

In 2018, speaking before an audience of Cabinet members, military leaders, veterans and families, President Donald Trump paid a Memorial Day tribute at Arlington National Cemetery, saying he came to honor “America’s greatest heroes.” The Golden State Warriors reached the NBA Finals with a win over the Houston Rockets; it was the fourth straight year the Warriors would meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals.

In 2020, people torched a Minneapolis police station that the department was forced to abandon amid spreading protests over the death of George Floyd. Protesters in New York defied a coronavirus prohibition on public gatherings, clashing with police; demonstrators blocked traffic and smashed vehicles in downtown Denver before police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. At least seven people were shot as gunfire erupted during a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was fatally shot by police in her home in March. In 2022, as Russia asserted progress in its goal of seizing the entirety of contested eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried to shake European resolve to punish his country with sanctions and to keep supplying weapons that have supported Ukraine’s defense.

Real Madrid became European champion for a record-extending 14th time after beating Liverpool 1-0 in soccer’s Champions League final. Police deployed tear gas and security struggled with fans desperate to see the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. Many broke through stadium security in an attempt to see the match, whose start had to be delayed by 37 minutes.