Today in History

17th May

1215 English barons, in revolt against King John, took possession of London.

1649 Cromwell's troops captured 300 Levellers and locked them up in Burford church. (The Levellers believed in civil rights, a 'level' society and religious tolerance and Cromwell was determined to crush them.) Three of the Levellers were executed on Oliver Cromwell’s orders in Burford churchyard, Oxfordshire.

1969 Tom McClean from Dublin left Newfoundland aboard Super Silver and completed the first transatlantic solo crossing in a rowing boat on 27th July when he arrived at Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo.

1974 Three car bombs exploded in Dublin, killing 23 people and injuring more than 100 others during rush hour. Five more people died and another 20 were hurt in a blast which hit the border town of Monaghan an hour later.

2000 Two Royal Marine commandos were the first Britons to reach the geographical North Pole without outside support, braving severe weather conditions on as little as half a cup of porridge a day.

2010 Four weeks after a volcanic ash cloud disrupted flights over much of Europe, restrictions were lifted at all UK airports after the volcanic ash cloud moved away from UK airspace.
 

On This Day In History, May 18th

2009 The Sri Lankan Civil War ends
The 25-year conflict between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers had claimed up to 100,000 lives. It ended with the Tigers' defeat.

1980 Mount St. Helens erupts
The eruption killed 57 people. A large part of the previously cone-shaped volcano was replaced by a massive crater; its summit is now some 1300 feet (400 meters) lower than before the eruption.

1927 45 people died in the United States' worst school massacre
In the Bath school disaster, a disgruntled school board member set off several bombs at the Bath Consolidated School and other locations in Michigan.

1848 The first German National Assembly gathers in Frankfurt
The assembly constituted the first freely elected parliament of Germany. It produced a constitution that provided the basis for today's constitution of Germany (Grundgesetz).

1804 Napoleon Bonaparte is appointed Emperor of the French
Even today, the French leader, a native of Corsica, is widely known for his successful military campaigns - and his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.
 
Births On This Day, May 18th 🎂

1920 Pope John Paul II

1912 Perry Como
American singer, actor

1897 Frank Capra
Italian/American director, producer, screenwriter

1895 Augusto César Sandino
Nicaraguan rebel leader

1868 Nicholas II of Russia

Deaths On This Day, May 18th 🪦

2004 Elvin Jones
American drummer

1955 Mary McLeod Bethune
American educator, activist

1911 Gustav Mahler
Austrian composer

1909 Isaac Albéniz
Spanish pianist, composer

1799 Pierre Beaumarchais
French playwright
 

18th May 1963
The Beatles kicked off their first British tour as a headline act with a concert in Slough, England. Roy Orbison and Gerry And The Pacemakers also appear on the bill. Although Orbison was originally intended to be the headlining act, the reaction to The Beatles caused them to be promoted to co-headliners, closing the show in the traditional headlining spot.
 
18th May 1994
Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were married in a private ceremony at a judge's home in the Dominican Republic.
Lisa Marie filed for divorce from Michael on January 18, 1996, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason.
The pair finalized their divorce on August 20, 1996.
 
1897
chemical industrialist, Herbert Henry Dow founds Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan
1934
TWA{ Trans World Airline} begins commerical service, it would cease running in 1991 when the airline filed bankruptcy
1970
The Beatles last album' Let It Be' is released in the U.S. sold 6 mil copies
1980
eruption of Mount St Helens in U.S. state Washington, triggered the largest landslide in history, 57 people were killed, damages est $1 billion
1999
the 3rd studio album'Millennium' by Back Street Boys became one of the best selling albums of all time sold over 30 million copies
2001
Dream Works animated movie' Shrek' voiced by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy Cameron Diaz,JOhn Lithgow opening weekend at box office record breaking $42 million
 
On This Day In History, May 19th

1963 Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail is published
King used the open letter to defend his nonviolent resistance against racism and segregation. It became one of the central texts for the civil rights movement in the United States.

1962 Marilyn Monroe performs her famous rendition of Happy Birthday
Monroe gave her sultry performance, which was to be her last, at a party for U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The two are believed to have been engaged in an affair.

1959 The North Vietnamese Army begins organizing the Ho Chi Minh trail
According to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), the system of supply routes used by the “Vietcong” was “one of the greatest achievements of military engineering of the 20th century.”

1919 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk sets off the Turkish War of Independence
The fight against the allies of the Triple Entente ended some four years later. The Republic of Turkey was founded, and Atatürk became its first President.

1743 Jean-Pierre Christin invents the Celsius thermometer
The centigrade temperature scale, which is based on the freezing and boiling point of water, is used by most countries around the world. Exceptions include the United States, Belize, and Palau.
 
Births On This Day, May 19th 🎂

1945 Pete Townshend
English singer-songwriter, guitarist

1925 Malcolm X
American minister, activist

1898 Julius Evola
Italian philosopher

1893 H. Bonciu
Romanian author, poet, journalist

1881 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Turkish army officer, politician, 1st President of Turkey

Deaths On This Day, May 19th 🪦

1994 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
American book editor, 37th First Lady of the United States

1912 Bolesław Prus
Polish writer

1898 William Ewart Gladstone
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1895 José Martí
Cuban journalist, poet, theorist

1536 Anne Boleyn
English wife of Henry VIII of England
 
19th May

1499 Catherine of Aragon (aged 12) was married by proxy to Arthur Tudor, the Prince of Wales (aged 12).

1536 Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife, was beheaded in London. She was 29 years old.

1845 Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition departed from Greenhithe in Kent. The entire crew of 129 perished from starvation, hypothermia, tuberculosis, lead poisoning and scurvy whilst attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic.

1940 Churchill made his first broadcast as Prime Minister and called Nazism "the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny that has ever darkened and stained the pages of history."

2014 The extradited radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who rose to prominence for his fiery sermons at a north London mosque, was found guilty in New York of supporting terrorism. The jury reached a unanimous guilty verdict on all 11 terror charges.
 
On This Day In History, May 20th

2006 The Three Gorges Dam is officially opened
The hydroelectric dam is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity. Despite its benefits, the project remains controversial because it flooded archaeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people.

1983 In South Africa, a car bomb planted by anti-Apartheid activists kills 19
The Church Street Bombing was carried out by the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC). It was one of the bloodiest chapters in the ANC’s long and difficult struggle against racial segregation and oppression in South Africa.

1940 The first prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz was the biggest extermination camp during World War II. From 1940 to 1945, the Nazi regime murdered at least 1.1 million people here.

1927 Charles Lindbergh takes off on the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight
He departed from Long Island in the United States and arrived in Paris, France at 22:22 on the next day.

1873 Blue jeans are patented
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis invented the garment, which today represents one of the most popular types of trousers worldwide.
 
Births On This Day, May 20th 🎂

1971 Tony Stewart
American race car driver

1946 Cher
American singer-songwriter, actress, producer, director

1944 Joe Cocker
English singer-songwriter

1915 Moshe Dayan
Israeli general, politician, 5th Minister of Foreign Affairs for Israel)

1799 Honoré de Balzac
French author, playwright

Deaths On This Day, May 20th 🪦

2012 Robin Gibb
English singer-songwriter, producer

2002 Stephen Jay Gould
American paleontologist

1896 Clara Schumann
German pianist, composer

1834 Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
French general

1506 Christopher Columbus
Italian explorer discovered the Americas
 
20th May 1920
The Canadian Marconi Company, station XWA (Experimental Wireless Apparatus) in Montreal, Canada, gave what it would later claim to be the first scheduled radio broadcast in North America.
Its call letters were changed to CFCF on November 4, 1920, and while the meaning of that call sign has never been officially confirmed, it is generally believed to be "Canada's First, Canada's Finest".
 
20th May 1971
Peter Cetera of Chicago had his jaw broken in three places when four US Marines beat the daylights out of him at Dodger stadium. Apparently they didn't like the length of his hair or the fact that he was a Cubs fan. Cetera spent five hours in surgery as a result. He was the band's lead singer and bass player before leaving for a solo career in 1985.
 
20th May

685 The death, in battle, of Ecgfrith of Northumbria, an Anglo-Saxon King who ruled over Northumbria for 15 years. His reign ended when he fiercely attacked the Picts against all advice. Lured into a narrow mountain pass, (possibly near Forfar) Ecgfrith and his army were slain, marking the beginning of decline in Northumbrian power.

1497 The Italian explorer John Cabot, commissioned by England, set sail from Bristol in his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west.

1903 King Edward VII opened the Kew Bridge over the River Thames.

1965 The Chief Inspector of Constabularies announced that Britain's police would be armed with tear gas guns and grenades for use against dangerous criminals, but that it would not be used for crowd control.

2002 East Timor gained its independence, becoming the first new country of the 21st century.
 
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 relaying 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
 
On This Day In History, May 23rd

1992 The Italian mafia murders 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 rock opera genre musical work.

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 the 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, philanthropist, founded the Standard Oil Company

1906 Henrik Ibsen
Norwegian poet, playwright, director

1868 Kit Carson
American soldier
 
23rd May

1701 At London's Execution Dock, British privateer Captain Kidd was hanged for piracy and murder. Commissioned by the British crown in 1695 to apprehend pirates in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, Kidd apparently turned to piracy himself in 1697.

1945 World War II: Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, committed suicide by means of a potassium cyanide capsule while in Allied custody, awaiting trial with other German leaders as a war criminal at Nuremberg.

1998: Leaders welcome 'yes' vote for N Ireland. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair welcomed the resounding "yes" vote in the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement on Northern Ireland, calling it "a day for joy".

2014 Judges ruled that the remains of Richard III should be given a dignified reburial in Leicester, as the Justice Secretary attacked his distant relatives for wasting public money by challenging to have him interred elsewhere. Richard III's body was buried in the now demolished Franciscan Friary in Leicester and was discovered in September 2012 under what had become a car park.
 
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
 
25th May 1938
Vernon Presley is sentenced to a three year term at Parchman penal plantation in Mississippi for forging a check. His wife Gladys and son Elvis are forced to live on welfare.

[Mississippi's Parchman Farm, an 18,000 acre penal plantation often described as, "the closest thing to slavery that survived the civil war," started in 1901 from convict leasing, but lived on as a working prison farm into the twenty first century.]

Slavery and the Modern-Day Prison Plantation - JSTOR Daily
 

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