1500s DIED 1500: BARTHOLOMEU DIAS (PORTUGUESE DISCOVERER OF CAPE OF GOOD HOPE) 1730s BORN 1736: PATRICK HENRY (PATRIOT) 1790s 1790: RHODE ISLAND RATIFIED THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. THEY WERE THE LAST OF THE ORIGINAL 13 COLONIES TO DO SO. 1790: RHODE ISLAND BECAME THE 13TH […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song “When a Man Loves a Woman“, a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, […]

1810s BORN 1818: AMELIA BLOOMER (REFORMER) 1830s BORN 1837: “WILD BILL” HICKOK (FRONTIERSMAN) 1840s DIED 1840: NICCOLÒ PAGANINI (COMPOSER) 1900s BORN 1907: RACHEL CARSON (CONSERVATIONIST) 1910s BORN 1912: JOHN CHEEVER (WRITER) 1930s 1937: GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE IN SAN FRANCISCO OPENED TO PEDESTRIANS ONLY 1940s 1941: […]

FULL FLOWER MOON Flowers spring forth in abundance this month. Depending on the Native American tribe, May’s Full Moon was called the Full Flower Moon as well as Mother’s Moon, Milk Moon, and Corn Planting Moon. The May Moon marked a time of increasing fertility […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Reverend Fr. Stephen Theodore Badin (born Étienne Théodore Badin on July 17, 1768 – April 21, 1853) was the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States. He spent most of his long career ministering to widely dispersed Catholics in Canada and in what […]

VICTORIA DAY (CANADA) Victoria Day commemorates the May 24, 1819, birthday of Britain’s Queen Victoria (who since has had a whole era named for her–the Victorian era). The British have always celebrated the birthday of the ruling monarch. After Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, the […]

WHITSUNDAY-PENTECOST Whitsunday, or Pentecost, is the seventh Sunday after Easter. For Christians, this commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit in tongues of flame upon the apostles. Because the disciples were said to have begun baptizing thousands of people soon afterward, Whitsunday or Pentecost became […]

US: NATIONAL MARITIME DAY In 1933, Congress designated May 22 as National Maritime Day. On this day in 1819, the “first successful transoceanic voyage under steam propulsion” began when the steamship S.S. Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia. It arrived in Liverpool, England, on June […]

1470s BORN 1471: ALBRECHT DURER (PAINTER) 1540s DIED 1542: HERNANDO DE SOTO (EXPLORER) 1680s BORN 1688: ALEXANDER POPE (POET) 1760s 1765: WINDSOR AGRICULTURAL FAIR (NORTH AMERICA’S OLDEST) FOUNDED, NOVA SCOTIA 1830s 1834: CYRUS MCCORMICK’S REAPER PATENTED 1840s BORN 1844: HENRI ROUSSEAU (PAINTER) 1880s 1881: AMERICAN […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS The Saturday Evening Post is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS André René Roussimoff (French: [ɑ̃dʁe ʁəne ʁusimɔf]; 19 May 1946 – 27 January 1993) was a French professional wrestler and actor. He was better known by his ring name André the Giant, and was best known for his time in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation (WWWF/WWF, now WWE) […]

INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, May 18, 2021) – Chart-topping, platinum-selling country recording artist Jimmie Allen will perform the national anthem before the start of the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 30 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Allen will sing “The Star-Spangled […]

1640s 1642: MONTREAL, QUEBEC, FOUNDED 1870s BORN 1872: BERTRAND RUSSELL (PHILOSOPHER & MATHEMATICIAN) 1890s BORN 1897: FRANK CAPRA (DIRECTOR) 1910s 1910: MASSES FEARED THE END OF THE WORLD DURING PASSAGE OF HALLEY’S COMET BORN 1912: PERRY COMO (SINGER) 1917: U.S. SELECTIVE DRAFT ACT PASSED 1920s […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer, songwriter and actress. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the “Queen of Disco”, while her music gained a global following. While influenced […]

SHAVUOT BEGINS Shavuot 2021 begins at sundown on Sunday, May 16, and concludes at nightfall on Tuesday, May 18. Called the Feast of the Weeks in the Jewish calendar, Shavuot is a two-day holiday that was originally a harvest festival. It’s also a thanksgiving day to commemorate the […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Many nations around the world observe some kind of Armed Forces Day to honor their military forces. This day is not to be confused with Veterans Day or Memorial Day. United States In the United States, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in May. It falls near the […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur who, at the age of 25, co-founded a small horseradish concern in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. This business failed, but his second business expanded into tomato ketchup and other condiments, and ultimately became the internationally known H. J. […]

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He reigned as the world […]

1360s 1364: THE OLDEST UNIVERSITY IN POLAND, JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY, WAS FOUNDED 1820s BORN 1820: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE (NURSE) 1870s 1870: MANITOBA ACT PASSED, APPROVING MANITOBA TO BECOME A CANADIAN PROVINCE 1880s 1888: CHARLES SHERRILL FIRST DEMONSTRATED A CROUCHING START FOR SPRINTERS DIED 1889: JOHN CADBURY (CHOCOLATE […]

THREE CHILLY SAINTS May 11, 12, and 13 are the feast days of Saints Mamertus, Pancras, and Gervais. These three are known as the Three Chilly Saints not because they were cold during their lifetimes, but because these days are traditionally the coldest of the […]