1506 – Christopher Columbus selects his son Diego Columbus as sole heir
1517 – Philip van Bourgondie installed as bishop of Utrecht
1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828/Tariff of Abominations into law to protect industry in the North
1893 – Heavy rain washes “quick clay” into a deep valley killing 111 in Norway
1941 – Germany occupiers in Holland forbid bicycle taxis
1958 – “South Pacific” soundtrack album goes #1 and stays #1 for 31 weeks
1968 – Frank Howard fails to homer, after hitting 10 in 6 consecutive games
1983 – Weird Al Yankovic gives live performance at Wax Museum in Washington, D.C.
1984 – 109th Preakness: Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr., aboard Gate Dancer wins his second Pimlico classic
2020 – Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% worldwide in April 2020 when world was in lockdown, in study published in “Nature Climate Change”
Category: Historical Events
Historical Events for 18th May 2023
1945 – MLB Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia A’s both have 7 straight games postponed due to rain
1950 – “Liar” opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 12 performances
1961 – “Donnybrook!” opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 68 performances
1974 – 99th Preakness: Miguel Rivera aboard Current Little wins in 1:54.6
1980 – Belgium 3rd government of Martens forms
1980 – Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms
1980 – Mount St Helens erupts in Washington state, causing the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and costing $1 billion in damage
1993 – Italian police arrest Mafia boss Benedetto “Nitto” Santapaola
1994 – Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip
2021 – India records the highest recorded daily COVID-19 death toll to date in the world with 4,529 deaths
Historical Events for 17th May 2023
1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland
1648 – Emperor Ferdinand III defeats Maximilian I of Bavaria
1744 – French army takes Austrian Netherlands
1903 – Cleveland Indians beat NY Highlanders 9-2 in Columbus Ohio
1944 – Chinese and US armed forces take Myitkyina Airport, Burma
1969 – Russian probe Venera 6 landed on Venus
1974 – Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) explode four bombs in Republic of Ireland, killing 33 civilians, wounding 300 (highest number of casualties in a single incident during “The Troubles”)
1990 – European court rules on pension rights for men and women
2005 – Singer Kylie Minogue is diagnosed with breast cancer at 36
2015 – Canada defeats Russia to win gold at the 2015 IIHF World Championship
Historical Events for 16th May 2023
1763 – Samuel Johnson 1st meets his future biographer James Boswell in London
1938 – Australian cricketer Donald Bradman scores 278 vs MCC in 349 mins with 35 fours and 1 six
1940 – Nazis forbid non-professional auto workers
1958 – Eli Beeding experiences 83 g deceleration on a rocket sled, New Mexico
1961 – 13th Emmy Awards: Jack Benny Show, Raymond Burr and Barbara Stanwyck win
1969 – Barbra Streisand appears at a Friars Club Tribute
1977 – Muhammad Ali beats Alfredo Evangelist in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1984 – Guinea-Bissau adopts constitution
1994 – Jacqueline Onassis admitted to hospital for cancer treatment
2019 – Brooks Koepka fires tournament record equalling, and course record 63 (-7) to lead the PGA Championship by 1 stroke after the 1st round at Bethpage Black, NY
Historical Events for 15th May 2023
1882 – May Laws: Russian Tsar Alexander III bans Jews from living in rural Romania
1912 – 37th Preakness: Clarnence Turner on Colonel Holloway wins in 1:56.6
1948 – 73rd Preakness: Eddie Arcaro wins aboard Citation, 2nd leg of successful Triple Crown
1951 – First vaginoplasty procedure (sex reassignment surgery) in the UK performed on Roberta Cowell by Harold Gillies
1966 – 1st day of Sunday play in County Cricket, Essex v Somerset
1988 – 2nd American Comedy Award: Robin Williams and Tracey Ullman
2005 – Laureus World Sports Awards, Casino Estoril, Portugal: Sportsman: Roger Federer; Sportswoman: Kelly Holmes; Team: Greece Men’s National Football team
2008 – California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state’s own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional.
2010 – English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (88,335): Chelsea beats Portsmouth,1-0; Didier Drogba scores 59′ winner; Blues’ 6th title
2010 – 135th Preakness: Martin Garcia aboard Lookin At Lucky wins in 1:55.47
Historical Events for 14th May 2023
1861 – The Canellas meteorite, an 859-gram chondrite-type meteorite, strikes the earth near Barcelona, Spain
1862 – Adolphe Nicole of Switzerland patents chronograph
1897 – Oldest continuously operating movie theater in the world, the State Theatre first opens in Washington, Iowa (Guinness World Records)
1948 – US grants Israel de facto recognition
1966 – A Lover’s Concerto by Mrs Miller hits #95
1976 – Lowell Thomas ends 46 years as radio network reporter
1995 – Dalai Lama proclaims 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima 11th reincarnation of Panchen Lama, Tibet’s 2nd most senior spiritual leader
1997 – Baseball’s Executive Council suspends NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for his suing other team owners
2000 – “Yi Yi” Taiwanese film by Edward Yang debuts at Cannes
2012 – Stanford University scientists develop prototype bionic eye
Historical Events for 13th May 2023
1906 – Bezalel Art School opens in Jerusalem
1943 – German occupiers attempt to confiscate all radios in the Netherlands
1946 – Sarwate and Banerjee add 249 for 10th wkt for Indians v Surrey
1958 – Jordan and Iraq form Arab Federation
1975 – “Rodgers and Hart” opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 108 performances
1977 – Howard Stern begins broadcasting at WRNW, Briarcliff Manor NY
1982 – Chicago Cubs win their 8,000th (beat Astros)
2010 – Rock for the Rainforest benefit concert held at Carnegie Hall, NYC; performers include: Sting, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Debbie Harry, Lady Gaga, Shirley Bassey, Nile Rodgers and Chic
2017 – Bus plunges off cliff near Marmaris, Turkey, killing at least 23, injuring 11
2017 – 62nd Eurovision Song Contest: Portugal’s Salvador Sobral wins singing “Amar Pelos Dois”
Historical Events for 12th May 2023
1877 – Ottawa Rough Riders 1st outside competition vs Britannia
1908 – George Bernard Shaw’s play “Getting Married” premieres in London
1919 – New York Yankees and Washington Senators play second straight extra inning tie, 4-4 in 15 innings at the Polo Grounds; 0-0 in 12 the previous day
1948 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates due to ill health
1956 – East Pakistan struck by cyclone and tidal waves
1965 – The Rolling Stones record their smash hit single “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
1967 – Provo disbands in Neth Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
1984 – France performs nuclear test
1996 – “Inherit the Wind” closes at Royale Theater NYC after 45 performances
2018 – 63rd Eurovision song contest won by Netta from Israel in Lisbon, Portugal
Historical Events for 11th May 2023
1678 – French admiral Jean d’Estrees’ naval fleet runs aground on Aves-islands, Curacao, ends French control and ushers in an age of Piracy in the Caribbean
1907 – Bank of San Francisco incorporated
1925 – Communist Party of Holland splits
1946 – 71st Preakness: Warren Mehrtens aboard Assault wins in 2:01.4
1960 – Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires
1965 – 1st of 2 cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 (India)
1977 – Ted Turner manages an Atlanta Braves game
1991 – NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: Pittsburgh Penguins beat Boston Bruins, 4 games to 2
1992 – Film adaptation of Mbongeni Ngema and Hugh Masakala’s anti-apartheid musical “Sarafina!”, starring Leleti Khumalo, Miriam Makeba, and Whoopi Goldberg, premieres at Cannes Film Festival in France
2002 – Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands unveils the Man With Two Hats monument in Ottawa and Apeldoorn (May 2), 2000, symbolically linking both the Netherlands and Canada for their assistance throughout the Second World War.
Historical Events for 10th May 2023
1787 – British Parliament impeaches Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal
1893 – 19th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Kunze aboard Lookout wins in 2:39.25
1906 – Russian Duma (Parliament) meets for 1st time
1929 – 54th Preakness: Louis Schaefer aboard Dr Freeland wins in 2:01.6
1953 – KCBD TV channel 11 in Lubbock, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1961 – “Beyond the Fringe” premieres in London
1970 – Atlanta Braves’ Hoyt Wilhelm pitches in his 1,000th game, loses to Cards 6-5
1980 – “Happy New Year” closes at Morosco Theater NYC after 17 performances
1991 – Oakland A’s Jose Canseco is seen leaving singer Madonna’s apartment
2018 – New record auction price for a Latin American artwork of $9.76 million for Diego Rivera’s “The Rivals”