On 6 May 1954, running for the British Amateur Athletic Association in a meet at Oxford University, Roger Bannister broke the four-minute barrier with a time of 3:59.4. Four minutes for a mile at the time was considered not only a physical barrier but also a psychological one.
On 6 May 1937 at 7:20 PM, the dirigible Hindenburg exploded as it approached the mooring mast at Lakehurst, NJ, after a transatlantic voyage. Of its 97 passengers and crew, 36 died in the accident, which ended the dream of mass transportation via dirigible.
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On 6 May, Joseph Brackett Day honors the Shaker religious leader, born 6 May 1797, at Cumberland, ME. In 1848 he composed the popular Shaker song Simple Gifts (also known as Tis the Gift to Be Simple) while at the Shaker community in Alfred, ME. This Shaker dance song became known worldwide after Aaron Copland used it in his score for the ballet Appalachian Spring in 1944. Elder Joseph Brackett died at New Gloucester, ME, 4July 1882.
May 6 12. National Nurses Week is a week to honor the outstanding efforts of nurses everywhere to strengthen the health of the nation. Annually, beginning May 6, National Nurses Day, and ending May 12, Florence Nightingales birthday.
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A day to stop dieting and/ or stop hazardous weight-loss attempts. No Diet Day celebrates a paradigm shift to the diet-free healthy-living approach to health and well-being, to acceptance and respect for oneself and others.
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On 6 May 1915, actor and director Orson Welles was born at Kenosha, WI. Citizen Kane, which he directed and in which he played the title role, is one of the most influential films ever made. Other films in which he had a role include The Third Man and The Magnificent Ambersons. Welles died at Los Angeles, CA, 10 Oct 1985.
6 May 1856, the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud was born at Freiberg, Moravia. Founder of psychoanalysis, Freud died at London, England, 23 Sept 1939.
On 7 May 1824, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in D Minor was performed for the first time at Vienna, Austria. Known as the Choral because of his use of voices in symphonic form for the first time, the Ninth was his musical interpretation of Schiller’s Ode to Joy. Beethoven was completely deaf when he composed it, and it was said a soloist had to tug on his sleeve when the performance was over to get him to turn around and see the enthusiastic response he could not hear.
On 7 May 1915, the British passenger liner Lusitania, on its return trip from New York to Liverpool, carrying nearly 2,000 passengers, was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland, sinking within minutes; 1,198 lives were lost. US president Woodrow Wilson sent a note of protest to Berlin on May 13, but Germany, which had issued a warning in advance, pointed to Lusitania’s cargo of ammunition for Britain. The US maintained its neutrality for the time being.
Image:CC BY-SA 3.0 de, Bundesarchiv DVM 10 Bild-23-61-17, Untergang der “Lusitania”
To pay tribute to American educators, sponsored by the National Education Association, Teacher Day falls during the National PTAs Teacher Appreciation Week. Local communities and organizations are encouraged to use this opportunity to honor those who influence and inspire the next generation through their work. Annually, the Tuesday of the first full week in May.
8 May 1945. Victory in Europe Day commemorates unconditional surrender of Germany to Allied forces. The surrender document was signed by German representatives at General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters at Reims to become effective, and hostilities to end, at one minute past midnight May 9, 1945, which was 9: 01 PM, EDT, on May 8 in the US. President Harry S Truman on May 8 declared May 9, 1945, to be V-E Day, but it later came to be observed on May 8. A separate German surrender to the USSR was signed at Karlshorst, near Berlin, May 8.
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9 May 1941. During WWII, when a German U-110 submarine attacked a British convoy, two British vessels, the Bulldog and Aubretia, were able to retaliate so quickly with depth charges that the submarine was disabled and unable to dive. With the submarine captured, British sailors investigated the radio room and discovered the typewriter-like Enigma, a ciphering machine that enabled safe German communication, and documents of tables that helped explain how it worked. The U-110 s capture was kept secret, and British cryptographers used this break to begin unraveling German code during the war.
Image: CC 3.0, Germany-Bundesarchiv
Anniversary of the founding of the European Union
9 May 1950: Member countries of the European Union commemorate the announcement by French statesman Robert Schuman of the Schuman Plan for establishing a single authority for production of coal, iron and steel in France and Germany. The European Coal and Steel Community was founded in1952. This organization was a forerunner of the European Economic Community, founded in 1958, which later became the European Union. At the European Summit at Milan in 1985, this day was proclaimed the Day of Europe.
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Jamestown Day marks the anniversary of the founding of America’s first permanent English colony at Jamestown, Virginia.
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On 9 May 1800, the abolitionist leader John Brown was born at Torrington, Connecticut and hanged 2 Dec 1859, at Charles Town, West Virginia. He was the leader of attack on Harpers Ferry, VA, 16 Oct 1859, which was intended to give impetus to the movement for escape and freedom for slaves. His aim was frustrated and in fact resulted in increased polarization and sectional animosity. Legendary martyr of the abolitionist movement.
Image public domain
May 9 – National Third Shift Workers Day celebrates those workers who keep businesses and services running 24-hours a day. Read more at https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/third-shift-workers-day/.
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9 May 1893. Born at Cliftondale, Massachusetts, psychologist and author William Marston’s legacy continues to have a profound impact on contemporary criminal science and popular culture. While an undergraduate at Harvard he created the Marston Deception Test now known as the lie detector and was its most ardent advocate. Marston was also a prolific writer, penning many academic and popular texts, although his most well-known work, the Wonder Woman comic book series, which depicted the first female superhero, was written under the pseudonym Charles Moulton. Ahead of his time, Marston foresaw the increasing empowerment of women in the future, famously writing, “I fully believe I am hitting a great movement now under way, the growth in power of women.” He died of cancer 2 May 1947, at Rye, NY.
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Observed first in 1907 at the request of Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who asked her church to hold a service in memory of all mothers on the anniversary of her mothers death. In 1909, two years after her mothers death, Jarvis and friends began a letter-writing campaign to create a Mother’s Day observance. Congress passed legislation in 1914 designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Some say the predecessor of Mothers Day was the ancient spring festival dedicated to mother goddesses: Rhea (Greek) and Cybele (Roman).
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On May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, UT, the golden spike was driven into the final tie that joined 1,776 miles of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railways, ceremonially creating the nations first transcontinental railroad.
And America was transformed. Now, there has never been a better time to take the train. Trains are a more energy-efficient mode of travel than either autos or airplanes. Riding the rails is a perfect way to reduce your carbon footprint. Not to mention meet interesting people and see breathtaking scenery. National Train Day celebrates the way trains connect people and places with events from coast to coast.
Image: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
On 11 May 1888, the songwriter Irving Berlin was born Israel Isidore Baline at Tyumen, Russia.
Irving Berlin moved to New York, NY, with his family when he was four years old. After the death of his father, he began singing in saloons and on street corners in order to help his family and worked as a singing waiter as a teenager. Berlin became one of Americas most prolific songwriters, authoring such songs as Alexanders Ragtime Band, White Christmas, God Bless America, Theres No Business like Show Business, Doin What Comes Naturally, Puttin on the Ritz, Blue Skies and Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning, among others.
He could neither read nor write musical notation. Berlin died Sept 22, 1989, at New York.
Observed on the birthday of one of its champions, Edward Lear.The limerick, which dates from the early 18th century, has been described as the only fixed verse form indigenous to the English language. It gained its greatest popularity following the publication of Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense (and its sequels).
Example:
There was a young poet named Lear
Who said, it is just as I fear
Five lines are enough
For this kind of stuff
Make a limerick each day of the year.
Image: CC 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
12 May 1847. Anniversary of the invention of the odometer by Mormon pioneer William Clayton while crossing the plains in a covered wagon. Previous to this, mileage was calculated by counting the revolutions of a rag tied to a spoke of a wagon wheel.
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May 12 – World Bird Day and International Migratory Bird Day bring awareness to the need for conservation of migratory birds and their habitats in the Western Hemisphere. The program promotes environmental education and international conservation.
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13 May 1914. World heavyweight boxing champion, 1937-49, nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Joseph Louis Barrow was born near Lafayette, AL. He died 12 April 1981, at Las Vegas, NV. Buried at Arlington National Cemetery. (Louis’s burial there, by presidential waiver, was the 39th exception ever to the eligibility rules for burial in Arlington National Cemetery.)
13 May 1846. Although fighting had begun days earlier, Congress officially declared war on Mexico on this date. The struggle cost the lives of 11,300 American soldiers and resulted in the annexation by the US of land that became parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah and Colorado. The war ended in 1848. Read more at http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/.
Image: By Excel23 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
