17 May 2004. Massachusetts became the first US state to sanction gay marriage on this date. Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples received licenses and were married.
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On 17 May 1792, some two dozen merchants and brokers agreed to establish what is now known as the New York Stock Exchange. In fair weather they operated under a buttonwood tree on Wall St, at New York, NY. In bad weather they moved to the shelter of a coffeehouse to conduct their business.
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Between Oct 12, 1943, and Jan 17, 1944, there were five Allied attempts to take the German position at the Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino. Although the abbey had been reduced to rubble, it served as a bunker for the Germans. In the spring of 1944 Marshal Alphonse Pierre Juin devised an operation that crossed the mountainous regions behind the fortress-like structure, using Moroccan troops of the French Expeditionary Force. Specially trained for mountain operations, they climbed 4,850 feet to locate a pass. On May 15, 1944, they attacked the Germans from behind. On May 18 Polish troops attached to this force took Monte Cassino.
Image: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
International Museum Day was created to pay tribute to museums of the world. Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding and peace among people. Observed annually on May 18 since 1977.
Image: Joe Ravi, CC-BY-SA 3.0
On 18 May 1980, a major eruption of Mount Saint Helen’s volcano, in southwestern Washington, blew steam and ash more than 11 miles into the sky. First major eruption of Mount Saint Helen’s since 1857, though on Mar 26, 1980, there had been a warning eruption of smaller magnitude.
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Born around 1501, Anne Boleyn captured the eye of England’s King Henry VIII in 1527. Her demand that he make her a wife, not a mistress, caused the married Henry’s break with the Catholic Church (which didn’t allow divorce), which in turn led to decades of religious turmoil in England. Henry had his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled and wed Boleyn in1533. Boleyn’s inability to bear a male heir (although her daughter with Henry was the future Queen Elizabeth I) and court intrigue caused her arrest on charges of adultery. She was executed by sword on 19 May 1536 at the Tower of London. The morning of her execution she said, I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck.
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On 19 May 1780, at midday near-total darkness unaccountably descended on much of New England. Candles were lit, fowls went to roost and many fearful persons believed that doomsday had arrived. At New Haven, Connecticut, Colonel Abraham Davenport opposed adjournment of the town council in these words: I am against adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles maybe brought. No scientifically verifiable cause for this widespread phenomenon was ever discovered.
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American playwright Lorraine Hansberry was born at Chicago, ILon 19 May 1930. For her now classic play A Raisin in the Sun, she became the youngest American and first Black to win the Best Play Award from the New York Critics Circle.
The play, titled after the Langston Hughes poem,deals with issues such as racism, cultural pride and self-respect and was the first stage production written by a Black woman to appear on Broadway (1959). To Be Young, Gifted, and Black, a book of excerpts from her journals, letters, speeches and plays, was published posthumously in 1969.
Lorraine Hansberry died of cancer 12 January 1965, at New York, NY.
On 19 May 1925 Black nationalist and civil rights activist Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little at Omaha, NE. While serving a prison term, he resolved to transform his life. On his release in 1952 he changed his name to Malcolm X and worked for the Nation of Islam until he was suspended by Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad 4 December 1963. Malcolm X later made the pilgrimage to Mecca and became an orthodox Muslim. He was assassinated as he spoke to a meeting at the Audubon Ballroom at New York, New York, 21 February 1965.
May 19 – Shavuot is a Jewish holiday celebrating the day God gave the Torah to the nation of Israel.
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20 May is Eliza Doolittle Day established to honor Miss Doolittle (heroine of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion) for demonstrating the importance and the advantage of speaking ones native language properly.
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On 20 May 1862, President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act which took effect on 1 January 1863, and opened up the West to settlers in the United States.
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21 May 1927 is the anniversary of the first solo transatlantic flight. Captain Charles Augustus Lindbergh, 25-year-old aviator, departed from rainy, muddy Roosevelt Field, Long Island, NY, alone at 7: 52AM, 20 May 1927, in a Ryan monoplane named Spirit of St. Louis. He landed at Le Bourget airfield, Paris, France, at 10: 24 PM, Paris time (5: 24 PM, NY time), 21 May winning a $ 25,000 prize offered by Raymond Orteig for the first nonstop flight between New York City and Paris (3,600 miles). The flying fool, as he had been dubbed by some doubters, became Lucky Lindy, an instant world hero.
National Bike to Work Day raises awareness for bicycle safety and encourages the use of biking for transportation.
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Anniversary of international treaty, signed 20 May 1875, providing for the establishment of an International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The bureau was founded on international territory at Svres, France.
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21 May 1881 marks the founding of the American Red Cross by Clara Barton, its first president. The Red Cross had been founded in Switzerland in 1864 by representatives from 16 European nations. It is a not-for-profit organization governed and directed by volunteers and provides disaster relief at home and abroad. Its 1.1 million volunteers are involved in community services such as collecting and distributing donated blood and blood products, teaching health and safety classes and acting as a medium for emergency communication between Americans and their armed forces.
National Learn to Swim Day is a nationwide campaign designed to raise awareness about the importance of teaching children to swim. It takes place annually on the Saturday the week before the unofficial start of summer: Memorial Day weekend. Families nationwide are invited to participate by attending a local event, teaching their children to swim with at-home instruction, visiting a community pool as a family or enrolling children in swim lessons at a local facility.
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National Waitstaff Day recognizes all waiters and waitresses in the food service industry.
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Born 21 May 1909 at Massing, Bavaria, Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel attended Munich’s Academy of Fine Arts. She entered Siessen Convent, run by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, and began teaching art to kindergarten children. In 1934 Franz Goebel obtained an exclusive license to translate her drawings into three-dimensional figurines. The first M.I. Hummel figurines were displayed at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1935;they made their first appearance in the American market in May 1935. She died 6 November 1946, at Siessen, Germany. Many M.I. Hummel Clubs across the country commemorate her birth date with special events and fund-raisers for local charities.
Photo by Daniel Nicoletta
Harvey Milk as Mayor for a Day
March 7, 1978
When Harvey was acting mayor for one of the days that Mayor George Moscone had to be out of town, it was like the marx brothers in the mayors office.. when I can in to photograph harvey that day i was greeted by harvey with an option of recieving any commission my heart desired, and in the background Jim Rivaldo some other friends Harvey’s were having fun playing with the mayors paper shredding machine which was built into his huge wooden desk.
Day celebrating the life story, message and legacy of civil rights leader Harvey Milk (1930 78). Annually, May 22.
Image by Daniel Nicoletta, CC 3.0
On 22 May 1967, Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers began hosting this long-running PBS children’s program. Puppets and human characters interacted in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Rogers voiced many of the puppets and educated young viewers on a variety of important subjects. The last episodes of the program were made in 2001. Almost 1,000 episodes were produced over the shows history. Rogers died in 2003.
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May 22 28. History teaches that a lack of hurricane awareness and preparation are common threads among all major hurricane disasters. By knowing your vulnerability and what actions you should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster. Hurricane hazards come in many forms, including storm surge, heavy rainfall, inland flooding, high winds, tornadoes and rip currents. The National Weather Service is responsible for protecting life and property through issuance of timely watches and warnings, but it is essential that everyone be ready before a storm approaches. Furthermore, mariners should be aware of special safety precautions when confronted with a hurricane. Preparedness guide available at the website.
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National Maritime Day celebrates all things nautical. The anniversary of the first transatlantic steamship crossing with departure on May 22, 1819 from Savannah, Georgia to Liverpool, England.
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May 22. African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation and Museum, Washington, DC. On May 22, 1863, Congress established the Bureau of United States Colored Troops with the express purpose of providing uniforms and training to and deploying soldiers of African descent. By the end of the Civil War the United States Colored Troops (USCT) had more than200,000 soldiers of African descent, but also employed Native Americans, Hawaiians, Latinos and Anglos. While most of the USCT officers were white, there were more than 120 African-American officers and some of Latino descent. Each year the African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation and Museum commemorates the founding of the Bureau of United States Colored Troops with public and educational programming.
Image: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
On 23 May 1934, the two-year crime spree of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, bank robbers accused of at least 12 murders, came to an end when a law enforcement posse led by Frank Hamer opened fire on the couple in an ambush at Gibsland, Louisiana. The couple had operated in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana and other states, and had sent ballads to local newspapers chronicling their exploits, making them two of the most notorious and romanticized of many Depression-era gangsters. Some 20,000 people lined up to see the body of Clyde Barrow put on display in a mortuary in downtown Dallas, Texas.
Image: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
