Today in History

May 17th
1792
The NY Stock Exchange was found by 24 brokers at 70 Wall St in NYC
1875
The 1st Kentucky Derby race was held,Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides won in 2:37.75
1973
Senate Watergate Comm hearings begin
 

18th May

Today in 1964...two tribes went to war in Brighton. Thousands of Mods (riding Lambretta scooters and sporting neat suits and parkas) and Rockers (long-haired bikers clad in leathers) converged on this seaside town and a pitched battle broke out. Weapons of choice were flick-knives for the Mods and bicycle chains for the Rockers, as well as deckchairs, bottles and stones. Police arrested hundreds of teenagers, many of whom were fined and some even received short prison sentences.
Over the same weekend, similar fights also broke out in several other seaside towns in the south of England. This tribal rioting was recreated in the 1979 film 'Quadrophenia'.
 
1652
Rhode Island became the 1st state to make slavery illegal
1927
Grauman's Chinese Theatre opens in Hollywood,Calif
1980
Mt Saint Helen's erupts in Washington State causes the largest landslide in history.57 people died,damage total $ 1 billion
 

May 19th
1935
NFL adopts annual college draft which began in 1936
1959
The USS Trition,1st submarine with 2 nuclear reactors is completed
1992
U.S Vice Pres,Dan Quayle attacked TV show'Murphy Brown.In his opinion the character portrayed by Candice Bergen, a single mother was a poor example of family values
 
1536 - Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife, was beheaded in London. She was 29 years old.

1935 -T.E. Lawrence, English soldier and writer (known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia) died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash.
 
May 20th
1873
Levi Strauss&Jacob Davis patent the 1st blue jeans with copper rivets
1932
Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland on her way to become the 1st woman to fly solo&non stop across the Atlantic.She lands in Ireland
1990
The Hubble Space Telescope sends its 1st photos from Space
 
21st May

1966 - American boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) ended the hopes of British heavyweight champion Henry Cooper winning the world heavyweight titles when the bout was stopped in Round 6 because of a severe cut above Cooper's eye.

2015 - At 8:00 am about 50 small boats that were involved in the evacuation of allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk in World War Two set sail from Ramsgate to mark the 75th anniversary of the rescue.
 
1881
American Red cross founded by Clara Barton
1927
Charles Linbergh in the Spirit of St.Louis completed the 1st solo non stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean lands in Paris
2007
The Cutty Sark,the last surviving tea clipper is badly damaged in a fire in Greenwich,England
 
May 22nd
1892
Dr.Washington Sheffield invents toothpaste tube
1906
Orville&Wilbur Wright are granted a patent for their 'flying machine'
1992
After 30 yrs,Johnny Carson's last show as host of 'The Tonight Show',50 mill people tuned in
2018
For the 1st time in 226 yrs,Stacy Cunningham becomes the 1st woman head of the NY Stock Exchange
 
May 23rd
1785
Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter he had invented biofocals
1900
William Harvey Carney became the 1st African American soldier awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallantry in saving the American flag at Battle of Fort Wagner in 1863
 
May 24th
1844
Samuel Morse taps out'What Hath God Wrought",the world's 1st telegraph message
1915
Thomas Edison invents telescribe to record telephone conversations
1964
On the Ed Sullivan Show,in a taped performance,The Beatles sang'You Can't Do That' from the set of their movie'A Hard Day's Night'
 
May 24th

  • 1595 Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library
  • 1738 John Wesley is converted, launching the Methodist movement; celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day


  • 1941 German battleship Bismarck sinks the British battle cruiser HMS Hood; 1,416 die, 3 survive
  • 1988 Section 28 passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality. Repealed 2001/2004
 
May 25th
1878
William Gilbert&Arthur Sullivan's comic opera'HMS Pinafore" debuts in London.Their 1st international success
1961
Pres.John F.Kennedy announces U.S.goal to have a man on the moon by the end of the decade
1977
The original 'Star Wars' movie ,directed by George Lucas,starring Harrison Ford,Mark Hamill&Carrie Fisher is released makes over $400 mill on opening weekend
 
26th May

1940 - At 18:57 the signal was received to start 'Operation Dynamo', the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and French troops from Dunkirk's beaches. Besides the efforts of the Royal Navy, 700 small ships were assembled in Sheerness dockyard before making the hazardous crossing to Dunkirk. In total, 338,226 troops were safely returned to England between 27th May and 4th June

1950 - Long queues appeared at garages and motorists tore their ration books into confetti after the end to petrol rationing.
 
1923
The 1st LeMans Grand Prix d'Endurance race began.Andre Lagache and Rene Leonard were the winners,race ended the next day
1927
Henry Ford &Ford Motor Company produce the last{15th million} Model T Ford
1969
The Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth after a successful 8 day dress rehearsal for the 1st manned moon landing
 
May 27th
1930
The Chrysler Building in NYC opens to the public.At the time it was the tallest man-made building at 1,046 feet
1937
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco opens to pedestrians
 
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.

1908 - The birth of Ian Fleming, English author of the James Bond novels.

1967 - Sir Francis Chichester arrived in Plymouth on his yacht, Gipsy Moth IV, after completing his solo voyage around the world.

1982 - Falklands War: British troops re-captured Port Darwin and Goose Green, taking almost 1500 Argentine prisoners.
 
1892
The Sierra Club created by environmentalist,John Muir and others was founded in San Francisco for conservation in nature
1934
The Dionne quintuplets were born to Olivia&Elzuie Dionne near Callender Ontario.They were 2 months premature,became the 1st quints to survive infancy.Annette and her sister,Cecile still alive age 86
1972
The White House'plumbers' 1st break into the Dem National HQ in Washington,DC
 
May 29th
1790
Rhode Island is last of the original 13 colonies to ratify U.S. Constitution
1922
U.S. Supreme Court rules organized baseball is a sport not a business,not subject to anti trust laws
2004
The World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington,DC
 
31st May

1678 - The Godiva Procession, a commemoration of the legendary ride by Lady Godiva (born 990 AD) was instituted as part of Coventry fair and was celebrated up to the 1960s. According to the popular story, Lady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry, who were suffering grievously under her husband's oppressive taxation. Her husband agreed to repeal the taxes if she would strip naked and ride through the streets of the town, clothed only in her long hair. She agreed, conditionally that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, but one person, a tailor known ever afterwards as Peeping Tom, disobeyed the proclamation and was struck blind.
 
1790
U.S.copyright law enacted
1884
Dr John Kellogg patents 'flaked cereal'
2005
In a Vanity Fair article,Mark Felt,a former high ranking FBI offical during the Watergate scandal was revealed as 'Deep Throat'
 
June 2nd

1953 - The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in Westminster Abbey, London. It was the first British coronation to be televised and was a cold, wet day.

2012
www.beautifulbritain.co.uk
The start of 4 days of celebrations to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.
 
1857
James Gibbs of Virginia patents chain stitch single thread sewing machine
1928
Kraft rolls out Velvetta Cheese
2004
Ken Jennings, a contestant on the syndicated game show'Jeopardy' begins his 74 game winning streak
 
June 3rd
1888
baseball poem'Casey at the Bat' first published by San Francisco Examiner
1965
Edward White became 1st U.S. astronaut to take a 'space walk' when he left Gemini 4 space capsule
1979
Ixtoc 1 rig in the Gulf of Mexico blows and spills 3 million barrels of oil,one of the worst oil spills in history
 


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