1429: Joan of Arc breaks the English siege of Orleans.
1525: The German peasants' revolt is crushed by the ruling class and church.
1763: Indian chief Pontiac begins his attack on a British fort in present-day Detroit, Michigan.
1824: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony premieres in Vienna.
1915: The German submarine U-20 torpedoes the passenger ship Lusitiania, sinking her in 21 minutes with 1,978 people on board.
1943: The last major German strongholds in North Africa—Tunis and Bizerte—fall to Allied forces.
1945: Germany signs an unconditional surrender, effectively ending World War II in Europe.
1954: French troops surrender to the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu.
1958: Howard Johnson sets an aircraft altitude record in F-104.
1960: Leonid Brezhnev becomes president of the Soviet Union.
Source: HistoryNet.com