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- 1267 Vienna's church orders all Jews to wear a distinctive garb
- 1278 Jews of England imprisoned on charges of coining
- 1291 Scottish nobles recognize authority of English king Edward I
- 1497 Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cdiz for his first voyage to the New World.
- 1497 Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for first voyage to New World
- 1503 Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.
- 1503 Columbus discovers Cayman Islands
- 1525 Church reformer John Pistorius caught in the Hague
- 1534 French navigator Jacques Cartier reaches Newfoundland
- 1534 Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.
- 1534 Off Cape Bonavista Newfoundland Jacques Cartier 1491-1557 sights Cape Bonavista after three week crossing from France; stopped ten days by ice; then skirts east coast of Newfoundland; his first voyage to Canada
- 1559 Scottish Protestants under John Knox uprise against queen-mother Mary
- 1570 Czar Ivan IV becomes Protestant
- 1618 Haeuik Claezoon Van Hillegom, captain of the Dutch ship Zeewolf, records that he has sighted the coast of what is later to be named Australia.
- 1624 Jacob Willekens & Piet Heyn conquer Salvador, Civil rights activist
- 1652 John Johnson, a free black, is granted 550 acres in Northampton VA
- 1655 Jamaica captured by English
- 1676 Bacon's Rebellion, frontiersmen vs Virginia Government begins
- 1752 Benjamin Franklins first tests the lightning rod
- 1768 John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for the North Briton severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
- 1774 Louis XVI becomes King of France.
- 1775 2nd Continental Congress convened in Pennsylvania; issues paper currency for first time
- 1775 Green Mountain Boys capture Fort Ticonderoga NY-American Revolution
- 1775 Second Continental Congress names George Washington, supreme commander
- 1775 The second Continental Congress convened in Pennsylvania; issues paper currency for first time
- 1787 Parliament impeaches Warren Hastings
- 1796 First Coalition: Napoleon I of France wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
- 1796 French Government arrest 10 utopists
- 1796 Napoleon defeats Austria in Battle of Lodi Bridge
- 1796 Riot after disagreement of patriotic demand in Amsterdam
- 1797 The first Navy ship, the "United States" is launched
- 1797 The first U.S. Navy ship, the "United States" is launched
- 1801 First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States.
- 1816 English steamship "Defiance" arrives at Rotterdam harbor
- 1818 Paul Revere, American patriot known for his warning ride on horseback to warn of the British invasion, dies in Boston
- 1823 The first steamboat to navigate the Mississippi River arrives at Fort Snelling
- 1824 National Gallery in London opens to the public.
- 1837 Panic of 1837: New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels.
- 1853 Sir Hugh Allan's Genova the first steamer of the Allan Line to arrive at Quebec; starts 14-day Montreal-Liverpool mail run
- 1857 Indian Mutiny: In India, the first war of Independence begins. Sepoys revolt against their commanding officers at Meerut.
- 1861 Union troops march on state militia in St Louis MI
- 1862 Battle of Plum Run Bend TN (Plum Point Bend)
- 1864 Battles at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia
- 1864 Skirmish at Ny River VA
- 1865 Surrender of Sam Jones
- 1865 Union forces capture Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, GA, in one of the last acts of the American Civil War
- 1869 Golden Spike driven, completes Promontory Point UT-Transcontinental RR
- 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.
- 1870 Jem Mace defends his heavyweight crown against Irish champion Joe Coburn, it lasts 1 hour & 17 minutes, and neither is struck by a punch
- 1871 Peace of Frankfurt-am-Main concluded between France & Germany; France cedes Elzas
- 1872 Victoria Woodhull becomes first woman nominated for US president
- 1876 Centennial Fair opens in Philadelphia
- 1877 Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, following the Senate adoption of Mihail Koglniceanu's Declaration of Independence. This act was recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian War of Independence.
- 1879 Meteor falls near Estherville IA
- 1881 Lighthouse on Ameland begins operation
- 1888 First colonial athletics championships are held at the NSW Amateur Athletics Association Cricket Ground in Sydney.
- 1893 Imperial Institute in London opens
- 1906 Russia's Duma (Parliament) meets for first time
- 1908 Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, USA).
- 1908 The first Mother's Day observed (Philadelphia)
- 1910 Halley's Comet closest approach to Earth in 1910
- 1910 The first aircraft air display held (Hendon, England)
- 1913 39th Kentucky Derby: Roscoe Goose aboard Donerail wins in 2:04.8
- 1915 Zeppelin drops hundred of bombs on Southend-on-Sea
- 1916 Disastrous fire in Ellendale ND
- 1916 Historic Shipport Museum opens in Amsterdam
- 1917 Atlantic ships get destroyer escorts to stop German attacks
- 1918 HMS Vindictive sunk to block entrance of Ostend Harbor
- 1919 Race riot in Charleston SC, 2 blacks killed
- 1921 Luigi Pirandello's "Sei Personaggi in Cerca d'Autore" premieres
- 1921 Visitor posting - May 10, 1921 What happened when Peggy Vorbel was born
- 1922 Dr Ivy Williams is first woman to be called to the English Bar
- 1922 The USA annexes the Kingman Reef.
- 1924 J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972.
- 1925 William Ferguson Massey, New Zealand statesman and prime minister (1912-25), dies in office.
- 1926 planes piloted by Major Harold Geiger and Horace Meek Hickam, students at the Air Corps Tactical School, collided in mid-air at Langley Field, Virginia. Hickam parachuted to safety.
- 1930 Clarrie Grimmett takes 10 for 37 vs Yorkshire at Sheffield
- 1930 First US planetarium opens (Adler-Chicago)
- 1931 Golf ball size hail falls in Burlington NJ
- 1932 Government declares "Wilhelmus" Netherlands national anthem
- 1932 Senate chairman Albert Lebrun becomes President of France
- 1933 Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings.
- 1933 Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF) forms
- 1933 Nazis stage public burning of Jewish and anti-Nazi books in Germany
- 1933 Paraguay declares war on Bolivia
- 1933 Suriname worker's union leader A de Come banish to Netherlands
- 1936 Manuel Azaña elected President of Spain
- 1936 Nahas Pasja becomes premier of Egypt
- 1937 Busmen strike in London
- 1938 Banning speech on anti-fascism demonstration in Amsterdam
- 1940 British Local Defense Volunteers (Home Guard) forms
- 1940 Dutch torpedo boat Johan van Galen sinks
- 1940 Dutch-Indies Governor Van Starkenborch proclaims end to state of siege
- 1940 French marines stationed on Aruba
- 1940 French troops arrive in Zealand/Brabant Netherlands
- 1940 Massive German invasion of Holland, Belgium and France begins.
- 1940 Nazi armies invade the Benelux countries of Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg
- 1940 Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British PM
- 1940 World War II: Invasion of Iceland by the United Kingdom.
- 1940 World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1941 Adolph Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland
- 1941 England's House of Commons & Holborn Theater destroyed in a blitz
- 1941 Queen Wilhelmina on Radio Orange warns against treason
- 1941 World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.
- 1941 World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.
- 1942 Thai Phayap Army invaded the Shan States during the Burma Campaign of World War II.
- 1944 Chinese offensive in West-Yunnan
- 1944 Smith v Allwright (excluding Blacks from primary voting) is illegal
- 1945 Allies capture Rangoon from the Japanese
- 1946 Umberto II succeeds Victor Emmanuel III as king of Italy
- 1948 The first attack by Egyptian irregular forces at Kfar Darom Israel
- 1948 Winston Churchill visits The Hague
- 1950 The first Netherlands-US telex sent
- 1954 Bill Haley & His Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts.
- 1954 Bolshoi-ballet does not appear in Paris France
- 1956 French Government sends 50,000 reservists to Algeria
- 1959 Soviet forces arrive in Afghánistán
- 1960 John F Kennedy wins primary in West Virginia
- 1960 US atomic sub USS Triton completes first circumnavigation of globe under water
- 1961 "Beyond the Fringe" premieres in London
- 1963 Decca signs the Rolling Stones on advice of Beatle George Harrison
- 1966 25ºF lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in May
- 1967 Keith Richards, Brian Jones & Mick Jagger arrested on drug charges
- 1967 Stockholm Vietnam-Tribunal declares US aggression in Vietnam/Cambodia
- 1968 Viet Nam peace talks begin in Paris, albeit on a preliminary level
- 1968 Vietnam peace talks began in Paris between the US & North Vietnam
- 1969 Apollo 10 transmit first color pictures of Earth from space
- 1969 The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill.
- 1969 Turtles play the White House, Mark Volman falls off stage 5 times
- 1969 US troops begin attack on Hill 937/Hamburger Hill
- 1970 Stanley Cup: Boston Bruins sweep St Louis Blues in 4 games
- 1970 The Boston Bruins win their first Stanley Cup since 1941 when Bobby Orr makes an overtime winning goal followed by a leap in the air that would become one of the most famous photographs in ice hockey ("The Goal").
- 1971 US special delivery rates go from 45¢ to 60¢
- 1972 Overloaded South Korean bus plunges into reservoir, killing 77
- 1973 Establishment of Frente Polisario in Mauritania
- 1974 In China a 6.8 quake was one of the world's deadliest earthquakes.
- 1978 Liverpool wins 23rd Europe Cup I
- 1979 Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing
- 1979 The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing.
- 1979 Vivekananda (Sri Lanka) completes nonstop cycle ride of 187 hours, 28 minutes, around Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo, Sri Lanka
- 1979 Visitor posting - Gina Marie Gallo is born in Metairie, Louisiana - USA
- 1980 Ottawa gives financially strapped Chrysler Canada $20 million in loan guarantees, and Ontario provides a $10 million grant, Bring on the K Car!!!
- 1981 Franois Mitterrand takes office as the first Socialist President of France.
- 1981 François Mitterrand defeats Valery Giscard d'Estang for President of France
- 1983 "Laverne & Shirley" last airs on ABC-TV
- 1983 Lee Chin Yong performs 170 continuous chin-ups in Seoul
- 1983 NSW Premier Neville Wran steps aside after allegations he sought to influence a magistrate.
- 1985 Challenger transports back to Kennedy Space Center via Kelly Air Force Base
- 1985 Visitor posting - Damian Tapia manifested into existence causing great exuberance and a collective sigh of relief felt worldwide. - USA
- 1986 "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco hit #1 on UK pop chart
- 1986 Number one hit on UK music charts - Falco - Rock Me Amadeus
- 1986 Tommy Lee drummer of Motley Crüe marries Heather Locklear
- 1988 Edgar Degas' "Danseresje of 14" sold for $10,120,000
- 1988 Michel Rocard becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1989 FC Barcelona wins 29th Europe Cup II
- 1989 General Manuel Noriega's Government nullifies country's elections, which the opposition had won by a 3-1 margin
- 1990 "Zoya's Apartment" opens at Circle in Square Theater NYC for 45 performances
- 1990 French TGV-train hits record speed of 510.6 kph
- 1990 Howard Stern holds a mock funeral for rival John DeBella
- 1991 Oakland A's Jose Canseco is seen leaving Madonna's apt
- 1992 Bible Land Museum opens in Jerusalem Israel
- 1993 Fire in clothing factory at Bangkok, kills 145
- 1993 Visitor posting - curtis alan dejong was born - Canada
- 1993 In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills 188 workers, mostly young women.
- 1993 Last TV appearance of Mies Bouwman
- 1993 Paul Cézannes still life sells for $28,600,000 in NYC
- 1993 Premier Lubbers opens Terminal West on Schiphol
- 1994 Barbra Streisand's begins first concert tour in 30 years
- 1994 Drew Barrymore (19) files for divorce from Jeremy Thomas (31)
- 1994 Nelson Mandela sworn in as South Africa's first black president
- 1994 Visitor posting - May10. 1994 Happy Birthday Jason, from Aunt Melody
- 1994 Silvio Berlusconi forms Italian Government with 5 neo-fascists
- 1995 30th Academy of Country Music Awards: Reba McEntire wins
- 1995 Britain lifts a 23-year ban on ministerial talks with Sinn Fein
- 1995 In South Africa, 104 miners killed in an elevator accident
- 1996 "Twister" premieres
- 1996 2 US Marine helicopters collided during joint US & British war games
- 1996 A "rogue storm" near the summit of Mount Everest kills eight climbers, making this the deadliest day in the mountain's history. Among the dead are experienced climbers Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, both of whom were leading paid expeditions to the summit.
- 1996 A storm hits Mt Everest, killing eight climbers in one of the worst disasters since Everest was first conquered in 1953.
- 1996 Excel Communications, Inc. becomes the youngest company ever to join the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), trading under the symbol (ECI).
- 1997 In Northern Iran a 7.5 quake, At least 1,567 people killed, 2,300 injured, 50,000 homeless, 10,533 houses destroyed, 5,474 houses damaged and landslides in the Birjand-Qayen area
- 2001 In Ghana, a stampede at a football game kills over 120 spectators.
- 2002 Visitor posting - joe misuraco and teresa cochran were married st louis mo - USA
- 2003 Record shattering tornado activity during the May 2003 Tornado Outbreak Sequence.
- 2005 A hand grenade allegedly thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 65 feet (20 metres) from United States President George W. Bush while he was giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate.
- 2008 Visitor posting - May 10 2008 Frankie Mae Hogarth Watson enters the world in Darwin
- 2010 Visitor posting - Jass Tyger Harry Tonge arrived - United Kingdom
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