In 1940 Dutch forces surrendered to Nazi Germany.
On the 10th of May 1940 the German invasion of the Netherlands began overwhelming the Dutch army and forcing a considerable amount of the troops surrender. But to ensure total surrender on the 14th of May 1940 Hitler ordered the bombardment of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe. 900 civilians died and many thousands left homeless. Hitler threatened more bombings of major cities unless the Netherlands surrendered and on this day in 1940 the Netherlands surrendered to Nazi Germany.
In 1536 Anne Boleyn was tried for treason, adultery and incest.
Anne Boleyn first met King Henry VIII when she came to the English court and became one of Catherine of Aragon’s many maids of honour (young virgins that would serve the queen). Henry began his pursuit of Anne in the February of 1522 but she resisted his advances. Very soon Henry was besotted and by 1532 he wrote to the Pope (clement VII) requesting an annulment of his marriage to Catherine. The Pope refused and so Henry began to cut all ties with the English church and Rome. He then married Anne Boleyn on the 25th of January 1533 and on the 23rd of May 1533 Thomas Cranmer (who would become archbishop of Canterbury later that year on the 3rd of December) annulled the wedding between Henry and Catherine. On the 28th of May Henry and Anne’s wedding was blessed by Cranmer and she became the new Queen of England. Her coronation took place on the 1st of June 1533. On the 7th of September she gave birth to their daughter Elizabeth (who would become Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland) and despite wanting a male heir Henry loved her. He trusted that Anne would soon give him a son but after many miscarriages Henry grew weary of Anne, seeking the company of other women and by March 1536 he was courting Jane Seymour. Henry had Anne arrested for high treason and she was sent to the tower of London on the 2nd of April 1536. She was tried for treason, adultery and even incest with no apparent evidence and found guilty on this day in 1536. On the 19th of May Anne was beheaded but when her daughter Queen Elizabeth I came to power she venerated her mother of all charges and proclaimed her a martyr. King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour on the 30th of May 1536 but she died two weeks after giving birth to their son Edward (who would become Edward VI of England and Ireland) on the 24th of October 1537.
