Events
of the day
1264 – Battle
of Lewes: Henry III of England
is captured and forced to
sign the Mise of Lewes, making
Simon de Montfort the de facto
ruler of England.
1483 – Coronation of Charles
VIII of France (Charles l'Affable).
1509 – Battle of Agnadello:
In northern Italy, French
forces defeat the Venetians.
1607 – Jamestown, Virginia
is settled as an English colony.
1608 – The Protestant Union
is founded in Auhausen.
1610 – Henry IV of France
is assassinated bringing Louis
XIII to the throne.
1643 – Four-year-old Louis
XIV becomes King of France
upon the death of his father,
Louis XIII.
1747 – War of the Austrian
Succession: A British fleet
under Admiral George Anson
defeats the French at the
First Battle of Cape Finisterre.
1787 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
delegates convene a Constitutional
Convention to write a new
Constitution for the United
States; George Washington
presides.
1796 – Edward Jenner administers
the first smallpox vaccination.
1804 – The Lewis and Clark
Expedition departs from Camp
Dubois and begins its historic
journey by traveling up the
Missouri River.
1811 – Paraguay: Pedro Juan
Caballero, Fulgencio Yegros
and José Gaspar Rodríguez
de Francia start actions to
depose the Spanish governor
1836 – The Treaties of Velasco
are signed in Velasco, Texas.
1863 – American Civil War:
The Battle of Jackson takes
place.
1868 – Boshin War: The Battle
of Utsunomiya Castle ends
former Tokugawa shogunate
forces withdraw northward
to Aizu by way of Nikkō.
1870 – The first game of rugby
in New Zealand is played in
Nelson between Nelson College
and the Nelson Rugby Football
Club.
1879 – The first group of
463 Indian indentured laborers
arrives in Fiji aboard the
Leonidas.
1889 – The children's charity
National Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children is
launched in London.
1913 – New York Governor William
Sulzer approves the charter
for the Rockefeller Foundation,
which begins operations with
a $100 million donation from
John D. Rockefeller.
1925 – Virginia Woolf's novel
Mrs Dalloway is published.
1929 – Wilfred Rhodes takes
his 4000th first-class wicket
during a performance of 9
for 39 at Leyton; he is the
only player in history to
have reached that plateau.
1931 – Ådalen shootings: five
people are killed in Ådalen,
Sweden, as soldiers open fire
on an unarmed trade union
demonstration.
1935 – The Philippines ratifies
an independence agreement.
1939 – Lina Medina becomes
the youngest confirmed mother
in medical history at the
age of five.
1940 – World War II: Rotterdam
is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
1940 – World War II: The Battle
of the Netherlands ends with
the Netherlands surrendering
to Germany.
1940 – The Yermolayev Yer-2,
a long-range Soviet medium
bomber, has its first flight.
1943 – A Japanese submarine
sinks AHS Centaur off the
coast of Queensland.
1948 – Israel is declared
to be an independent state
and a provisional government
is established. Immediately
after the declaration, Israel
is attacked by the neighboring
Arab states, triggering the
1948 Arab-Israeli War.
1951 – Trains run on the Talyllyn
Railway in Wales for the first
time since preservation, making
it the first railway in the
world to be operated by volunteers.
1955 – Cold War: Eight communist
bloc countries, including
the Soviet Union, sign a mutual
defense treaty called the
Warsaw Pact.
1961 – American civil rights
movement: The Freedom Riders
bus is fire-bombed near Anniston,
Alabama, and the civil rights
protesters are beaten by an
angry mob.
1963 – Kuwait joins the United
Nations.
1970 – The Red Army Faction
is established in Germany.
1973 – Skylab, the United
States' first space station,
is launched.
1988 – Carrollton bus collision:
a drunk driver traveling the
wrong way on Interstate 71
near Carrollton, Kentucky,
United States hits a converted
school bus carrying a church
youth group. 27 die the in
the crash and ensuing fire.
2004 – The Constitutional
Court of South Korea overturns
the impeachment of President
Roh Moo-hyun.
2012 – Agni Air Flight CHT
crashed near Jomsom Airport
in Jomsom, Nepal, after a
failed go-around, killing
15 people.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Engelmund of Velsen
Matthias the Apostle (Roman
Catholic Church)
Michael Garicoïts
Mo Chutu of Lismore (Roman
Catholic Church)
Victor and Corona
May 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which the
first day of Sanja Matsuri
can fall, while May 20 is
the latest; celebrated on
the third weekend of May.
(Sensō-ji, Tokyo)
Hastings Banda's Birthday
(Malawi)
National Unification Day (Liberia)
The first day of Izumo-taisha
Shrine Grand Festival. (Izumo-taisha)
One of the two dates on which
World Naked Gardening Day
may be celebrated; the other
is May 3
For details, contact Datacentre
