On This Day June 1

Four months after Henry VIII married his second wife Anne Boleyn. she was crowned queen on June 1, 1533. Anne's coronation on June 1, 1533 was marked by the people's hostility, and the crowds refused to remove their hats as a sign of respect for their new queen. When asked what she had made of London at her coronation, Anne replied, "I liked the City well-enough, but I saw few caps in the air and heard few tongues."

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On This Day May 31

The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at Ford Motor Company's Piquette Plant in Detroit on September 27, 1908. The Model T was very simple to drive, and easy and cheap to repair. It was so cheap at $825 in 1908 ($21,650 today) (the price fell every year) that by the 1920s, a majority of American drivers had learned to drive on the Model T. The last Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line on May 31, 1927 after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.

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On This Day May 30

On May 30, 1806, future US President Andrew Jackson challenged a rival Southern plantation owner, Charles Dickinson to a duel, after Dickinson accused him of cheating on a horse race bet and insulted his wife. Jackson was shot in the chest, but managed to stay standing and shoot and killed his opponent. The bullet could not be safely removed and remained in his chest for the next 40 years. Jackson was not prosecuted for murder.

Andrew Jackson's famous duel over a horse

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On This Day May 29

French chemist and bacteriologist Louis Pasteur married Marie Laurent, the daughter of a local university rector at Strasbourg on May 29, 1849. Marie worked as her husband's active assistant in his scientific experiments and also served as his secretary. The couple had five children, but only two of them survived to adulthood. The other three died of diseases. These personal tragedies strengthened Pasteur’s resolve to find cures for infectious diseases.

Marie Pasteur in 1899

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On This Day May 28

Édouard and André Michelin, ran a rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The brothers were enthusiastic about John Dunlop's newly invented pneumatic tyre, and worked on creating their own version, one that did not need to be glued to the rim. Michelin was incorporated on May 28, 1889. Michelin took out its first patent for a detachable pneumatic tyre on a metal rim, which was used by Charles Terront to win the world's first long distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris.

An 1898 poster by "O'Galop" of Bibendum, the Michelin Man

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On This Day May 27

The opening ceremony for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California began on May 27, 1937 and lasted for one week. On the first day pedestrian traffic only was allowed and 200,000 people crossed either on foot or on roller skates. It was officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt the following day while seated in his Oval Office. He pressed a golden telegraph button to signal the start of vehicle traffic over the span.

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On This Day May 26

White settlers began populating the area that is now the state of Montana from the 1850s. Montana became a United States territory (Montana Territory) on May 26, 1864  and 25 years later President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed Montana the union's 41st state. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges and the state's name is derived from the Spanish word montaña (mountain).

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On This Day May 25

Sarah Breedlove, the first female self-made millionaire in America, died on May 25, 1919. Sarah Breedlove, known as Madam C. J. Walker, was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist.. She made her fortune by developing and marketing a successful line of beauty and hair products for black women under the company she founded, Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

In the year 1900, there were only 5,000 millionaires in the United States. In 2000, there were more than five million.

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On This Day May 24

On May 24, 1844, Samuel Morse sent the first ever long distance Morse code message down an experimental telegraph line that ran from Washington DC to Baltimore, Maryland. It read "What hath God wrought!," which is a quote from the Old Testament Book of Numbers. The discovery of electronic communication was attributed to God who had given the power.

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On This Day May 23

The American scientist and politician Benjamin Franklin developed the first pair of bifocal spectacles for long-sighted people. Tired of constantly taking his glasses on and off to read he decided to make a pair of glasses which would let him enjoy both the beautiful scenery and his treasured books when travelling. He cut two pairs of spectacles in two and put each lens into a single frame. He announced his invention of a bifocal eyeglass on May 23, 1785.

Benjamin Franklin by David Martin 1767

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On This Day May 22

Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco and created by Japanese video game designer Toru Iwatani. Pac-Man's name was inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeia "pakku-pakku," which sounds like someone opening and closing their mouth. The first ever Pac-Man machine - then called Puck-Man - was installed in a Tokyo movie theater on May 22, 1980.

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On This Day May 21

On May 21, 1809 the French made their first major effort to cross the Danube during the Napoleonic Wars, precipitating the Battle of Aspern-Essling. However, they were driven back by the Austrians under Archduke Charles. The result was the first defeat Napoleon suffered personally in a major set-piece battle in over a decade. The French emperor's set back caused excitement throughout many parts of Europe because it proved that he could be beaten on the battlefield.

The Battle of Aspern-Essling by Fernand Cornon

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On This Day May 20

Dickson Greeting was directed, produced by and starred Thomas Edison's assistant William Dickson. The film is a three-second clip of Dickson passing a hat in front of himself, and reaching for it with his other hand. It was filmed on May 20, 1891 in the Photographic Building at Edison's Black Maria studio. The film was played for viewers at the National Federation of Women's Clubs, the first public presentation of a motion picture in America.

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On This Day May 19

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest on May 19, 1536. Anne refused to be blindfolded and the executioner found her so disarming he persuaded someone to attract her attention so he could steal up silently behind her to carry out the death penalty. Meanwhile Henry was in Epping Forest taking part in a hunt waiting for a signal to proclaim the news that "it" had been done.

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On This Day May 18

In 1887 Scottish vet John Dunlop came up with pneumatic tires to stop his son getting headaches from riding his bumpy tricycle. On May 18, 1889 a cyclist using the 'Dunlop Pneumatic Tyres' won a race in Belfast and the pneumatic cycle tire was on its way. Dunlop's development of the pneumatic tire arrived at a crucial time in the development of road transport. Commercial production began in late 1890 in Belfast.

Dunlop's first pneumatic bicycle tyre National Museum of Scotland. By Geni 

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On This Day May 17

The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal founded a permanent mission known as Ville-Marie (or "City of Mary”) on May 17, 1642, which eventually grew into the city of Montreal. The name 'Montréal' comes from Mont Royal, which means 'Royal Mountain' in French. At the center of Montreal is a mountain called Mount Royal). Montreal was originally a fur trading outpost belonging to France. It grew to become the largest city in Canada. (Toronto surpassed it in the 1970s.)

Depiction of the first church in Fort Ville-Marie in the 1640s.

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On This Day May 16

Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China launched the Cultural Revolution on May 16, 1966. Officially it was a campaign to rid China of its liberal bourgeois elements and to continue the revolutionary class struggle. However, Mao knew nothing about economics and his cultural revolution led to much destruction of property, the loss of skilled manpower (many scientists and engineers were put in jail or sent to work on the farms), managerial expertise and lower productivity.

Cultural Revolution propaganda poster. Wikipedia

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On This Day May 15

Mickey Mouse actually started off as a rabbit. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, but after a disagreement over rights with the film distributor, Disney refused a pay cut and with Iwerks created Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse's first appearance was in a cartoon short called Plane Crazy on May 15, 1928. Plane Crazy was not well received and failed to find a distributor. Mickey became an instant hit in November 1928 with the release of Steamboat Willie.

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On This Day May 14

Competitions at the 1900 Olympic Games held at the Paris Exposition began on May 14 and ended five months later on October 28. The 1900 Olympic Games did not have a stadium, but were notable for being the first time women took part in the Games. The first sportswomen to compete in the Paris Games were Mme. Brohy and Mlle. Ohnier of France in croquet. The first female champion was Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain in tennis.

Charlotte Cooper

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On This Day May 13

Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi is known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission. He originally intended his "Wireless Telegraphy" to be a system that supplemented the telegraph at sea and on land, where an ordinary telegraph with wires couldn't be used. Marconi's first ever wireless communication over open sea was based in Wales. A message was sent over the Bristol Channel, a distance of 3.7 miles (6 kms), on May 13, 1897. It read "Are you ready?"

 Engineers inspect Marconi's radio equipment on May 13, 1897. Wikipedia

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On This Day May 12

The Burj Khalifa skyscraper, the world's tallest building, was constructed in the 2000s in the Business Bay district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. When it reached a height of 636 metres on May 12, 2008, the Burj Khalifa surpassed its nearest rival, the KVLYTV mast in North Dakota, by seven metres. It reaches the height of 829.8 metres (2,722 ft) and has 163 floors and has a curtain wall equivalent to 17 football pitches.

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On This Day May 11

The first, and to date only, British Prime Minister to be assassinated was Spencer Perceval. On the evening of May 11, 1812, Perceval entered the lobby of the House of Commons, when a Liverpool merchant with a grievance against the government, John Bellingham, stepped forward, drew a pistol and shot him in the chest. Bellingham was tried and convicted, and hanged at Newgate Prison.

A painting depicting the assassination of Perceval. 

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On This Day May 10

The concept of harnessing lightning from the clouds through the use of a rod was first conceptualized by Benjamin Franklin. In 1750, he presented a proposal for an experiment aimed at demonstrating that lightning is, in fact, electricity. His ingenious plan involved flying a kite during a storm that exhibited the potential to develop into a lightning storm. It was on May 10, 1752, that Thomas-François Dalibard, a scientist from France, carried out Franklin's experiment, albeit with a slight modification. Instead of a kite, Dalibard employed an iron rod, successfully extracting electrical sparks directly from a cloud.

Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky c. 1816, by Benjamin West

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On This Day May 9

The Muppets are an ensemble cast of puppet characters, who were first created by puppeteer Jim Henson in 1955. The Muppets were first introduced on Sam and Friends, a television program that aired locally in Washington, D.C., on WRC-TV on weekdays from May 9, 1955, to December 15, 1961. Jim Henson has said the name "muppet" came from combining the words "puppet" and "marionette," but he also said that he just liked the way the word sounded.

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On This Day May 8

The city of Orleans was the northernmost city that remained loyal to the French during the Hundred Years War. The English began laying siege to it and appeared to be winning until King Charles VII sent Joan of Arc to the Siege of Orléans as part of a relief army. She initiated several attacks gaining victory on May 8, 1429 by taking the southern approach to the bridge, nine days after her arrival. Several additional swift victories followed turning the tide of the war.

Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orléans by Jules Lenepveu

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On This Day May 7

Charles Dickens was very fond of his sister in law, Mary Hogarth and was shocked when she died suddenly in her sleep on May 7, 1837. The novelist took a ring from her hand and wore it on his own little finger for the rest of his life and didn't write for two months after the tragedy. Mary Hogarth was the inspiration for a number of characters in Dickens novels, including Rose in Oliver Twist and Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop.

Portrait of Mary Scott Hogarth, sister-in-law of Charles Dickens

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On This Day May 6

Roger Bannister became the first athlete to run a mile in under four minutes. He achieved this athletic feat at Oxford, England, on May 6, 1954, in a time of 3 min 59.4 seconds. His world record lasted just 46 days before Australian John Landy, shaved 1.4 seconds off it.

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On This Day May 5

John Keats was introduced to the literature of Edmund Spenser by the headmaster's son at Clarkes. Spenser's works, particularly The Faerie Queene, was to prove a turning point in Keats' development as a poet; it was to inspire Keats to write his first poem, "Imitation of Spenser" in 1814, when he was 19. On May 5, 1816 the radical Leigh Hunt’s liberal journal The Examiner published  Keats' sonnet "O Solitude" in his magazine. It was the first appearance in print of Keats's poetry.

Portrait of John Keats by William Hilton. 

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On This Day May 4

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decided to kill off his Sherlock Holmes character in a short story, The Final Problem, so he could get on with more serious writing. He'd decided the Reichenbach Falls was the exit he wanted for his fictional detective after seeing them during a holiday with his wife in Switzerland. Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty supposedly fell to their deaths from the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland on May 4, 1891. Pressure from fans eventually persuaded Doyle to bring Holmes back.

Holmes and Moriarty struggle at the Reichenbach Falls; drawing by Sidney Paget

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On This Day May 3

The Kentucky Derby is held at Churchill Downs, Louisville and is 1¼ miles. It was named after "the blue ribbon of the [English] turf." The first Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs in 1875 with Aristides as winner. The attendance was just under 10,000. The Kentucky Derby was televised nationally for the first time, on the CBS network on May 3, 1952.

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On This Day May 2

John Moore-Brabazon learned to fly in 1908 in France in a Voisin biplane. He became the first resident Englishman to make an officially recognized aeroplane flight in England on May 2, 1909, at Shellbeach on the Isle of Sheppey with flights of 450 ft, 600 ft, and 1500 ft. Ten months later, Moore-Brabazon became the first person to qualify as a pilot in the United Kingdom and was awarded Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate number 1; his car also bore the number-plate FLY 1.

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