Nine activists are killed in a clash with soldiers when Israeli Navy forces raid and capture a flotilla of ships attempting to break the Gaza blockade.ref name=edition.cnn.com
Eric Robert Rudolph, a suspect in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics and other bombings in the Atlanta, Georgia area, is arrested behind a grocery store in North Carolina //story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storycid=519e=2u=/ap/eric_rudolph
United States President George W. Bush visits the location of the former death c at Auschwitz. He is only the second president to do so, after Gerald Ford toured the c in 1975.
The United States Department of State issues a travel warning advising all Americans except for essential diplomatic personnel (about 60,000 people) to leave India because conditions along India's border with Pakistan and in the state of Jammu and Kashmir have deteriorated.
Saturday, May 31, 1997
The 13-kilometer Confederation Bridge, the world's longest bridge spanning ice covered waters, opens between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada.
Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi military escorts on board an UNSCOM helicopter try to physically prevent the UNSCOM pilot from flying the helicopter in the direction of its planned destination, threatening the safety of the aircraft and their crews.
Friday, May 31, 1996
June ndash Iraq disarmament crisis: As Iraq continues to refuse inspectors access to a number of sites, the U.S. fails in its attempt to build support for military action against Iraq in the UN Security Council.
FIFA decides to give the FIFA World Cup 2002, the first World Cup in Asia, to Japan and South Korea, becoming the first World Cup with co-host countries in the history of the event.
Forty-one tornadoes hit in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, killing 76.
Thursday, May 31, 1984
Mecklenburg Correctional Center - 6 inmates - including James and Linwood Briley escape from a death row facility, the first and only occasion this has ever happened in the US.
WWII: Destroyer escort "England" sinks the 6th Japanese submarine in two weeks. This anti-submarine warfare performance remained unmatched through the twentieth century.
June ndash German V-2rockets on test from Peenemünde become the first man-made objects to enter space.
Monday, May 31, 1943
The "Zoot Suit Riots" erupt between military personnel and Mexican American youths in East Los Angeles.
Sunday, May 31, 1942
June 1 ndash WWII: Attack on Sydney Harbour: Japanese submarines infiltrate Sydney Harbour in an attempt to attack Allied warships.
The Grand Coulee Dam is finished on the Columbia River.
WWII: Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy and Japan.
.S. (May 19 O.S.) ndash In the Kuperovskaya district of Vladivostok, a grand ceremonial inauguration of construction work on the Trans-Siberian Railway is carried out by the Tsesarevich Nikolay Alexandrovich and a religious service held.
Saturday, May 31, 1890
The 5-story skylight Arcade opens in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Great Clock at the Palace of Westminster, London was started, and its bells ring for the very first time.
Friday, May 31, 1793
Regular troops under François Hanriot demand that the Girondins be expelled from the national convention.
June ndash The Macartney Embassy, a British diplomatic mission to China led by George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, reaches Canton, but will be rebuffed by the Qianlong Emperor.ref name=The People's Chronology
Tuesday, May 31, 1740
Frederick II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Frederick William I.
Saturday, May 31, 1727
The Royal Bank of Scotland is founded by Royal Charter in Edinburgh.ref name=The People's Chronology
Thursday, May 31, 1696
John Salomonsz is elected chief of Saint-Eustatius.
Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome. A widespread panic occurs when many citizens heard the news that the Vandals were plundering the Italian mainland.