Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1431

Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.

1539

Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto landed in Florida.

1854

The territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established.

1883

A rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing triggered a stampede that led to the trampling deaths of 12 people.

1911

The first long-distance auto race in Indianapolis was won by Ray Harroun.

1922

The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., by Chief Justice William Howard Taft.

1943

American forces secured the Aleutian island of Attu from the Japanese during World War II.

1958

Unidentified soldiers killed in World War II and the Korean conflict were buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

1982

Spain became NATO's 16th member, the first country to enter the Western alliance since West Germany in 1955.

1989

Student demonstrators at Tiananmen Square in Beijing erected a 33-foot statue they called the ''Goddess of Democracy.''

1996

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

1997

Child molester Jesse K. Timmendequas was convicted in Trenton, N.J., of raping and strangling a 7-year-old neighbor, Megan Kanka. The 1994 murder inspired ''Megan's Law,'' requiring that communities be notified when sex offenders move in. Timmendequas was