[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 23rd

1059
Henri I crowns his son compassionate King Philip I of France

1275
King Edward I of England orders cessation of persecution of French Jews

1420
Jews of Syria & Austria expelled

1421
Jews of Austria imprisoned & expelled

1430
Joan of Arc captured by Burgundians at Compiegne, who sell her to the British

1493
King Charles VIII & Maximilian I of Austria signs Peace of Senlis

1533
King Henry VIII & Catherine of Aragon marriage declared null & void

1536
Pope Paul III installs Portugese inquisition

1544
German emperor Charles V recognizes king Christian III of Denmark

1555
Giampietro Caraffa elected Pope Paul IV

1568
Battle at Heiligerlee: Dutch rebels beat Spanish, 100s killed

1576
Tycho Brahe given Hveen Island to build Uraniborg Observatory

1611
Matthias von Habsburg chosen king of Bohemia

1618
2nd Defenestration of Prague; the beginning of the 30 Years War

1647
Willem II sworn in as viceroy of Holland

1701
Captain Kidd hung in London after conviction of piracy & murder

1706
Battle of Ramillies-Marlborough defeats French; 17,000 killed

1774
Chestertown tea party occurs (tea dumped into Chester River)

1785
Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals

1788
South Carolina becomes 8th state to ratify US constitution

1862
Battle at Front Royal VA

1862
Valley Campaign-Stonewall Jackson takes Front Royal VA

1864
Battle of Dallas GA

1865
Flag flown at full staff over White House, 1st time since Lincoln shot

1873
Canada's North West Mounted Police Force (RCMPF) forms

1873
Postal cards sold in San Fransisco for 1st time

1887
1st transcontinental train arrives in Vancouver British Columbia

1894
William Love hosts ground breaking ceremonies for Love Canal

1901
Ottawa Mint Act receives Royal Assent

1903
1st direct primary election law in US adopted, by Wisconsin

1908
Dirigible explodes over San Fransisco Bay, 16 passengers fall, none die


1911
New York Public Library building at 5th Avenue dedicated by President Taft

1915
Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary & Germany during WWI

1922
Walt Disney incorporates his 1st film company Laugh-O-Gram Films

1923
Launch of Belgium's SABENA airline.

1934
Wallace Carothers manufactures 1st nylon (polymeer 66)

1935
1st scheduled night game, postponed due to rain (Cincinnati)

1939
British parliament plans to make Palestine independent by 1949

1943
826 Allied bombers attack Dortmund

1944
British/Canadian troops occupy Pontecorvo Italy

1945
Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi leader & Chief of Police, committed suicide

1945
Winston Churchill resigns as British PM

1953
Schools 1st use Cliff's Notes

1956
Presbyterian Church begins accepting women ministers

1956
World Trade Center dedicated in Ferry Building, San Fransisco

1960
Israel announced capture of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Argentina

1966
The Beatles release "Paperback Writer"

1969
BBC orders 13 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus and Rock band The Who release Tommy, the first rock opera.

1969
The Who release the rock opera "Tommy"

1970
Grateful Dead's 1st perfomance outside of the US (England)

1977
Moluccan extremists hold 105 schoolchildren & 50 others hostage on a hijacked train in Netherlands, children released May 27, siege ends June 11

1978
General strike in Peru

1979
Rocker Tom Petty files chapter 11 bankruptcy

1981
Barcelona fascists take 200 people hostage

1982
Colin Wilson rides a surfboard 294 miles

1988
Maryland stops sale of cheap pistols on Jan 1, 1990

1990
Cost of rescuing savings & loan failures is put at up to $130 billion

1994
Star Trek The Next Generation, finale airs this week in syndication

1995
In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, what remains of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is imploded.

2003
25-year-old Nepalese Sherpa, Pemba Dorjie Sherpa, makes the fastest-ever ascent of Mount Everest, in 12 hours 45 minutes. This is broken by his rival Sherpa Lakpa Gelu only three days later.

2004
Part of Paris Charles De Gaulle International Airport Terminal 2E collapses, killing five people and injuring three others.