Legs presents ~ On This Day

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 6th


1527
Mercenaries sack the city of Rome, an event considered by many to mark the end of the Renaissance.

1856
Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis was born in Freiberg, Moravia.

1895
Rudolph Valentino, Italian-born American silent screen actor was born in Apulia, Italy.

1915
Orson Welles,the American motion-picture actor, director, producer and writer who combined his talents in the highly regarded movie "Citizen Kane," was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin

1937
The German airship Hindenburg blew up and burst into flames at Lakehurst, N.J.

1945
Bob Seger, was born in Dearborn MI

1960
Britain's Princess Margaret married Anthony Armstrong Jones, a commoner, at Westminster Abbey.

1987
Disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker is formally defrocked by the Assemblies of God.

1994
The Chunnel between England and France officially opened.


(This thread will be updated daily, feel free to add more events of the Day)

[Ymir's blood]

1861 - Arkansas secedes from the United States.
1862 - Henry David Thoreau died.
1877 - Crazy Horse of the Sioux surrenders.
1919 - L. Frank Baum died.
1992 - Marlene Dietrich died.

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 7th


558
In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders the dome rebuilt.

1429
Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning wounded to lead the final charge. The victory marks a turning point in the Hundred Years' War.

1824
Beethoven's 9th (Chorale) Symphony, premieres in Vienna

1913
British House of Commons rejects woman's right to vote

1915
The oceanliner Lusitania is torpedoed by German submarine U-20 off the coast of Ireland. The ship goes under in just 18 minutes. In their panic, the crew only manages to launch 6 of the 48 lifeboats. As a result 1,201 are killed.

1945
German admiral Carl Doenitz unconditionally surrenders to Allied forces at Reims, France, thus ending the war in Europe.

1984
$180 million out-of-court settlement reached in Agent Orange suit

1987
Diane Chambers' (Shelley Long) final episode on Cheers

1992
Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its maiden voyage.

2006
Rolling Stone Magazine publishes its 1000th cover issue.

[Dingfod]

May 7th

1789 - The first U.S. Presidential Inaugural Ball was held in New York City.


1954 - French Colonial Forces surrendered to the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu after 55 days of fighting.

1975 - U.S. President Ford declared an end to the Vietnam War.

[Legs]

Originally Posted by Dingfod

The first U.S. Presidential Inaugural Ball was held in New York City.

I think scarletpeaches attended that

[Dingfod]

That's funny, I didn't see her there.

[Legs]

She had the billowing baly

Originally Posted by Dingfod

That's funny, I didn't see her there.

Sure you did, I've got pics to prove it

[Ymir's blood]

Gabby Hayes was born in 1885. He was a character actor who played sidekick to many cinematic western heroes.

In 1896,H. H. Holmes, one of the first recorded American serial killers was executed. The hangman botched the job and Holmes was strangled instead of dying of a broken neck. Probably a fitting end for a monster.

Actor Gary Cooper was born in 1901. Starred in many good films, including one of my favorites, High Noon and Sergeant York.

Writer Angela Carter was born in 1940.

Porn star Traci Lords was born on this day in 1968. Interestingly enough, Wikipedia also lists today as National Masturbation Day

In 2000, actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. died of a heart attack. Two of his movies that I really like are Sinbad the Sailor and The Prisoner Of Zenda

[Legs]

Originally Posted by Ymir's blood

Wikipedia also lists today as National Masturbation Day

No wonder the forum is so quiet.

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 8th

0535
John II ends his reign as Catholic Pope

0615
St Boniface IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope

1429
French troops under Joan of Arc rescues Orléans

0685
St Benedict II ends his reign as Catholic Pope

1541
Hernando de Soto discovers Mississippi River

1794
US Post Office established

1866
Australian Rules Football is created

1902
Mt. Peleé erupts on the West Indies island of Martinique. A wall of superheated ash and rock cascades down the slopes, slamming directly into the community of Saint Pierre. Only two of the town's 28,000 residents survive.

1971
Joe Frazier beats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden

1999
Actress Dana Plato, who played Kimberly Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes, dies in Oklahoma of an overdose of Valium.

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 9th

1386
Treaty of Windsor between Portugal-England

1502
Columbus departed Spain on his 4th & final trip to New World

1689
English King William III declares war on France

1740
Italian composer, Giovanni Paisiello was born (Barber of Seville)

1868
The city of Reno, Nevada, is founded.

1874
Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who discovered the Egyptian tomb of King Tutankhamen, was born.

1882
Telegraph Hill RR Company organized

1896
1st horseless carriage show in London (featured 10 models)

1914
President Wilson proclaims Mother's Day

1918
American journalist Mike Wallace, is born

1932
Piccadilly Circus, 1st lit by electricity

1946
American actress Candice Bergen, is born

1955
Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.

1960
The Food and Drug Administration approved use of a birth control pill.

1965
Beatles attend a Bob Dylan concert

1970
100,000s demonstrate against Vietnam War

1978
The body of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro is found, riddled by bullets, in the back of a car in the center of historic Rome.

1979
US & USSR sign Salt 2 treaty, limiting nuclear weapons

1979
Northwestern University student John Harris opens a cigar box left sitting on a table in the Technological Institute. The resulting blast only manages to inflict minor lacerations and burns. It is later determined to be the second explosive device fabricated by the Unabomber.

1993
Pope John Paul II retracts the Catholic Church's condemnation of astronomer Galileo Galilei, issued in 1633 by Pope Urban VIII. The Church had convicted the scientist of heresy, sentenced him to house arrest, and forced him to recant central scientific truths.

1994
Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.

2004
Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov and 23 other people were killed when a bomb destroyed the VIP section at a stadium during a Victory Day celebration

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 10th

1267
Vienna's church orders all Jews to wear a distinctive garb

1497
Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for 1st voyage to New World

1503
Columbus discovers Cayman Islands

1752
Benjamin Franklins 1st tests the lightning rod

1838
John Wilkes Booth assassin of Abraham Lincoln was born

1879
Meteor falls near Estherville IA

1924
J. Edgar Hoover selected to head the Bureau of Investigation, later known as the FBI.

1929
Fats Domino was born

1930
1st US planetarium opens (Adler-Chicago)

1933
Joseph Goebbels presides over a public book burning in Berlin, which destroys more than 20,000 volumes. The collection includes books by Einstein and Freud.

1941
Adolf Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland

1948
Winston Churchill visits The Hague

1960
Bono was born [Paul Hauson]

1977
Joan Crawford succumbs to stomach cancer at the age of 73.

1986
"Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco hit #1 on UK pop chart

1994
Former building contractor, children's party clown, and jailhouse artist John Wayne Gacy is executed by lethal injection.

[SharonDee]

Originally Posted by Legs

1960
Bono was born [Paul Hauson]

Bono is older than me? Cool.

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by Legs

"Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco hit #1 on UK pop chart

That's some good rockin' right there.

[Legs]

I was thinking that when I posted. "ooooooh ~rock me Amadeus"

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 11th

1310
54 members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake in France for being heretics.

1502
Columbus begins 4th & last trip to "Indies"

1534
Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland.

1674
Netherlands & Cologne sign peace treaty

1742
Francesco Stradivari (Italian violin maker), dies at 70

1792
Columbia River discovered & named by US Captain Robert Gray


1811
Chang & Eng Bunker (Chinese Siamese twins) were born

1824
National Gallery in London opens to the public.

1850
Work starts on 1st brick building in San Fransisco

1863
Stonewall Jackson, American Confederate general dies

1899
Fred Astaire, American singer, dancer, and actor was born

1904
Salvador Dali Figueras Spain, was born

1910
Montana's Glacier National Park forms

1929
1st regularly scheduled TV broadcasts (3 nights per week)

1940
Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

1947
BF Goodrich manufactures 1st tubeless tire, Akron OH

1949
Siam renames itself Thailand

1953
Tornado kills 114 in Waco TX ($39 million damage)

1959
Elvis Presley's 1st entry on UK charts with "Heartbreak Hotel"

1960
John D Rockefeller Jr (philanthropist), dies at 86

1963
Racial bomb attacks in Birmingham AL

1965
Ellis Island added to Statue of Liberty National monument

1968
Richard Harris releases "MacArthur Park"

1969
Monty Python comedy troupe forms

1974
Steely Dan releases "Rikki Don't Lose that Number"

1981
Bob Marley reggae singer, dies of brain & lung cancer at 36

1985
Madonna's "Crazy For You" single goes #1

1996
Valujet DC-9 crashes in Miami, 109 die

2002
FBI agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.

2005
A hand grenade allegedly thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 100 feet from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate.

19??
pepperspray was born

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 12th

254
St Stephan I replaces Lucius I as Catholic Pope

912
Leo VI Sophos Byzantine Emperor, Died

1401
Emperor Shoko of Japan was born

1777
1st ice cream advertisement (Philip Lenzi-New York Gazette)

1792
Toilet that flushes itself at regular intervals is patented

1820
Florence Nightingale was born

1870
The Manitoba Act was given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province.

1885
Battle of Batoche, French Canadians rebel against Canada

1907
Katharine Hepburn was born

1932
Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, NJ

1937
George Carlin was born

1942
Nazi U-boat sinks American cargo ship at mouth of Mississippi River

1943
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in US

1959
Liz Taylor's 4th marriage (Eddie Fisher)

1962
Douglas MacArthur delivers his famous "Duty, Honor, Country" valedictory speech at West Point.

1963
Vanessa Williams was born
Bob Dylan walks off Ed Sullivan Show

1967
At Queen Elizabeth Hall, England, Pink Floyd stages the first-ever quadraphonic rock concert.

1970
Ernie Banks hits his 500th home run

1971
Rolling Stone Mick Jagger weds Bianca Macias at St Tropez

1980
1st nonstop crossing of US via balloon

1982
In Fatima Portugal, a Spanish priest with a bayonet is stopped prior to his attempt to attack Pope John Paul II

1984
South Africa prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife for 1st time in 22 years

1990
Nora Dunn & Sinead O'Connor boycott Saturday Night Live to protest Andrew "Dice" Clay's hosting

1992
Robert Reed, (Mr. Brady), Died

1993
Last broadcast of "Cheers" on NBC-TV
Last broadcast of "Knots Landing" on CBS

1997
Russia & Chechnya sign peace deal after 400 years of conflict

2000
The Tate Modern art gallery opens in London.

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 13th

535
St Agapitus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

609
Pope Boniface I turns Pantheon into Catholic church

1568
Mary Queen of Scots is defeated by English

1767
Mozart's opera "Apollo et Hyacinthus" premieres in Salzburg

1787
Arthur Phillip sets sails with 11 ships of criminals to Botany Bay

1792
Pope Pius IX was born

1846
Mexican-American War: The United States declares war on Mexico.

1888
Brazil abolishes slavery

1917
1st appearance of Mary to 3 shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal

1918
1st US airmail stamps issued (24¢)

1923
Beatrice Arthur, (Golden Girl) was born

1931
Jim Jones reverend, (poisoned over 900 in Guyana) was born

1934
Great dustbowl storm

1937
Madeleine Albright, 64th American Secretary of State

1940
Churchill says I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears & sweat

1943
German & Italian forces in Africa surrender

1950
Peter Gabriel London England, rocker & Stevie Wonder singer/songwriter were born

1958
Rioters attack US Vice President Nixon in Venezuala

1965
Rolling Stones record "Satisfaction"

1970
Beatles movie "Let it Be" premieres

1977
Howard Stern begins broadcasting at WRNW, Briarcliff Manor NY

1981
Pope John Paul II shot, wounded by assailant in St Peter's Square

1989
Approximately 2,000 students begin hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, China

1991
South African activist Winnie Mandela convicted of abducting 4 blacks

1992
3 astronauts simultaneous walked in space for the 1st time

1993
CBS' Knots Landing ends 14 year run with 334th show in Netherlands

1995
6.5 earthquake hits Greece

[D. Scarlatti]

Dylan didn't exactly walk off the show itself, he left during rehearsals when the network censor told him he couldn't play Talkin' John Birch Society Blues.

Now Eisenhower, he's a Russian spy,
Lincoln and Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy.
To my knowledge there's just one man
That's really and truly an American:
That's George Lincoln Rockwell.
I know for a fact he hates Commies 'cause he picketed the movie Exodus.

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 14th

649
Theodore I ends his reign as Catholic Pope

964
Pope John XII dies of injuries inflicted eight days prior by a jealous husband who caught him in flagrante delicto with his wife.

1004
Henry II the Saint crowned as king of Italy

1027
Robert II, the Vrome, names son Henry I, king of France

1264
Baron's War fought in England

1483
Coronation of Charles VIII of France

1607
Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony.

1610
Fanatical monk François Ravaillac jumps aboard the coach of King Henry IV and stabs him twice through the open window.

1767
British government disbands Americans import duty on tea

1787
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to meet to write a new Constitution for the United States.

1796
Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination.

1804
The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois and begin their historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.

1853
Gail Borden applies for patent for condensed milk

1861
The Canellas meteorite, an 859-gram chondrite-type meteorite strikes the earth near Barcelona, Spain.

1900
The 1900 Summer Olympics open in Paris.

1940
World War II: The Netherlands surrender to Germany.

1961
American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston,

1973
Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.

1976
Keith Relf, former vocalist of the Yardbirds, is electrocuted in his London home while either tuning or playing a guitar belonging to either him or his son, in either the basement or the bathtub.

1987
Rita Hayworth, American actress

1989
Final TV episode of "Family Ties" airs

1998
Frank Sinatra dies of a heart attack shortly after the airing of the final Seinfeld episode.

2003
Robert Stack dies

2005
Pope Benedict XVI observes his first beatification, elevating Blessed Marianne of Molokai on the road to canonization into sainthood

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 15th

392
Valentinianus II emperor of Rome, dies

756
Abd-al-Rahman I becomes emir of Cordova Spain

884
Marinus I [Martinus II] Pope, dies

1004
Henry II the Saint crowned king of Italy

1252
Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which authorizes the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.

1525
German boer army surrounded/slaughters 5,000; ends Boer war

1536
Anna Boleyn & Lord Rochford accused of adultery/incest

1567
Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell

1602
Cape Cod discovered by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold

1672
1st copyright law enacted by Massachusetts

1718
James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents world's 1st machine gun

1756
The Seven Years' War begins when England declares war on France.

1785
Karel Blazej Kopriva composer, dies at 29

1896
Tornado kills 78 in Texas

1821
John Wall Calcott composer, dies at 54

1822
Christian Ludwig Dieter composer, dies at 64

1823
Antonio Frantisek Becvarovsky composer, dies at 69

1824
Alexander Campbell composer, dies at 60

1832
Carl Friedrich Zelter composer, dies at 73

1858
Royal Italian Opera opens in Covent Garden London

1886
Emily Dickinson US poet, dies at 55

1902
Lyman Gilmore is 1st person to fly a powered craft

1905
Las Vegas NV founded

1918
1st regular airmail service (between New York, Philadelphia & Washington DC) inaugurated

1919
The Winnipeg General Strike began. By 11:00, virtually the entire working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job.

1926
British general strike ends, but mine workers go on strike

1930
Ellen Church becomes 1st airline stewardess, United (San Fransisco to Cheyenne)

1933
1st voice amplification system to be used in US Senate

1934
Department of Justice offers $25,000 reward for Dillinger, dead or alive

1940
Nylon stockings go on sale for 1st time (US)

1940
Winston Churchill flies to Paris France

1941
Nazi occupiers in Netherlands forbid Jewish music

1943
Halifax bombers sinks U-463

1944
14,000 Jews of Munkacs Hungary deported to Auschwitz

1951
AT&T becomes 1st corporation to have one million stockholders

1957
18,000 people at Madison Square Garden-Billy Graham launched a crusade

1958
USSR launches Sputnik III

1960
Sputnik IV launched into Earth orbit; later recovery failed

1960
Taxes took 25% of earnings in US

1963
Peter, Paul & Mary win their 1st Grammy (If I Had a Hammer)

1965
Canadian Football Players Association organizes

1967
Paul McCartney meets his future wife Linda Eastman

1968
Paul McCartney & John Lennon appear on Johnny Carson Show to promote Apple records, Joe Garagiola is the substitute host

1970
Beatles' last LP, "Let It Be" is released in US
Elizabeth Hoisington & Anna Mae Mays named 1st female US generals

1972
Hoping to gain everlasting infamy, Arthur Bremer pumps five bullets into Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace during a campaign stop in Laurel, Maryland.

1976
"Fonz Song" by Heyettes hits #91

1981
"Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" airs

1990
Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million, the most expensive painting at the time.

1991
President Bush takes Queen Elizabeth to Oakland A's-Baltimore Oriole game

1997
ABC News & Starwave Corp launch ABCNEWS.com

2003
June Carter Cash, American musician and singer, dies

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 16th

955
Alberich II, illegitimate son of Octavianus elected pope

1527
Florence becomes a republic

1568
Mary Queen of Scotland flees to England

1605
Paul V becomes Pope.

1747
Prince Willem V sworn in as Admiral-General of Netherlands

1763
Samuel Johnson meets his future biographer James Boswell in London

1770
Marie Antoinette (14) marries future King Louis XVI (15) of France

1792
Denmark abolishes slave trade

1817
Mississippi River steamboat service begins

1866
Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer

1872
Metropolitan Gas Company lamps lit for 1st time

1874
1st recorded dam disaster in US (Williamsburg MA)

1891
George A Hormel & Company introduce Spam

1894
Fire in Boston destroys baseball stadium & 170 other buildings

1901
Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of the Priory School"

1920
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) canonized a saint in Rome

1922
White Star Line Majestic completes 5½ day maiden voyage

1929
1st Academy Awards

1936
1st British air hostess (Daphne Kearley) flight to France

1939
Food stamps are 1st issued

1941
Last great German air attack on Great Britain (Birmingham)

1943
German troops destroy synagogue of Warsaw

1944
1st of 180,000+ Hungarian Jews reach Auschwitz

1948
Egyptians enter the Gaza

1952
Pierce Brosnan: actor, born

1955
Olga Korbut: gymnast, born

1960
Big 4 summit in Paris collapses as USSR levels spy charges against US

1965
Spaghetti-O's 1st sold

1967
Philadelphia voters approve a $13 million bond issue to build a new stadium

1971
1st class postage now costs 8¢ (was 6¢)

1975
Muhammad Ali TKOs Ron Lyle in 11 for heavyweight boxing title

1977
5 die as New York Airway helicopter topples on the Pan Am Building in NYC

1977
Muhammad Ali beats Alfredo Evangelist in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

1981
"Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes hits #1 for next 9 weeks

1985
Pope John Paul II arrives in Belgium

1986
"Top Gun" premieres

1986
Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) comes back from dead on Dallas

1988
US Supreme Court rules trash may be searched without a warrant

1990
Jim Henson muppeteer & Sammy Davis Jr entertainer, die

1991
Queen Elizabeth becomes 1st British monarch to address US congress

1993
Judd Nelson pleads no contest to kicking Kim Evans in the head

1994
Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Orlando FL on WTKS 104.1 FM

1994
Jacqueline Onassis admitted to the hospital for cancer treatment

2003
In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.

[Leesifer]

1986
Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) comes back from dead on Dallas

1986?, 1986?

I feel so old.

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 17th

218
7th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet

352
Liberius begins his reign as Catholic Pope replacing Julius I

884
St Adrian III begins his reign as Catholic Pope

1444
Sandro Botticelli Italian painter (Birth of Venus)

1536
Anne Boleyn's 4 "lovers" executed

1590
Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.

1620
1st merry-go-round seen at a fair (Philippapolis, Turkey)

1630
Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi, 1st to see 2 belts on Jupiter surface

1672
Frontenac becomes Governor of New France (Canada)

1733
England passes Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum & molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions

1727
Catherine I Empress of Russia, dies

1744
French army takes Austrian Netherlands

1804
Lewis & Clark begin exploration of the Louisiana Purchase

1845
Rubber band patents

1846
Saxophone is patents by Antoine Joseph Sax

1849
Fire destroy Centrum in St Louis MO

1875
1st Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis aboard Aristides wins in 2:37.75

1881
Revised version of New Testament

1883
Buffalo Bill Cody's 1st wild west show premieres in Omaha

1884
Alaska becomes a US territory

1899
Victoria & Albert Museum foundation laid England

1910
Canada sets the designs for the 1¢-50¢ coins

1916
British Summer Time (Daylight Savings), 1st introduced

1920
1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij)

1928
9th modern Olympic games open in Amsterdam

1940
Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium & begins invasion of France

1948
Soviet Union recognized Israel

1961
Castro offers to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers

1967
Dylan's 1965 UK Tour is released as the film "Don't Look Back"

1968
European Space Research Organization launches 1st satellite

1969
Russian probe Venera 6 landed on Venus

1970
Hank Aaron becomes 9th player to get 3,000 hits

1971
Washington State bans sex discrimination

1973
Stevie Wonder releases "You are the Sunshine of my Life"

1975
Mick Jagger punches a restaurant window, gets 20 stitches

1975
NBC paid $5 million for rights to show "Gone with the Wind" one time

1980
Kumar Anandan sets record of balancing on 1 foot for 33 hours

1983
Israel & Lebanon sign a peace treaty

1987
USS Stark hit by Iraqi missiles, 37 sailors die

1989
Nelson Mandela receives a BA degree from University of South Africa

1990
Cheers' star Kelsey Grammer sentenced to jail for 30 days for DWI

1992
Lawrence Welk Dies

1993
Intel's new Pentium processor is unveiled

1995
After 18 years as the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac takes office as President of France.

2004
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts.

[Legs]

On this Day ~ May 18th

0526
St John I ends his reign as Catholic Pope

1096
Crusaders massacre Jews of Worm

1631
English colony Massachusetts Bay grants puritarian voting right

1631
John Winthrop is elected 1st governor of Massachusetts

1642
Montréal Canada founded

1703
Dutch & English troops occupy Cologne

1756
England declares war on France

1765
Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec.

1803
Britain declares war on France after General Napoleon Bonaparte continues interfering in Italy & Switzerland

1804
Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France

1851
Amsterdam-Nieuwediep telegraph connection linked

1852
Massachusetts rules all school-age children must attend school

1860
Republican Party nominates Abraham Lincoln for president

1896
US Supreme court affirms "separate but equal" policy (Plessy v Ferguson)

1910
Passage of Earth through tail of Halley's Comet causes near-panic

1918
TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale PA kills 200

1927
Ritz Hotel opens in Boston

1934
Congress approves "Lindbergh Act", makes kidnapping a capital offense

1934
TWA begins commercial service

1940
German troops conquer Brussels

1944
Polish 2nd Army corps captures convent of Monte Cassino Italy

1951
UN moves HQ to NYC

1953
1st woman to break the sound barrier (Jacqueline Cochrane, USA)

1965
Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names including Kirk for Star Trek Captain

1967
Silver hits record $1.60 an ounce in London

1971
President Nixon rejects the 60 demands of Congressional Black Caucus

1972
John Sebastian makes 63 consecutive free throws while blindfolded

1974
"The Streak" by Ray Stevens hits #1

1978
Italy legalizes abortion

1980
Mount St Helens blows its top in Washington State, 60 die

1985
"One Night In Bangkok" by Murray Head hits #3

1990
"Return To Green Acres" TV movie airs

1994
Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip

1995
Alain Juppé becomes Prime Minister of France.

1998
United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft.

2004
Randy Johnson throws the 17th perfect game in Major League Baseball history and became the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game.