Today in history 5/31/2020

Today in history, Sigismund is crowned emperor of Rome in 1433.

Today in history, The Godiva procession, commemorating Lady Godiva’s legendary ride while naked (see picture below), becomes part of the Coventry Fair in 1678.

Today in history, At the Battle of Fair Oaks, Union General George B. McClellan defeats Confederates outside of Richmond in 1862.

Today in history, New York’s Madison Square Garden opens its doors for the first time in 1879.

Today in history, Johnstown, Pennsylvania is destroyed by a massive flood in 1889.

Today in history, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) holds its first conference in 1909.

Today in history, The 17th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for direct election of senators, is ratified in 1913.

Today in history, The Supreme Court orders that states must end racial segregation “with all deliberate speed” in 1955.

Today in history, John Lennon and Yoko Ono (see picture below) record “Give Peace a Chance” in 1969.

Today in history, President Ronald Reagan arrives in Moscow, the first American president to do so in 14 years in 1988.

Today in history 5/26/2020

Today in history, Germanicus of Rome celebrates his victory over the Germans in 17.

Today in history, William of Ockham is forced to flee from Avignon by Pope John XXII in 1328.

Today in history, Charles II and Louis XIV sign a secret treaty in Dover, England, ending hostilities between England and France in 1670.

Today in history, The Russians defeat the Poles at the Battle of Ostroleka in 1831.

Today in history, The territory of Montana is organized in 1864.

Today in history, The last czar of Russia, Nicholas II (see picture below), is crowned in 1896.

Today in history, The evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk begins in 1940.

Today in history, A patent is filed in the United States for the H-bomb in 1946.

Today in history, The civil rights activist group, Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee, is established in Atlanta in 1961.

Today in history, The movie Star Wars (see picture below) debuts in 1977.

Today in history 5/20/2020

Today in history, The Ecumenical council is inaugurated by Emperor Constantine in Nicea in 325.

Today in history, Cola di Rienzo (see picture below) takes the title of tribune in Rome in 1347.

Today in history, John Sobieski  (see picture below) becomes Poland’s first king in 1674.

Today in history, Parliament passes the Coercive Acts to punish the colonists for their increasingly anti-British behavior. The acts close the port of Boston in 1774.

Today in history, President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act, providing 250 million acres of free land to settlers in the West in 1862.

Today in history, Levi Strauss (see picture below) begins marketing blue jeans with copper rivets in 1874.

Today in history, Amelia Earhart  (see picture below) lands near Londonderry, Ireland, to become the first woman fly solo across the Atlantic in 1932.

Today in history, The Battle of Hamburger Hill, which has pitted U.S. and South Vietnamese troops against North Vietnamese forces, ends after 11 days of fighting. Despite bad weather and heavy enemy fortifications, U.S. troops succeed in taking the steeply sloped hill but will abandon it 15 days later—a move that will be controversial both within the U.S. military and with the American public in 1969.

Today in history 5/16/2020

Today in history, Marie Antoinette marries future King Louis XVI of France in 1770.

Today in history, The Treaty of Gandamak between Russia and England sets up the Afghan state in 1879.

Today in history, Joan of Arc (see picture below) is canonized in Rome in 1920.

Today in history, The first Academy Awards are held in Hollywood in 1928.

Today in history, A specially trained and equipped Royal Air Force squadron destroys two river dams in Germany in 1943.

Today in history, Chinese Communist Forces launch second phase of the Chinese Spring Offensive in the Korean War and gain up to 20 miles of territory in 1951.

Today in history, After 22 Earth orbits, Gordon Cooper (see picture below) returns to Earth, ending the last mission of Project Mercury in 1963.

Today in history 5/6/2020

Today in history, German troops begin sacking Rome. Libraries are destroyed, the Pope is captured and thousands are killed in 1527.

Today in history, Babur defeats the Afghan Chiefs in the Battle of Ghaghra, India in 1529.

Today in history, King Louis XIV moves his court to Versailles, France in 1682.

Today in history, U.S. Army troops from Fort Tejon and Fort Miller prepare to ride out to protect Keyesville, California, from Yokut Indian attack in 1856

Today in history, The dirigible Hindenburg (see picture below) explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937.

Today in history, Bob Hope (see picture below) gives his first USO show at California’s March Field in 1941.

Today in history, British runner Roger Bannister breaks the four minute mile in 1954.

Today in history, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960 in 1960.

Today in history,The first nuclear warhead is fired from a Polaris submarine in 1962.

Today in history, The Channel Tunnel (see picture below) linking England to France is officially opened in 1994.