Today In History

685 Battle at Nechtansmere: Picten beat Northumbrians
996 Pope Gregory V crowns his cousin Otto III German emperor
1040 King Henry III gives Utrecht the Groninger currency
1420 Treaty of Troyes-French King Charles VI gives France to English
1471 King Edwards IV enters London
1502 Portuguese Admiral Da Nova discovers St. Helena
1553 English Lady Jane Grey marries Guildford Dudley
1602 Martha's Vineyard first sighted
1674 General John Sobieski chosen King of Poland
1683 West Indian Company sells 1/3 of Suriname
1793 Curacao Island Council forbids criticism on House of Orange
1804 Lewis and Clark Expedition begins
1809 Battle at Aspern-Essling: Austrian arch duke Karl beats Napoleon
1819 The first bicycles (Swift Walkers) in U.S. are introduced in New York City
1825 Prince Willem FK marries Louise AWA of Prussia
1832 The first Democrat National Convention (Baltimore)
1840 NZ became a British colony
1846 The first steamship arrives in Hawaii
1856 Lawrence Kansas captured, sacked by pro-slavery forces
1861 North Carolina is 10th state to secede from Union
1861 Richmond, Virginia is designated Confederate Capital
1863 Siege on Port Hudson, Louisiana begins
1864 GEN David Hunter takes command of Department of West Virginia
1878 4th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Carter aboard Day Star wins in 2:37
1879 Battle of Iquiquw
1881 American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton
1881 U.S. Nation Lawn Tennis Association forms
1886 14th Preakness: S Fisher aboard Bard wins in 2:45
1891 Boxers Peter Jackson and Jim Corbett fight to a draw in 61 rounds
1892 Ruggiero Leoncavallo's opera "Pagliacci," premieres in Milan
1897 Yerkes Observatory 40" (1m) refractor used for first time
1898 U.S. Assay Office in Seattle, Washington authorized
1904 Federation Internationale de Football Association (Soccer) forms in Paris
1906 Louis H. Perlman patents a demountable tire carrying rim for cars
1907 32nd Preakness: G Mountain aboard Don Enrique wins in 1:45.4
1908 Bill Burns has no-hitter broken up with 2 outs in 9th
1908 The first horror movie (Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde) premieres in Chicago
1914 39th Preakness: Andy Schuttinger aboard Holiday wins in 1:53.8
1914 The Greyhound Bus Company begins in Minnesota
1916 Britain begins "Summer Time" (Daylight Savings Time)
1917 Leo Pinckney, first American drafted during WW I
1918 House of Representatives passes amendment allowing women to vote
1921 Oldest radio station west of Mississippi River licensed in Greeley Co
1922 "On the Road to Moscow" is first cartoon to receive a Pulitzer Prize
1924 Leopold and Loeb kidnap Bobby Franks for fun
1925 Canadians allowed to sell beer
1925 George Lloyd of Dolobran becomes British High Director of Egypt
1925 Roald Amundsun leaves Spitsbergen with 2 seaplanes to North Pole
1927 Lindbergh lands in Paris after the first solo air crossing of Atlantic
1929 Automatic electric stock quotation board installed in New York City
1931 Belgian government of Jaspar falls
1932 The first Curtis Cup: U.S., 5 -3
1932 The first transatlantic solo flight by a woman ends: Amelia Earhart
1933 Mt. Davidson Cross lit by Franklin D. Roosevelt via telegraph
1934 Oskaloosa Iowa, becomes first U.S. city to fingerprint its citizens
1938 Bradman scores 143 Aust vs. Surrey, 198 mins, 11 fours
1940 Allied counter attack at Atrecht North-France
1940 AVRO-chairman Willem Vogt fires all Jewish employees
1940 Reynaud forms French government
1941 The first U.S. ship sunk by a U-boat (SS Robin Moore)
1941 German airforce occupies airport at Maleme Kreta
1942 Great-Britain convoy PQ16 departs to Russia
1944 Hitler begins attack on English and U.S. "terror pilots"
1945 German war criminal Heinrich Himmler captured
1945 Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart wed
1948 New York Yank Joe Dimaggio hits for cycle (single, double, triple, HR)
1950 Vietnamese troops of Ho Chi-Minh attack Cambodia
1952 Brooklyn Dodgers score 15 runs in first inning and beat Cin Reds, 19-1
1952 Dutch Queen Juliana opens Amsterdam-Rhine Canal
1953 French government of Mayer resigns
1954 Amendment to give 18-year-olds right to vote is defeated
1955 "House of Flowers" closes at Alvin Theater New York City after 165 performances
1955 The first transcontinental round-trip solo flight-sunrise to sunset
1955 WFRV TV channel 5 in Green Bay, Wisconsin (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting
1956 Jordan government of Said el-Mufti forms
1956 U.S. explodes first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll
1956 WITI TV channel 6 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
1957 French government of Mollet resigns
1958 Indonesian paratroopers reconquers Morotai Island
1958 U.S. performs nuclear test at Bikini Island (atmospheric tests)
1959 "Gypsy" opens at Broadway Theater New York City for 702 performances
1959 Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Children's Petting Farm opens
1960 86th Preakness: Bobby Ussery aboard Bally Ache wins in 1:57.6
1961 Governor Patterson declares martial law in Montgomery
1964 Fire in Wegimond Belgium resort kills 19 people
1964 The first nuclear-powered lighthouse begins operations: Chesapeake Bay
1964 U.S. begin intelligence flights above Laos
1966 "Downtown" by Mrs. Miller hits #82
1966 "Time for Singing" opens at Broadway Theater New York City for 41 performances
1966 92nd Preakness: Don Brumfield aboard Kauai King wins in 1:55.4
1966 Heavyweight Cassius Clay KOs Henry Cooper in London
1966 Louie Louie by The Kingsmen reentered the chart and hits #97
1966 Muhammad Ali TKOs Henry Cooper in 6 for heavyweight boxing title
1967 Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1968 Nuclear-powered sub Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, reported missing and is later found at the bottom of the ocean off Azores
1968 Paul McCartney and Jane Asher attend an Andy Williams concert
1968 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test (underground)
1969 Robert Kennedy's murderer, Sirhan Sirhan, is sentenced to death
1969 Slovan Bratislava wins 9th Europe Cup II in Basel
1970 National Guard mobilizes to quell disturbances at Ohio State U
1970 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R.
1971 Chelsea wins 11th Europe Cup II in Athens
1971 National Guard mobilizes to quell riot in Chattanooga, Tennessee
1972 Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA Bluegrass Golf Invitational
1975 Borussia Monchengladbach wins 4th UEFA Cup at Enschede
1975 Lowell W. Perry confirmed as chairman of Equal Opportunity Comm
1975 Trial against Baader-Meinhof-group begins in Stuttgart
1977 "Fiddler on the Roof" closes at Winter Garden New York City after 167 performances
1977 103rd Preakness: Jean Cruguet aboard Seattle Slew wins in 1:54.4
1977 Albert Innaurato's "Gemini," premieres in New York City
1977 Fire in hotel Duc de Brabant Brussels, kills 19
1977 San Diego Padres beat Mont Expos, 11-8, in 21 innings
1978 118 Unification church couples wed in England
1978 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Coca-Cola Golf Classic
1978 Yamada Mumon Roshi appointed head of Zen Rinzai Sect
1979 Dan White convicted of manslaughter death of San Francisco mayor Moscone
1979 Elton John becomes first western rocker to perform live in U.S.S.R.
1979 National Volksraad installed in Namibia
1979 Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens beat New York Rangers, 4 games to 1
1980 "Empire Strikes Back" premieres
1980 Eintracht Frankfurt wins 9th UEFA Cup at Frankfurt
1980 Ensign Jean Marie Butler is first woman to graduate from U.S. service acad
1981 Francois Mitterrand becomes president of France
1981 Kim Seelbrede, (from Ohio), crowned 30th Miss USA
1981 Stanley Cup: New York Islanders beat Minnesota North Stars, 4 games to 1
1982 British troops lands on Falkland Islands
1983 109th Preakness: Donald Miller, Jr. on Deputed Testamony wins in 1:55.4
1983 David Bowie's "Let's "Dance," single goes #1
1986 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1987 Military coup in Fiji Islands under lt col Sitivani Rabuka
1987 Xignals PC Board BBS begins in Alabama
1988 "Fat" by Weird Al Yankovic hits #99
1988 114th Preakness: Eddie Delahoussaye aboard Risen Star wins in 1:56.2
1988 Jane Powell weds Dickie Moore
1988 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1989 35th Mazda LPGA Championship won by Nancy Lopez
1990 Dow Jones hits a record 2,844.68
1990 Last episode of "Newhart" airs on CBS-TV
1991 Ethiopia's Marxist president (Mengistu Haile Mariam) resigns
1992 China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1992 New Jersey senate overrides Governor Florio's veto and lowers sales tax to 6%
1993 Dayanara Torres, 18, of Puerto Rico, crowned 42nd Miss Universe
1993 Venezuela president Carlos Andres Perez is fired
1994 "Best Little Whorehouse" closes at Lunt-Fontanne New York City after 16 performances
1994 120th Preakness: Pat Day aboard Tabasco Cat wins in 1:56.4
1994 Burger King spokesman Dan Cortese (26) weds Dee Dee Hemby (26)
1994 Country singer Trisha Yearwood (29) weds Robert Reynolds (32)
1994 Reds bat out of order against Dodgers in 2nd inning
1994 South Yemen secedes from Yemen
1994 Sushmita Sen, 18, of India, crowned 43rd Miss Universe
1995 Chris Johnson wins Star Bank LPGA Golf Classic
1996 Blackout in many areas of Queens, New York
1996 Ken Griffey Jr, 26, is 8th youngest to hits 200 home runs
1997 Emmy 24th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 17th time

Today In History - May 21

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