Be a Millionaire Day
Pick Strawberries Day
National Quiche Lorraine Day
1819-Birthday of Queen Victoria cekebrated.
Victoria Day is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25, in honour of Queen Victoria’s birthday. As such, it is the Monday between the 18th to the 24th inclusive, and thus is always the penultimate Monday of May (May 20 in 2024).
The date is simultaneously that on which the current Canadian sovereign’s official birthday is recognized. It is sometimes informally considered the beginning of the summer season in Canada and the first day that it is safe to plant a garden without danger of frost.
Birthday of Dolley Madison in 1768. Dolley Todd Madison was the wife of James Madison, 4th President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of both political parties. She was the only First Lady given an honorary seat on the floor of Congress.
Lafayette Day, commemorating the 1834 death of the Marquis de Lafayette, French general who aided the armies of the American Revolution. At birth he was named “Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette”. In 1779 the marquis named his newly born son Georges Washington de Lafayette in honor of the American revolutionary. Three years later, at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette named his youngest daughter Marie Antoinette Virginie to honor both the French queen and the state of Virginia. In 2002 Lafayette became the sixth foreign national to be given honorary American citizenship by Congress.
1775 – Citizens of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina declare independence from Britain
Eliza Doolittle Day, established in honor of the heroine of Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion to encourage the proper use of language. Pygmalion became more popularly known as the film “My Fair Lady”.
First railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American) on May 20, 1830.
Cuba becomes independent from the United States on May 20, 1902. Cuba was claimed for Spain in 1492 by Columbus. Following the Spanish-American War of 1898, Cuba was administered by the U.S. until 1902.
The first Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover was published May 20, 1916. Entitled Boy with Baby Carriage, it shows 2 boys in baseball uniforms scoffing at another boy dressed in his Sunday suit pushing a baby carriage. One of Norman Rockwell’s favorite models, Billy Paine, posed for all three boys. For this painting, Rockwell received $75.00.
May 20, 1926 – Congress passed Air Commerce Act, licensing of pilots & planes.
Railway Labor Act became law. It is a United States federal law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The Act, passed in 1926 and amended in 1934 and 1936, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration and mediation for strikes as a means of resolving labor disputes.
1927 – At 7:40 AM, pilot Charles Lindbergh took off from New York’s Roosevelt Field to cross Atlantic.
1932 – Amelia Earhart left Harbor Grace, Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across Atlantic.