May  

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1006 -- Supernova observed by Chinese & Egyptians in constellation Lupus.
1171 -- Dermot MacMurrough last Irish king of Leinster, dies.
1707 -- England, Wales & Scotland form UK of Great Britain.
1751 -- First American cricket match was played.
1769 -- Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington, British PM (C) (1828-30), born.
1786 -- Mozart's opera "Marriage of Figaro" premiers in Wien (Vienna).
1839 -- Chardonnet, France inventor (rayon), born.
1840 -- First adhesive postage stamps ("Penny Blacks" from England) issued.
1889 -- First International Workers Day, according to the 2nd International.
1913 -- Walter Susskind, Praha (Prague) Czechoslovakia, conductor, born.
1927 -- Harry Belafonte calypso singer (The Banana Boat Song), born.
1932 -- Paul Doumer Pres of France, assassinated by Russia's Paul Gargalov.
1934 -- Philippine legislature accepts US proposal for independence.
1939 -- Batman Comics hit the street.
1939 -- Judy Collins, singer (Send in the Clowns, Clouds), born.
1941 -- "Citizen Kane," directed & starring Orson Welles, premiers in NY.
1946 -- Joanna Lumley, Kashmir India, actress (Absolutely Fabulous, The Avengers), born.
1954 -- Ray Parker Jr. rocker (Ghostbusters theme), born.
1959 -- Oscar Torp, Norwegian premier, dies.
1960 -- Russia shoots down Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane over Sverdlovsk.
1961 -- Fidel Castro announces there will be no more elections in Cuba.
1961 -- Tanganyika granted full internal self-government by Britain.
1963 -- Indonesia takes control of Irian Jaya (west New Guinea) from Netherlands.
1964 -- First BASIC program run on a computer (Dartmouth).
1967 -- Priscilla & Elvis Presley wed.
1979 -- Elton John becomes 1st pop star to perform in Israel.
1979 -- Home rule introduced to Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland).
1979 -- Marshall Islands (in the Pacific) become self-governing.
1989 -- 135 acre Disney's MGM studio officially opens to the public.

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1519 -- Leonardo da Vinci artist/scientist, dies at 67.
1660 -- Alessandro Scarlatti, Palermo Italy, composer (Tigrane), born.
1668 -- Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ends War of Devolution.
1729 -- Catherine II (the Great) empress of Russia (1762-96), born.
1776 -- France & Spain agree to donate arms to American rebels.
1780 -- William Herschel discovers 1st binary star, Xi Ursae Majoris.
1808 -- Uprising against French occupation begins in Madrid.
1810 -- Leo XIII, 257th Roman Catholic pope (1878-1903), born.
1840 -- Theodor Herzl, founded Zionist movement, born.
1885 -- Congo Free State established by King Leopold II of Belgium.
1892 -- Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen [the Red Baron], German WW I ace, born.
1903 -- Benjamin Spock, pediatrician/author (Common Sense Book of Baby Care), born.
1904 -- Bing Crosby (claimed this to be his birthdate: True Date May 3, 1903), crooner/actor (Going My Way), born.
1935 -- Faisal II, King of Iraq, born.
1945 -- Russia takes Berlin.
1946 -- Prisoners revolt at Alcatraz, 5 die.
1952 -- 1st commercial jet plane, BOAC Comet.
1956 -- US Lab detects high-temperature microwave radiation from Venus.
1957 -- Joseph McCarthy commie hunting senator, dies at 47.
1964 -- Beatles' Second album goes #1 & stays #1 for for 5 weeks.
1975 -- Apple records closes down (Beatles first record company).
1979 -- "Quadrophenia" premieres in London.
1979 -- Vivekananda (Sri Lanka) begins nonstop ride, cycling 187 hrs, 28 min., around Vihara Maha Devi Park, Columbia, Sri Lanka.
1980 -- Joseph Doherty & 3 other IRA men arrested for murder.
1990 -- David Rappaport 3'11' actor (wizard), shoots himself at 38.

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1830 -- First regular steam train passenger service starts. 
1874 -- Francois Coty, perfume maker, born 
1898 -- Golda Meir, Israeli leader, born 
1933 -- James Brown, singer of "I Feel Good . . . HEH!" fame, born. 
1947 -- Frankie Valli, seasonal singer, born 
1952 -- First landing by an airplane at geographic North Pole.

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 4th

1493 -- Alexander VI divides non-Christian world between Spain & Portugal.
1626 -- Indians sell Manhattan Island for $24 in cloth & buttons.
1715 -- French manufacturer debuts 1st folding umbrella (Paris).
1825 -- Thomas Henry Huxley scientist/humanist/Darwinist, born.
1858 -- War of the Reform (Mexico); Liberals establish capital at Vera Cruz.
1886 -- Haymarket riot in Chicago; bomb kills 7 policemen.
1891 -- Sherlock Holmes "dies" at Reichenbach Falls.
1918 -- Kakuei Tanaka Japanese PM convicted of bribe-taking, born.
1927 -- Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences forms.
1929 -- Audrey Hepburn, Brussels, Belgium (Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady), born.
1938 -- Douglas Hyde (a protestant) becomes 1st president of Eire.
1958 -- Keith Haring Kutztown Pa, graffiti artist (Vanity Fair, Paris Review), born.
1959 -- Randy Travis country singer (Always & Forever), born.
1970 -- 4 students at Kent State University killed by Ohio National Guard during anti-war protest.
1976 -- Kiss performs their 1st concert.
1979 -- Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister of England.
1990 -- Angela Bowie reveals that ex husband David slept with Mick Jagger.
1990 -- Latvia's parliament votes 138-0 (1 abstention) for Independence.
1991 -- President Bush is hospitalized for erratic heartbeat.

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In 553 -- Second Council of Constantinople (5th ecumenical council) opens.
In 1705 -- Leopold I Emperor of Holy Roman Empire, dies at 64.
In 1813 -- Síren Kierkegaard Denmark, philosopher, founded Existentialism, born.
In 1818 -- Karl Marx philosopher (Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital), born.
In 1867 -- Battle of Puebla; Mexicans defeat Maximilian's forces (Cinco de Mayo).
In 1891 -- Carnegie Hall opens in NYC with Tchaikovsky as guest conductor.
In 1900 -- Spencer Tracy actor (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), born.
In 1908 -- Rex Harrison England, actor (My Fair Lady, Cleopatra), born.
In 1912 -- Fifth modern Olympic games opens in Stockholm.
In 1913 -- Tyrone Power actor (Mark of Zorro, Alexander's Ragtime Band), born.
In 1925 -- John T Scopes arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee.
In 1930 -- First woman to fly solo from England to Australia takes-off (Amy Johnson).
In 1943 -- Michael Palin comedian (Monty Python, Fish Called Wanda), born.
In 1945 -- Netherlands & Denmark liberated from Nazi control.
In 1965 First large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam.
In 1981 -- Bobby Sands IRA activists dies in his 66th day of his hunger strike.
In 1990 -- Paul Hogan & Linda Koslowski wed in Byron Bay, Eastern Australia.
In 2000 -- Conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & Moon

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In 1527 -- Sack of Rome - End of the Renaissance.
In 1626 -- Peter Minuet purchases Manhattan Island for $24.
In 1818 -- Karl Marx, author of the Communist Manifesto, born
In 1851 -- Patent granted to Dr. John Farrie for a "refrigeration machine".
In 1856 -- Sigmund Freud, cigar smoker, psychiatrist, born
In 1895 -- Rudolph Valentino, silent film star, sheik
In 1915 -- T. H. White, writer, born
In 1915 -- Orson Welles, actor (Citizen Kane), director, genius, born
In 1937 -- The dirigible Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, NJ.
In 1954 -- Roger Bannister breaks the 4 min mile in 3:59:4
In 1985 -- Seventeenth Space Shuttle Mission - Challenger 7 returns to Earth.

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 7th

In 1812 -- Robert Browning, poet, born.
In 1824 -- Beethoven's Ninth Symphony presented for first time.
In 1833 -- Johannes Brahms, composer, born.
In 1840 -- Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, composer, born.
In 1901 -- Gary Cooper, actor (High Noon, The Plainsman), born.
In 1909 -- Edwin Land, founded instant photography (Polaroid), born.
In 1919 -- Eva Peron, Argentine first lady, born
In 1945 -- World War II ends in Europe. Nazis surrender to General Eisenhower at Reims, France.
In 1968 -- Traci Lords, actress, born.

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In 535 -- John II ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 615 -- St Boniface IV ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 685 -- St Benedict II ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 1450 -- Jack Cade's Rebellion-Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI.
In 1541 -- Hernando de Soto discovers Mississippi River.
In 1737 -- Edward Gibbon England, historian (Decline & Fall of Roman Empire), born.
In 1753 -- Miguel Hidalgo father of Mexican independence, born.
In 1824 -- William Walker filibuster, president of Nicaragua (1856-57), born.
In 1828 -- Jean Henri Dunant Switzerland, founded Red Cross, YMCA (Nobel 1901), born.
In 1866 -- Australian Rules Football is created.
In 1884 -- Harry S Truman Missouri, 33rd US President (D) (1945-1953), born.
In 1886 -- Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invents Coca Cola.
In 1895 -- China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki.
In 1926 -- Richard F Attenborough environmentalist/zoologist/filmmaker (BBC), born.
In 1930 -- Gary Snyder beat poet (Rip Rap & Cold Mountain Poems), born.
In 1944 -- Gary Glitter [Paul Gadd] England, rocker (Rock & Roll Part II), born.
In 1945 -- Nazi General Von Keitel surrenders to Russian Marshal Zhukov near Berlin.
In 1945 -- V-E Day; Germany signs unconditional surrender, WW II ends in Europe.
In 1970 -- Beatles release "Let it Be" album.
In 1984 -- USSR announces it will not participate in LA Summer Olympics.
In 1988 -- Robert A Heinlein sci-fi writer, dies of heart failure at 80.

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In 1502 -- Columbus left Spain on his 4th and final trip to the New World.
In 1860 -- James M. Barrie (in Scotland), Author (Peter Pan)
In 1873 -- Howard Carter, Egyptologist who found King Tutankhamen
In 1936 -- Albert Finney, actor (Oliver, The Twelve Chairs)
In 1936 -- Italy annexed Ethiopia.
In 1945 -- Czechoslovak National Day.
In 1946 -- Candice Bergen (in Beverly Hills), actor (Murphy Brown)
In 1949 -- Billy Joel (in the Bronx, NY), singer, piano man
In 1950 -- EEC Anniversary.
1974 In -- House Judiciary Committee begin formal hearings on Nixon impeachment.
 
In 1838 -- John Wilkes Booth assassin of Abraham Lincoln, born.
In 1850 -- Sir Thomas Lipton tea magnate (Lipton Tea), born.
In 1863 -- Gen Stonewall Jackson dies from wounds received at Chancellorsville.
In 1872 -- Victoria Woodhull becomes 1st woman nominated for US president.
In 1879 -- Meteor falls near Estherville, Iowa.
In 1899 -- Fred Astaire Omaha Neb, tap dancer/actor (Easter Parade, Swingtime), born.
In 1902 -- David O Selznick Pittsburgh Pa, producer (Gone With the Wind), born.
In 1908 -- First Mother's Day held (Philadelphia).
In 1910 -- Halley's closest approach to Earth.
In 1910 -- William Huggins discoverer of stellar nature of Andromeda, dies.
In 1940 -- Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British PM.
In 1941 -- England's House of Commons destroyed in a blitz.
In 1943 -- Donovan (Leitch) Scotland, rock singer (Mellow Yellow), born.
In 1955 -- Mark David Chapman assassin of John Lennon, born.
In 1957 -- Sid Vicious [John Beverly], bassist (Sex Pistols), born.
In 1960 -- Bono, aka Paul Hauson, rocker (U2), born.
In 1963 -- Decca signs the Rolling Stones on advice of Beatle George Harrison.
In 1986 -- Tommy Lee drummer of Motley Crue marries Heather Locklear.

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In 330 -- Constantinople (later Istanbul) founded.
In 1812 -- Waltz introduced into English ballrooms. Most observers consider it disgusting & immoral. No wonder it caught on!
In 1888 -- Irving Berlin [Isadore Balin], Temun, Russia, composer (White Xmas), born.
In 1892 -- Dame Margaret Rutherford, England, actress (Murder Most Foul), born.
In 1904 -- Salvador Dali, Spain, surrealist artist (Crucifixion), born.
In 1916 -- Einstein's Theory of General Relativity presented.
In 1917 -- Britain grants Royal Letters Patent to New Zealand.
In 1924 -- Jackie Milburn, English soccer star (Newcastle United).
In 1927 -- Mort Sahl comedian/political satirist/beatnik (Big Party).
In 1941 -- Eric Burdon, rocker (Animals-House of the Rising Sun).
In 1947 -- Laos accepts constitution for parliamentary democracy.
In 1949 -- By a vote of 37-12, Israel becomes 59th member of UN.
In 1949 -- Siam renames itself Thailand.
In 1951 -- Jay Forrester patents computer core memory.
In 1959 -- Elvis Presley's 1st entry on UK charts with "Heartbreak Hotel".
In 1960 -- Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires.
In 1960 -- John D Rockefeller, Jr. philanthropist, dies at 86.
In 1981 -- Bob Marley reggae singer, dies at 36 of brain & lung cancer.
In 1962 -- Emilio Estevez actor (Breakfast Club, Young Guns).
In 1965 -- Bangladesh windstorm kills 17,000.
In 1975 -- Israel signs an agreement with European Economic Market.
In 1977 -- Ted Turner manages an Atlanta Braves game.

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In 254 -- St Stephen I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 1812 -- Edward Lear England, landscape painter, writer of nonsense verse, born.
In 1820 -- Florence Nightingale Florence, Italy, nurse (Crimean War), born.
In 1881 -- Treaty of Bardo, Tunisia becomes a French protectorate.
In 1929 -- Burt Bacharach composer (I'll Never Fall in Love Again), born.
In 1936 -- George VI's coronation in Great Britain.
In 1937 -- Beryl Burton UK, won record (7) women's cycling titles, born.
In 1940 -- Nazi blitz conquest of France began by crossing Muese River.
In 1943 -- Axis forces in North Africa surrender.
In 1948 -- Steve Winwood England, rocker (A Higher Love), born.
In 1949 -- West begins Berlin Airlift to get supplies around Soviet blockade.
In 1950 -- Shozo Fujii judo champion, born.
In 1960 -- Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra TV special.
In 1962 -- Emilio Estevez actor (Young Guns), born.
In 1963 -- Bob Dylan walks off Ed Sullivan Show.
In 1965 -- Israel & West Germany exchange letters beginning diplomatic relations.
In 1972 -- Paul McCartney & Wings release "Mary Had a Little Lamb".
In 1977 -- First quadraphonic concert (Pink Floyd in London).
In 1982 -- In Fatima Portugal, a Spanish priest with a bayonet is stopped prior to his attempt to attack Pope John Paul II.
In 1984 -- South African prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife for 1st time in 22 years.
In 1990 -- Nora Dunn & Sinead O'Connor boycott Saturday Night Live to protest Andrew "Dice" Clay's hosting.

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In 535 -- St Agapitus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 1655 -- Innocent XIII, 244th Roman Catholic pope (1721-24), born.
In 1717 -- Empress Maria Theresa, Austria (Wife of Napoleon), born.
In 1842 -- Sir Arthur Sullivan, London, England, of Gilbert & Sullivan fame, born.
In 1856 -- Peter Henry Emerson, 1st to promote photography as an independent art, born.
In 1888 -- Brazil abolishes slavery.
In 1907 -- Daphne du Maurier novelist (Rebecca, The Parasites), born.
In 1912 -- Royal Flying Corps established in England.
In 1913 -- First four engine aircraft built & flown (Igor Sikorsky-Russia).
In 1931 -- Jim Jones, reverend, poisoned several hundred of his followers in Guyana, born.
In 1940 -- Churchill says "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears & sweat".
In 1941 -- Ritchie Valens, singer (Donna, La Bamba), born.
In 1950 -- Peter Gabriel, rocker (Genesis-Against All Odds), born.
In 1950 -- Diner's Club issues its 1st credit cards.
In 1950 -- Stevie Wonder, singer/songwriter (You are The Sunshine of My Love), born.
In 1961 -- Gary Cooper, 2 time Academy award winning actor, dies at 60.
In 1965 -- Rolling Stones record "Satisfaction".
In 1966 -- Rolling Stones release "Paint It Black".
In 1970 -- Beatles movie "Let It Be" premiers.
In 1981 -- Pope John Paul II shot, wounded by assailant in St Peter's Square.
In 1988 -- Chet Baker jazz trumpeter fell to death out of a hotel window at 59.
In 1989 -- Approximately 2,000 students begin hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, China.

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In 1004 -- Henry II the Saint crowned as king of Italy
In 1027 -- Robert II, the Vrome, names son Henry I, King of France
In 1264 -- Baron's War fought in England
In 1264 -- Battle at Lewes: Simon van Leicester beats English king Henry III
In 1590 -- Battle at Ivry: French King Henri IV beats Catholic League
In 1607 -- First permanent English settlement in New World, Jamestown, VA
In 1643 -- Louis XIV becomes King of France
In 1702 -- England & Netherlands declares war on France & Spain
In 1702 -- Swedish troops under King Charles XII occupy Warsaw
In 1767 -- British government disbands Americans import duty on tea
In 1787 -- Delegates gather in Philadelphia to draw up US Constitution
In 1796 -- First smallpox inoculation administered, by Edward Jenner
In 1804 -- Lewis & Clark set out from St Louis for Pacific Coast
In 1874 -- First admission charge at a football game, Harvard beats McGill 3-0
In 1894 -- Fire in Boston bleachers spreads to 170 adjoining buildings
In 1896 -- Lowest US temperature in May recorded (-10řF-Climax, Colorado)
In 1904 -- First Olympics in US are held at St Louis, MO. 
In 1906 -- Flagpole at the White Sox ballpark breaks during pennant-raising
In 1908 -- First passenger flight in an airplane
In 1921 -- Florence Allen is 1st woman judge to sentence a man to death
In 1921 -- Mussolini's fascists obtains 29 parliament seats
In 1935 -- Plebiscite in Philippines ratifies independence agreement
In 1940 -- Nazi bombs Rotterdam (600-900 dead), Netherlands surrender to Germany
In 1941 -- 3,600 Parisian Jews arrested
In 1942 -- US Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) forms
In 1944 -- Gen Rommel, Speidel & von Stalpnagel attempt to assassinate Hitler
In 1945 -- Kamikaze-Zero strikes US aircraft carrier Enterprise
In 1945 -- US offensive on Okinawa, Sugar Loaf conquered
In 1946 -- Paul Hindemith's "For Those We Love," premieres
In 1948 -- Israel declares independence from under British administration
In 1948 -- US grants Israel de facto recognition
In 1948 -- US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
In 1949 -- Truman signs bill establishing a rocket test range at Cape Canaveral
In 1960 -- USSR launch 1st (unmanned) space capsule
In 1961 -- Bus with 1st group of Freedom Riders bombed & burned in Alabama
In 1963 -- Kuwait is 111th member of the United Nations
In 1973 -- Skylab launched, 1st Space Station
In 1973 -- US Supreme court approves equal rights to females in military
In 1986 -- Institute for War documents publishes Anne Franks complete diary
In 1989 -- Demonstration for democratic reforms in Beijing's Tiananmen square
In 1995 -- Dalai Lama proclaims 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima 11th
In 1998 -- Last episode of Seinfeld on NBC (commercials are $2M for 30 seconds)

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In 1602 -- Cape Cod was discovered by the English navigator Batholomew Gosnold.
In 1753 -- Whitsunday Term Day.
In 1886 -- American poet Emily Dickinson died.
In 1918 -- US Airmail begins between Wash DC, Philadelphia and New York.
In 1919 -- Wladziu Valentino Liberace, pianist, born
In 1930 -- A United Air Lines flight from Oakland, CA to Cheyenne, WY carried the first airline "air hostess" (stewardess) -- Ellen Church.
In 1934 -- US Dept of Justice offers $25,000 reward for Dillinger, dead or alive.
In 1936 -- Paul Zindel, playwright, born
In 1940 -- Nylon stockings on sale for the first time in the United States.
In 1948 -- Brian Eno, singer, songwriter, born
In 1955 -- Lee Horsley, actor, born
In 1958 -- The Soviet Union launched Sputnik III.

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In 1770 -- Marie Antoinette married the future King Louis XVI of France.
In 1801 -- William H. Seward, who bought Alaska at $0.02/acre, born.
In 1905 -- Henry Fonda (in Grand Island, Nebraska), actor, born.
In 1920 -- Joan of Arc was canonized in Rome.
In 1929 -- First Academy Awards were given out. 'Wings' won best picture. Best Actor went to Emil Jennings; Best Actress, Janet Gaynor.
In 1952 -- Pierce Brosnan (in Israel), actor (current James Bond), born.
In 1955 -- Debra Winger (in Columbus, Ohio), actor, born.
In 1955 -- Olga Korbut (in Russia), gymnast, born.
In 1966 -- Janet Jackson, singer, Michael's sister, born.
In 1969 -- Venera 5, Venus landing. First successful landing on another planet.
In 1970 -- Gabriela Sabatini, tennis professional, born.
In 1975 -- Japanese Junko Tabei became first woman to reach Mt Everest's summit.
In 1990 -- Sammy Davis, Jr., "The Complete Entertainer", dies of throat cancer.
In 1990 -- Later that day, Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, dies from pneumonia and complications.

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In 218 -- Seventh recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
In 352 -- Liberius begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 884 -- St Adrian III begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 1444 -- Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (Birth of Venus), born.
In 1620 -- First merry-go-round seen at a fair (Philippapolis, Turkey).
In 1630 -- Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi, 1st to see 2 belts on Jupiter surface.
In 1672 -- Frontenac becomes governor of New France (Canada).
In 1749 -- Edward Jenner England, physician, started vaccination, born.
In 1809 -- Papal States annexed by France.
In 1814 -- Denmark cedes Norway to Sweden (Norwegian National Day). Norwegian constitution passed by assembly at Eidsvoll.
In 1836 -- Joseph Norman Lockyer discovered Helium/founded Nature magazine, born.
In 1900 -- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Iran's spiritual leader, born.
In 1928 -- Ninth modern Olympic games opens in Amsterdam.
In 1936 -- Dennis Hopper actor (True Grit, Blue Velvet, Easy Rider), born.
In 1940 -- Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium and begins invasion of France.
In 1942 -- Taj Mahal NYC, singer/songwriter (The Real Thing), born.
In 1950 -- Christian Lacroix, French couturier, born.
In 1956 -- "Sugar" Ray Leonard welter/middle/light-heavyweight boxing champion, born.
In 1963 -- Brigitte Nielsen actress (Red Sonja, Rocky IV, Domino), born.
In 1970 -- Thor Heyerdahl crosses the Atlantic on reed raft 'Ra'.
In 1975 -- 10cc releases I'm Not in Love.
In 1983 -- Israel and Lebanon sign a peace treaty.
In 1989 -- Nelson Mandela receives a BA from University of South Africa.

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In 526 -- St John I ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 1804 -- Napoleon became Emperor of France.
In 1830 -- Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower.
In 1868 -- Nicholas II last Russian tsar (1894-1917), born.
In 1872 -- Bertrand Russell England, mathematician/philosopher (Nobel 1950), born.
In 1897 -- Frank Capra movie director (Its a Wonderful Life, Arsenic and Old Lace), born.
In 1900 -- Britain proclaims protectorate over kingdom of Tonga.
In 1910 -- Passage of Earth through tail of Halley's Comet causes near-panic.
In 1912 -- Perry Como singer/TV (Perry Como Show, What did Delaware?), born.
In 1918 -- Pope John Paul II 264th Roman Catholic pope (1978- ), born.
In 1919 -- Dame Margot Fonteyn England, ballerina (partner of Nureyev), born.
In 1960 -- Yannick Noah France, tennis player (French 1983), born.
In 1965 -- Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names including Kirk for Star Trek Captain.
In 1980 -- Ian Curtis musician (Joy Division), dies.
In 1980 -- Mount St Helens blows its top in Washington State.

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In 715 -- St Gregory II begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 1536 -- Anne Boleyn wife of Henry VIII, beheaded.
In 1588 -- Spanish Armada sets sail for Lisbon, bound to England.
In 1611 -- Innocent XI 240th Roman Catholic pope (1676-89), born.
In 1780 -- About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England to this day it's cause is still unexplained.
In 1890 -- Ho Chi Minh trail blazer/leader of Vietnam (1946, 1969), born.
In 1925 -- Malcolm X Omaha NB, assassinated leader of Black Muslims, born.
In 1928 -- "Firedamp" explodes in Mather, PA coal mine killing 195 of 273 miners.
In 1935 -- T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia) dies in a motorcycle crash.
In 1945 -- Peter Townsend singer (Who-Tommy), born.
In 1964 -- US diplomats find at least 40 hidden microphones in the Moscow embassy.
In 1966 -- Tortoise reportedly given to Tonga's king by Capt. Cook (1773), dies.
In 1971 -- Ogden Nash poet/TV panelist (Masquerade Party), dies at 68.
In 1971 -- USSR launches Mars 2, first spacecraft to crash land on Mars.
In 1976 -- Gold ownership legalized in Australia.
In 1979 -- Guitarist Eric Clapton marries Patti Boyd.
In 1983 -- NASA launches Intelsat V.
In 2161 -- Syzygy: 8 of 9 planets aligned on same side of sun.

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In 526 -- Earthquake kills 250,000 in Antioch, Syria.
In 1506 -- Christopher Columbus explorer, dies in poverty in Spain at 55.
In 1690 -- England passes Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II.
In 1799 -- Honore de Balzac France, novelist (Pere Goriot), born.
In 1806 -- John Stuart Mill philosopher/political economist/Utilitarian, born.
In 1874 -- Levi Strauss markets blue jeans with copper rivets, price $13.50 doz.
In 1900 -- Second modern Olympic games opens in Paris (lasted 5 months).
In 1908 -- Jimmy Stewart, actor (Mr. Smith Goes to Wash, Wonderful Life), born.
In 1915 -- Moshe Dayan Israeli general/politician, born.
In 1926 -- Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies.
In 1927 -- Great Britain via treaty grants Saudi Arabia's kingdom independence.
In 1944 -- Joe Cocker England, rock musician (You can leave your hat on), born.
In 1946 -- Cher, rocker/actress (I got you babe, Jack Lalane, Mask), born.
In 1956 -- Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane-Bikini Atoll.
In 1967 -- BBC bans Beatle's A Day in the Life (drug references).
In 1970 -- The Beatles' Let it Be movie premiers in UK.
In 1972 -- Republic of Cameroon declared as constitution is ratified.
In 1979 -- First western pop star to tour the USSR-Elton John.
In 1985 -- FBI arrests John A Walker, Jr., convicted of spying for USSR.
In 1989 -- China declares martial law in Beijing.
In 1989 -- Gilda Radner comedienne (SNL), dies at 42 of cancer.

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In 427 B.C. -- Plato (Aristocles), philosopher/writer, Athens, born.
In 1471 -- Albrecht Dürer Nörnberg Germany, Renaissance painter/print maker, born.
In 1527 -- Philip II king of Spain (1556-98) and Portugal (1580-98), born.
In 1688 -- Alexander Pope England, poet, born.
In 1904 -- Fats Waller jazz pianist, composer (Ain't Misbehavin'), born.
In 1904 -- Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Soccer's World governing body forms.
In 1927 -- Lindbergh lands in Paris, after 1st solo air crossing of Atlantic.
In 1948 -- Leo Sayer [Gerard], England, singer (When I Need Love), born.
In 1952 -- Mr T [Lawrence Tero], Chicago, actor, (A-Team, Rocky III, T and T), born.
In 1980 -- Empire Strikes Back premieres.
In 1983 -- David Bowie's Let's Dance single goes #1.
In 1991 -- Rajiv Gandhi Indian Prime Minster, assassinated.

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In 760 -- Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
In 1807 -- Townsend Speakman first sells fruit-flavored carbonated drinks (Philadelphia).
In 1813 -- Richard Wagner Leipsig Germany, composer (Ring, Flying Dutchman, Ride of the Valkries), born.
In 1858 -- Confederacion Granadina (now Colombia) forms.
In 1859 -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle UK, brought Sherlock Holmes to life twice, born.
In 1868 -- Great Train Robbery; 7 men make off with $98,000 in cash.
In 1924 -- Charles Aznavour Paris France, singer (Monsieur Carnavel), born.
In 1939 -- Hitler and Mussolini sign "Pact of Steel".
In 1959 -- Morrissey, (Steven Patrick) British rocker (The Smiths and solo artist), born.
In 1965 -- Beatles' Ticket to Ride, single goes #1.
In 1967 -- Egyptian president Nassar closes Straits of Tiran to Israel.
In 1972 -- Ceylon becomes Republic of Sri Lanka as its constitution is ratified.
In 1977 -- Final European scheduled run of the Orient Express (94 years).
In 1990 -- Rocky Graziano boxer, dies at 71, of heart failure.

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In 1430 -- Joan of Arc captured by Burgundians who sold her to the English.
In 1533 -- King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon marriage declared null and void by the newly formed Church of England.
In 1701 -- Captain Kidd is hanged in London after convicted of piracy and murder.
In 1883 -- Douglas Fairbanks, first and greatest of Hollywood's swashbucklers, born
In 1873 -- Canada's North West Mounted Police force (The Mounties) first established.
In 1915 -- Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary in World War I.
In 1933 -- Joan Collins (in London), actor, born
In 1934 -- Bonnie and Clyde shot in Louisiana ambush.
In 1937 -- Industrialist John D. Rockefeller died in Ormond Beach, FL.
In 1945 -- Nazi Himmler committed suicide while in prison at Lunenburg, Germany.
In 1949 -- West Germany was proclaimed.
In 1952 -- 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler (in New Jersey), boxer, born
In 1960 -- Israel announced capture of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

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In 1686 -- Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, invented the thermometer, born.
In 1743 -- Jean-Paul Marat, philosopher, born.
In 1819 -- Queen Victoria, British ruler, born.
In 1844 -- Samuel F. B. Morse taps out "What Hath God Wrought".
In 1899 -- The first auto repair shop opens in Boston, MA.
In 1941 -- Robert Zimmerman (a.k.a. Bob Dylan) (in Minnesota), folk singer, born.
In 1944 -- Patti Labelle, singer, born.
In 1945 -- Priscilla Presley, actor, wife of Elvis, born.
In 1954 -- First rocket to exceed 150 mile altitude - White Sands, NM.
In 1959 -- First house with built-in bomb shelter exhibited, Pleasant Hills, Pa.
In 1962 -- M. Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 is launched.
In 1964 -- Beatles' third appearance on Ed Sullivan.
In 1975 -- Soyuz 18B is launched.

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In 585 B.C. -- First known prediction of a solar eclipse.
In 1085 -- St Gregory VII, pope (1073-85), dies (birth date unknown).
In 1085 -- Alfonso VI of Castile captured Toledo, Spain, and brought the Moorish center of science into Christian hands.
In 1803 -- Ralph Waldo Emerson US, essayist/philosopher, born.
In 1810 -- Argentina declares independence from Napoleonic Spain (Natl. Day).
In 1878 -- Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, actor (Stormy Weather, Little Colonel), born.
In 1889 -- Igor Sikorsky developed a working helicopter, born.
In 1911 -- Revolution in Mexico overthrows President Diaz.
In 1914 -- British House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule.
In 1926 -- Miles Davis trumpeter; pioneered cool jazz (Porgy and Bess), born.
In 1927 -- Robert Ludlum spy novelist (Bourne Identity), born.
In 1927 -- Henry Ford stops producing Model T car (begins Model A).
In 1935 -- Jesse Owens equals or breaks 6 world records in one hour.
In 1941 -- Five thousand drown in a storm at Ganges Delta region in India.
In 1943 -- Sally Jesse Raphael TV talk show host (Sally), born.
In 1944 -- Frank Oz Heresford England, puppeteer (Sesame St, Muppet Show), born.
In 1945 -- Arthur C. Clarke proposes relay satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
In 1946 -- Jordan gains independence from Britain (Natl. Day).
In 1958 -- Paul Weller guitar (Jam-This is the Modern World, Style Council), born.
In 1967 -- John Lennon takes delivery of his psychedelic painted Rolls Royce.
In 1978 -- Star Wars released.
In 1983 -- Return of the Jedi (Star Wars 3) released.

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In 1328 William of Ockham forced to flee from Avignon by Pope John XXII.
In 1667 -- Abraham De Moivre French mathematician (De Moivre's theorem), born.
In 1799 -- Alexander S Pushkin Russia, writer (Eugene Onegin), born.
In 1886 -- Al Jolson jazz singer/silent film actor (Mamie, Swanee), born.
In 1896 -- Last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, crowned.
In 1907 -- John Wayne "Duke", [Marion Michael Morrison] actor (True Grit), born.
In 1913 -- Peter Cushing England, actor (Hound of the Baskervilles), born.
In 1918 -- Georgian Social Democratic Republic declared independence from Russia.
In 1923 -- First Le Mans Grand Prix d'Endurance was run.
In 1937 -- San Francisco Bay's Golden Gate Bridge opens.
In 1946 -- Patent filed in US for H-Bomb.
In 1946 -- Stevie Nicks Phoenix, AZ, rocker (Fleetwood Mac-Bella Donna), born.
In 1948 -- South Africa elects a nationalist government with apartheid policy.
In 1957 -- Siouxsie [Susan Ballion], (Siouxsie and the Bandshee-Wild Thing), born.
In 1966 -- British Guiana gains independence, takes the name Guyana.
In 1969 -- Apollo 10 returns to Earth.
In 1969 -- John and Yoko begin their 2nd bed-in (Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal).

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In 1647 -- Achsah Young becomes 1st woman known to be executed as a witch (MA).
In 1837 -- Wild Bill Hickok cowboy, born.
In 1844 -- Samuel F. B. Morse completes 1st telegraph line.
In 1911 -- Vincent Price St Louis Mo, actor (The Fly, Laura), born.
In 1949 -- Ropert L. Ripley cartoonist (Believe It or Not), dies at 55 in NY.
In 1958 -- Neil Finn rocker (Split Enz-I Got You, Crowded House), born.
In 1965 -- Pat Cash tennis player (Wimbledon 1987), born.

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In 1738 -- Dr. Joseph Guillotin, guess what he invented, born.
In 1742 -- First indoor swimming pool opens at Goodman's Fields, London.
In 1886 -- Jim Thorpe, Olympic athlete, born.
In 1908 -- Ian Fleming, writer (James Bond series), born.
In 1929 -- First all color talking picture On With The Show exhibited, NYC.
In 1944 -- Gladys Knight, singer, born.
In 1953 -- Premier of first animated 3-D cartoon in Technicolor - Melody.
In 1959 -- First animals fired into space and rescued, Cape Canaveral.
In 1961 -- Amnesty International Anniversary.
In 1971 -- Mars 3 launched. First spacecraft to soft land on Mars.

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In 757 -- St Paul I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
In 1453 -- Constantinople falls to Muhammad II (Turks); ends Byzantine Empire. Also considered the end of the Middle Ages.
In 1630 -- Charles II king of England (1660-85), born.
In 1826 -- Ebenezer Butterick inventor (tissue paper dress pattern), born.
In 1837 -- Birth of Charles W. Fry, the English musician who, along with his three sons, formed the first Salvation Army brass band.
In 1900 -- Trademark Escalator registered by Otis Elevator Co..
In 1911 -- First running of the Indianapolis 500.
In 1917 -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th U.S. President (1961-1963), born.
In 1922 -- Ecuador becomes independent.
In 1939 -- Al Unser, auto racer (Indianapolis 500-1970, 71), born.
In 1953 -- Hillary and Tenzing become 1st humans to reach top of Mt Everest.
In 1958 -- Annette Bening, actress (Bugsy, Valmont), born.
In 1977 -- Sue Press is 1st woman golfer to hit consecutive holes-in one.
In 1980 -- Larry Bird beats out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year.
In 1984 -- Eric Morecambe comedian (Morecambe and Wise), dies at 58.
In 1985 -- Thirty-five die in rioting between British and Italians at European Cup soccer.
In 1987 -- Michael Jackson attempts to buy Elephant Man's remains.

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In 1431 -- Joan of Arc burned at the stake in Rouen, France at age 19.
In 1778 -- The French philosopher Voltaire died.
In 1908 -- Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Barney Rubble, etc, etc, born.
In 1909 -- Benny Goodman, bandleader, king of swing, born
In 1911 -- Indianapolis 500 car race run for first time. Winning driver Ray Harroun takes it with a blazing 75 mph.
In 1926 -- Christine Jorgensen, pioneer transsexual, born
In 1971 -- Mariner 9 launched.
In 1972 -- Three Japanese PFL terrorists kill 24, wound 72 at Tel Aviv's Lydda airport.
In 1982 -- Spain became the 16th member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

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In 1678 -- Lady Godiva takes a ride through Coventry.
In 1809 -- Composer Franz Josef Hayden died in Vienna, Austria.
In 1819 -- Walt Whitman (in West Hills, NY), poet, born.
In 1868 -- First recorded bicycle race, 2 kilometers in Paris.
In 1879 -- First electric railway opens at Berlin Trades Exposition.
In 1908 -- Don Ameche, actor (Cocoon, Trading Places), born.
In 1910 -- Union of South Africa was founded.
In 1916 -- During WW I British and German fleets fought the Battle of Jutland.
In 1923 -- Prince Rainier of Monaco, born.
In 1930 -- Clint Eastwood, actor (Dirty Harry, Heartbreak Ridge, City Heat), born.
In 1950 -- Tom Berenger, actor, born.
In 1961 -- South Africa became an independent republic.
In 1962 -- WW II Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann hung in Israel.
In 1965 -- Brooke Shields (in New York City), actor, model, born.
In 1970 -- Tens of thousands of people in Peru died in an earthquake.
In 1974 -- Israel and Syria sign an agreement concerning the Golan Heights.
In 1988 -- Americans and Soviets ratify the INF treaty, agreeing to eliminate medium range nuclear warheads.

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