This day in history

[May 30, 2013]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, May 30, the 150th day of 2013. There are 215 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On May 30, 1943, during World War II, American troops secured the Aleutian island of Attu from Japanese forces.

On this date:

In 1431, Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen (roo-AHN'), France.

In 1883, 12 people were trampled to death in a stampede sparked by a rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing.

In 1911, the first Indy 500 took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; the winner was Ray Harroun, who drove a Marmon Wasp for more than 6 1/2 hours at an average speed of 74.6 mph and collected a prize of $10,000.

In 1913, the Treaty of London was signed, formally ending the First Balkan War. (The Second Balkan War broke out the following month.)

In 1922, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln.

In 1937, ten people were killed when police fired on steelworkers demonstrating near the Republic Steel plant in South Chicago.

In 1958, unidentified American service members killed in World War II and the Korean War were interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1962, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem had its world premiere at the new Coventry Cathedral in England.

In 1971, the American space probe Mariner 9 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, Fla. on a journey to Mars.

In 1972, three members of the Japanese Red Army opened fire at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 26 people. Two attackers died; the third was captured.

In 1981, the president of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in a failed military coup.

In 1996, Britain's Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson were granted an uncontested decree ending their 10-year marriage.

Ten years ago: President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, arrived in Poland, the first stop of a weeklong tour of Europe and the Middle East. The U.N. Security Council unanimously authorized the deployment of a French-led international force in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the scene of ethnic fighting.

Five years ago: A construction crane snapped and smashed into an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, killing two workers in the city's second such tragedy in 2 1/2 months. Diplomats from 111 nations meeting in Dublin, Ireland, formally adopted a landmark treaty banning cluster bombs. (The United States and other leading cluster bomb makers -- Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan -- boycotted the talks.) Lorenzo Odone, whose parents' battle to save him from the rare nerve disease ALD inspired "Lorenzo's Oil," died in Fairfax, Va., a day after his 30th birthday.

One year ago: A gunman in Seattle fatally shot four people inside a cafe and a fifth victim in a carjacking before killing himself. The National September 11 Memorial and Museum marked the 10th anniversary of the end of cleanup operations at the site with a tribute to recovery workers and first responders. Kicking off her first trip abroad in nearly a quarter-century, Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi offered encouragement to impoverished migrants in neighboring Thailand.

Today's birthdays: Country musician Johnny Gimble is 87. Actor Clint Walker is 86. Actor Keir Dullea is 77. Actress Ruta Lee is 77. Actor Michael J. Pollard is 74. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers is 70. Rock musician Lenny Davidson (The Dave Clark Five) is 69. Actor Stephen Tobolowsky is 62. Actor Colm Meaney is 60. Actor Ted McGinley is 55. Actor Ralph Carter is 52. Actress Tonya Pinkins is 51. Country singer Wynonna Judd is 49. Rock musician Tom Morello (Audioslave; Rage Against The Machine) is 49. Movie director Antoine Fuqua is 48. Rock musician Patrick Dahlheimer (Live) is 42. Actress Idina Menzel is 42. Actor Trey Parker is 41. Rapper Cee Lo Green is 39. Rapper Remy Ma is 33. Actor Blake Bashoff is 32. Christian rock musician James Smith (Underoath) is 31. Actor Jake Short is 16. Actor Jared Gilmore is 13.

Thought for today: "It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do." -- Jerome K. Jerome, English author and humorist (1859-1927)

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.