May 20......

May 20 is the 140th (141st in leap years) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 225 days remaining in the year on this date.

Best Liberal Quote of the Day: On Government "There is something wrong in a government where they who do the most have the least. There is something wrong when honesty wears a rag, and rascality a robe; when the loving, the tender, eat a crust, while the infamous sit at banquets." — Robert Ingersoll

Stupidest Quote from the Right for the Day: On Iraq War "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa [for nuclear weapons]." — George W. Bush included this lie in his 2003 State of the Union address over the objections of the CIA {Only one of his most visible impeachable offenses}

Thought for the day: "Where facts are few, experts are many."

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 4 B.C. - Jesus of Nazareth (probable actual birthday).

● 325 - The First Council of Nicaea – the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church – is held.

● 526 - An earthquake kills about 300,000 people in Syria and Antiochia.

● 685 - The Battle of Dunnichen or Nechtansmere is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.

● 1217 - The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.

● 1293 - King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcalá.

● 1293 - Earthquake strikes Kamakura Japan, 30,000 killed

● 1303 - Treaty of Paris restores Gascony to British in Hundred Years War

● 1310 - Shoes were made for both right & left feet

● 1347 - Rienzo calls Rome for people's tribunal

● 1495 - French King Charles VIII leaves Naples

● 1497 - John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a 2 May date).

● 1498 - Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.

● 1501 - Joao da Nova Castell discovers Ascension Islands

● 1506 - Christopher Columbus, 55, dies at Valladolid, Spain, poor, neglected, and almost forgotten, never fully realizing the importance of his explorations.

● 1520 - Hernando Cortez defeated Spanish troops that had been sent to punish him in Mexico.

● 1521 - Battle of Pampeluna: Ignatius Loyola seriously wounded in the battle.

● 1524 - Duke of Albany leaves Scotland

● 1530 - German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: 'God's friendship is a bigger comfort than that of the whole world.'

● 1570 - Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas.

● 1571 - Venice, Spain & Pope Pius form anti-Turkish Saint League

● 1591 - Spanish troops in Zutphen surrenders to Willem Louis/Mauritius

● 1631 - The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.

● 1639 - First American public school established, Dorchester, Mass.

● 1674 - John Sobieski became Poland’s first King.

● 1690 - Death of John Eliot, 86, colonial missionary to the American Indians of Maryland. Eliot arrived in America from England in 1631; by 1663 he had translated the entire Bible into the Algonquin Indian language.

● 1690 - England passes the Act of Grace, forgiving followers of Roman Catholic James II.

● 1704 - Elias Neau forms school for slaves in New York

● 1754 - Columbia University in New York City was chartered as King's College, under sponsorship of the Episcopal Church. The institution adopted its present name in 1896.

● 1774 - Britain's Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish the American colonists for their increasingly anti-British behavior

● 1774 - Britain gives Québec, Labrador & territory north of the Ohio

● 1775 - Citizens of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina declare independence of Britain

● 1776 - Mohawks, under Joseph Brandt, defeat Americans at the Battle of the Cedars.

● 1784 - England & Netherlands signs peace treaty (Peace of Paris)

● 1795 - Last major uprising of the French sans coulottes against the reactionary authority of the Thermadorian government. Lasted four days; bloodily put down by military force. Main slogan was "For bread and the constitution of 1793," and against the big bourgeoisie.

● 1813 - Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.

● 1825 - Charles X becomes King of France

● 1830 - The fountain pen was patented by H.D. Hyde.

● 1830 - 1st railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American)

● 1835 - Otto is named made the first modern king of Greece.

● 1844 - Wisconsin's Fourierist Phalanx commune established.

● 1845 - HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage. All hands are lost.

● 1845 - 1st legislative assembly convenes in Hawaii

● 1861 - Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle

● 1861 - During the American Civil War, the capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, AL, to Richmond, VA.

● 1861 - North Carolina becomes 11th & last state to secede from Union

● 1861 - American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state.

● 1862 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.

● 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church - In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.

● 1864 - Spotsylvania-campaign ends after 10,920 killed/injured

● 1867 - John Stuart Mill's bill to permit women to vote was rejected by the British Parliament.

● 1868 - Republican National Convention, meets in Chicago, nominates Grant

● 1870 - Second Chamber abolishes capital punishment

● 1873 - Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.

● 1874 - Levi Strauss markets blue jeans with copper rivets, price $13.50 per dozen

● 1875 - International Bureau of Weights & Measures established by treaty

● 1878 - William R. Featherstone died at the age of 32. A Canadian Methodist who spent his life in Montreal, it was Featherstone who authored the hymn, "My Jesus, I Love Thee."

● 1882 - St Gotthard-railroad tunnel between Switzerland & Italy opens

● 1892 - George Sampson patents clothes dryer

● 1882 - The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed.

● 1883 - The eruption of Krakatoa begins, leading ultimately to the volcano's destruction three months later.

● 1887 - Lenin’s brother executed for attempting to assassinate Tsar Alexander III. Bro’ develops an attitude.

● 1896 - The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier falls on the crowd resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.

● 1899 - Jacob German of New York City became the first driver ever arrested for speeding. Mr. German was whipping his taxicab all over Lexington Avenue, going over the posted 12 mile-per-hour speed limit. A century later, such speeds are rarely exceeded on Lexington Ave. during daylight hours.

● 1902 - Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the first President of Cuba. US military occupation of Cuba (since Jan 1, 1899) ends.

● 1904 - U.S. warships ordered to Tangiers, Morocco to "protect U.S. interests."

● 1908 - James Stewart, the American movie actor, was born.

● 1910 - Funeral for Britain's King Edward VII

● 1915 - Bataafsche Petroleum begins oil extraction of Maracaibo

● 1916 - The small town of Codell, Kansas is struck by a tornado. Incredibly, the same town was also hit in 1917 and 1918 on the exact same date

● 1917 - Turkish Government authorizes Jews to return to Tel Aviv & Jaffa

● 1918 - 1st electrically propelled warship (the New Mexico)

● 1919 - Volcano Keluit on Java, erupts killing 550

● 1920 - The Weimarer Nationalversammlung, the national assembly of Germany's Weimar Republic, is permanently dissolved.

● 1922 - "Egypt" sinks off Ushant after colliding with "Seine" killing 90

● 1923 - Stanley Baldwin, becomes PM of UK

● 1926 - Belgian Government of Jaspar takes power

● 1926 - Congress passes Air Commerce Act, licensing of pilots & planes

● 1926 - Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies {Of course, Edison had been unable to steal the technology for talkies and this was his wishful thinking.}

● 1926 - Enactment of Railway Labor Act.

● 1927 - At 7:40 AM, Lindbergh takes off from New York to cross Atlantic for Paris aboard his airplane the "Spirit of St. Louis." The trip took 33 1/2 hours.

● 1927 - By the Treaty of Jedda, the United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

● 1930 - 1st airplane catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot

● 1930 - University of California dedicates $1,500 to research on prevention & cure of athlete's foot

● 1932 - Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland 1st woman fly solo across Atlantic

● 1932 - Engelbert Dollfuss becomes chancellor of Austria

● 1933 - Rubber workers strike in Akron, Ohio.

● 1937 - Following a lifelong call to establish a worldwide evangelistic ministry to children, missions pioneer Jesse Overholtzer, 59, founded Child Evangelism Fellowship, in Chicago.

● 1939 - The first regular air-passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean began with the take-off of the "Yankee Clipper" from Port Washington, New York.

● 1940 - General Guderians tanks reach The Channel (British expeditionary army)

● 1940 - Igor Sikorsky unveils his helicopter invention

● 1940 - Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.

● 1941 - World War II: Battle of Crete – German paratroops invade Crete.

● 1941 - Former Dutch PM Colijn says Netherlands Indies not ready for independence

● 1942 - Japan completed the conquest of Burma.

● 1942 - US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve

● 1943 - French, British & US victory parade in Tunis Tunisia

● 1944 - US Communist Party dissolves

● 1948 - 1st use of Israeli Air Force & 1st war victory, defeating Syrian army

● 1949 - In the United States of America, the Armed Forces Security Agency (predecessor to the National Security Agency) is established.

● 1954 - Chiang Kai-shek is selected for another term as President of the Republic of China by the National Assembly

● 1955 - Argentine parliament accepts separation of church & state

● 1956 - Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane-Bikini Atoll

● 1956 - Jordan government of Samir resigns

● 1958 - US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)

● 1958 - High Wycombe weighs new mayor; Citizens of the English town of High Wycombe witness a unique ceremony at which the mayor is weighed in public.

● 1959 - Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship

● 1959 - Shah of Persia visits Netherlands

● 1961 - A white mob attacked the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, AL. The event prompted the federal government to send U.S. marshals.

● 1961 - Mauritania adopts constitution

● 1963 - Sukarno appointed President of Indonesia

● 1964 - IWW wins free-speech fight, Roosevelt University, Chicago.

● 1965 - PIA Flight 705, a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720 - 040 B crashes while descending to land at Cairo International Airport, killing 119 of the 125 passengers and crew.

● 1965 - British police to be issued with tear gas; Britain's police are to be armed with tear gas guns and grenades for use against dangerous criminals.

● 1967 - 10,000 demonstrate against war in Vietnam

● 1967 - BBC bans Beatle's "A Day in the Life" (drug references) {The reference to counting all the "holes" that would fit in the Albert Hall gives some weight to this action as well.}

● 1969 - U.S. troops make their 11th assault in 10 days on "Hamburger Hill," finally capturing it in one of the Vietnam War's bloodiest battles. The mountain proved of little strategic value, and was abandoned eight days later.

● 1970 - 100,000 march in New York supporting US policies in Vietnam

● 1970 - 2 die in a NYC subway accident

● 1971 - Pentagon reports blacks constitute 11% of US soldiers in SE Asia

● 1971 - Delegation of U.S. pacifists travels to Cuba to exchange children's art.

● 1972 - Twenty-one thousand acres in Gifford Pinchot National Forest returned to Yakama tribe.

● 1972 - Republic of Cameroon declared as constitution is ratified

● 1973 - Royal Navy moves to protect trawlers; Britain sends in Royal Navy ships to protect fishing boats in the disputed Icelandic 50-mile zone.

● 1974 - Soyuz 14 returns to Earth

● 1974 - England - Pat Arrowsmith jailed for 1 1/2 years for leafleting soldiers about Northern Ireland.

● 1976 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR

● 1978 - 3 PFLP members kill a cop near El Al airlines in Orly Airport, Paris France

● 1978 - US launches Pioneer Venus 1; produces 1st global radar map of Venus

● 1980 - The submarine Nautilus was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

● 1980 - 710 families in Love Canal area (Niagara Falls NY) are evacuated

● 1980 - Fire in nursing home in Kingston Jamaica, kills 157

● 1980 - In a Referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.

● 1983 - Car bomb in South Africa kills 16; At least 16 people are killed and more than 130 injured when a car bomb explodes in the centre of Pretoria in South Africa.

● 1983 - First publications of the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo individually.

● 1985 - FBI arrests John A Walker Jr, convicted of spying for USSR

● 1985 - Israel exchanges 1150 Lebanese/Palestinian prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers

● 1985 - US began broadcasts to Cuba on Radio Marti

● 1989 - Comedian Gilda Radner died of cancer at age 42.

● 1989 - Walter McConnel, 57, is oldest to reach 27,000' Mount Everest top

● 1989 - The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.

● 1990 - The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.

● 1990 - Hubble Space Telescope sends 1st photographs from space

● 1991 - Soviet parliament approves law allowing citizens to travel abroad

● 1992 - India launches its 1st satellite independently

● 1993 - 10 meter meteor comes within 150,000 km of Earth (1993KA)

● 1993 - Ukraine Premier Leonid Koetsjma resigns

● 1995 - President Bill Clinton announced that the two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House would be permanently closed to traffic as a security measure.

● 1995 - In a second Referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a slight majority the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.

● 1996 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.

● 1997 - About 50 activists occupy and prematurely harvest a trial field of genetically engineered maize (corn), ruining the test. Schonfeld, Germany.

● 1997 - Cosmos Zenit-2 Launch (Russia), Failed

● 1997 - Thor-2A Delta 2 Launch (Norway/USA), Successful

● 1998 - Largest anti-Suharto protest, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

● 1999 - At Heritage High School in Conyers, GA, a 15-year-old student shot and injured six students. He then surrendered to an assistant principal at the school.

● 2000 - Blairs' delight at birth of fourth child; The British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie celebrate the birth of their fourth child, Leo.

● 2002 - After 27 years of struggle against a brutal and genocidal Indonesian invasion, East Timor triumphantly celebrates its Independence Day. The U.S. Congress and Bush Administration move quickly to try to reinstate military aid to Indonesia, even though the country never brought to justice or challenged the behavior of any of the military leaders that perpetrated the genocide.

● 2003 - The United States banned beef imports from Canada after a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Canada's cattle country.

● 2004 - Iraqi police backed by American soldiers raided the home and offices of Ahmad Chalabi, a prominent Iraqi politician once groomed as a possible replacement for Saddam Hussein.

BIRTHS

● 1315 - Bonne of Luxembourg, wife of John II of France (d. 1349)

● 1470 - Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)

● 1554 - Paolo Bellasio, Italian composer (d. 1594)

● 1593 - Salomo Glassius, German theologian (d. 1656)

● 1660 - Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor (d. 1714)

● 1663 - William Bradford, British-born printer (d. 1752)

● 1706 - Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)

● 1726 - Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)

● 1737 - William Petty Fitzmaurice, British statesman (d. 1805)

● 1759 - William Thornton, West Indian-born architect (d. 1828)

● 1768 - Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States (d. 1849)

● 1769 - Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)

● 1772 - Sir William Congreve, English inventor (d. 1828)

● 1799 - Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)

● 1806 - John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (d. 1873)

● 1818 - William Fargo, co-founder of Wells, Fargo & Company (d. 1881)

● 1822 - Frédéric Passy, French economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1912)

● 1830 - Hector Malot, French writer (d. 1907)

● 1838 - Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)

● 1851 - Emil Berliner, German-born recording pioneer (d. 1929)

● 1860 - Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1917)

● 1872 - Madeline Breckinridge, American social reformer (d. 1920)

● 1882 - Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author, Nobel laureate (d. 1949)

● 1883 - King Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)

● 1886 - John Jacob Astor, English journalist and chief proprietor of The London Times (1922-66) (d. 1971)

● 1891 - Earl Browder, American Communist Party leader (1930-44) (d. 1973)

● 1894 - Adela Rogers Saint Johns, American journalist, novelist and screenwriter (d. 1988)

● 1894 - Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian Hindu sage, Jivanmukta (d. 1994)

● 1895 - R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer (d. 1937)

● 1897 - Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (d. 1983)

● 1899 - John Marshall Harlan, American Supreme Court justice (1955-71) (d. 1971)

● 1899 - Alexander Deyneka, Ukrainian painter (d. 1969)

● 1901 - Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)

● 1906 - Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1989)

● 1908 - James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)

● 1909 - Matt Busby, Scottish football manager (d. 1994)

● 1911 - Gardner Fox, American writer (d. 1986)

● 1913 - William Hewlett, American engineer (d. 2001)

● 1914 - Corneliu Coposu, Romanian politician (d. 1995)

● 1915 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (d. 1981)

● 1916 - Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete

● 1916 - Alexei Petrovich Maresiev, Russian flying ace (d. 2001)

● 1917 - Guy Favreau, French Canadian lawyer (d. 1967)

● 1917 - Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)

● 1918 - Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)

● 1919 - George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)

● 1920 - Betty Driver, English singer and actress

● 1921 - Wolfgang Borchert, German writer (d. 1947)

● 1921 - Hal Newhouser, American baseball player (d. 1998)

● 1926 - Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)

● 1926 - John Lucarotti, TV writer (d. 1994)

● 1927 - Bud Grant, American football coach and Hall of Fame member

● 1927 - Franciszek Macharski, Polish Cardinal

● 1928 - Jack Kevorkian, Suicide doctor

● 1930 - James McEachin, Actor

● 1931 - Ken Boyer, American baseball player (d. 1982)

● 1935 - Marinella, Greek singer

● 1936 - Anthony Zerbe, American actor

● 1940 - Stan Mikita, Slovak-born ice hockey player

● 1940 - Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player

● 1941 - Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean Senior Minister

● 1941 - John Strasberg, American actor

● 1941 - Manuel Isaias Lopez, Mexican child psychiatrist

● 1942 - David Proval, Actor

● 1942 - Carlos Hathcock, American Marine sniper (d. 1999)

● 1942 - Jill Jackson, American singer

● 1943 - Shorty Long, American musician (d. 1969)

● 1943 - Al Bano, Italian singer

● 1944 - Joe Cocker, British singer

● 1944 - Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer

● 1944 - Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman

● 1946 - Cher, American singer

● 1947 - Greg Dyke, British broadcast executive

● 1949 - Dave Thomas, Canadian comedian & actor (SCTV)

● 1951 - Michael Crapo, U.S. senator, R-Idaho

● 1952 - Warren Cann, Rock musician

● 1952 - Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer

● 1953 - Robert Doyle, Australian politician

● 1955 - Zbigniew Preisner, Polish film composer

● 1956 - Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author

● 1956 - Dean Butler, American actor

● 1958 - Ron Reagan, American talk show host

● 1958 - Jane Wiedlin, American singer (The Go-Go's)

● 1959 - Susan Cowsill, Singer

● 1959 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, American singer

● 1959 - Bronson Pinchot, American actor

● 1960 - John Billingsley, American actor ("Enterprise")

● 1960 - Chuck Brodsky, American musician

● 1960 - Tony Goldwyn, American actor

● 1961 - Clive Allen, English footballer

● 1961 - Nick Heyward, Rock singer (Haircut 100)

● 1962 - Mike Jeffries, American soccer coach

● 1963 - David Wells, American baseball player

● 1963 - David Wells (medium), Scottish medium

● 1963 - Karl Beattie, English television director and producer

● 1965 - Ted Allen, American television host ("Queer Eye for the Straight Guy")

● 1966 - Tom Gorman, Rock musician (Belly)

● 1966 - Mindy Cohn, American actress ("The Facts of Life")

● 1968 - Timothy Olyphant, American actor ("Deadwood")

● 1968 - Waisale Serevi, Fijian rugby union and Rugby sevens legend

● 1970 - Brian Gerard James, American professional wrestler

● 1970 - Louis Theroux, British television presenter

● 1971 - Tony Stewart, American race car driver

● 1971 - Šárka Kašpárková, Czech athlete

● 1972 - Tina Hobley, British television actress

● 1972 - Busta Rhymes, American singer and rapper

● 1975 - Isaac Gálvez, Spanish cyclist (d. 2006)

● 1975 - Mark Zupan, American quadriplegic rugby player

● 1976 - Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player

● 1977 - Matt Czuchry, American actor ("The Gilmore Girls")

● 1977 - Angela Goethals, Actress

● 1977 - Leonardo Noeren Franco, Argentine footballer

● 1977 - Miriam Parrish, American television actress

● 1977 - Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player

● 1981 - Íker Casillas, Spanish footballer

● 1981 - Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player

● 1982 - Petr Čech, Czech footballer

● 1982 - Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer

● 1982 - Kasey James, American professional wrestler

● 1983 - Jr NTR, Indian film actor

● 1984 - Naturi Naughton, R&B singer

● 2000 - Leo Blair, Youngest son of the Prime Minister of England

DEATHS

● 685 - King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)

● 1277 - Pope John XXI (b. 1215)

● 1285 - John II of Jerusalem, King of Cyprus (b. 1259)

● 1444 - Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (b. 1380)

● 1503 - Lorenzo de Medici, Italian patron (b. 1463)

● 1506 - Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (b. 1451)

● 1550 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)

● 1622 - Osman II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1604)

● 1648 - King Wladislaus IV of Poland (b. 1595)

● 1677 - George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (b. 1612)

● 1713 - Thomas Sprat, English writer (b. 1635)

● 1717 - John Trevor, British statesman (b. 1637)

● 1722 - Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (b. 1669)

● 1732 - Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (b. 1676)

● 1782 - William Emerson, British mathematician (b. 1701)

● 1793 - Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist (b. 1720)

● 1825 - Papaflessas, Greek priest and government official (b. 1788)

● 1834 - Gilbert du Motier, French statesman (b. 1757)

● 1841 - Joseph Blanco White, British theologian (b. 1775)

● 1873 - Sir George-Étienne Cartier, French-Canadian statesman (b. 1814)

● 1896 - Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)

● 1909 - Ernest Hogan, blackface comedian and musician (b. 1859)

● 1917 - Philipp von Ferrary, Italian philatelist (b. 1850)

● 1917 - Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)

● 1940 - Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1859)

● 1946 - Jacob Ellehammer, Danish inventor (b. 1871)

● 1947 - Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1862)

● 1949 - Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)

● 1956 - Max Beerbohm, English theater critic (b. 1872)

● 1971 - Waldo Williams, Welsh poet (b. 1904)

● 1975 - Barbara Hepworth, British sculptor (b. 1903)

● 1978 - Bjarne Brustad, Norwegian composer (b. 1895)

● 1989 - John Hicks, English economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1904)

● 1989 - Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)

● 1996 - Jon Pertwee, British actor (b. 1919)

● 2000 - Jean Pierre Rampal, French flutist (b. 1922)

● 2000 - Malik Sealy, American basketball player (b. 1970)

● 2001 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician (b. 1920)

● 2002 - Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)

● 2005 - Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (b. 1913)

● 2005 - William Seawell, United States Army Brigadier General (b. 1918)

● 2006 - Cherd Songsri, Thai film director

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Anastasius XIII
● St. Aquila
● St. Austregisilus
● St. Basilissa
● St. Basilla
● St. Baudelius
● St. Bernardine of Siena
● St. Ethelbert
● St. Hilary
● St. Ivo of Chartres
● St. Lucifer
● St. Plautilla
● St. Thalelaeus
● St. Theodore of Pavia

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for May 7 (Civil Date: May 20)
● Commemoration of the Apparition of the Sign of the Precious Cross over Jerusalem in 351 A.D.
● Martyr Acacius the centurion at Byzantium.
● Repose of of St. Nilus, abbot of Sora.
● St. John of Zaden in Georgia, and 12 disciples: Sts. Shio, David, Anthony, Thaddeus, Stephen, Isidore, Michael, Pyrrhus, Zeno, Jesse, Joseph, and Abibus.
● New-Martyr Pachomius of Patmos.
● Opening of the Relics of St. Nilus the Myrrh-gusher of Mt. Athos.
● "Zhirovits" Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
● Repose of Hieromonk Eulogius of Valaam (1969).

● Anglican:
● Alcuin, deacon & abbot of Tours

● East Timor National Day.

● Bulgaria : Botev Day

● Cambodia : Martyrs Day (1979)

● Cameroon : Constitution Day (1972)

● Cuba-1902, Saudi Arabia-1927 : Independence Day

● Massachusetts : Lafayette Day (1834-anniversary of his death)

● North Carolina : Mecklenburg Day (1775)

● Zaïre : Revolution Day

● These Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
● Canada : Victoria Day (1819) - ( Monday )
● US : Armed Forces Day - ( Saturday )


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Quotes of the Day taken from The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left Is Right Compiled by William P. Martin ©2004

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