Today in History

On This Day In History, May 22nd

2012 The world's tallest tower is opened to the public
At 643 meters (2080 feet), the Tokyo Skytree in Japan's capital city is also the second tallest structure in the world after Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Its prime purpose is to relay TV and radio signals.

2010 The worst air crash involving a Boeing 737 kills 158
Air India Express Flight 812 overshot the runway on landing at Mangalore International Airport. It fell over a cliff and burst into flames. The 737 is the world's most widely flown aircraft.

1980 The arcade game Pac-Man is released
The game featuring a dot-munching round yellow figure moving through a maze has become one of the best-known video games in history. It was produced by Namco.

1960 The most violent earthquake in recorded history hits Chile
The Great Chilean Earthquake rated 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale. According to estimates, between 2230 and 6000 people were killed.

1906 The Wright brothers' flying machine is patented
The American aviation pioneers are credited with having performed “the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight.” (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale)
 

Births On This Day, May 22nd 🎂

1959 Morrissey
English singer-songwriter, pianist

1930 Harvey Milk
American lieutenant, politician, activist

1907 Hergé
Belgian illustrator

1859 Arthur Conan Doyle
Scottish physician, author

1813 Richard Wagner
German composer, director

Deaths On This Day, May 22nd 🪦

2013 Henri Dutilleux
French composer

1992 Zellig Harris
American linguist

1967 Langston Hughes
American poet, author

1885 Victor Hugo
French author, poet, playwright

337 Constantine the Great
Roman Emperor
 
1892
Dr Washington Sheffield invents toothpaste tube
1936
Aer Lingus becomes national airlines for Ireland
1973
Pres Richard Nixon admits his role in Watergate scandal,he resigns 3 months later
1990
Microsoft releases Windows 3.0
1992
Johnny Carson's last appearance as host of'The Tonight Show' 80 mill viewers tune in
2002
ex KKK member, Bobby Frank Cherry is convicted of the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham.Ala which killed 4 black girls.it was a gathering place for civil rights activists. He was sentenced to life in prison,he died in 2004
 

May 22nd Birthdays:
1813
Richard Wagner- German composer 'The Flying Dutchman, Rings of the Nibelung
1859
Arthur Conan Doyle- British author' Sherlock Holmes'
1907
Laurence Oliver- British actor stage/screen 'Hamlet, Rebecca, Marathon Man, he won 2 Oscars,best actor'Hamlet' honorary Oscar for Life Achievement in '79
1936
M.Scott Peck- U.S. psychatrist/author' The Road Less Travelled'
1950
Bernie Taupin- British lyricist with Elton John
1978
Ginnfer Goodwin- actress, her best known TV roles' 'Snow White/Mary Margaret' in ABC fantasy series' Once Upon a Time '11-'18, Margene Heffman in HBO series'Big Love '06-'11
Deaths:
1802
Martha Washington- wife of U.S. Pres, George Washington,First Lady 70
1885
Victor Hugo-French author' Hunchback of Notre Dame' 83
2017
Dina Merrill- actress 'Operation Petticoat, Butterfield 8' 93
 
On This Day In History, May 23rd

1992 The Italian mafia murdered Giovanni Falcone
Falcone, a judge, was the mafia's most prominent adversary. After he, together with his wife and three bodyguards, fell victim to a car bomb, Falcone became a folk hero in Italy.

1969 The Who release Tommy
The British rock band's fourth album is considered the first musical work of the rock opera genre.

1951 Delegates of the Dalai Lama sign the Seventeen Point Agreement
The contract affirmed Chinese sovereignty over Tibet. According to Tibetan officials, the document was signed under duress and is, therefore, invalid.

1949 The Federal Republic of Germany is established
The proclamation of Grundgesetz, Germany's current constitution, marked the birth hour of the republic. The foundation of West Germany came four years after the demise of the Nazi regime and the end of World War II.

1844 Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází founds Bábism
The Báb, as he called himself, created the religion which was a forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith. His teachings were seen as a threat by the Islamic clergy, and his followers were brutally persecuted by the Persian government.
 
Births On This Day, May 23rd 🎂

1972 Rubens Barrichello
Brazilian race car driver

1954 Marvelous Marvin Hagler
American boxer

1921 Humphrey Lyttelton
English trumpet player, composer

1848 Otto Lilienthal
German pilot, engineer

1707 Carl Linnaeus
Swedish botanist, physician, zoologist

Deaths On This Day, May 23rd 🪦

2009 Roh Moo-hyun
South Korean politician, 16th President of South Korea

1995 Harold Wilson
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1937 John D. Rockefeller
American businessman, and philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company

1906 Henrik Ibsen
Norwegian poet, playwright, director

1868 Kit Carson
American soldier
 
1785
Benjamin Franklin announced he has invented bifocal glasses
1845
New York City Police Dept is formed replacing a night watch system
1934
bank robbers, Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow are ambushed by police near Salies, Louisana. The police fired 130 rounds of bullets in 2 min The coroner's report noted 17 wounds on Barrow's body,26 on Parker's They started their crime spree in 1932
1985
actor Jimmy Stewart receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom award by Pres Ronald Reagan,he promotes Stewart to Major General on the retirement list
 
May 23rd Birthdays:
1883
Douglas Fairbanks- actor 'The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, 3 Musketeers
1920 Helen O'Connell -big band singer with Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra
1928
Rosemary Clooney -singer/actress "Come On a My House', White Christmas, her nephew is actor, George Clooney
1944
John Newcombe
Australian tennis player he won 7 Grand Slam titles, 17 doubles titles
1958
Drew Carey- comedian/actor starred in TV show 'Drew Carey Show, is host of game show' The Price is Right
Deaths:
1868
Kit Carson -U.S. frontiersman 58
1906
Henrik Ibsen- Norweign playwright 'Peer Gynt, A Dolls House 78
1969
Jimmy Mc Hugh -composer 'I Cant Give You Anything But Love, On Sunny Side of The Street. I'm In the Mood For Love 74
2015 John Nash- U.S. mathematican his bio was basis of Oscar winning movie' A Beautiful Mind' 86
 
On This Day In History, May 24th

2001 23 die in the Jerusalem wedding hall disaster
Hundreds of wedding guests fell two stories deep when a portion of the third floor collapsed. The tragedy was Israel's worst civil disaster.

1970 Engineers begin drilling the world's deepest hole
The Kola Superdeep Borehole had reached the unsurpassed depth of 12,262 meters (40,230 feet) before the project was abandoned due to a lack of funding.

1956 The first Eurovision Song Contest is held
Lys Assia won the first edition for Switzerland. The ESC is a major song contest in Europe and one of the world's longest-running TV programs. It is held in a different country each year.

1930 Amy Johnson flies solo from England to Australia
The English aviatrix was the first woman to achieve this feat. Her 18,000 km (11,000 mi) flight aboard a de Havilland Gypsy Moth aircraft took her from Croydon, U.K. to Darwin, Australia in 19 days.

1830 Mary had a little lamb is published
Sarah Josepha Hale's poem is one of the best-known English language nursery rhymes.
 
Births On This Day, May 24th 🎂

1963 Michael Chabon
American author

1945 Priscilla Presley
American actress, businesswoman

1941 Bob Dylan
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer

1819 Queen Victoria
of the United Kingdom

1671 Gian Gastone de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

Deaths On This Day, May 24th 🪦

2007 Bill Johnston
Australian cricketer

1974 Duke Ellington
American pianist, composer, bandleader

1632 Robert Hues
English mathematician, geographer

1543 Nicolaus Copernicus
Polish mathematician, astronomer

1153 David I of Scotland
 
24th May

1530 A list of heretical books was drawn up in London. Tyndale's Bible was burnt.

1689 Parliament introduced the Toleration Act. The Act granted freedom of worship to Nonconformists (i.e. dissenting Protestants) and granted them their own places of worship and their own teachers and preachers, subject to acceptance of certain oaths of allegiance.

1738 John Wesley first attended evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, then went on to a meeting at Aldersgate where he experienced his conversion. This was the start of Wesley’s Methodism.

1941 World War II: The German battleship Bismarck sank the Royal Navy's largest warship HMS Hood off Greenland with the loss of more than 1,400 lives. The ship exploded when a German shell hit the Hood's ammunition store.

1978 Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II was divorced from her husband, Lord Snowdon, after 18 years of marriage.
 
1830
Sara Josepha Hale's poem'Mary Had a Little Lamb' was 1st published in Boston,Mass
1844
the world's 1st telegraph message,Samuel Morse taps'What Hath God Wrought'
1915
Thomas Edison invents telescribe record machine to record phone conversations
1930
Amy Johnson becomes 1st woman to fly solo from England to Australia
1976
'Judgment in Paris', wine tasters rate Calif wines better than the French which upsets many challenges the notion France produces the world's best wines
2018
one of the biggest U.S. drug busts in history happened in Nebraska where 120 lbs of fentanyl was seized, enough to kill 26 million people
 
May 24th Birthdays:
1686
Daniel Fahrenheit - Dutch physicist/inventor of the thermometer,Fahrenheit scale
1941
Bob Dylan singer/songwriter 'Blowin in The Wind' The Times They Are a Changing
1943
Gary Burghoff- actor he played' character,'Radar' in both movie&TV version of 'M*A*S*H
1960
Kristin Scott Thomas- British actress, 'The English Patient' The Horse Whisperer, Mission Impossible
Deaths:
1861
Elmer Ellsworth- 1st U.S. Union soldier to die in Civil War 24
1974
Duke Ellington- bandleader/ composer'Take The A Train' 75
1997
Edward Mulhare- Irish born actor stage/TV, was Rex Harrison's' understudy in original Broadway production of 'My Fair Lady' took over when Rex left show His best known TV roles:
Capt Daniel Gregg' TV show' The Ghost&Mrs Muir' co starred with Hope Lange, 'Devon Miles' Knight Rider co starred with David Hasselhoff 74{lung cancer}
2008
Dick Martin- comedian co host of TV show' Rowan&Martin's Laughin with Dan Rowan 86
2018
Jerry Maren- actor- played one of the 'Munchkins' in movie 'The Wizard of Oz' 98
 
On This Day In History, May 25th

2002 A China Airlines jumbo jet breaks apart in mid-air
The Boeing 747 aircraft crashed into the Taiwan Strait, leaving no survivors among the 225 people on board. The accident was caused by improper repairs 22 years earlier, and the airplane was far beyond the serviceable life recommended by Boeing in terms of the number of flights, total hours in the air, and the number of years in service.

1979 American Airlines flight 191 crashes shortly after takeoff
The photo showing the lopsided DC-10 hurtling towards the ground at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago is one of the most horrifying images in aviation history. All 258 people on board died.

1979 Etan Patz disappears
The disappearance and murder of the 6-year-old boy from New York City and the extensive publicity it received helped spark the missing children's movement.

1977 The first Star Wars film is released
George Lucas' epic space opera is one of the most popular works in movie history.

1963 32 African countries form a coalition against white rule
The Organisation of African Unity was founded to promote decolonization and end white minority governments in Africa. The OAU was replaced by the African Union in 2002.
 
Births On This Day, May 25th 🎂

1979 Jonny Wilkinson
English rugby player

1976 Cillian Murphy
Irish/English actor

1974 Frank Klepacki
American drummer, composer

1899 Kazi Nazrul Islam
Indian flute player, poet

1803 Ralph Waldo Emerson
American poet, philosopher

Deaths On This Day, May 25th 🪦

2006 Desmond Dekker
Jamaican singer-songwriter

2005 Graham Kennedy
Australian actor

1934 Gustav Holst
English composer

1848 Annette von Droste-Hülshoff
German author, composer

992 Mieszko I of Poland
 
1878
Gilbert&Sullivan's comedic opera ,'HMS Pinafore' which included satirical&sentimental songs debuts in London.Its their 1st international success
1927
Henry Ford announces the end of producing the Model T Ford
1977
original' Star Wars' movie {later renamed Episode V ,A New Hope} is released directed by George Lucas, starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Alec Guiness,James Earl Jones{voice of' Darth Vader} It s opening weekend take $1.55 mill,world wide take $775 mill. The movie won 7 Oscars mostly for technical awards, film composer, John Williams won Oscar for best score
2012
Space X Dragon becomes 1st commerical spacecraft to dock at the international Space Station
 
May 25th Birthdays:
1803
Ralph Waldo Emerson- American essayist/philosopher
1898
Bennet Cerf- publisher of Random House,panelist on TV show' What's My Line'
1921
Hal David- lyricist 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head{from movie Butch Cassidy&Sundance Kid}, Do You Know the Way to San Jose,. What The World Needs Now is Love"
1929
Beverly Sills- operatic soprano
1939
Sir Ian McKellan- British actor "Lord of The Rings, X-Men
1963
Mike Myers- Canadian actor/comedian ' Austin Power' movies, 'Wayne's World
1970
Octavia Spencer- actress, Hidden Figures, The Help,Shape of Water, she won best supp actress Oscar as 'Minnie' in 'The Help'
Deaths:
1934
Gustav Hoist- composer' The Planets, Ode to Death 59
1974
Donald Crisp -British actor 'How Green Was My Valley' 91
2007
Charles Nelson Reilly comedic actor/ panelist, best known TV role' Claymore Gregg' on "The Ghost&Mrs Muir co starred with Edward Mulhare, Hope Lange, was regular panelist on "Match Game' 76
 
moviequeen1 said:
1973
Pres Richard Nixon admits his role in Watergate scandal,he resigns 3 months later
Click to expand...
I am not sure that happened in 1973, I believe he never really admitted guilt. Although he did put somethings into his diary and a tape released years later that might be considered such an admission.
moviequeen1 said:
1941
Bob Dylan singer/songwriter 'Blowin in The Wind' The Times They Are a Changing
Click to expand...
And the times did a change! Great song, great musician, one of my favorites.
 
On This Day In History, May 26th

1972 The Soviet Union and the United States sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
The ABM Treaty regulated the establishment of anti-ballistic missile shields against nuclear missiles. It was one of the most important treaties between the two superpowers during the Cold War.

1970 The Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2
The Russian plane, sometimes nicknamed Concordski, first took to the skies in 1968, two months before the Concorde.

1923 The 24 Hours of Le Mans is held for the first time
Only three competitors completed the race in 1923. The winners were André Lagarde and Albert Leonard of France, who covered 2210 kilometers in 24 hours.

1908 Engineers make the first major oil find in the Middle East
The discovery of Masjed Soleyman in Iran had a major impact on the country's and the world region's economy and politics. More than half of the world's oil reserves are located in the Middle East.

1896 The Dow Jones Industrial Average is first published
The Dow Jones is one of the world's most important stock market indices. Today it comprises data from 30 major U.S. companies.
 

Births On This Day, May 26th 🎂

1975 Lauryn Hill
American singer-songwriter, producer, actress

1964 Lenny Kravitz
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actor

1926 Miles Davis
American trumpet player, composer, bandleader

1907 John Wayne
American actor, singer, director, producer

1886 Al Jolson
Lithuanian/American singer, actor

Deaths On This Day, May 26th 🪦

2008 Sydney Pollack
American director

1976 Martin Heidegger
German philosopher

1908 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Indian religious leader founded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

1703 Samuel Pepys
English administrator, politician

735 Bede
English monk, historian, theologian
 
1805
explorers, William Clark& Meriwether Lewis 1st sight of Rocky Mountains
1897
Irish author, Bram Stoker's book 'Dracula' is 1st published in London
1967
EMI releases Beatles album' Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band in London was #1 on U.S music charts for 15 weeks, 22 weeks in U.K. The famous cover was designed by Peter Blake& Jann Haworth
1998
U.S. Supreme Court rules Ellis Island,historic gateway for millions of immigrants is mainly in New Jersey not New York State
2012
Pope Benedict XVI's butler, is convicted of leaking internal Vatican documents to local media. He is sentenced to 18 months in prison,he died in 2020 age 54
 
May 26th Birthdays:
1877
Isadora Duncan- free from dancer
1886
Al Jolson- U.S. jazz singer/silent film actor
1907
John Wayne- actor 'True Grit, Green Berets, his only Oscar best actor for 'True Grit'
1912
Jay Silverheels- Canadian actor best known TV role' Tonto' ' The Lone Ranger' co star with Clayton Moore
1923
James Arness- actor best known TV role 'Marshal Matt Dillion' in CBS long running Western, 'Gunsmoke,brother of actor Peter Graves
1948
Stevie Nicks- singer/songwriter with band' Fleetwood Mac' Rhianna, Landslide
1949
Phillip Michael Thomas- actor best known TV role"Det Ricardo Tubbs" on police drama Miami Vice' co star with Don Johnson
1966
Helen Bonham Carter- English actress, 'Harry Potter movies, The Kings Speech, The Wings of Dove
Deaths:
1939
Charles Horace Mayo- U.S surgeon/co founder of Mayo Clinic 74
2005
Eddie Albert- actor best known TV role' Oliver Douglas' CBS sitcom' Green Acres' co star with Eva Gabor 99
2008
Stanley Pollack- U.S film director/ producer Tootsie, Out Of Africa, he won 2 Oscars for Africa director/producer 83
2019
Bart Starr-NFL Hall of Fame QB with Green Bay Packers 85{stroke}
 
26th May

1670 Charles II and Louis XIV signed a secret treaty in Dover, ending hostilities between England and France.

1733 John Kay, assistant to Richard Arkwright, patented the 'Flying Shuttle' to operate on Arkwright's cotton spinning frame.

1798 Income Tax was introduced into Britain - a 10% tax on all incomes over £200 a year.

1913 Emily Duncan became Britain's first woman magistrate.

1950 Long queues appeared at garages and motorists tore their ration books into confetti after the end to petrol rationing.
 
On This Day In History, May 27th

2006 A massive earthquake devastates parts of Java, Indonesia
With 5 million people living within 50 km of the quake's epicenter, about 6000 died, and 1.5 million were left homeless.

1942 Czech resistance fighters kill Reinhard Heydrich
The high-ranking German Nazi official was one of the main architects of the Holocaust. In retaliation, the Nazis murdered all male inhabitants over 15 years of age in the Czech village of Lidice and deported most of the remaining people to concentration camps.

1937 The Golden Gate Bridge is opened
The suspension bridge connecting the San Francisco peninsula with Marin County is one of the most recognized works of United States architecture.

1933 Walt Disney's cartoon Three Little Pigs is released
The animated short film is one of the best-known cartoons of all time. In 1934, it was awarded the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

1851 The world's first chess tournament is held in London
Adolf Anderssen, a maths teacher from Wrocław, won the tournament, which was held parallel to the 1851 Great Exhibition.
 
Births On This Day, May 27th 🎂

1975 Jamie Oliver
English chef, author

1934 Harlan Ellison
American author, screenwriter

1923 Henry Kissinger
German/American politician, 56th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate

1922 Christopher Lee
English and singer

1907 Rachel Carson
American biologist, author

Deaths On This Day, May 27th 🪦

2011 Gil Scott-Heron
American singer-songwriter, author

1964 Jawaharlal Nehru
Indian politician, 1st Prime Minister of India

1840 Niccolò Paganini
Italian violinist, composer

1564 John Calvin
French theologian, pastor

927 Simeon I of Bulgaria
 


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