Tidbits of History

May 18 is International Museum Day
No Dirty Dishes Day
Visit Your Relatives Day
National Cheese Souffle Day
“I love Reese’s” Day

In 1631, English colony at Massachusetts Bay granted voting rights to “Members of some of the churches” in the colony. To become eligible to vote, a man was subject to detailed questioning by a church elder.

John Winthrop was elected first governor of Massachusetts on May 18, 1631. Still aboard the ship Arbella, Winthrop admonished the future Massachusetts Bay colonists that their new community would be a “city upon a hill”, watched by the world as an example of righteousness.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada founded May 18, 1642. Named after “Mount Royal”, a hill in the heart of the city. It is on the Island of Montreal.

In 1652 Rhode Island enacted first law declaring slavery illegal. The law was not enforced. By 1774, the slave population of Rhode Island was 6.3%, nearly twice as high as any other New England colony.

1830 – Edwin Budding of England signed an agreement for manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower.

In 1852, the Massachusetts General Court passed a law requiring every town to create and operate a grammar school. Fines were imposed on parents who did not send their children to school and the government took the power to take children away from their parents and apprentice them to others if government officials decided that the parents were “unfit to have the children educated properly”.

1917 – Six weeks after the U.S. formally entered WW I, the U.S. passed Selective Service Act requiring all males aged 21 to 30 to register for military service.

1934 – Congress approved “Lindbergh Act,” making kidnapping a capital offense.

1944 – Expulsion of more than 200,000 Tartars (central Asian peoples, including Mongols and Turks) from Crimea by Soviet Union began; they were accused of collaborating with the Germans.

Apollo 10: Thomas Stafford, Eugene Cernan, and John Young launched toward lunar orbit in 1969.

1971 – Formation of the Congressional Black Caucus.

In 1991 the Democrats in the House of Representatives organized the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In the 116th Congress, there are 97 declared Progressives, including 95 voting Representatives, one non-voting Delegate and one Senator (Bernie Sanders).

May 18, 1980 – Mount Saint Helens erupted in Washington State, killing 57 people, and changing the surrounding landscape completely.

Pack Rat Day
National Cherry Cobbler Day

May 17, 1510, death of Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi), Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Examples of his art can be found at Wikiart.org

1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez, Spanish conquistador, departed to explore and colonize Florida. He left Spain with five ships and 600 men. A storm south of Cuba wrecked the ships and a group of men were shipwrecked in Florida among hostile natives. The survivors worked their way along the US gulf coast trying to get to the province of Pánuco. During a storm Narváez and a small group of men were carried out to sea on a raft and were not seen again. Only four men survived the Narváez expedition.

Anne Boleyn’s four “lovers” were beheaded on May 17, 1536.

England passes Molasses Act in 1733, putting high tariffs on rum and molasses imported to the colonies from any country other than British possessions.

May 17, 1756, the beginning of the 7 Years’ War or the French and Indian War as it is called in the United States.

American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress bans trade with Canada on May 17, 1775.

Running of the first Kentucky Derby, May 17, 1875: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75.

1876 – 7th US Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer left Ft Lincoln, North Dakota.

1877 – Edwin T Holmes installs 1st telephone switchboard burglar alarm. Per The first switchboard was installed on May 17, 1877, at 342 Washington St. in Boston, the office of Edwin T. Holmes, who happened to run the Holmes Burglar Alarm Service. The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, gave Holmes a dozen telephones on loan and helped him set up the switchboard. Holmes hired men to operate the switchboard on hourly shifts and it was used as a telephone service in the daytime. At night, it became part of the Holmes security system.

Alaska becomes a US territory in 1884.

Congress changes name “Porto Rico” to “Puerto Rico”. In 1932, the U.S. Congress officially corrected what it had been misspelling as Porto Rico back into Puerto Rico. It had been using the former spelling in its legislative and judicial records since it acquired the territory. Patricia Gherovici states that both “Porto Rico” and “Puerto Rico” were used interchangeably in the news media and documentation before, during, and after the U.S. invasion of the island in 1898. The “Porto” spelling, for instance, was used in the Treaty of Paris, but “Puerto” was used by The New York Times that same year. Nancy Morris clarifies that “a curious oversight in the drafting of the Foraker Act caused the name of the island to be officially misspelled.

On May 17, 1943, the United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School to develop the ENIAC.

Pres Harry Truman seizes control of nation’s railroads on May 17, 1946 to delay a strike.

Soviet Union recognized Israel in 1948.

British government recognized Republic of Ireland in 1949.

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Brown v Topeka Board of Education, reversing 1896 “separate but equal” Plessy Vs Ferguson decision.

1961 – Castro offered to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers.

1970 – Thor Heyerdahl crossed Atlantic on reed raft Ra.

May 14, 1483 – Coronation of Charles VIII of France (“Charles l’Affable”) at age 13. Charles died in 1498 after accidentally striking his head on the lintel of a door.

1610 – Assassination of Henri IV of France, bringing Louis XIII to the throne at age 8.

1643 – Louis XIV becomes King of France aged 4.

Anniversary of the baptism of Thomas Gainsborough (May 14, 1727), English portrait and landscape painter famous for the “Blue Boy”.

1796 – First smallpox inoculation administered, by Edward Jenner. The World Health Organization (WHO) certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979.

Lewis & Clark set out from St. Louis for Pacific Coast in 1804.

Gail Borden patents her process for condensed milk in 1853.

In 1862 Adolphe Nicole of Switzerland patents chronograph A chronograph is a watch that may be used as a stopwatch.

1878 – Vaseline is first sold (registered trademark for petroleum jelly). Invented by Robert Chesebrough from “rod wax”, a residue found in oil rig pumps. Vaseline.com publishes a list of 101 uses for Vaseline. We recently used it to prevent scarring from an injury similar to road rash. Worked great!

1918 – Sunday baseball is made legal in Wash DC in 1918. Due to blue laws, it was considered offensive to work on Sunday, which was expected to be a day of worship and rest. In 1794, the Pennsylvania Assembly restricted activities on Sunday by passing what they called “an Act for the prevention of vice and immorality, and of unlawful gaming, and to restrain disorderly sports and dissipation” (Wikipedia)

May 14, 1939 – Lina Medina becomes the world’s youngest confirmed mother in medical history when she gave birth to a son at the age of five years, seven months, seventeen days. She had precocious puberty and was found to have fully mature sexual organs. The boy was delivered by Cesarean Section. The father of the baby was never named. Lina’s father was arrested and released due to lack of evidence.

May 14, 1948: Israel is proclaimed a Jewish state. Israel’s first prime minister, reads a “Declaration of Independence,” which proclaims the existence of a Jewish state called Israel beginning on May 15, 1948, at 12:00 midnight.

Last Chevrolet Corvair built in 1969.

1973 – US Supreme court approved equal rights to females in military.

In 1995, Dalai Lama proclaims 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima 11th reincarnation of Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second most senior spiritual leader.

On May 14, 2005, the USS America (CV-66), a decommissioned supercarrier of the United States Navy, (commissioned in 1965) is deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live-fire exercises. She is the largest ship ever to be disposed of as a target in a military exercise. She was the last supercarrier not named after a person.

Frog Jumping Day
The roots of Frog Jumping Day go back to Mark Twain’s first short story. It was first published in 1865 as “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog”. Later, he published it as “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. It is also known under a third title “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”.

Nowadays, people in Calaveras County (California) still annually celebrate this day at the Calaveras County Fair and Frog Jumping Jubilee.

May 13 is also Leprechaun Day According to Irish legend, or folklore, Leprechauns have a hidden pot of gold. If you catch a Leprechaun, he must give you his pot of gold.

Jamestown Day, observed in Virginia in commemoration of the settlement of Jamestown in 1607.

Cardinal Richelieu of France created the table knife. The distinguishing feature of a table knife is a blunt or rounded end. The origin of this, and thus of the table knife itself, is attributed by tradition to Cardinal Richelieu around 1637, reputedly to cure dinner guests of the unsavoury habit of picking their teeth with their knife-points.

Arthur Phillip set sail with 11 ships of criminals to Botany Bay, Australia on May 13, 1787.

DeWolf Hooper first recited “Casey at the Bat”. It was written by Ernest Thayer in 1888, published on May 13.

The Outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that –
We’d put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-
“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted someone on the stand;
And its likely they’d a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”

“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.

1940 – Churchill says “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears & sweat.” in his first speech to the House of Commons as Prime Minister.

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Clean up Your Room Day
National Train Day
Confederate Memorial Day, a state holiday in both North and South Carolina, honoring the memory of the Confederate soldiers and civilians lost during the Civil War.  North and South Carolina, mark the anniversaries of the death of Thomas Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson (a general in the Confederate army) in 1863 and the capture of Jefferson Davis in 1865.

On May 10, 1503, Christopher Columbus visited the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.

Jacques Cartier visited Newfoundland in 1534.

The Parliament of Great Britain passed the Tea Act, on May 10, 1773. It is designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette became King and Queen of France on May 10, 1774. They were executed in 1793.

In 1775, representatives from the Thirteen Colonies began the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

Fort Ticonderoga Day, observed at Ticonderoga, New York, marking the capture of the fort by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys in 1775

May 10, 1797, the First Navy ship, the “USS United States,” is launched

First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declared war on the United States of America on May 10, 1801.

The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, was completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point) with the golden spike in 1869.

Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated for President of the United States in 1872.

In 1893 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.

J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 10, 1940, and remains so until his death in 1972.

May 10, 1940 – Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on the same day that Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Bill Haley & His Comets release “Rock Around the Clock” in 1954. It is the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.