Today in History
Significant Events
- 1618 Second Defenestration of Prague: Two Catholic Lords Regent and their secretary are thrown out of a window and amazingly are not seriously injured by the 70 foot (21m) fall. Triggers the Thirty Years' War.
- 1785 Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals
- 1813 South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador ("The Liberator")
- 1949 Federal Republic of [West] Germany created out of the American, British and French occupation zones
- 1958 Mao Zedong starts the "Great Leap Forward" movement in China
- 1998 The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes.
Did You Know?
Canada's North West Mounted Police Force forms (it didn't get the "Royal" until 1904)
On this day in 1873
Famous Birthdays
King Philip I
(1052 - 1108)
Carolus Linnaeus
(1707 - 1778)
Ken Jennings
44th Birthday
Tomorrow's Famous Birthdays
Victoria
(1819 - 1901)
Bob Dylan
Turns 76
Rosanne Cash
Turns 62
Would You Believe?
Baseball game between one-armed and one-legged players at Recreation Park, Philadelphia, Snorkeys defeat the Hoppers 33-17
On this day in 1883
Famous Weddings
- 1942 Comic book artist Jack Kirby (24) weds Roz Goldstein
- 1953 John F. Kennedy's sister Eunice Kennedy (31) weds activist and attorney Sargent Shriver at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City
- 1970 US Secretary of State John Kerry (26) weds heiress Julia Stimson Thorne (25)
- 1992 "Once and Again" actress Sela Ward (35) weds actor Howard Sherman (42)
- 1992 Actress Anjelica Huston (40) weds sculptor Robert Graham (54)
Famous Divorces
- 1533 King Henry VIII & Catherine of Aragon's marriage declared null & void by authority English clergy not the Pope
- 1934 First wife Marguerite Van Kessel divorces NFL player Curly Lambeau (36) after 14 years of marriage
- 2016 Actress Amber Heard (30) files for divorce from fellow actor Johnny Depp (52)
Bonnie Parker
Clyde Barrow
John D. Rockefeller
Nicolaus Copernicus
William Lloyd Garrison
Duke EllingtonThis Month in History
My Fair Lady's Special Day
This was a day to remember for Eliza Doolittle, the 'My Fair Lady' of the stage and film musical that won and broke hearts.
May 20, 1956
Memories of Elvis
Only one actor has appeared on film with both the Beatles and Elvis Presley: the little-known Norman Rossington.
May 21, 1999
President Falls From Grace
Paul Deschanel had the makings of a fine President of France – until a series of bizarre incidents culminated in him falling out the window of a moving train.
May 23, 1920
Ship that Changed the Face of Britain
Britain was on its knees after the Second World War, its economy and infrastructure in tatters. For help the Mother Country turned to the Commonwealth.
May 27, 1948
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