TOday in History Today is Wednesday, May 21, the 141st day of 2014. There are 224 days left in the year. On this date: 1471, King Henry VI of England died in the Tower of London at age 49. 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River. 1758 - Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. 1804 - Lewis & Clark Expedition begins 1819 - 1st bicycles (swift walkers) in US introduced in NYC 1832 - 1st Democratic National Convention (Baltimore) 1846 - 1st steamship arrives in Hawaii 1856 - Lawrence, Kansas, is captured and sacked by pro-slavery forces 1861 - Richmond, Va, is designated Confederate Capital 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. 1898 - US Assay Office in Seattle, Washington authorized 1906 - Louis H Perlman patents a demountable tire carrying rim for cars 1908 - 1st horror movie (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde) premieres in Chicago 1914 - Greyhound Bus Co begins in Minnesota 1917 - Leo Pinckney, 1st American drafted during WW I The Great Fire of Atlanta: at least 10,000 people were displaced, but there was only one fatality 1918 - US House of Representatives passes amendment allowing women to vote 1924, in a case that drew much notoriety, 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a thrill killing carried out by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb (Bobbys cousin). Both men received life sentences; Loeb was killed by a fellow prison inmate in 1936 while Leopold was paroled in 1958, dying in 1971. 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33 1/2 hours. 1929 - Automatic electric stock quotation board installed, NYC 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean as she landed in Northern Ireland, about 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland. 1941, a German U-boat sank the American merchant steamship SS Robin Moor in the South Atlantic after the ships passengers and crew were allowed to board lifeboats. 1945 - Lauren Bacall & Humphrey Bogart wed 1956, the United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. 1964 - 1st nuclear-powered lighthouse begins operations (Chesapeake Bay) 1966 - Muhammad Ali TKOs Henry Cooper in 6 for heavyweight boxing title 1969 - Robert Kennedys murderer Sirhan Sirhan sentenced to death: later commuted to life imprisonment 1980 - Star Wars Episode IV - Empire Strikes Back premieres 1981 - Reggae musician Bob Marley receives a Jamaican state funeral 1990 - Last episode of Newhart airs on CBS-TV
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 18:09:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015