1787-The First Fleet, headed by Arthur Phillip, sets sail with 11 ships of convicts for Botany Bay, Australia
1830-The Republic of Ecuador is founded with Juan José Flores as president
1940-Winston Churchill says "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" in his first speech as Prime Minister to the British House of Commons
1952-Jawaharlal Nehru becomes premier of India
1981-Pope John Paul II is shot and critically wounded by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City
1989-Approximately 2,000 students begin a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, China, to force a dialogue with the government ahead of a visit by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
1998-India carries out two additional nuclear tests at Pokhran after the three conducted on May 11, resulting in the U.S. and Japan imposing economic sanctions
2005-The Andijan Massacre occurs in Uzbekistan