Today in History

1679
Habeas Corpus Act is passed in England which strengthens a person's right to challenge unlaw arrest and imprisonment
1930
The Chrsyler Building in NYC a 1,046 foot was the tallest man made building at the time opens to the public
1933
Walt Disney's short animated film' Three Pigs' is released,it won Oscar for Best Animated film in '34
1969
construction of Walt Disney World begins at Bay Lake&Lake Buena Vista, Fla. It would open on 101/71 with 4 theme parks Magic Kingdom '71, Epcot '82, Disney Studios' 89, Animal Kingdom '98
1985
Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China in 1997
 

May 27th Birthdays:
1894
Dashiell Hammet -author 'Sam Spade, Maltese Falcon
1907
Rachel Carson- marine biologist/ conservationist/writer' Silent Spring'
1911
Vincent Price- actor 'House on Haunted Hill, Laura, his voice is heard on Michael Jackson's single' Thriller'
1943
Bruce Weitz- actor best known TV role' undercover cop 'Mick Belker' on TV show' Hill St Blues'
1945
Bruce Cockburn- Canadian singer/songwriter' Wondering Where The Lions Are'
1955
Richard Schiff- actor, best known TV role' Toby Ziegler' on TV show' The West Wing'
Deaths:
1564
John Calvin- Protestant religious reformer/theologian 54
1969
Jeffrey Hunter- actor 'The Searchers' 43
2000
Maurice' The Rocket' Richard- NHL hockey player with Montreal Canadians 78
2011
Jeff Conaway- actor/singer played''Kenecki in movie' Grease', best known TV role' Bobby' on TV show Taxi' 51
 
On This Day In History, May 28th

1998 Pakistan detonates five atom bombs
The nuclear tests came as a response to India's tests just days earlier. Fearing a devastating conflict between the two nuclear powers, a number of countries, including the U.S. and Japan, imposed economic sanctions.

1987 Mathias Rust lands on the Red Square in Moscow
The 19-year-old West German amateur pilot illegally landed his Cessna in the heart of the Russian capital at the height of the Cold War.

1961 Amnesty International is founded
The publication of Peter Benenson's article “The forgotten prisoners” is commonly considered the organization's birth hour. Amnesty International is one of the world's most influential human rights organizations.

1937 Volkswagen (VW) is founded
The automobile manufacturer whose name means “People's Car” in German is one of the world's biggest. It produced classics like the VW Golf and the VW Beetle.

1936 Alan Turing submits On Computable Numbers for publication
In this landmark paper, the British computer pioneer described the Turing Machine and defined the inherent limits of computation.
 

Births On This Day, May 28th 🎂

1968 Kylie Minogue
Australian singer-songwriter, producer, actress

1944 Rudy Giuliani
American lawyer, politician, 107th Mayor of New York City

1923 György Ligeti
Romanian/Austrian composer

1908 Ian Fleming
English journalist, author

1883 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Indian politician

Deaths On This Day, May 28th 🪦

2014 Maya Angelou
American author, poet, actress, director

1972 Edward VIII
of the United Kingdom

1937 Alfred Adler
Austrian psychologist

1849 Anne Brontë
English author, poet

1843 Noah Webster
American lexicographer, author
 
28th May

1533 The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared that the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn was valid. Shortly afterwards, the Pope decreed sentences of excommunication against both Henry and Cranmer. Subsequently the first break between the Church of England and Rome took place and the Church of England was brought under the King's control.

1588 The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

1842 Britain's first public library opened, in Frederick Street, Salford.

1907 The first Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) motor cycle races were held. The winner was Charlie Collier on his pedal assisted Matchless, at an average speed of 38.22 mph. It was argued that rival Jack Marshall, riding a Triumph, would have won if he'd fitted pedals, and the following year pedals were banned.

1945 World War II: the broadcaster of Nazi propaganda, William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) was captured near Hamburg. He was later tried for treason, found guilty, and hanged.

1982 Falklands War: British troops re-captured Port Darwin and Goose Green, taking almost 1500 Argentine prisoners.
 
1892
The Sierra Club was founded by environmental/philosopher, John Muir& others in San Francisco for conservation of nature
1934
The Dionne quintuplets were born to Olivia&Elzue Dionne 1st to survive infancy in Callander, Ontario
1937
Golden State Bridge in San Francisco opens to automobile traffic
1957
National Baseball League approves of Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles
1987
18yr old West German pilot, Mathius Rust makes an unauthorized landing near Red Square in Moscow.
He is convicted,sentenced to 4 years in a labor camp,instead goes to a dentention facility. He is pardoned 14 months later
2018
1 million French smokers quit in 1 yr after anti smoking measures are introduced by French Public Health
 
May 28th Birthdays:
1887
Jim Thorpe- American athlete who won gold medal in decathlon,pentathon at '12 Olympic games
1908
Ian Fleming- author of 'James Bond' novels
1940
Mave Binchy- Irish author' Circle of Friends, Light a Penny Candle
1945
John Fogerty- singer/songwriter/guitarist with band, Creedence Clearwater Revival "Lookin Out My Back Door,'Ever Seen The Rain
deaths:
1843
Noah Webster- U.S. lexicographer{Webster's Dictionary} 84
1971
Audie Murphy- U.S. soldier/actor "To Hell and Back',a decorated soldier during WWII won 33 medals 46{plane crash}
2003
Martha Scott -actress, 'Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments,Our Town 90
2014
Maya Angelou- author/ activist/poet 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' 86
 
On This Day In History, May 29th

1999 Olusegun Obasanjo wins Nigeria's first free elections in 16 years
The former Nigerian Army general and military ruler oversaw a democratization process that defines the country's political system to the present day.

1996 Benjamin Netanyahu becomes Israel's prime minister
The conservative politician is criticized for hampering the peace process that former prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, had promoted.

1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered Mount Everest
The first successful ascent of the world's highest mountain came after Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans had come within 100 meters of the summit just three days previously.

1942 Bing Crosby records White Christmas
Crosby's rendition of Irving Berlin's song became the most successful of his career and the best-selling Christmas single in history.

1913 Igor Stravinsky's ballet Le Sacre du Printemps is premiered
the performance sparked a riot in the audience as many felt its irregular beat and the percussive character was a sacrilege against music. Today, it is considered one of the key works of 20th-century art music.
 
Births On This Day, May 29th 🎂

1984 Carmelo Anthony
American basketball player

1967 Noel Gallagher
English singer-songwriter, guitarist

1922 Iannis Xenakis
Greek/French composer, engineer, theorist

1917 John F. Kennedy
American lieutenant, politician, 35th President of the United States

1914 Tenzing Norgay
Nepalese mountaineer

Deaths On This Day, May 29th 🪦

2013 Henry Morgentaler
Polish/Canadian physician

2010 Dennis Hopper
American actor, director

1997 Jeff Buckley
American singer-songwriter, guitarist

1892 Bahá'u'lláh
Persian spiritual leaders founded the Bahá'í Faith

1829 Humphry Davy
English chemist, physicist
 
29th May

1660 Charles II marched into London and was restored to the throne, 11 years after the execution of his father Charles I.

1914 The ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland, sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence shortly after departing from Quebec for Liverpool. She collided, in thick fog, with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad and foundered in only 14 minutes. Although the ship was equipped with watertight compartments and, in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster two years earlier, she carried more than enough lifeboats for all onboard, 1,012 lives were lost - (840 passengers, 172 crew).

1954 Diane Leather, of Birmingham University, became the first woman to run a mile in under 5 minutes. Her time was 4 min 59.6 seconds.

1977 Nigel Short, an 11 year old English schoolboy , qualified as the youngest ever competitor in a national chess championship. He had already beaten Viktor Korchnoi during an exhibition game.

1982 In the first Papal visit to Britain since 1531, Polish born Pope John Paul II prayed alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first ever pontiff to visit the cathedral. He was acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century and was one of the most-travelled world leaders in history.
 
1790
Rhode Island the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify U.S. Constitution
1886
chemist/ pharmacist, John Pembuton begins to advertise his invention, Coca-Cola
1922
U.S Supreme Court rules orgainzed baseball is a sport not a business, not subject to antitrust laws
1942
movie' Yankee Doodle Dandy' directed by Michael Curtiz is released, starring Jimmy Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Rosemary de Camp. Its the recreation of George M. Cohan's life. Cagney won Best actor Oscar in the lead role
1953
Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay part of a British expedition are 1st to reach the summit of Mt Everest
2004
The World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington,DC, tributer honoring men & women who served United States during WWII{1941-1945} Its located between Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool
 
May 29th Birthdays:
1736
Patrick Henry- American Revoluntary/Founding Father who is best remembered for his speech 'Give me Liberty or Give me Death'
1903
Bob Hope- comedian/entertainer with USO shows, 'Road To... movies with Bing Crosby,Dorothy Lamour
1941
Bob Simon CBS journalist/reporter on CBS news magazine' 60 Minutes'
1958
Annette Bening- actress, 'Grifters,Dick Tracy, American Beauty' married to actor Warren Beatty
Deaths:
1911
William Gilbert- British dramatist/poet librettist best known for comedic operas with Arthur Sullivan'H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado,Pirates of Penzance' 74
1942
John Barrymore- actor "Beloved Rogue, Dinner at 8' 60
2004
Archibald Cox- atty/special prosecutor during 'Watergate' scandal 90
2008
Harvey Korman- comedic actor 'The Carol Burnett Show, appeared in Mel Brook's comedies' High Anxiety, Blazing Saddles, History of the World Part 1' 81
2010
Dennis Hopper- actor/director 'Easy Rider, Hoosiers, Blue Velvet, True Grit' 74
 
On This Day In History, May 30th

2011 Germany abandons nuclear energy
The government's decision followed the nuclear meltdown at Japan's Fukushima power plant and years of hands-on protests and activism by Germany's powerful anti-nuclear movement.

1967 The Republic of Biafra is proclaimed
The short-lived state consisted of Nigeria's Eastern Region. Its secession sparked the Nigerian Civil War, which lasted until 1970 and resulted in the region's re-integration into Nigeria.

1962 Benjamin Britten's War Requiem is premiered
The work was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which had been destroyed in World War II. It juxtaposes the traditional Latin Mass for the Dead with war poems by Wilfred Owen.

1961 The Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujillo, is assassinated
El Jefe had been the Dominican Republic's President for 31 years. Despite the assassination, the intended removal of the dictatorship in the Caribbean country failed as the ruler's son, Ramfis Trujillo, soon stepped into his father's shoes.

1911 The first Indianapolis 500 is held
Ray Harroun won the first running of the 500-mile automobile race, which is today one of the world's most prestigious sporting events.
 
Births On This Day, May 30th 🎂

1980 Steven Gerrard
English footballer

1971 Idina Menzel
American singer-songwriter, actress

1949 Bob Willis
English cricketer

1846 Peter Carl Fabergé
Russian goldsmith, jeweler

1814 Mikhail Bakunin
Russian philosopher, theorist

Deaths On This Day, May 30th 🪦

1993 Sun Ra
American pianist, composer, bandleader, poet

1960 Boris Pasternak
Russian author, poet, Nobel Prize laureate

1778 Voltaire
French philosopher

1640 Peter Paul Rubens
Flemish painter

1431 Joan of Arc
 
30th May

1431 Joan of Arc, the French peasant girl who became a national heroine leading French troops against the English, was burnt at the stake in Rouen for heresy.

1536 Eleven days after he had his second wife Anne Boleyn beheaded, King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour, former lady-in-waiting to Anne.

1842 An assassination attempt was made on Queen Victoria as she drove down Constitution Hill in London with her husband Prince Albert. The would-be assassin was John Francis. Francis was convicted of High Treason and sentenced to transportation for life.

1948 The British Citizenship Act conferred the status of British subjects on all Commonwealth citizens.

1959 The first full-size experimental hovercraft, the SR-N1, built by Saunders-Roe and designed by Sir Christopher Cockerell, was launched at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
 
1821
James Boyd patents rubber fire hose
1832 The Rideau Canal in Eastern, Ontario opens,the oldest operated canal system in North America. It connects Canada's capital,Ottawa to Lake Ontario,Saint Lawrence River,its 126 miles long
1906
Hershey Park, in Hershey PA founded by chocloate tycoon, Milton Hershey opens to the public,landscaped with graceful trees, wooded groves
1971
Mariner 9,the 1st U.S. satellite is launched on mission to Mars,to collect scientific information about the planet. It circled Mars twice/day for a year.It sent back over 7,000 pictures. Its last transmission ended on Oct 27,1972
1982
The compact disc co developed by Phillips&Sony is released to the public
 
May 30th Birthdays:
1846
Peter Faberge- Russian goldsmith/jeweler famous for Faberge eggs
1899
Irving Thalberg- U. S. film producer for MGM stuidios
1908
Mel Blanc- comedian/ voice actor for'Looney Tunes cartoons 'Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig
1943
Gale Sayers- NFL Hall of Fame running back for Chicago Bears
Deaths:
1778
Voltaire- French writer/philospoher/ playwright 'Candide 83
1912
Wilbur Wright- U.S. aviation pioneer 45
1960
Boris Pasternak- Russian novelist' Dr Zhivago' 70
1967
Claude Rains- British actor 'Casablanca. Invisible Man 77
 
On This Day In History, May 31st

2013 The widest tornado ever recorded hits El Reno, Oklahoma
The storm had a width of 4.2 km (2.6 mi). Nine people were killed as it swept over rural areas of Central Oklahoma.

2005 Deep Throat reveals himself
Former FBI agent Mark Felt admitted that he was the most important informant in the 1970's Watergate scandal which uncovered the dirty tricks of the Nixon administration, ultimately leading to Nixon's resignation.

1961 South Africa becomes an independent republic
Following international criticism of the country's Apartheid regime, it had to leave the Commonwealth of Nations. The system of racial segregation was gradually abolished in the early 1990s.

1879 Werner von Siemens presents the world's first electric locomotive
Von Siemens' landmark invention was soon used in trams. 1881 saw the introduction of the world's first electric tram in Berlin, Germany.

1859 The Great Clock housing Big Ben starts keeping time
The clock at the top of Elizabeth Tower at the north end of the British Houses of Parliament is one of the world's best-known timekeepers.
 
Births On This Day, May 31st 🎂

1976 Colin Farrell
Irish actor

1945 Rainer Werner Fassbinder
German actor, director, screenwriter

1930 Clint Eastwood
American actor, director, producer, politician

1894 Fred Allen
American comedian, actor, radio host

1819 Walt Whitman
American poet, author

Deaths On This Day, May 31st 🪦

2010 Louise Bourgeois
French/American sculptor

1996 Timothy Leary
American psychologist, author

1983 Jack Dempsey
American boxer

1837 Joseph Grimaldi
English actor, dancer

1809 Joseph Haydn
Austrian composer
 
31st May

1578 English explorer Martin Frobisher sailed from Harwich to Frobisher Bay in Canada. Over time he brought home 1500 tons of 'gold ore'. After years of smelting, it was realised that the presumed gold was merely worthless iron pyrite (fool's gold).

1889 A painting of a small dog listening to a phonograph was shown to the general manager of 'The Gramophone Company' in London by the painter, Francis Barraud. It was of his dog, Nipper. The phonograph was painted out and a gramophone substituted. It soon became the famous trademark for the company 'His Master's Voice'.

1902 The Peace of Vereeniging ended the Boer War, in which British casualties numbered 5,774 killed (and 16,000 deaths from disease) against 4,000 Boers killed in action.

1910 Lord Baden-Powell's sister Agnes formed the Girl Guides.

1911 The White Star liner Titanic was launched at Belfast. At the ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, 'Not even God himself could sink this ship.'
 
1790
U.S. copyright law enacted
1870
EJ Desemdt patents asphalt pavement
1884
Dr John Henry Kellogg patents 'flaked cereal'
1968
actor, Jimmy Stewart retires from U.S. Air Force after 27 yrs of service
2005, Mark Felt, former high ranked FBI offical is revealed as 'Deep Throat' source during Watergate investigations{played by Hal Holbrook in movie 'All President's Men} in Vanity Fair article
2014
singer,Psy's 'Gangnam Style' is 1st video to reach 2 billion views on Youtube
 
May 31st Birthdays:
1819
Walt Whitman- poet 'Leaves of Grass',was volunteer nurse during Civil War
1898
Norman Vincent Peale- U.S. clergyman/author' Power of Postive Thinking
1908
Don Ameche- actor 'Trading Places, Cocoon, -won best supp actor Oscar for 'Cocoon'
1922
Denholm Elliott- British actor, 'Alfie, Indiana Jones&the Last Crusade,Raiders of The Lost Ark
1930
Clint Eastwood- actor/director/ producer 'High Plains Drifter, The Bridges of Madison County,Every Which Way But Loose, Million Dollar Baby,Dirty Harry, best known TV role' Rowdy Yates' in CBS western' Rawhide
He has won 4 Academy awards for directing/starring in Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby
1943
Joe Namath -NFL Hall of Fame QB with NY Jets
1961
Lea Thompson -actress, Caroline in the City, 'Back to the Future movies-she played Marty McFly's{Michael J. Fox} mom
Deaths:
1809
Franz Joseph Haydn- Austrian composer The Creation,Trumpet Concerto 77
1910
Elizabeth Blackwell- U.S. physican,1st woman to receive medical degree 89
1967
Billy Strayhorn-pianist/composer' Take The A Train' 51
2010
Chris Haney- Canadian journalist who co-created board game' Trival Pursuit' 59
2013
Jean Stapleton- actress, best known TV role' Edith Bunker' in CBS sitcom 'All In The Family 90
 
On This Day In History, June st

2009 Air France flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic
All 228 people on board died in the crash. It took two years to find and recover the wreckage from the ocean floor.

1979 Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) ends 90 years of white rule
In 1980, the Republic of Zimbabwe achieved sovereignty from the United Kingdom.

1974 The Heimlich maneuver is published
Henry Heimlich is credited with developing the technique of using abdominal thrusts to stop choking.

1945 The first group of Berlin women starts clearing the rubble of World War II
In Germany, the Trümmerfrauen is a well-known symbol of a new beginning after the total desolation in the aftermath of the war, and for the Wirtschaftswunder, the rapid reconstruction of Germany's economy through hard labor.

1831 The British explorer James Clark Ross discovers the North Magnetic Pole
It is the location where the Earth's magnetic field points directly downwards. It lies in the vicinity of the Geographic North Pole.
 
Births On This Day, June 1st 🎂

1982 Justine Henin
Belgian tennis player

1974 Alanis Morissette
Canadian/American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress

1937 Morgan Freeman
American actor, producer

1926 Marilyn Monroe
American model, actress, singer

1907 Frank Whittle
English engineer, and inventor, developed the jet engine

Deaths On This Day, June 1st 🪦

2008 Yves Saint Laurent
French fashion designer

1971 Reinhold Niebuhr
American theologian

1952 John Dewey
American philosopher, psychologist

1868 James Buchanan
American politician, 15th President of the United States

1830 Swaminarayan
Indian religious leader
 
1st June

1495 Friar John Cor recorded the first known batch of Scotch whisky in Lindores Abbey, Fife. An entry in the royal Exchequer Rolls (basically a record of taxation and government spending, FYI) from that year reads: “Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor wherewith to make aqua vitae.” 🥃

1935 Britain introduced the compulsory use of 'L' plates for learner drivers. Also On This Day, all people who had started to drive on or after 1 April 1934 needed to have passed the test. Legislation for compulsory testing was introduced for all new drivers with the Road Traffic Act 1934 but the test was initially voluntary to avoid a rush of candidates.

1939 The sinking, during sea trials, of HMS Thetis, in Liverpool Bay. It was the Royal Navy's worst ever submarine disaster and 99 men lost their lives when the torpedo officer opened the test cocks on the torpedo tubes to add weight to the submarine as it was having difficulty diving. In the confusion, the inner door was then also opened and the inrush of water caused the submarine to sink to the seabed. Oxygen on board was quickly running out, levels of carbon dioxide became dangerously high and after 50 hours trapped inside their metal tomb, 99 died of carbon dioxide poisoning. Rescuers could have saved the crew by cutting air holes through the hull when it was resurfaced, but the Admiralty refused, because the submarine would have been permanently weakened.

1968 Britain and Iceland signed a formal end to the 'Cod War' over fishing rights in the North Sea.
 


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