This day in History

[Babba_not_Gump]

Today in history is thanks to National Post.
May 10.

1534. French explorer Jacques Cartier landed in Newfoundland, leading to all the French place names in the province that don't sound French at all anymore, e.g. Petit harbour → Petty Harbour. 

1915. Canadian physician Cluny MacPherson presented his gas mask invention to the British War Office. That came in handy. 

1965. Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista was born.

1970. Canadian hockey legend Bobby Orr scored his iconic Stanley Cup-winning overtime goal, as he flies through the air. 

[Lady tehMa]

[Babba_not_Gump]

May 14.

1796. English country doctor Edward Jenner administers his revolutionary cowpox-based vaccine for smallpox.

1878. Vaseline is granted a patent.

1941. 3,600 Parisian Jews arrested by the Nazis.

1948.  Israel declares independence from British administration.

[Babba_not_Gump]

May 15.

1817. First private mental health hospital opens in the US, "Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason". (that seems like a reasonable name.)

1862. May Laws: Russian Tsar Alexander III bans Jews from living in rural Romania.

1862. Major General Benjamin Butler issues order (New Orleans) that Confederate women abusing Union soldiers be treated as *bleep*.

1940. In San Bernadino, California, brothers Maurice (“Mac”) and Richard McDonald opened a drive-in restaurant that gave rise to the fast-food chain McDonald's.

1948. Troops from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel

[The Green Barbarian]

1928 - Mickey Mouse makes his debut in the cartoon "Plane Crazy" produced by Walt Disney and his partner Ub Iwerks.



Minnie Mouse was also first introduced as well.

[Babba_not_Gump]

May 16.

1571. German astronomer Johannes Kepler, by his own calculations, is conceived at 4:37 AM. (No, I'll pass.)

1792. Denmark abolishes slave trade.

1876. Pharmacist Charles E. Hires presents "Hires Root Beer" at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1888. CPR opens Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia.

1918. The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by Congress, making criticism of the government an imprisonable offence. (Shh)

1924 108°F (42°C) in Blitzen, Oregon.

1943. SS General Jürgen Stroop orders the burning of the Warsaw Ghetto, ending a month of Jewish resistance. 13,000 Jews have died, about half burnt alive or suffocated, German casualties less than 300.

1948. Chaim Weizmann elected 1st President of Israel.

[Babba_not_Gump]

May 17.
1948. Soviet Union recognizes Israel.

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

1964. NHL player Tim Horton opens his first coffee and donut shop opens in Hamilton, Ontario.

[Babba_not_Gump]

March 18.
1190. Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St Edmunds, England.

1882. Morgan Earp is assassinated by outlaws while playing billiards in Tombstone.

1892. Lord Stanley presents silver challenge cup for hockey (Stanley Cup).

1945. Montreal Canadien Maurice "Rocket" Richard becomes the 1st NHLer to score 50 goals.

1965.  Rolling Stones fined £5 each for public urination.

[Catsumi]

How did you manage to overlook this event??

Eruption of Mount St. Helens
On this day in 1980, following an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter scale, Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted in one of the greatest volcanic explosions ever recorded in North America.

[GordonH]

How did you manage to overlook this event??

Eruption of Mount St. Helens
On this day in 1980, following an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter scale, Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted in one of the greatest volcanic explosions ever recorded in North America.

I remember sky was this usual grey plus ash was falling everywhere (this was in the Shuswap).

[Catsumi]

How did you manage to overlook this event??

I remember sky was this usual grey plus ash was falling everywhere (this was in the Shuswap).

Up north in Pr Rupert area on a roadtrip at the time of St Helen’s blowing its top. Heard no news of same, but when I arrived back at Kamloops home found drifts of gray pumice-like ash everywhere. I picked up my coiled garden hose and a perfect imprint of it was left on the sidewalk.

In retrospect, I was glad to be further away from the eruption.

That was May 18, 1980. Seems like last year now.

[Babba_not_Gump]

How did you manage to overlook this event??

Eruption of Mount St. Helens
On this day in 1980, following an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter scale, Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted in one of the greatest volcanic explosions ever recorded in North America.

I had two very memorable events for the 20th century. Which one would you suggest I drop?
And as I recall, May 18, 1980 was a very stressful day for me. One I would rather forget.

[Babba_not_Gump]

May 19.
1536.  Anne Boleyn—the second wife of King Henry VIII of England and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I—was beheaded for adultery.

1780. About midday, near-total darkness descends on New England, now known to be caused by forest fires in Canada.

1943. Berlin is declared "Judenrien" (free of Jews).

1962. Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to JFK before 15,000 attendees.

[Catsumi]

Here’s Marilyn belting it out like no one else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ7E1fzQzd8

[Babba_not_Gump]

May 20.
1310. Shoes were made for both right & left feet.

1639. Dorchester Massachusetts forms 1st school funded by local taxes.

1873. Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent the first blue jeans with copper rivets.

1899. First speeding infraction by a New York cabbie driving an electric car - 12mph down Lexington Street.