Events
70
– Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor
Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on
Jerusalem and attacks the city's Third Wall
to the northwest.
1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority
of Edward I of England.
1497 – Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves
Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
1503 – Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman
Islands and names them Las Tortugas after
the numerous turtles there.
1534 – Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
1655 – England, with troops under the command
of Admiral William Penn and General Robert
Venables, annexes Jamaica from Spain.
1768 – John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing
an article for The North Briton severely
criticizing King George III. This action
provokes rioting in London.
1773 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes
the Tea Act, designed to save the British
East India Company by granting it a monopoly
on the North American tea trade.
1774 – Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette become
King and Queen of France.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: A small
Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and
Colonel Benedict Arnold captures Fort Ticonderoga.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Representatives
from the Thirteen Colonies begin the Second
Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
1796 – First Coalition: Napoleon I of France
wins a decisive victory against Austrian
forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River
in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000
men.
1801 – First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates
of Tripoli declare war on the United States
of America.
1824 – The National Gallery in London opens
to the public.
1833 – The desecration of the grave of the
viceroy of southern Vietnam Le Van Duyet
by Emperor Minh Mang provokes his adopted
son to start a revolt.
1837 – Panic of 1837: New York City banks
fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
1849 – Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out
at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New
York City over a dispute between actors
Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready,
killing at least 25 and injuring over 120.
1857 – Indian Mutiny: In India, the first
war of Independence begins. Sepoys revolt
against their commanding officers at Meerut.
1863 – American Civil War: Confederate General
Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after
he is accidentally shot by his own troops.
1864 – American Civil War: Colonel Emory
Upton leads a 10-regiment "Attack-in-depth"
assault against the Confederate works at
The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though
ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the
idea for the massive assault against the
Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton is slightly
wounded but is immediately promoted to Brigadier
general.
1865 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis
is captured by Union troops near Irwinville,
Georgia.
1865 – American Civil War: In Kentucky,
Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound
Confederate raider William Quantrill, who
lingers until his death on June 6.
1869 – The First Transcontinental Railroad,
linking the eastern and western United States,
is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah
(not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden
spike.
1872 – Victoria Woodhull becomes the first
woman nominated for President of the United
States.
1877 – Romania declares itself independent
from the Ottoman Empire following the Senate
adoption of Mihail Kogălniceanu's Declaration
of Independence. Recognized on March 26,
1881 after the end of the Romanian War of
Independence.
1893 – The Supreme Court of the United States
rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is
a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff
Act of 1883.
1908 – Mother's Day is observed for the
first time in the United States, in Grafton,
West Virginia.
1922 – The United States annex the Kingman
Reef.
1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the
Director of the United States' Federal Bureau
of Investigation, and remains so until his
death in 1972.
1933 – Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis
stage massive public book burnings.
1940 – World War II: The first German bombs
of the war fall on England at Chilham and
Petham, in Kent.
1940 – World War II: Germany invades Belgium,
the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
1940 – World War II: Winston Churchill is
appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1940 – World War II: Invasion of Iceland
by the United Kingdom.
1941 – World War II: The House of Commons
in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in
an air raid.
1941 – World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes
into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace
deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi
Germany.
1942 – World War II: The Thai Phayap Army
invades the Shan States during the Burma
Campaign.
1946 – First successful launch of an American
V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground.
1948 – The Republic of China implements
"temporary provisions" granting
President Chiang Kai-shek extended powers
to deal with the Communist uprising; they
will remain in effect until 1991.
1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets release
"Rock Around the Clock", the first
rock and roll record to reach number one
on the Billboard charts.
1960 – The nuclear submarine USS Triton
completes Operation Sandblast, the first
underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
1962 – Marvel Comics publishes the first
issue of The Incredible Hulk.
1969 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap
Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937.
It will ultimately become known as Hamburger
Hill.
1979 – The Federated States of Micronesia
become self-governing.
1981 – François Mitterrand wins the presidential
election and becomes the first Socialist
President of France in the French Fifth
Republic.
1993 – In Thailand, a fire at the Kader
Toy Factory kills 156 workers.
1994 – Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as
South Africa's first black president.
1997 – A 7.3 Mw earthquake strikes Iran's
Khorasan Province, killing 1,567, injuring
over 2,300, leaving 50,000 homeless, and
damaging or destroying over 15,000 homes.
1997 – The Maeslantkering, a storm surge
barrier in the Netherlands that is one of
the world's largest moving structures, is
opened by Queen Beatrix.
2002 – F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced
to life imprisonment without the possibility
of parole for selling United States secrets
to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
2005 – A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir
Arutinian lands about 65 feet (20 metres)
from U.S. President George W. Bush while
he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi,
Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not
detonate.
2008 – An EF4 tornado strikes the Oklahoma-Kansas
state line, killing 21 people and injuring
over 100.
2012 – The Damascus bombings were carried
out using a pair of car bombs detonated
by suicide bombers outside of a military
intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria,
killing 55 people and injuring 400 others
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Alphius, Philadelphus, and Cyrinus
Aurelian of Limoges
Calepodius
Catald
Comgall
Damien of Molokai (canonized October 11,
2009)
Gordianus and Epimachus
John of Avila
Solange
May 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Confederate Memorial Day (North Carolina
and South Carolina)
Constitution Day (Federated States of Micronesia)
Earliest possible day on which Pentecost
can fall, while June 13 is the latest; celebrated
seven weeks after Easter Day. (Christianity)
Mother's Day (El Salvador, Guatemala, and
Mexico)
International Migratory Bird Day, North
America
For details, contact Datacentre
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