1867 – Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences foundation laid by Queen Victoria in London
1882 – Gotthard rail tunnel between Switzerland and Italy opens
1920 – Mexican President Venustiano Carranza, under attack by American petroleum companies, faces an armed rebellion by right-wing Sonoro triumvirate after nationalizing subsoil rights
1926 – Railway Labor Act became law in USA
1943 – French, British and US victory parade in Tunis, Tunisia
1958 – US performs nuclear test at Enewetak Atoll (atmospheric tests)
1992 – India launches its 1st satellite independently
1996 – UN and Iraq agree to Resolution 986, which provides Iraq with the opportunity to sell $1 billion of oil for 90 days for a 180-day trial period; proceeds from the sale would be used for humanitarian purposes
Category: Historical Events
Historical Events for 19th May 2026
1793 – Netherlands captures French island of St Maarten (held until 1795)
1992 – Amy Fisher shoots Mary Jo Buttafuoco in the face in an altercation over an affair with her husband, in Massapequa, New York
1993 – Boeing 727 crashes into mountain at Medellín, Colombia, kills 132
1993 – Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 3,500 for 1st time (3,500.03)
1995 – World’s youngest doctor, Balamurali Ambati, 17, graduates from Mount Sinai
2012 – UEFA Champions League Final, Munich: Chelsea beats Bayern Munich, 4-3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time; Blues’ first title
2013 – Sweden defeats Switzerland to win the 2013 World Ice Hockey Championship
2021 – New York City begins re-opening after 423 days (March 2020) with the COVID-19 death toll at 33,000
Historical Events for 18th May 2026
1866 – Netherlands government of Isaäc Dignus Fransen De Putte resigns
1887 – Emmanuel Chabrier’s opera “Le roi malgré lui” (King, in spite of himself) premieres at the Opéra-Comique in Paris; after 3 performances the theatre burns down
1918 – TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, kills 200 people
1929 – MLB record 50 runs for a doubleheader: Brooklyn Robins beat Philadelphia Phillies, 20-16 in first game, Phillies win 8-6 in nightcap, at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1965 – Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names for Star Trek Captain; they include Kirk
1971 – US President Richard Nixon rejects 60 demands of Congressional Black Caucus
1990 – TV movie “Return To Green Acres” airs
2024 – Bayer Leverkusen become the first Bundesliga team in history to finish a German league season unbeaten after a 2-1 win at home against Augsburg
Historical Events for 17th May 2026
1620 – First merry-go-round is seen at a fair in Philippopolis in the Ottoman Empire
1689 – English King William III declares war on France in support of the Dutch Republic (Nine Years’ War)
1750 – -18] Tax revolt in Gorinchem
1900 – “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is first published by L. Frank Baum with illustrations by William Wallace Denslow in Chicago
1953 – Yanks and Browns use record 41 players in a game
1955 – Dutch government of Willem Drees resigns
1958 – 83rd Preakness: Ismael Valenzuela aboard Tim Tam wins in 1:57.2
2014 – Atlético Madrid win the 2013–14 La Liga
Historical Events for 16th May 2026
1891 – George A. Hormel establishes George A. Hormel and Company (Hormel Foods Corporation) in Austin, Minnesota
1920 – French heroine Joan of Arc is canonized as a saint by Pope Benedict XV
1920 – Spanish matador Joselito (José Gómez Ortega) is fatally gored in his last bullfight, by “Bailador” the bull, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain
1941 – Italian army under Aosta surrenders to Britain at Amba Alagi, Ethiopia
1957 – Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Invicti Athletae
1981 – “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes hits #1 for next 9 weeks
1993 – Judd Nelson pleads no contest to kicking Kim Evans in the head
1998 – 123rd Preakness: Kent Desormeaux aboard Real Quiet wins in 1:54.80
Historical Events for 15th May 2026
1908 – Reich Association Law comes into force
1914 – Henri Rabaud’s opera “Mârouf, savetier du Caire” (Marouf, the Cairo Cobbler) premieres in Paris
1916 – Asiago, Italy, falls when Austrian troops attack the Italian front
1923 – Cooperation of Dutch Molen forms
1940 – Richard and Maurice McDonald open the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, California
1941 – 1st British turbojet flies
1957 – Evangelist Billy Graham launches his “crusade” in front of 18,000 people at Madison Square Garden in NYC
2010 – 135th Preakness: Martin Garcia aboard Lookin At Lucky wins in 1:55.47
Historical Events for 14th May 2026
1920 – Washington Senator Walter Johnson wins his 300th game vs Detroit
1935 – Plebiscite in the Philippines ratifies independence agreement
1942 – US Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) forms
1944 – General Rommel, Speidel and von Stulpnagel attempt to assassinate Hitler
1988 – Carrollton bus collision: a drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky, United States hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. The crash and ensuing fire kill 27.
1991 – Winnie Mandela is sentenced to six years and is freed pending appeal for complicity in the kidnapping and beating of four youths, one of whom dies
1993 – The 1,000th episode of “The Arsenio Hall Show” airs, featuring a retrospective
2023 – Cyclone Mocha makes landfall on Rakhine coast, Myanmar, near southern border of Bangladesh with at least 400 killed. Second strongest storm on record in the North Indian Ocean.
Historical Events for 13th May 2026
1654 – Venetian fleet under Norwegian Admiral Cort Adeler beats Turkish fleet the near the Dardanelles, sinking 15 Turkish galleys
1861 – Queen Victoria announces Britain’s position of neutrality during the US Civil War
1927 – VVOG soccer team forms in Harderwijk
1940 – Aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky pilots first untethered test flight of his VS-300 helicopter in Stratford, Connecticut
1941 – Willy Lewis’ US jazz band performs in Switzerland
1954 – Chinese Middle School students in Singapore take part in anti-National Service riots
1955 – Mickey Mantle hits 3 consecutive HRs of at least 463′
1993 – CBS’ soap opera “Knots Landing” ends 14 year-run with 334th show in Netherlands and US
Historical Events for 12th May 2026
1865 – Last land action of Civil war at Palmito Ranch, Texas
1908 – Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B. Stubblefield
1925 – Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan become autonomous Soviet republics
1968 – “March of the Poor” under Rev Ralph Abernathy reaches Washington, D.C.
1968 – WSKG TV channel 46 (PBS) in Binghamton, NY, begins broadcasting
1994 – WIBC Bowling Queens won by Anne Marie Duggan
1999 – David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament
2024 – Flash flood kills at least 300 people in northern Afghanistan and destroys nearly 2000 homes
Historical Events for 11th May 2026
1674 – Netherlands and Cologne sign peace treaty
1812 – British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London. Ironically, descendants of both later stand for the same seat in Parliament at the same time, but neither wins
1865 – Confederate Brigadier General Meriwether Jeff Thompson surrenders at Jacksonport, Arkansas
1928 – 63rd British Open Men’s Golf Championship, Royal St George’s GC: Walter Hagen wins 3rd of his 4 Open Championship titles, 2 strokes ahead of fellow American Gene Sarazen
1940 – 65th Preakness: Fred A Smith aboard Bimelech wins in 1:58.6
1963 – “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” single by Peter, Paul and Mary hits #2; Peter Yarrow adapted a poem that college classmate Lenny Lipton had left behind after borrowing Yarrow’s typewriter
1969 – British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin
1989 – NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: Montreal Canadians beat Philadelphia Flyers, 4 games to 2