1260 – Hao Jing, envoy of Mongol leader Kublai Khan imprisoned by order of the high Chancellor of China, Jia Sidao at the Song Dynasty court of Emperor Lizong while attempting to negotiate with the Song
1758 – Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War.
1894 – 22-year-old French Anarchist Émile Henry is executed by guillotine. His last words were reputed to be “Courage, camarades! Vive l’anarchie!”
1922 – “On the Road to Moscow” is 1st cartoon to receive a Pulitzer Prize
1931 – Belgian government of Jaspar falls
1969 – After 9,015 at bats Hank Aaron is lifted for a pinch hitter, Mike Lum, who doubled in a 15-3 victory over NY Mets
1977 – San Diego Padres beat Mont Expos, 11-8, in 21 innings
1988 – “Fat” by Weird Al Yankovic hits #99
1997 – Emmy 24th Daytime Award presentation – Susan Lucci loses for 17th time
2018 – Mushrooms have poisoned more than 800 in western Iran, killing 11
Author: gil7
Today in History for 21st May 2020
Historical Events
1925 – Roald Amundsun leaves Spitsbergen with 2 seaplanes to North Pole
1926 – White Sox Earl Sheely hits a record 6th consecutive double
1950 – Vietnamese troops of Ho Chi-Minh attack Cambodia
1964 – Fire in Belgian resort kills 19
1997 – Emmy 24th Daytime Award presentation – Susan Lucci loses for 17th time
2014 – Russian President Putin signs agreements with China in Beijing in relation to trade and infrastructure
Famous Birthdays
1899 – Ralph Sanford, American actor (Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp), born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1963)
1917 – Ronald John Bilsland Colville, businessman
1924 – Jack Twyman, basketball player (Rochester/Cincinnati Royals), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2012)
1949 – Andrew Neil, Scottish newspaper editor, (Sunday Times), born in Paisley, Scotland
1959 – Brisn Lenihan, Jnr, Irish politician and minister, born in Dublin (d. 2011)
1963 – Richard Appel, American writer
Famous Deaths
1639 – Tommaso Campanella, Italian theologian, philosopher and poet, dies at 70
1719 – Pierre Poiret, French mystic, dies at 73
1897 – Karol Mikuli, composer, dies at 77
1994 – Cliff Wilson, snooker player, dies at 60
1996 – Bobby Tulloch, ornithologist, dies at 67
2000 – Barbara Cartland, English romance author (Camfield #69), dies at 98
Famous Deaths for 20th May 2020
1503 – Lorenzo de Medici, Italian patron (b. 1463)
1509 – Catharina Sforza, Italian duchess of Forli, dies at 45
1880 – Eugene LFC prince the Ligne, Belgian prince of Ambise, dies at 76
1926 – Dick Pougher, cricketer (17 and 3-26 in only Test for England 1892), dies
1940 – Joris [Georges] van Severen, Flem fascist/Member of parliament, dies
1968 – Albert Hartkopf, cricketer (one Test for Australia), dies
1984 – Peter Bull, British actor and author (The African Queen, Tom Jones, Dr Strangelove), dies of a heart attack at 72
1985 – George Memmoli, actor (Earl-Hello Larry), dies at 46
1989 – Erzsébet Galgoczi, Hungarian writer, dies at 58
1994 – Vivien John, English painter and daughter of Augustus John, dies at 79
Historical Events for 20th May 2020
1217 – Second Battle of Lincoln fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
1293 – King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcalá
1961 – White mob attacks “Freedom Riders” in Montgomery, Alabama
1970 – Beatles’ “Let it Be” movie premieres in UK
1978 – US launches Pioneer Venus 1; produces 1st global radar map of Venus
1983 – Michael Dokes and Mike Weaver fight to a draw in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1991 – Chicago Bull Michael Jordan, named NBA’s MVP
1995 – Twins Marty Cordova ties rookie record of HRs in 5 consecutive games
1997 – US President Clinton signs an executive order barring new US investment in Burma (also known as Myanmar), effective May 21 and renewable annually
2007 – 53rd British Academy Television Awards: “That Mitchell and Webb Look” Best Comedy, “The Street” Best Drama
Today in History for 20th May 2020
Historical Events
1347 – Rienzo calls Rome for people’s tribunal
1882 – Henrik Ibsen’s “Ghosts” (Gengangere) premieres in Chicago
1939 – 1st regular transatlantic airmail (Pan Am: NY to Marsseille France)
1956 – Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane at Bikini Atoll
1958 – US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)
1967 – 92nd Preakness: Bill Shoemaker aboard Damascus wins in 1:55.2
Famous Birthdays
1889 – Felix Arndt, American composer, born in NYC, New York (d. 1918)
1899 – Alexander Deyneka, Ukrainian painter (d. 1969)
1917 – Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
1926 – Vic Ames, singer (Ames Brothers), born in Malden, Massachusetts (d. 1978)
1927 – David Frederick Barlow, composer
1960 – Tony Goldwyn, actor (Ghost, Kuffs, Traces of Red), born in Los Angeles, California
Famous Deaths
1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)
1947 – Philipp Lenard, Austrian physicist (Nobel 1905), dies at 84
1969 – Royal Beal, American actor (Death of a Salesman), dies of cancer at 69
1975 – Jacques Stehman, composer, dies at 62
1988 – René Defossez, Belgian composer, dies at 82
1989 – Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (SNL, Haunted Honeymoon), dies at 42
Famous Deaths for 19th May 2020
988 – Dunstan[us], English archbishop of Canterbury, dies
1531 – Jan Łaski, Polish statesman and diplomat (b. 1456)
1715 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and statesman, dies at 54
1801 – Herman H Vitringa, politician (National Meetings), dies
1935 – T. E. Lawrence [Lawrence of Arabia], British author, soldier and diplomat famous for his liaison role in Arabia during WWI, dies at 46, in a motorcycle accident in Dorset, England
1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American jazz musician who virtually created tenor saxophone for jazz, dies at 64
1995 – Robert S. Dietz, American geophysicist who proposed a theory of seafloor spreading in 1961, dies at 80
1996 – Margaret Rawlings, actress (Roman Holiday), dies at 89
2007 – Bernard Blaut, Polish soccer midfielder (36 caps; KP Legia Warsaw, FC Metz) and manager (UAE), dies at 67
2011 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish politician and former Taoiseach (b. 1926)
Historical Events for 19th May 2020
1547 – Monarch Johan Frederik surrenders to Karel
1919 – Kelud volcano on Java, erupts killing 5,160
1921 – Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system
1941 – Germany occupiers in Holland forbid bicycle taxis
1981 – Pirate Jim Bibby gives up a leadoff single to Brave Terry Harper, then retires next 27 batters
1988 – Carlos Lehder Rivas, of Colombia’s Medellin drug cartel, is convicted in Florida for smuggling more than 3 tons of cocaine into US
1989 – Dow Jones Avg passes 2,500 mark for 1st time, closes at 2,501.1
1989 – Sue Ellen’s (Linda Gray) last appearance on TV soap “Dallas”
2015 – Historic first handshake between Prince Charles and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams at the National University of Ireland in Galway
2018 – 142nd Preakness Stakes: Mike Smith wins aboard Justify in fog for second-leg of the Triple Crown
Today in History for 19th May 2020
Historical Events
1957 – Adone Zoli forms Italian government
1962 – “Bravo, Giovanni” opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 76 performances
1994 – Tennis star Jennifer Capriati (18), checks into a drug rehab center
1996 – STS 77 (Endeavour 11), launches into orbit
2015 – UK inflation is recorded as a negative for the first time since 1960
2019 – 64th Eurovision Song Contest won by Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands
Famous Birthdays
1815 – John Gross Barnard, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Sheffield, Massachusetts (d. 1882)
1880 – Allard R Hulshoff, architect of Amsterdam (1924)
1925 – Malcolm X [Little], African American human rights activist and Muslim minister, born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1965)
1926 – David Jacobs, British broadcaster (Juke Box Jury), born in London (d. 2013)
1955 – Ed Whitson, pitcher (NY Yankees, San Diego Padres)
1992 – Sam Smith, English singer-songwriter (Stay with Me), born in London, England
Famous Deaths
1825 – Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, French political philosopher (b. 1760)
1961 – Joe Howard, singer (Gay Nineties Revue), dies at 94
1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American jazz musician who virtually created tenor saxophone for jazz, dies at 64
2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut (b. 1933)
2014 – Michael Aldrich, British inventor (Online shopping), dies at 72
2014 – Jack Brabham AO, OBE, Australian auto racer and team owner (World F1 champion 1959-60, 66), dies of liver disease at 88
Famous Deaths for 18th May 2020
1862 – William H Keim, US Union brigadier general, dies in battle at 48
1911 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (Children’s Death Songs), dies of heart disease at 50
1922 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1845)
1969 – Ludwig Berger, German film director and cinematographer (The Thief of Bagdad), dies at 77
1973 – Jeannette Rankin, American politician, 1st woman elected to US Congress (R-Montana), women’s rights advocate and pacifist, dies at 92
1991 – Edwina Booth, actress (Trader Horn), dies of heart failure at 86
1996 – Simon Weinstock, businessman/racehorse owner, dies at 44
1999 – Augustus Pablo, Jamaican musician (King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown), dies at 44
2004 – Elvin Jones, American jazz drummer (b. 1927)
2017 – Roger Ailes, American TV executive and CEO of Fox News (1996-2016), dies at 77
Historical Events for 18th May 2020
1916 – A British Royal Inquiry into the Easter Rising in Dublin is set up in London
1922 – Dutch 2nd Chamber agrees to 48 hour work week (was 45 hrs)
1944 – Polish 2nd Army corps captures convent of Monte Cassino, Italy
1947 – A’s catcher Warren Rosar catches his 147th game without an error
1959 – “Castin’ My Spell” by Johnny Otis Show hits #52
1963 – “Beast in Me” closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 4 performances
1973 – Soviet party leader Brezhnev visits West Germany
1986 – Chung Kwung Ying does 2,750 “atomic” hand-stand push-ups
2008 – NHL Eastern Conference Final: Pittsburgh Penguins beat Philadelphia Flyers, 4 games to 1
2009 – Sri Lankan Civil War: The LTTE are defeated by the Sri Lankan government, ending almost 26 years of fighting between the two sides.