This day in .....

29 April 1770 – James Cook arrives in Australia at Botany Bay, which he names

James Cook

British explorer and naval officer (1728–1779)

"Captain Cook" redirects here. For other uses, see Captain Cook (disambiguation) and James Cook (disambiguation).

Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He completed the first recorded circumnavigation of the main islands of New Zealand and was the first known European to visit the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.

Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager before enlisting in the Royal Navy in 1755. He served during the Seven Years' War, and subsequently surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the St. Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec. In the 1760s, he mapped the coastline of Newfoundland and made important astronomical observations which brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and the Royal Society. This acclaim came at a crucial moment in British overseas exploration, and it led to his commission in 1768 as commander of HMS Endeavour for the first of three Pacific voyages.

During these voyages, he sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. He mapped coastlines, islands, and features across the Pacific from Hawaii to Australia in greater detail than previously charted. He made contact with numerous indigenous peoples, and he claimed many territories for Britain. He displayed a combination of seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage, and an ability to lead men in adverse conditions. His pioneering contributions to the prevention of scurvy led the Royal Society to award him the Copley Gold Medal.

In 1779, during his second visit to Hawaii, Cook was killed when a dispute with Native Hawaiians turned violent. His voyages left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge that influenced his successors well into the 20th century. Numerous memorials have been dedicated to him worldwide. However, he remains a controversial figure because of his occasionally violent encounters with indigenous peoples, and allegations that he facilitated British colonialism in the Pacific.

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30 April 1513 – Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII.

Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk

English nobleman (c. 1471–1513)

Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk, KG (c. 1471 – 30 April 1513), Duke of Suffolk, was an English nobleman and soldier. The son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York, he was through his mother the nephew of the Yorkist kings of England Edward IV and Richard III and the cousin of Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York (the Princes in the Tower) and of Henry VII's queen Elizabeth of York.

Although the male York line ended with the death of Edward Plantagenet and the Poles at first swore loyalty to the Tudor king of England, they later tried to claim the throne as the Yorkist claimants in the maternal line. Edmund was ultimately executed at the Tower of London.

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1 May 1707 – The Act of Union joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain takes effect.

Acts of Union 1707

Acts of Parliament creating the Kingdom of Great Britain

Not to be confused with Union of the Crowns.

"Union of England and Scotland" redirects here and is not to be confused with Union of England and Scotland Act 1603 or Treaty of Union.

For other uses, see Act of Union (disambiguation).

United Kingdom legislation

United Kingdom legislation

The Acts of Union^[e] refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July 1706, which politically joined the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into a single "political state" named Great Britain, with Queen Anne as its sovereign. The English and Scottish acts of ratification took effect on 1 May 1707, creating the new kingdom, with its parliament based in the Palace of Westminster.

The two countries had shared a monarch since the "personal" Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his cousin Elizabeth I to become (in addition) 'James I of England', styled James VI and I. Attempts had been made to try to unite the two separate countries, in 1606, 1667, and in 1689 (following the 1688 Dutch invasion of England, and subsequent deposition of James II of England by his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange), but it was not until the early 18th century that both nations via separate groups of English and Scots Royal Commissioners and their respective political establishments, came to support the idea of an international "Treaty of political, monetary and trade Union", albeit for different reasons.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Pickering, Danby, ed. (1794). "CAP. XIII An act to prevent acts of parliament from taking effect from a time prior to the passing thereof". The Statutes at Large : Anno tricesimo tertio George III Regis. Vol. XXXIX. Cambridge. pp. 32, 33. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2021. (33 Geo. 3. c. 13: "Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793")

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2 May 2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Osama bin Laden

Militant leader (1957–2011)

"ObL" and "Bin Laden" redirect here. For other uses, see OBL (disambiguation) and Bin Laden (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Osama Vinladen.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox officeholder with unknown parameter "family"

Osama bin Laden^[a] (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union, and supported the Bosnian mujahideen during the Yugoslav Wars. Opposed to American foreign policy in the Middle East, Bin Laden declared war on the United States in 1996 and advocated attacks targeting U.S. assets in various countries, and supervised the execution of the September 11 attacks inside the U.S. in 2001.

Born in Riyadh to the aristocratic bin Laden family, he studied at Saudi and foreign universities until 1979, when he joined the mujahideen fighting against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In 1984, he co-founded Maktab al-Khidamat, which recruited foreign mujahideen into the war. As the Soviet war in Afghanistan came to an end, Bin Laden founded al-Qaeda in 1988 to carry out worldwide jihad. In the Gulf War, Bin Laden's offer of support to Saudi Arabia against Iraq was rejected by the Saudi royal family, which instead sought American aid.

Bin Laden's views on pan-Islamism and anti-Americanism resulted in his expulsion from Saudi Arabia in 1991. He shifted his headquarters to Sudan until 1996, when he established a new base in Afghanistan, where he was supported by the Taliban. Bin Laden declared two fatāwā in August 1996 and February 1998, declaring holy war against the U.S. After al-Qaeda's bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, which killed hundreds of civilians, he was indicted by a U.S. district court and listed on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists and Most Wanted Fugitives lists. In October 1999, the United Nations designated al-Qaeda as a terrorist organization.

Bin Laden organized the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, mostly civilians. This resulted in the U.S. invading Afghanistan and launching the war on terror. Bin Laden became the subject of a nearly decade-long international manhunt led by the U.S. During this period, he hid in the mountains of Afghanistan and later escaped to neighboring Pakistan. On 2 May 2011, Bin Laden was killed by U.S. special operations forces at his compound in Abbottabad. His corpse was buried in the Arabian Sea and he was succeeded by his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri on 16 June 2011. During his lifetime, Bin Laden became a symbol of terrorism and was reviled in the United States and elsewhere as a mass murderer due to his orchestration of numerous attacks and bombings.

1. ^ Fair, C. Christine; Watson, Sarah J. (18 February 2015). Pakistan's Enduring Challenges. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-8122-4690-2. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Osama bin Laden was a hard-core Salafi who openly espoused violence against the United States in order to achieve Salafi goals.
2. ^ Brown, Amy Benson; Poremski, Karen M. (18 December 2014). Roads to Reconciliation: Conflict and Dialogue in the Twenty-first Century. Routledge. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-317-46076-3. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016.
3. ^ Osama bin Laden (2007) Suzanne J. Murdico
4. ^ Armstrong, Karen (11 July 2005). "The label of Catholic terror was never used about the IRA". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016.
5. ^ Tedder, Jim (2013). "Voice of America pronunciation of "Osama Bin Laden" from the region of Saudi Arabia". Voice of America. Retrieved 9 June 2025.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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3 May 1920 – A Bolshevik coup fails in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.

1920 Georgian coup attempt

Failed Bolshevik coup in the Democratic Republic of Georgia

The Georgian coup in May 1920 was an unsuccessful attempt to take power by the Bolsheviks in the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Relying on the 11th Red Army of Soviet Russia operating in neighboring Azerbaijan, the Bolsheviks attempted to take control of a military school and government offices in the Georgian capital of Tiflis on May 3. The Georgian government suppressed the disorders in Tiflis and concentrated its forces to successfully block the advance of the Russian troops on the Azerbaijani-Georgian border. The Georgian resistance, combined with an uneasy war with Poland, persuaded the Red leadership to defer their plans for Georgia's Sovietization and recognize Georgia as an independent nation in the May 7 treaty of Moscow.^[1][2][3]

1. ^ Kazemzadeh, Firuz (1951), The Struggle for Transcaucasia, 1917–1921, pp. 296, 314. The New York Philosophical Library
2. ^ Lang, David Marshall (1962), A Modern History of Georgia, pp. 225–6. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
3. ^ Pipes, Richard (1954), The Formation of the Soviet Union, Communism and Nationalism, 1917–1923, p. 227. Harvard University Press

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4 May 1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate is fought in Japan.

Naval Battle of Hakodate

Part of the Boshin War in 1869

The Naval Battle of Hakodate (函館湾海戦, Hakodatewan Kaisen) was fought from 4 to 10 May 1869, between the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate navy, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy. It was one of the last stages of Battle of Hakodate during the Boshin War, and occurred near Hakodate in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

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5 May 1821 – The first edition of The Manchester Guardian, now The Guardian, is published

The Guardian

British national daily newspaper

For other uses, see The Guardian (disambiguation).

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian and changed its name in 1959,^[5] followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited.^[6] The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference".^[7] The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders.^[7] It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK.^[8][9]

The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015.^[10][11] Since 2018, the paper's main newsprint sections have been published in tabloid format. As of July 2021^[update], its print edition had a daily circulation of 105,134.^[4] The newspaper is available online; it lists UK, US (founded in 2011), Australian (founded in 2013), European, and International editions,^[12] and its website has sections for World, Europe, US, Americas, Asia, Australia, Middle East, Africa, New Zealand,^[13] Inequality, and Global development. It is published Monday-Saturday, though from 1993 to 2025, The Observer served as its Sunday sister paper.

The paper's readership is generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion.^[14][15] In an Ipsos MORI research poll in September 2018 designed to interrogate the public's trust of specific titles online, The Guardian scored highest for digital-content news, with 84% of readers agreeing that they "trust what [they] see in it".^[16] A December 2018 report of a poll by the Publishers Audience Measurement Company stated that the paper's print edition was found to be the most trusted in the UK in the period from October 2017 to September 2018. It was also reported to be the most-read of the UK's "quality newsbrands", including digital editions; other "quality" brands included The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, and the i. While The Guardian's print circulation is in decline, the report indicated that news from The Guardian, including that reported online, reaches more than 23 million UK adults each month.^[17]

Chief among the notable "scoops" obtained by the paper was the 2011 News International phone-hacking scandal—and in particular the hacking of the murdered English teenager Milly Dowler's phone.^[18] The investigation led to the closure of the News of the World, the UK's best-selling Sunday newspaper and one of the highest-circulation newspapers in history.^[19] In June 2013, The Guardian broke news of the secret collection by the Obama administration of Verizon telephone records,^[20] and subsequently revealed the existence of the surveillance program PRISM after knowledge of it was leaked to the paper by the whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.^[21] In 2016, The Guardian led an investigation into the Panama Papers, exposing then–Prime Minister David Cameron's links to offshore bank accounts. It has been named "newspaper of the year" four times at the annual British Press Awards, most recently in 2023.^[22]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference tabloid-uk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^
   • "The politics of UK newspapers". BBC News. 30 September 2009. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
   • "How left or right-wing are the UK's newspapers?" Archived 11 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, MediaPolitics & current affairs, YouGov, 7 March 2017.
3. ^
   • Payling, Daisy (20 April 2017). "City limits: sexual politics and the new urban left in 1980s Sheffield". Contemporary British Society. 31 (2): 256–273. doi:10.1080/13619462.2017.1306194. ISSN 1361-9462.
   • Villeneuve, Jean-Patrick (9 August 2015). "Who's [sic] fault is it? An analysis of the press coverage of football betting scandals in France and the United Kingdom". Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. 19 (2): 191. doi:10.1080/17430437.2015.1067772. S2CID 146330318.
   • Russell, Adrienne (2017). Journalism and the Nsa Revelations: Privacy, Security and the Press. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 53.
   • Copsy, Nathaniel (21 February 2017). "Rethinking Britain and the European Union: Politicians, the Media and Public Opinion Reconsidered" (PDF). Journal of Common Market Studies. 55 (4): 716. doi:10.1111/jcms.12527. S2CID 151394355. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
   • Harbisher, Ben (6 February 2016). "The Million Mask March: Language, legitimacy, and dissent". Critical Discourse Studies. 13 (3): 297. doi:10.1080/17405904.2016.1141696. S2CID 147508807.
   • Yuval-Davis, Nira; Varju, Viktor (6 January 2017). "Press discourses on Roma in the UK, Finland and Hungary" (PDF). European Roma. 40 (7): 1153. doi:10.1080/01419870.2017.1267379. S2CID 151843450. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
   • Flew, Terry (11 January 2019). "Digital communication, the crisis of trust, and the post-global" (PDF). Communication Research and Practice. 5 (1): 11. doi:10.1080/22041451.2019.1561394. S2CID 159032311. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
   • Helton, Levy (17 March 2016). "Reporting the 2014 World Cup: football first and social issues last". Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. 20 (5–6): 574. doi:10.1080/17430437.2016.1158477. S2CID 147644706.
   • Gill, Alisha K; Harrison, Karen (2015). "Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media's New Folk Devils?". Crime Justice Journal. 4 (2): 38. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
   • Painter, James; Neil T, Gavin (27 January 2015). "Climate Skepticism in British Newspapers, 2007–2011". Environmental Communication. 10 (4): 436. doi:10.1080/17524032.2014.995193. S2CID 143214856.
   • Harmer, Emily; Southern, Rosalynd (2019). "Alternative Agendas or More of the Same? Online News Coverage of the 2017 UK Election". Political Communication in Britain. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 99–116. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-00822-2_7. ISBN 978-3-030-00821-5. S2CID 158648099.
   • Bączkowska, Anna (2019). "A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of "Migrants" and "Migration" in the British Tabloids and Quality Press". Contacts and Contrasts in Cultures and Languages. Second Language Learning and Teaching. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 163–181. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04981-2_12. ISBN 978-3-030-04980-5. ISSN 2193-7648. S2CID 150658204.
   • Boukala, Salomi (2019). "Introduction: Kafka in 'Fortress Europe'—The 'Other' within the Walls". European Identity and the Representation of Islam in the Mainstream Press. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 1–17. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93314-6_1. ISBN 978-3-319-93313-9. S2CID 158203231.
   • Sancho Guinda, Carmen, ed. (2019). Engagement in Professional Genres Archived 4 June 2023 at the Wayback Machine. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
4. ^ ^{a b} Tobitt, Charlotte; Majid, Aisha (25 January 2023). "National press ABCs: December distribution dive for freesheets Standard and City AM". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
5. ^ "collection (The University of Manchester Library)". www.library.manchester.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
6. ^ "'Guardian' newspaper trust keeps journalism at top of its agenda". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
7. ^ ^{a b} "The Scott Trust: values and history". The Guardian. 26 July 2015. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
8. ^ Corey Frost; Karen Weingarten; Doug Babington; Don LePan; Maureen Okun (30 May 2017). The Broadview Guide to Writing: A Handbook for Students (6th ed.). Broadview Press. pp. 27–. ISBN 978-1-55481-313-1. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
9. ^ Greg Barton; Paul Weller; Ihsan Yilmaz (18 December 2014). The Muslim World and Politics in Transition: Creative Contributions of the Gülen Movement. A&C Black. pp. 28–. ISBN 978-1-4411-5873-4. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
10. ^ "Guardian appoints Katharine Viner as editor-in-chief". The Guardian. 20 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
11. ^ Rusbridger, Alan (29 May 2015). "'Farewell, readers': Alan Rusbridger on leaving The Guardian after two decades at the helm". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
12. ^ "Latest news, sport and opinion". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
13. ^ "New Zealand". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
14. ^ International Socialism, Spring 2003, ISBN 1-898876-97-5.
15. ^ "Ipsos MORI". Ipsos MORI. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
16. ^ "The Guardian most trusted and The Sun least trusted online news brand, Pamco reveals". Press Gazette. 13 November 2017. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
17. ^ Waterson, Jim (17 December 2018). "Guardian most trusted newspaper in Britain, says industry report". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
18. ^ "Can The Guardian survive?". The Economist. Intelligent Life. July–August 2012. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
19. ^ Woolf, Nicky (3 July 2012). "Could the newspaper that broke the hacking scandal be the next to close?". GQ.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2012.
20. ^ Hosenball, Mark (6 June 2013). "Obama administration defends massive phone record collection". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
21. ^ Greenwald, Glenn; MacAskill, Ewen; Poitras, Laura (9 June 2013). "Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
22. ^ "The Press Awards Results 2023". The Press Awards. Retrieved 13 February 2025.

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6 May 1682 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to the Palace of Versailles.

Palace of Versailles

Former royal residence in Versailles, France

"Versailles" redirects here. For the commune, see Versailles, Yvelines. For other uses, see Versailles (disambiguation).

The Palace of Versailles (/vɛərˈsaɪ, vɜːrˈsaɪ/ vair-SY, vur-SY;^[1] French: château de Versailles [ʃɑto d(ə) vɛʁsɑj] ^ⓘ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of Paris, in the Yvelines Department of Île-de-France region in France.

The palace is owned by the government of France and since 1995 has been managed, under the direction of the French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles.^[2] About 15,000,000 people visit the palace, park, or gardens of Versailles every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.^[3]

Louis XIII built a hunting lodge at Versailles in 1623. His successor, Louis XIV, expanded the château into a palace that went through several expansions in phases from 1661 to 1715. It was a favourite residence for both kings, and in 1682, Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France. This state of affairs was continued by Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, who primarily made interior alterations to the palace, but in 1789 the royal family and French court returned to Paris. For the rest of the French Revolution, the Palace of Versailles was largely abandoned and emptied of its contents, and the population of the surrounding city plummeted.

Napoleon, following his coronation as Emperor, used the subsidiary palace, Grand Trianon, as a summer residence from 1810 to 1814, but did not use the main palace. Following the Bourbon Restoration, when the king was returned to the throne, he resided in Paris and it was not until the 1830s that meaningful repairs were made to the palace. A museum of French history was installed within it, replacing the courtiers apartments of the southern wing.

The palace and park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 for its importance as the centre of power, art, and science in France during the 17th and 18th centuries.^[4] The French Ministry of Culture has placed the palace, its gardens, and some of its subsidiary structures on its list of culturally significant monuments.

1. ^ "Versailles". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
2. ^ "The Public Establishment". Palace of Versailles. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
3. ^ "Palace of Versailles (Château de Versailles)". Explore France. Government of France. 18 June 2021. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
4. ^ "Palace and Park of Versailles". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

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7 May 1832 – Greece's independence is recognized by the Treaty of London.

London Conference of 1832

International conference to establish the Kingdom of Greece

The London Conference of 1832 was an international conference convened to establish a stable government in Greece. Negotiations among the three Great Powers (Britain, France and Russia) resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece under a Bavarian prince. The decisions were ratified in the Treaty of Constantinople later that year. The treaty followed the Akkerman Convention which had previously recognized another territorial change in the Balkans, the suzerainty of the Principality of Serbia.^[1][2]

1. ^ Konstantopoulou Photeine, The foundation of the modern Greek state: Major treaties and conventions, 1830–1947 (1999)
2. ^ Mitev, Plamen; Parvev, Ivan; Baramova, Maria; Racheva, Vania (2010), Empires and Peninsulas: Southeastern Europe between Karlowitz and the Peace of Adrianople, 1699–1829, ISBN 978-3-643-10611-7

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8 May 1821 – Greek War of Independence: The Greeks defeat the Turks at the Battle of Gravia Inn.

Battle of Gravia Inn

1821 battle of the Greek War of Independence

The Battle of Gravia Inn (Greek: Μάχη στο Χάνι της Γραβιάς) was fought between Greek revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence. The Greek leaders Odysseas Androutsos, Yannis Gouras and Angelis Govios, with a group of c. 120 men, repulsed an Ottoman army numbering 8,000 to 9,000 men and artillery under the command of Omer Vrioni and Köse Mehmed. The battle ended with heavy losses for the Ottomans and minimal casualties on the Greek side.

The Ottoman army under the command of Omer Vrioni, following his defeat of the Greeks at the Battle of Alamana and the execution of their leader Athanasios Diakos, planned to attack the Peloponnese with an army of 11,000 men.^[8] However, his army was met by a Greek group numbering 120 men, under the command of Odysseas Androutsos, who had barricaded themselves inside an old inn. The Ottoman army surrounded the area and attacked the inn but was driven back with heavy losses. At night, while the Ottoman army paused their attacks to bring up some cannons in order to bombard the inn, the Greeks escaped the inn and found safety in the mountains before the cannons arrived.^[2]

This battle is considered important to the outcome of the Greek revolution because it forced Omer Vrioni to retreat to Euboea, leaving the Greeks to consolidate their gains in the Peloponnese and capture the Ottoman capital of the Peloponnese, Tripoli.

1. ^ Deligiannis 2009.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Deligiannis 2009, p. 21.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Argeiti 2021, pp. 27–29.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Argeiti 2021, p. 27.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Paroulakis, p. 71.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Deligiannis 2009, pp. 17–22.
7. ^ Argeiti 2021, pp. 28–29.
8. ^ Deligiannis 2009, p. 19.

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9 May 1992 – Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Westray Mine

Canadian coal mine

The Westray Mine was a Canadian coal mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia. Westray was owned and operated by Curragh Resources Incorporated (Curragh Inc.), which obtained both provincial and federal government money to open the mine, and supply the local electric power utility with coal.

The mine opened in September 1991, but closed eight months later when it was the site of an underground methane explosion on May 9, 1992, killing all 26 miners working underground at the time. The week-long attempts to rescue the miners were widely followed by national media until it was obvious there would be no survivors.

About a week later, the Nova Scotia government ordered a public inquiry to look into what caused one of Canada's deadliest mining disasters, and published its findings in late 1997. The report stated that the mine was mismanaged, miners' safety was ignored, and poor oversight by government regulators led to the disaster. A criminal case against two mine managers went to trial in the mid-1990s, but ultimately was dropped by the crown in 1998, as it seemed unlikely that a conviction could be attained. Curragh Resources went bankrupt in 1993, partially due to the disaster.

One hundred and seventeen miners became unemployed almost immediately after the explosion; they were paid 12 weeks' severance six years after the mine's closure, but only when the provincial government was pressured to intervene. The mine was dismantled and permanently sealed in November 1998.

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10 May 1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder.

Videocassette recorder

Device which records and plays back audio-visual media

"VCR" redirects here. For other uses, see VCR (disambiguation).

For the Philips Video Cassette Recording (VCR) format, see Video Cassette Recording.

Not to be confused with Cassette deck, a device that records and plays audiocassette.

A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other AV sources and can play back the recording after rewinding. The use of a VCR to record a television program to play back at a more convenient time is commonly referred to as time shifting. VCRs can also play back prerecorded tapes, which were widely available for purchase and rental starting in the 80s and 90s, most popularly in the VHS videocassette format. Blank tapes were sold to make recordings.

VCRs declined in popularity during the 2000s and in 2016, Funai Electric, the last remaining manufacturer, ceased production.^[1]

1. ^ Woods, Ben. "RIP the VCR: The last manufacturer in Japan is finally stopping production". Wired.

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11 May 1998 – India conducts three underground atomic tests in Pokhran

Pokhran-II

1998 series of Indian nuclear weapons tests

Pokhran-II (Operation Shakti) was a series of five nuclear weapon tests conducted by India in May 1998. The bombs were detonated at the Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. It was the second instance of nuclear testing conducted by India, after the first test, Smiling Buddha, in May 1974.

The test consisted of five detonations, the first of which was claimed to be a two-stage fusion bomb while the remaining four were fission bombs. The first three tests were carried out simultaneously on 11 May 1998 and the last two were detonated two days later on 13 May 1998. The tests were collectively called Operation Shakti, and the five nuclear bombs were designated as Shakti-I to Shakti-V.

The chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India described each of the explosions to be equivalent to several tests carried out over the years by various nations. While announcing the tests, the Indian government declared India as a nuclear state and that the tests achieved the main objective of giving the capability to build fission bombs and thermonuclear weapons with yields up to 200 kilotons. While the Indian fission bombs have been documented, the design and development of thermonuclear weapons remains uncertain after the tests.^[1]

As a consequence of the tests, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1172 was enacted and economic sanctions were imposed by countries including Japan and the United States.

1. ^ Kristensen, Hans M.; Korda, Matt; Johns, Eliana; Knight, Mackenzie (2 September 2024). "Indian nuclear weapons, 2024". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 80 (5): 326–342. doi:10.1080/00963402.2024.2388470. ISSN 0096-3402. Retrieved 12 April 2025.

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12 May 2015 – A train derailment in Philadelphia kills eight people and injures more than 200.

2015 Philadelphia train derailment

2015 railroad accident in Pennsylvania, US

On May 12, 2015, an Amtrak Northeast Regional train from Washington, D.C. bound for New York City derailed and wrecked on the Northeast Corridor near the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Of the 238 passengers and 5 crew on board, 8 were killed and over 200 were injured, with 11 critically so. The train was traveling at 102 mph (164 km/h) in a 50 mph (80 km/h) zone of curved tracks when it derailed.^[4]

Some of the passengers had to be extricated from the wrecked cars. Many of the passengers and local residents helped first responders during the rescue operation. Five local hospitals treated the injured. The derailment disrupted train service for several days.^[5]

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the derailment was caused by the train's engineer (driver) becoming distracted by other radio transmissions and losing situational awareness, and said that it would have been prevented by positive train control, a computerized speed-limiting system that was operational elsewhere on the Northeast Corridor, but whose activation at the wreck site had been delayed due to regulatory requirements. The track in question was also not equipped with ATC (automatic train control), an older and simpler system that had been operational for years on the southbound track of the curve at which the derailment occurred, and that also would have limited the train's speed entering the curve.^[6] Shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed ATC installation on the northbound track.^[7]

The 2015 wreck was the deadliest on the Northeast Corridor since 1987, when 16 people died in a wreck near Baltimore.^[1][8]

The train engineer, 32-year old Brandon Bostian, was arrested and charged with one count of causing a catastrophe, eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, and 238 counts of reckless endangerment. On March 4, 2022, a jury acquitted Bostian on all counts.^[9]

1. ^ ^{a b} Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Flegenheimer, Matt; Pérez-Peña, Richard (May 14, 2015). "Brandon Bostian Agrees to Talk About Amtrak Derailment but May Recall Little". The New York Times. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
2. ^ "7 killed in Philadelphia Amtrak crash; engineer ID'd". 6abc.com. Philadelphia, PA: WPVI-TV. May 13, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
3. ^ "Former Amtrak Engineer Brandon Bostian Found Not Guilty On All Counts In Deadly 2015 Train Derailment". Archived from the original on March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
4. ^ Renshaw, Jarrett (May 13, 2015). "Amtrak train in Philadelphia wreck was traveling at twice speed limit". Reuters. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
5. ^ Santora, Marc; Surico, John (May 14, 2015). "Travelers Struggle to Change Plans After Amtrak Derailment". The New York Times. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
6. ^ "The century-old tech that ensures train safety". Fortune.com. July 24, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
7. ^ Gray, Melissa (May 17, 2015). "Amtrak installs speed controls at fatal crash site". CNN.
8. ^ Gambardello, Joseph A. (May 13, 2015). "Investigators Headed to Port Richmond to Probe Deadly Derailment". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
9. ^ "Former Amtrak Engineer Brandon Bostian Found Not Guilty On All Counts In Deadly 2015 Train Derailment". Archived from the original on March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2022.

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13 May 1950 – The inaugural Formula One World Championship race takes place at Silverstone Circuit.

1950 British Grand Prix

Formula One motor race held in 1950

Motor car race

The 1950 British Grand Prix, formally known as The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The British Grand Prix,^[5][6] was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, England. It was the first World Championship Formula One race, as well as the fifth British Grand Prix, and the third to be held at Silverstone after motor racing resumed after World War II. It was the first race of seven in the 1950 World Championship of Drivers.^[7]

The 70-lap race was won by Nino Farina for the Alfa Romeo team, after starting from pole position, with a race time of 2:13:23.6 and an average speed of 146.378 km/h (90.955 mph). Luigi Fagioli finished second in another Alfa Romeo, and Reg Parnell third in a third Alfa Romeo.^[7]

The race followed the non-championship Pau Grand Prix and San Remo Grand Prix (both won by Juan Manuel Fangio), the Richmond Trophy (won by Reg Parnell), and the Paris Grand Prix (won by Georges Grignard).^[7]

1. ^ Quoted as 2 miles 1564 yards in the official program booklet (pp. 5, 29).
2. ^ "World's Premier Motor Race". Dundeee Evening Telegraph. 13 May 1950. Retrieved 18 July 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. ^ Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 14. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
4. ^ Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 15. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
5. ^ The Royal Automobile Club (13 May 1950). "Silverstone Circuit". The Programme Covers Project. Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ ^{a b c} "1950 BRITISH GRAND PRIX - RACE RESULT". Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website. Archived from the original on 11 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.

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14 May 1955 – Cold War: Eight Communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.

Warsaw Pact

Eastern European military alliance (1955–1991)

Not to be confused with Warsaw Convention or Treaty of Warsaw.

For other uses, see Treaty of friendship.

The Warsaw Pact (WP),^[d] formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA),^[e] was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics in Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. The term "Warsaw Pact" commonly refers to both the treaty itself and its resultant military alliance, the Warsaw Pact Organisation^[5][6] (WPO)^[6][7] (also known as ‘Warsaw Treaty Organization’^[8] (‘WTO’)).^[f] The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), the economic organization for the Eastern Bloc states.^[9][10][11]

Dominated by the Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact was established as a balance of power or counterweight to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Western Bloc.^[12][13] There was no direct military confrontation between the two organizations; instead, the conflict was fought on an ideological basis and through proxy wars. Both NATO and the Warsaw Pact led to the expansion of military forces and their integration into the respective blocs.^[13] The Warsaw Pact's largest military engagement was the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, one of its own member states, in August 1968. All member states participated except for Albania and Romania,^[12] resulting in Albania's withdrawal from the pact less than one month later. The pact began to unravel with the spread of the Revolutions of 1989 through the Eastern Bloc, beginning with the Solidarity movement in Poland,^[14] its electoral success in June 1989 and the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989.^[15]

East Germany withdrew from the pact following German reunification in 1990. On 25 February 1991, at a meeting in Hungary, the pact ceased to exist via joint declaration by the defense and foreign ministers of the six remaining member states. The USSR itself was dissolved in December 1991, although most of the former Soviet republics formed the Collective Security Treaty Organization shortly thereafter. In the following 20 years, the Warsaw Pact countries outside the USSR each joined NATO (East Germany through its reunification with West Germany; and the Czech Republic and Slovakia as separate countries), as did the Baltic states.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ "Протокольная запись заседания Президиума ЦК КПCC (к пункту I протокола № 49)".
4. ^ "Slovenské pohl'ady". Matica slovenská. 1997 – via Google Books.
5. ^ ‘NATO Summit (Brussels)’, column 1,289, volume 128, series 6, Hansard
6. ^ ^{a b} Page 22, ‘NATO and OSCE, Partners or Rivals?’, Edward Killham
7. ^ ‘Organization Acronyms’ (sub‑chapter H‑312), TAGS/Terms Handbook (State Department, Government of the United States of America)
8. ^ "Milestones: 1953–1960 – Office of the Historian". history.state.gov.
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference History Channel 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Allen, Debra J. (2003). The Oder-Neisse Line: The United States, Poland, and Germany in the Cold War. ABC-Clio. p. 158. ISBN 9780313052446. Treaties approving Bonn's participation in NATO were ratified in May 1955...shortly thereafter Soviet Union...created the Warsaw Pact to counter the perceived threat of NATO
11. ^ "Text of Warsaw Pact" (PDF). United Nations Treaty Collection. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
12. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Yoder1993 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Reinalda2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
14. ^ Bernstein, Carl (24 June 2001). "Cover Story: The Holy Alliance". TIME. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015.
15. ^ Roser, Thomas (16 August 2018). "DDR-Massenflucht: Ein Picknick hebt die Welt aus den Angeln" [Mass Exodus of the GDR: A Picnic Clears the World]. Die Presse (in German).

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15 May 1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.

Ad extirpanda

1252 papal bull authorizing the use of torture

Ad extirpanda ("To eradicate"; named for its Latin incipit) was a papal bull promulgated on Wednesday, May 15, 1252 by Pope Innocent IV which authorized under defined circumstances the use of torture by the Inquisition as a tool for interrogation.^[1][2]

1. ^ Pope Innocent IV (May 15, 1252). "Bulla 'Ad_Extirpanda' [AD 1252-05-15]" (PDF). Documenta Catholica Omnia.
2. ^ Bishop, Jordan (May 2006). "Aquinas on Torture". New Blackfriars. 87 (1009): 229–237. doi:10.1111/j.0028-4289.2006.00142.x. ISSN 0028-4289.

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16 May 1832 – Juan Godoy discovers the rich silver outcrops of Chañarcillo sparking the Chilean silver rush.

Chilean silver rush

Silver rush in Chile (1830–1850)

Between 1830 and 1850, Chilean silver mining grew at an unprecedented pace which transformed mining into one of the country's principal sources of wealth. The rush caused rapid demographic, infrastructural, and economic expansion in the semi-arid Norte Chico mountains where the silver deposits lay. A number of Chileans made large fortunes in the rush and made investments in other areas of the economy of Chile. By the 1850s, the rush was in decline and lucrative silver mining definitively ended in the 1870s. At the same time, mining activity in Chile reoriented to saltpetre operations.

Exports of Chilean silver alongside copper and wheat were instrumental in helping Chile to prevent default on its independence debt in London.^[1]

1. ^ Pérez Herrero, Pedro (2015). "El orden portaliano (1830–1840)". In Pérez Herrero, Pedro; Sanz, Eva (eds.). Fiscalidad, integración social y política exterior en el pensamiento liberal atlántico (1810–1930) (in Spanish). pp. 237–238. ISBN 978-84-9123-174-5.

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17 May 1536 – Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's marriage is annulled.

Anne Boleyn

Queen of England from 1533 to 1536

For other uses, see Anne Boleyn (disambiguation).

Anne Boleyn (/ˈbʊlɪn, bʊˈlɪn/;^[7][8][9][b] c. 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading for treason, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked the start of the English Reformation.

Anne was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn (later Earl of Wiltshire), and his wife, Elizabeth Howard, and was educated in the Netherlands and France. Anne returned to England in early 1522, to marry her cousin James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond; the marriage plans were broken off, and instead, she secured a post at court as maid of honour to Henry VIII's wife, Catherine of Aragon. Early in 1523, Anne was secretly betrothed to Henry Percy, son of Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, but the betrothal was broken off when the Earl refused to support it. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey refused the match in January 1524.

In February or March 1526, Henry VIII began his pursuit of Anne. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, as her sister Mary had previously been. Henry focused on annulling his marriage to Catherine, so he would be free to marry Anne. After Wolsey failed to obtain an annulment from Pope Clement VII, it became clear the marriage would not be annulled by the Catholic Church. As a result, Henry and his advisers, such as Thomas Cromwell, began breaking the Church's power in England and closing the monasteries. Henry and Anne formally married on 25 January 1533, after a secret wedding on 14 November 1532. On 23 May 1533, the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry and Catherine's marriage null and void. Five days later, he declared Henry and Anne's marriage valid. Clement excommunicated Henry and Cranmer. As a result of the marriage and excommunications, the first break between the Church of England and the Catholic Church took place, and the King took control of the Church of England. Anne was crowned queen on 1 June 1533. On 7 September, she gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. Henry was disappointed to have a daughter, but hoped a son would follow and professed to love Elizabeth. Anne subsequently had three miscarriages and by March 1536, Henry was courting Jane Seymour.

Henry had Anne investigated for high treason in April 1536. On 2 May, she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London, where she was tried before a jury, including Henry Percy, her former betrothed, and her uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. She was convicted on 15 May and beheaded four days later. Historians view the charges, which included adultery, incest with her brother George, and plotting to kill the King, as unconvincing.^[11][12]

After her daughter, Elizabeth, became queen in 1558, Anne became venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation, particularly through the works of George Wyatt.^[13] She has inspired, or been mentioned in, many cultural works and retained her hold on the popular imagination. She has been called "the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had",^[14] as she provided the occasion for Henry to declare the English Church's independence from the Vatican.

1. ^ "Doubts raised over Anne Boleyn portraits". Hever Castle. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
2. ^ Spender, Anna. "The many faces of Anne Boleyn" (PDF). Hever Castle. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
3. ^ "The Offspring of Thomas and Elizabeth Boleyn". The Tudor Society. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
4. ^ "Letters and papers, foreign and domestic, of the reign of Henry VIII". Internet Archive. 13 December 1862. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ives, p.3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Weir 1991
7. ^ Pronunciations with stress on the second syllable were rare until recently and were not mentioned by reference works until the 1960s; see The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations (2006) by Charles Harrington Elster
8. ^ Jones, Daniel Everyman's English Pronouncing Dictionary 12th edition (1963)
9. ^ Wells, John C. (1990). Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow, England: Longman. p. 83. ISBN 0-582-05383-8. entry "Boleyn"
10. ^ M. A. E. Wood, Letters, ii. 74-75; Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII, v. 12
11. ^ Gairdner, James, ed. (1887). Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 10, January–June 1536. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 349–371.
12. ^ Wriothesley, Charles (1875). A Chronicle of England During the Reigns of the Tudors, From A.D. 1485 to 1559. Vol. 1. Camden Society. pp. 189–226.
13. ^ Ives 2004, pp. 48–50.
14. ^ Ives 2004, p. xv.

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18 May 1565 – The Great Siege of Malta begins, in which Ottoman forces attempt and fail to conquer Malta.

Great Siege of Malta

Ottoman Empire's invasion of Malta in 1565

This article is about the siege in 1565. For other sieges of Malta, see Siege of Malta (disambiguation).

The Great Siege of Malta (Maltese: L-Assedju l-Kbir) occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May to 8 September 1565.

The Knights Hospitaller had been headquartered in Malta since 1530, after being driven out of Rhodes, also by the Ottomans, in 1522, following the siege of Rhodes. The Ottomans first attempted to take Malta in 1551 but failed. In 1565, Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Sultan, made a second attempt to take Malta. The Knights, who numbered around 500 together with approximately 6,000 footsoldiers, withstood the siege and repelled the invaders.

This victory became one of the most celebrated events of sixteenth-century Europe, to the point that Voltaire said: "Nothing is better known than the siege of Malta." It undoubtedly contributed to the eventual erosion of the European perception of Ottoman invincibility, although the Mediterranean continued to be contested between Christian coalitions and the Muslim Turks for many years.^[6]

1. ^ At least two companies of Spanish Tercios took part in the defence of Fort St Elmo. Cañete, Hugo A. (3 July 2020). "La leyenda negra del fuerte de San Telmo y los tres capitanes españoles del Tercio Viejo de Sicilia que lo defendieron (Malta 1565) | Grupo de Estudios de Historia Militar". Grupo de Estudios de Historia Militar (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 July 2020.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference paoletti2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Arnold Cassola, The 1565 Great Siege of Malta and Hipolito Sans's La Maltea (Publishers Enterprise Group: Malta, 1999).
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference SOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Giacomo Bosio 1643 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, vol. II (University of California Press: Berkeley, 1995).

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19 May 1743 – Jean-Pierre Christin developed the centigrade temperature scale.

Jean-Pierre Christin

French scientist (1683–1755)

Jean-Pierre Christin (31 May 1683 – 19 January 1755) was a French physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and musician. His proposal in 1743 to reverse the Celsius thermometer scale (from water boiling at 0 degrees and ice melting at 100 degrees, to where zero represented the freezing point of water and 100 represented the boiling point of water) was widely accepted and is still in use today.^[1][2][3]

Christin was born in Lyon. He was a founding member of the Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Lyon and served as its Permanent Secretary from 1713 until 1755. His thermometer was known in France before the Revolution as the thermometer of Lyon. One of these thermometers was kept at the Science Museum in London.^[4]

1. ^ Arthur Sigurssen (10 May 2003). "History of the Thermometer". Newsfinder e-magazine. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
2. ^ "Celsius Temperature Scale". DiracDelta.co.uk science and engineering encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
3. ^ Henry Carrington Bolton (1800): Evolution of the thermometer 1592–1743. The Chemical pub. co., Easton, Pennsylvania. pp. 85–91.
4. ^ "Mercury-in-glass thermometer, 1743–1799". Science Museum. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2012.

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20 May 1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, by 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.

1980 Quebec referendum

Plebiscite on Quebec's independence from Canada

The 1980 Quebec independence referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois (PQ) government, which advocated secession from Canada.

The province-wide referendum took place on May 20, and the proposal to pursue secession was defeated by a 59.56 percent to 40.44 percent margin.^[1]

A second referendum on sovereignty, which was held in 1995, also rejected pursuing secession, albeit by a much smaller margin (50.58% to 49.42%).

1. ^ Fitzmaurice, John (1985). Québec and Canada; Past, Present, and Future. C. Hurst & Co. Ltd. p. 47. ISBN 0-905838-94-7.

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20 May 1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, by 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.

1980 Quebec referendum

Plebiscite on Quebec's independence from Canada

The 1980 Quebec independence referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois (PQ) government, which advocated secession from Canada.

The province-wide referendum took place on May 20, and the proposal to pursue secession was defeated by a 59.56 percent to 40.44 percent margin.^[1]

A second referendum on sovereignty, which was held in 1995, also rejected pursuing secession, albeit by a much smaller margin (50.58% to 49.42%).

1. ^ Fitzmaurice, John (1985). Québec and Canada; Past, Present, and Future. C. Hurst & Co. Ltd. p. 47. ISBN 0-905838-94-7.

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21 May 1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.

FIFA

International governing body of association football

This article is about the association football body. For the video game franchise, see FIFA (video game series). For other uses, see Fifa (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with FIBA.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association^[a][b] (lit. 'International Association Football Federation'), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA^[c] (/ˈfiːfə/ FEE-fə), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by Real Madrid CF), Sweden, and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, its membership now comprises 211 national associations. These national associations must also be members of one of the six regional confederations: CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia), UEFA (Europe), CONCACAF (North & Central America and the Caribbean), OFC (Oceania), and CONMEBOL (South America).

FIFA is a sports governing body that organizes football events all over the world. FIFA outlines several objectives in its organizational statutes, including growing football internationally, ensuring it is accessible to everyone, and advocating for integrity and fair play.^[6] It is responsible for organizing and promoting football's major international tournaments, notably the World Cup which began in 1930, and the Women's World Cup which commenced in 1991. Although FIFA does not solely set the laws of the game, that being the responsibility of the International Football Association Board of which FIFA is a member, it applies and enforces the rules across all FIFA competitions.^[7] All FIFA tournaments generate revenue from sponsorships; in 2022, FIFA had revenues of over US$5.8 billion, ending the 2019–2022 cycle with a net positive of $1.2 billion, and cash reserves of over $3.9 billion.^[8]

Reports by investigative journalists have linked FIFA leadership with corruption, bribery, and vote-rigging related to the election of FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the organization's decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively. These allegations led to the indictments of nine high-ranking FIFA officials and five corporate executives by the US Department of Justice on charges including racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering. On 27 May 2015, several of these officials were arrested by Swiss authorities, who launched a simultaneous but separate criminal investigation into how the organization awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Those among these officials who were also indicted in the US are expected to be extradited to face charges there as well.^[9][10][11]

Many officials were suspended by FIFA's ethics committee including Sepp Blatter^[12] and Michel Platini.^[13] In early 2017, reports became public about FIFA president Gianni Infantino attempting to prevent the re-elections^[14] of both chairmen of the ethics committee, Cornel Borbély and Hans-Joachim Eckert, during the FIFA congress in May 2017.^[15][16] On 9 May 2017, following Infantino's proposal,^[17] The FIFA Council decided not to renew the mandates of Borbély and Eckert.^[17] Together with the chairmen, 11 of 13 committee members were removed. FIFA has been suspected of corruption regarding the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid.^[18]

1. ^ "New Office in Rabat, Morocco". FIFA. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
2. ^ "Presiden Jokowi Meresmikan Kantor FIFA di Jakarta Sebagai Hub Asia Tenggara". rri.co.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 11 November 2023.
3. ^ "FIFA Committees – FIFA Council". FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
4. ^ FIFA. "Condiciones generales de servicio de FIFA extranet - FIFA Extranet". FIFA Extranet. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
5. ^ L12462 (4 August 2011). Subchefia para Assuntos Jurídicos. Presidência da República Casa Civil.
6. ^ "FIFA Statutes". FIFA. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
7. ^ "About FIFA: Organisation". FIFA. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
8. ^ "2022 Financial Highlights". FIFA. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
9. ^ Clifford, Stephanie; Apuzzo, Matt (27 May 2015). "FIFA officials arrested on corruption charges; Sepp Blatter isn't among them". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
10. ^ "Nine FIFA Officials and Five Corporate Executives Indicted for Racketeering Conspiracy and Corruption". US DOJ Office of Public Affairs. 27 May 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
11. ^ Collett, Mike; Homewood, Brian (27 May 2015). "World soccer rocked as top officials held in U.S., Swiss graft cases". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
12. ^ "Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini banned for eight years by Fifa". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
13. ^ "Rise and fall of Michel Platini – the self-proclaimed 'football man' who forgot the meaning of integrity". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
14. ^ Conn, David (2 March 2017). "Trust in Fifa has improved only slightly under Gianni Infantino, survey finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 24 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
15. ^ "FIFA Ethics Chiefs Facing Uncertain Future". The New York Times. Reuters. 15 March 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
16. ^ "Infantino at 1. Are the Ethics bigwigs the next stop on his personal 'reform' agenda?". Inside World Football. 27 February 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
17. ^ ^{a b} "FIFA Ethics Committee still investigating 'hundreds' of cases: Borbely". Reuters. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
18. ^ Ellis, Sam (9 December 2022). "How FIFA corrupted the World Cup". Vox. Retrieved 10 January 2023.

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22 May 1939 – World War II: Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel.

Pact of Steel

Military alliance between Germany and Italy before World War II

The Pact of Steel (German: Stahlpakt, Italian: Patto d'Acciaio), formally known as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy (German: Freundschafts- und Bündnispakt zwischen Deutschland und Italien, Italian: Patto di amicizia e di alleanza fra l'Italia e la Germania), was a military and political alliance between Germany and Italy, signed in 1939.

The pact was initially drafted as a tripartite military alliance between Japan, Italy and Germany. While Japan wanted the focus of the pact to be aimed at the Soviet Union, Italy and Germany wanted the focus of it to be aimed at the British Empire and France. Due to that disagreement, the pact was signed without Japan and, as a result, it became an agreement which only existed between Italy and Germany, signed on 22 May 1939 by foreign ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany and Galeazzo Ciano of Italy.

Together with the Anti-Comintern Pact and the Tripartite Pact, the Pact of Steel was one of the three agreements forming the main basis of the Axis alliance.^[1] The pact consisted of two parts. The first section was an open declaration of continuing trust and co-operation between Germany and Italy. The second section, the "Secret Supplementary Protocol", encouraged a union of policies concerning the military and the economy.^[2]

1. ^ Cooke, Tim (2005). History of World War II: Volume 1 – Origins and Outbreak. Marshall Cavendish. p. 154. ISBN 0761474838. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
2. ^ Gibler, Douglas M. 2008. International Military Alliances, 1648–2008. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. pp. 326–327.

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23 May 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes

Good Friday Agreement

1998 agreements between the United Kingdom and Ireland

"British–Irish Agreement" redirects here. For the 1921 treaty, see Anglo-Irish Treaty. For the 1985 treaty, see Anglo-Irish Agreement.

The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement (Irish: Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance)^[1] is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict^[2] in Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. It was a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. It is made up of the Multi-Party Agreement between most of Northern Ireland's political parties, and the British–Irish Agreement between the British and Irish governments. Northern Ireland's present devolved system of government is based on the agreement.

Issues relating to sovereignty, governance, discrimination, military and paramilitary groups, justice and policing were central to the agreement. It restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of "power sharing" and it included acceptance of the principle of consent, commitment to civil and political rights, cultural parity of esteem, police reform, paramilitary disarmament and early release of paramilitary prisoners, followed by demilitarisation. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and Ireland ("North–South"), and between Ireland and the United Kingdom ("East–West").

The agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998. In Northern Ireland, voters were asked in the 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum whether they supported the multi-party agreement. In the Republic of Ireland, voters were asked whether they would allow the state to sign the agreement and allow necessary constitutional changes (Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland) to facilitate it. The people of both jurisdictions needed to approve the agreement to give effect to it.

The British–Irish Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Good Friday Agreement.^[3]

1. ^ "North-South Ministerial Council: Annual Report (2001) in Ulster Scots" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
2. ^ Coakley, John. "Ethnic Conflict and the Two-State Solution: The Irish Experience of Partition". Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2009. ... these attitudes are not rooted particularly in religious belief, but rather in underlying ethnonational identity patterns.
3. ^ "The Good Friday Agreement". BBC History. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2017.

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23 May 1998 – The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with roughly 75% voting yes

Good Friday Agreement

1998 agreements between the United Kingdom and Ireland

"British–Irish Agreement" redirects here. For the 1921 treaty, see Anglo-Irish Treaty. For the 1985 treaty, see Anglo-Irish Agreement.

The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement (Irish: Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance)^[1] is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict^[2] in Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. It was a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. It is made up of the Multi-Party Agreement between most of Northern Ireland's political parties, and the British–Irish Agreement between the British and Irish governments. Northern Ireland's present devolved system of government is based on the agreement.

Issues relating to sovereignty, governance, discrimination, military and paramilitary groups, justice and policing were central to the agreement. It restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of "power sharing" and it included acceptance of the principle of consent, commitment to civil and political rights, cultural parity of esteem, police reform, paramilitary disarmament and early release of paramilitary prisoners, followed by demilitarisation. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and Ireland ("North–South"), and between Ireland and the United Kingdom ("East–West").

The agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998. In Northern Ireland, voters were asked in the 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum whether they supported the multi-party agreement. In the Republic of Ireland, voters were asked whether they would allow the state to sign the agreement and allow necessary constitutional changes (Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland) to facilitate it. The people of both jurisdictions needed to approve the agreement to give effect to it.

The British–Irish Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Good Friday Agreement.^[3]

1. ^ "North-South Ministerial Council: Annual Report (2001) in Ulster Scots" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
2. ^ Coakley, John. "Ethnic Conflict and the Two-State Solution: The Irish Experience of Partition". Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2009. ... these attitudes are not rooted particularly in religious belief, but rather in underlying ethnonational identity patterns.
3. ^ "The Good Friday Agreement". BBC History. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2017.

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24 May 1993 – Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.

Eritrea

Country in the Horn of Africa

"Erythrea" redirects here. For other uses, see Erythrean (disambiguation), Eritrea (disambiguation), and Eritrean (disambiguation).

You may need rendering support to display the Ethiopic text in this article correctly.

Eritrea,^[b] officially the State of Eritrea,^[c] is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the south, Sudan to the west, and Djibouti to the southeast. The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea. The nation has a total area of approximately 117,600 km² (45,406 sq mi),^[8][9] and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands.

Hominid remains found in Eritrea have been dated to 1 million years old and anthropological research indicates that the area may contain significant records related to the evolution of humans. The Kingdom of Aksum, covering much of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, was established during the first or^[21] second century AD.^[22][23] It adopted Christianity around the middle of the fourth century. Beginning in the 12th century, the Ethiopian Zagwe and Solomonid dynasties held fluctuating control over the entire plateau and the Red Sea coast. Eritrea's central highlands, known as Mereb Melash ("Beyond the Mereb"), were the northern frontier region of the Ethiopian kingdoms and were ruled by a governor titled the Bahr Negus ("King of the Sea").

In the 16th century, the Ottomans conquered the Eritrean coastline, then in May 1865, much of the coastal lowlands came under the rule of the Khedivate of Egypt, until it was transferred to Italy in February 1885. Beginning in 1885–1890, Italian troops systematically spread out from Massawa toward the highlands, eventually resulting in the formation of the colony of Italian Eritrea in 1889, establishing the present-day boundaries of the country. Italian rule continued until 1942 when Eritrea was placed under British Military Administration during World War II; following a UN General Assembly decision in 1952, Eritrea would govern itself with a local Eritrean parliament, but for foreign affairs and defense, it would enter into a federal status with Ethiopia for ten years. However, in 1962, the government of Ethiopia annulled the Eritrean parliament and formally annexed Eritrea. The Eritrean secessionist movement organised the Eritrean Liberation Front in 1961 and fought the Eritrean War of Independence until Eritrea gained de facto independence in 1991. Eritrea gained de jure independence in 1993 after an independence referendum.^[24]

Contemporary Eritrea is a multi-ethnic country with nine recognized ethnic groups, each of which has a distinct language. The most widely spoken languages are Tigrinya and Arabic. The others are Tigre, Saho, Kunama, Nara, Afar, Beja, Bilen and English.^[25] Tigrinya, Arabic and English serve as the three working languages.^{[26][27][28][29]} Most residents speak languages from the Afroasiatic family, either of the Ethiopian Semitic languages or Cushitic branches. Among these communities, the Tigrinyas make up about 50% of the population, with the Tigre people constituting around 30% of inhabitants. In addition, there are several Nilo-Saharan-speaking Nilotic ethnic groups. Most people in the country adhere to Christianity or Islam, with a small minority adhering to traditional faiths.^[30]

Eritrea is one of the least developed countries. It is a unitary one-party presidential republic in which national legislative and presidential elections have never been held.^[31][5] Isaias Afwerki has served as president since its official independence in 1993. The country's human rights record is among the worst in the world.^[32] The Eritrean government has dismissed these allegations as politically motivated.^[33] Eritrea is a member of the African Union, the United Nations, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and is an observer state in the Arab League alongside Brazil and Venezuela.^[34]

1. ^ "Constitution of the State of Eritrea". Shaebia.org. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
2. ^ "Eritrea", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 23 September 2022, retrieved 1 April 2024 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
3. ^ "Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea". UNHRC website. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
4. ^ "Eritrea: Events of 2016". Human Rights Watch. 12 January 2017.
5. ^ ^{a b} Saad, Asma (21 February 2018). "Eritrea's Silent Totalitarianism".
6. ^ Keane, Fergal (10 July 2018). "Making peace with 'Africa's North Korea'". BBC News.
7. ^ Taylor, Adam (12 June 2015). "The brutal dictatorship the world keeps ignoring". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
8. ^ ^{a b} "Eritrea". Central Intelligence Agency. 27 February 2023. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2023 – via CIA.gov.
9. ^ ^{a b} "Eritrea country profile". BBC News. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
10. ^ ^{a b} "Human Development Report 2025" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 6 May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
11. ^ "Eritrea – Population and Health Survey 2010" (PDF). National Statistics Office, Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies. 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
12. ^ "World Population Prospects 2024 Summary of Results" (PDF). un.org. p61. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
13. ^ "The Role of Insurance in a Developing Society a perspective from the Eritrean insurance profession". www.shabait.com. Eritrea Ministry Of Information. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
14. ^ "Eritrea country profile". BBC. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
15. ^ "Eritrea". census.gov. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
16. ^ "Eritrea: Facts & Stats". britannica.com. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
17. ^ ^{a b c d} "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2024 Edition. (Eritrea)". www.imf.org. International Monetary Fund. 22 October 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
18. ^ "Eritrea". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
19. ^ "Eritrea". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
20. ^ "Name change for Eritrea and other minor corrections" (PDF). International Organization for Standardization. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
21. ^ Aksumite Ethiopia. Workmall.com (24 March 2007). Retrieved 3 March 2012.
22. ^ Munro-Hay, Stuart (1991). Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity (PDF). Edinburgh: University Press. p. 57. ISBN 0-7486-0106-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
23. ^ Henze, Paul B. (2005) Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia, ISBN 1-85065-522-7.
24. ^ "Encyclopedia Britannica". www.britannica.com. 18 March 2024.
25. ^ "EASO Country of Origin Information Report: Eritrea Country Focus" (PDF). European Asylum Support Office. May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
26. ^ "Eritrea at a Glance". Eritrea Ministry of Information. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
27. ^ "National Unity: Eritrea's core value for peace and stability".
28. ^ "Eritrea at a Glance".
29. ^ "Eritrea Constitution" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
30. ^ "Eritrea". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 22 September 2021.
31. ^ Cite error: The named reference gi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
32. ^ Cite error: The named reference hrw was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
33. ^ "Human Rights and Eritrea's Reality" (PDF). E Smart. E Smart Campaign. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
34. ^ "Arab League Fast Facts". CNN. 18 March 2016. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.

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25 May 2011 – Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The Oprah Winfrey Show

American television talk show

The Oprah Winfrey Show^[a] is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped in Chicago and produced by Winfrey. It remains the highest-rated daytime talk show in American television history.^[2]

The show was highly influential to many young stars, and many of its themes have penetrated into the American pop-cultural consciousness. Winfrey used the show as an educational platform, featuring book clubs, interviews, self-improvement segments, and philanthropic forays into world events. The show did not attempt to profit off the products it endorsed; it had no licensing agreement with retailers when products were promoted, nor did the show make any money from endorsing books for its book club.^[3]

Oprah was one of the longest-running daytime television talk shows in history. The show received 47 Daytime Emmy Awards before Winfrey chose to stop submitting it for consideration in 2000.^[4] In 2002, TV Guide ranked it at No. 49 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.^[5] In 2013, they ranked it as the 19th greatest TV show of all time.^[6] In 2023, Variety ranked The Oprah Winfrey Show #17 on its list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time.^[7]

1. ^ Hollingshead, Iain (May 20, 2011). "Oprah Winfrey retires: Those in the spotlight can't bear the final curtain". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
2. ^ Rose, Lacey (January 29, 2009). "America's Top-Earning Black Stars". Forbes. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
3. ^ Carr, David (November 22, 2009). "The Media Equation – Oprah Winfrey's Success Owes to Decisions That Avoided Common Traps". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
4. ^ "'The Oprah Winfrey Show': Trivia". Web. Oprah.com. January 1, 2006. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
5. ^ "TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows". CBS News. April 26, 2002.
6. ^ Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. "The Greatest Shows on Earth". TV Guide Magazine. 61 (3194–3195): 16–19.
7. ^ "The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". Variety. December 20, 2023.

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26 May 1998 – The first "National Sorry Day" is held in Australia. Reconciliation events are held nationally, and attended by over a million people.

National Sorry Day

Annual Australian event on 26 May

National Sorry Day, officially the National Day of Healing, is an event held annually in Australia on 26 May commemorating the Stolen Generations. It is part of the ongoing efforts towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The first National Sorry Day was held on the first anniversary of the 1997 Bringing Them Home report. It examined the government practices and policies which led to the Stolen Generations and recommended support and reparations to the Indigenous population. In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a formal apology for the mistreatment of Indigenous Australians on behalf of the federal government. National Sorry Day has also inspired many public acts of solidarity and support for reconciliation.

Protests have also been held on Sorry Day, with protestors arguing that Indigenous children have continued to be forcibly relocated under the child protection system and government systems have failed to adequately support them. Although there have been efforts implemented by state governments, a national reparation scheme has not been established.

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27 May 1813 – War of 1812: In Canada, American forces capture Fort George.

War of 1812

1812–1815 conflict in North America

This article is about the conflict in North America from 1812 to 1815. For the Franco-Russian conflict, see French invasion of Russia. For other uses of this term, see War of 1812 (disambiguation).

The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.^[11][12]

Anglo–American tensions stemmed from long-standing differences over territorial expansion in North America and British support for Tecumseh's confederacy, which resisted U.S. colonial settlement in the Old Northwest. In 1807, these tensions escalated after the Royal Navy began enforcing tighter restrictions on American trade with France and impressed sailors who were originally British subjects, even those who had acquired American citizenship.^[13] Opinion in the U.S. was split on how to respond, and although majorities in both the House and Senate voted for war in June 1812, they were divided along strict party lines, with the Democratic-Republican Party in favour and the Federalist Party against.^[d][14] News of British concessions made in an attempt to avoid war did not reach the U.S. until late July, by which time the conflict was already underway.

At sea, the Royal Navy imposed an effective blockade on U.S. maritime trade, while between 1812 and 1814 British regulars and colonial militia defeated a series of American invasions on Upper Canada.^[15] The April 1814 abdication of Napoleon allowed the British to send additional forces to North America and reinforce the Royal Navy blockade, crippling the American economy.^[16] In August 1814, negotiations began in Ghent, with both sides wanting peace; the British economy had been severely impacted by the trade embargo, while the Federalists convened the Hartford Convention in December to formalize their opposition to the war.

In August 1814, British troops captured Washington, before American victories at Baltimore and Plattsburgh in September ended fighting in the north. In the Southeastern United States, American forces and Indian allies defeated an anti-American faction of the Muscogee. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814, though it would be February before word reached the United States and the treaty was fully ratified. In the interim, American troops led by Andrew Jackson repulsed a major British attack on New Orleans.^[17]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ ^{a b c} Clodfelter 2017, p. 245.
2. ^ Allen 1996, p. 121; Clodfelter 2017, p. 245.
3. ^ Tucker et al. 2012, p. 570.
4. ^ ^{a b} Clodfelter 2017, p. 244.
5. ^ ^{a b} Stagg 2012, p. 156.
6. ^ Hickey 2006, p. 297; Stagg 2012, p. 156.
7. ^ Leland 2010, p. 2.
8. ^ Tucker et al. 2012, p. 311; Hickey 2012n.
9. ^ Weiss 2013.
10. ^ Owsley 2000, p. 118.
11. ^ Order of the Senate of the United States 1828, pp. 619–620.
12. ^ Carr 1979, p. 276.
13. ^ Hickey 1989, p. 44.
14. ^ Hickey 1989, pp. 32, 42–43.
15. ^ Greenspan 2018.
16. ^ Benn 2002, pp. 56–57.
17. ^ "The Senate Approves for Ratification the Treaty of Ghent". U.S. Senate. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

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28 May 1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display.

The Last Supper (Leonardo)

Mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci

The Last Supper (Italian: Il Cenacolo [il tʃeˈnaːkolo] or L'Ultima Cena [ˈlultima ˈtʃeːna]) is a mural painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1495–1498, housed in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. The painting represents the scene of the Last Supper of Jesus with the Twelve Apostles, as it is told in the Gospel of John – specifically the moment after Jesus announces that one of his apostles will betray him.^[1] Its handling of space, mastery of perspective, treatment of motion and complex display of human emotion has made it one of the Western world's most recognizable paintings and among Leonardo's most celebrated works.^[2] Some commentators consider it pivotal in inaugurating the transition into what is now termed the High Renaissance.^[3][4]

The work was commissioned as part of a plan of renovations to the church and its convent buildings by Leonardo's patron Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. In order to permit his inconsistent painting schedule and frequent revisions, it is painted with materials that allowed for regular alterations: tempera on gesso, pitch, and mastic. Due to the methods used, a variety of environmental factors, and intentional damage, little of the original painting remains today despite numerous restoration attempts, the last being completed in 1999. The Last Supper is Leonardo's largest work, aside from the Sala delle Asse.

1. ^ Bianchini, Riccardo (24 March 2021). "The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci – Santa Maria delle Grazie – Milan". Inexhibit. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
2. ^ "Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' reveals more secrets". sciencedaily.com. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
3. ^ Frederick Hartt, A History of Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture; Harry N. Abrams Incorporated, New York, 1985, p. 601
4. ^ Christoph Luitpold Frommel, "Bramante and the Origins of the High Renaissance" in Rethinking the High Renaissance: The Culture of the Visual Arts in Early Sixteenth-Century Rome, Jill Burke, ed. Ashgate Publishing, Oxan, UK, 2002, p. 172.

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29 May 1914 – The Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with the loss of 1,012 lives

RMS Empress of Ireland

Canadian ocean liner that sank in 1914

"Empress of Ireland" redirects here and is not to be confused with Queen of Ireland.

RMS Empress of Ireland was a British-built ocean liner that sank near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada following a collision in thick fog with the Norwegian collier Storstad in the early hours of 29 May 1914, en route to Liverpool. Although the ship was equipped with watertight compartments and, in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster two years earlier, carried more than enough lifeboats for all aboard, she foundered in only 14 minutes. Of the 1,477 people on board, 1,012 died, making it the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Canadian history.^[1][2][3][a]

Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering built Empress of Ireland and her sister ship, Empress of Britain, at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland.^[1] The liners were commissioned by Canadian Pacific Steamships or CPR for the North Atlantic route between Liverpool and Quebec City. The transcontinental CPR and its fleet of ocean liners constituted the company's self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Transportation System". Empress of Ireland had just begun her 96th voyage when she was lost.^[4]

The wreck of Empress of Ireland lies in 40 m (130 ft) of water, making it accessible to advanced divers.^[5] Many artifacts from the wreckage have been retrieved, some of which are on display in the Empress of Ireland Pavilion at the Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père in Rimouski, Quebec, and at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Canadian government has passed legislation to protect the site.^[6]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Investigating the Empress of Ireland". Shipwreck Investigations at Library and Archives Canada. Library and Archives Canada. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
2. ^ Cd. 7609, p. 25.
3. ^ "The Empress of Ireland". Lost Ship Recovered Voyages. Royal Alberta Museum. Archived from the original on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
4. ^ "The Empress of Ireland: Survivors". Lost Ship Recovered Voyages. Royal Alberta Museum. Archived from the original on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
5. ^ "The Empress of Ireland: Respecting the Wreck". Lost Ship Recovered Voyages. Royal Alberta Museum. 6 February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
6. ^ "The Empress of Ireland: Protecting the Empress". Lost Ship Recovered Voyages. Royal Alberta Museum. 6 February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2018.

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30 May 1806 – Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel.

Charles Dickinson (historical figure)

Redirect to:

• Charles Dickinson (attorney and duelist)

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31 May 2008 – Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds

Usain Bolt

Jamaican sprinter (born 1986)

"Usain" redirects here. For the organization, see USAIN.

Usain St. Leo Bolt (/ˈjuːseɪn/;^[12] born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time.^[13][14][15] He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.

Bolt is the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016). He also won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals. He gained worldwide fame for his double sprint victory in world record times at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first person to hold both records since fully automatic time became mandatory.

An eleven-time World Champion, he won consecutive World Championship 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 metres relay gold medals from 2009 to 2015, with the exception of a 100 m false start in 2011. He is the most successful male athlete of the World Championships. Bolt is the first athlete to win four World Championship titles in the 200 m and is one of the most successful in the 100 m with three titles, being the first person to run sub-9.7s and sub-9.6s races.

Bolt improved upon his second 100 m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 – the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing. He has twice broken the 200 metres world record, setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009. He has helped Jamaica to three 4 × 100 metres relay world records, with the current record being 36.84 seconds set in 2012. Bolt's most successful event is the 200 m, with three Olympic and four World titles. The 2008 Olympics was his international debut over 100 m; he had earlier won numerous 200 m medals (including 2007 World Championship silver) and held the world under-20 and world under-18 records for the event until being surpassed by Erriyon Knighton in 2021.

His achievements as a sprinter have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt", and his awards include the IAAF World Athlete of the Year, Track & Field Athlete of the Year, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year (three times), and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (four times). Bolt was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2016.^[16] Bolt retired after the 2017 World Championships, when he finished third in his last solo 100 m race, opted out of the 200 m, and pulled up injured in the 4 × 100 m relay final.

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Focus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Thomas, Claire (26 July 2016). "Built for speed: what makes Usain Bolt so fast?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
3. ^ "Usain BOLT". usainbolt.com. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
4. ^ Thomas, Claire (25 July 2016). "Glen Mills: the man behind Usain Bolt's record-shattering career". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
5. ^ Wile, Rob (11 August 2017). "Usain Bolt Is Retiring. Here's How He Made Over $100 Million in 10 Years". Money. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
6. ^ Clark, Nate (2 February 2019). "Usain Bolt having fun at Super Bowl, 'ties' NFL Combine 40-yard dash record". NBC. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference NY was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ Cite error: The named reference IAAF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference TTG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference IAAFProfile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
11. ^ "Usain Bolt to run an 800 m". Canadian Running Magazine. 8 July 2021. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
12. ^ Ellington, Barbara (31 August 2008). He is a happy person, says Usain's mother. Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
13. ^ "Usain BOLT – Olympic Athletics | Jamaica". International Olympic Committee. 27 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
14. ^ "Bolt by Numbers". World Athletics. 5 July 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
15. ^ "Usain Bolt". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
16. ^ "Usain Bolt". Time. 2016. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

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1 June 1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine

Abdominal thrusts

First aid procedure

"Heimlich" redirects here. For other uses, see Heimlich (disambiguation).

Medical intervention

Heimlich maneuver, also known as abdominal thrusts or Heimlich manoeuvre, is a first-aid procedure used to treat upper-airway obstructions (or choking) by foreign objects. American doctor Henry Heimlich is often credited for its discovery. To perform a Heimlich maneuver, a rescuer stands behind a choking victim and uses their hands to apply pressure to the bottom of the victim's diaphragm. This compresses the lungs and exerts pressure on the object lodged in the trachea in an effort to expel it.

Most modern protocols, including those of the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, and European Resuscitation Council, recommend that treatment of airway obstructions be performed in several stages designed to apply increasing levels of pressure. Most protocols recommend encouraging the victim to cough, followed by hard back slaps, and finally abdominal thrusts or chest thrusts as a final resort. Some guidelines also recommend alternating between abdominal thrusts and back slaps.^[1][2]

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ERC2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ "Foreign object inhaled: First aid". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved March 18, 2025.

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2 June 1835 – P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.

P. T. Barnum

American showman and politician (1810–1891)

"Barnum" redirects here. For other uses with the name Barnum, see Barnum (disambiguation).

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.^[1] He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, although he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession ... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me."^[2] According to Barnum's critics, his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers".^[2] The adage "there's a sucker born every minute" has frequently been attributed to him, although no evidence exists that he had coined the phrase.^[3]

Barnum became a small-business owner in his early twenties and founded a weekly newspaper before moving to New York City in 1834. He embarked on an entertainment career, first with a variety troupe called "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater", and soon after by purchasing Scudder's American Museum, which he renamed after himself. He used the museum as a platform to promote hoaxes and human curiosities such as the Fiji mermaid and General Tom Thumb.^[4] In 1850, he promoted the American tour of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, paying her an unprecedented $1,000, equivalent to $37,796 in 2024, per night for 150 nights. He suffered economic reversals in the 1850s from unwise investments, as well as years of litigation and public humiliation, but he embarked on a lecture tour as a temperance speaker to emerge from debt. His museum added America's first aquarium and expanded its wax-figure department.

Barnum served two terms in the Connecticut legislature in 1865 as a Republican for Fairfield, Connecticut. He spoke before the legislature concerning the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude: "A human soul, 'that God has created and Christ died for,' is not to be trifled with. It may tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab, or a Hottentot—it is still an immortal spirit."^[5] He was elected in 1875 as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he worked to improve the water supply, bring gas lighting to streets and enforce liquor and prostitution laws. He was instrumental in the inception of Bridgeport Hospital in 1878 and was its first president.^[6] The circus business, begun when he was 60 years old, was the source of much of his enduring fame. He established P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome in 1870, a traveling circus, menagerie and museum of "freaks" that adopted many names over the years.

Barnum was married to Charity Hallett from 1829 until her death in 1873, and they had four children. In 1874, a few months after his wife's death, he married Nancy Fish, his friend's daughter and 40 years his junior. They were married until 1891 when Barnum died of a stroke at his home. He was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, which he designed himself.^[7]

1. ^ North American Theatre Online: Phineas T. Barnum
2. ^ ^{a b} Kunhardt, Kunhardt & Kunhardt 1995, p. vi
3. ^ Shapiro, Fred R. (2006). The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 44.
4. ^ Kunhardt, Kunhardt & Kunhardt 1995, p. 73
5. ^ Barnum, Phineas (1888). The life of P. T. Barnum. Buffalo, N.Y.: The Courier Company. p. 237 – via Ebook and Texts Archive – American Libraries.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference kunhardt2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ Rogak, Lisa (2004). Stones and Bones of New England: A guide to unusual, historic, and otherwise notable cemeteries. Globe Pequat. ISBN 978-0-7627-3000-1.

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2 June 1835 – P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.

P. T. Barnum

American showman and politician (1810–1891)

"Barnum" redirects here. For other uses with the name Barnum, see Barnum (disambiguation).

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.^[1] He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, although he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession ... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me."^[2] According to Barnum's critics, his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers".^[2] The adage "there's a sucker born every minute" has frequently been attributed to him, although no evidence exists that he had coined the phrase.^[3]

Barnum became a small-business owner in his early twenties and founded a weekly newspaper before moving to New York City in 1834. He embarked on an entertainment career, first with a variety troupe called "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater", and soon after by purchasing Scudder's American Museum, which he renamed after himself. He used the museum as a platform to promote hoaxes and human curiosities such as the Fiji mermaid and General Tom Thumb.^[4] In 1850, he promoted the American tour of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, paying her an unprecedented $1,000, equivalent to $37,796 in 2024, per night for 150 nights. He suffered economic reversals in the 1850s from unwise investments, as well as years of litigation and public humiliation, but he embarked on a lecture tour as a temperance speaker to emerge from debt. His museum added America's first aquarium and expanded its wax-figure department.

Barnum served two terms in the Connecticut legislature in 1865 as a Republican for Fairfield, Connecticut. He spoke before the legislature concerning the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude: "A human soul, 'that God has created and Christ died for,' is not to be trifled with. It may tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab, or a Hottentot—it is still an immortal spirit."^[5] He was elected in 1875 as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he worked to improve the water supply, bring gas lighting to streets and enforce liquor and prostitution laws. He was instrumental in the inception of Bridgeport Hospital in 1878 and was its first president.^[6] The circus business, begun when he was 60 years old, was the source of much of his enduring fame. He established P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome in 1870, a traveling circus, menagerie and museum of "freaks" that adopted many names over the years.

Barnum was married to Charity Hallett from 1829 until her death in 1873, and they had four children. In 1874, a few months after his wife's death, he married Nancy Fish, his friend's daughter and 40 years his junior. They were married until 1891 when Barnum died of a stroke at his home. He was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, which he designed himself.^[7]

1. ^ North American Theatre Online: Phineas T. Barnum
2. ^ ^{a b} Kunhardt, Kunhardt & Kunhardt 1995, p. vi
3. ^ Shapiro, Fred R. (2006). The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 44.
4. ^ Kunhardt, Kunhardt & Kunhardt 1995, p. 73
5. ^ Barnum, Phineas (1888). The life of P. T. Barnum. Buffalo, N.Y.: The Courier Company. p. 237 – via Ebook and Texts Archive – American Libraries.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference kunhardt2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ Rogak, Lisa (2004). Stones and Bones of New England: A guide to unusual, historic, and otherwise notable cemeteries. Globe Pequat. ISBN 978-0-7627-3000-1.

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3 June 1844 – The last pair of great auks is killed

Great auk

Extinct flightless seabird from the North Atlantic

The great auk (Pinguinus impennis), also known as the penguin or garefowl, is an extinct species of flightless alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus. It was not closely related to the penguins of the Southern Hemisphere, which were named for their resemblance to this species.

It bred on rocky, remote islands with easy access to the ocean and a plentiful food supply, a rarity in nature that provided only a few breeding sites for the great auks. During the non-breeding season, the auk foraged in the waters of the North Atlantic, ranging as far south as northern Spain and along the coastlines of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain.

The bird was 75 to 85 centimetres (30 to 33 inches) tall and weighed about 5 kilograms (11 pounds), making it the largest alcid to survive into the modern era, and the second-largest member of the alcid family overall (the prehistoric Miomancalla was larger).^[5] It had a black back and a white belly. The black beak was heavy and hooked, with grooves on its surface. During summer, great auk plumage showed a white patch over each eye. During winter, the great auk lost these patches, instead developing a white band stretching between the eyes. The wings were only 15 cm (6 in) long, rendering the bird flightless. Instead, the great auk was a powerful swimmer, a trait that it used in hunting. Its favourite prey were fish, including Atlantic menhaden and capelin, and crustaceans. Although agile in the water, it was clumsy on land. Great auk pairs mated for life. They nested in extremely dense and social colonies, laying one egg on bare rock. The egg was white with variable brown marbling. Both parents participated in the incubation of the egg for around six weeks before the young hatched. The young left the nest site after two to three weeks, although the parents continued to care for it.

The great auk was an important part of many Native American cultures, both as a food source and as a symbolic item. Many Maritime Archaic people were buried with great auk bones. One burial discovered included someone covered by more than 200 great auk beaks, which are presumed to be the remnants of a cloak made of great auks' skins. Early European explorers to the Americas used the great auk as a convenient food source or as fishing bait, reducing its numbers. The bird's down was in high demand in Europe, a factor that largely eliminated the European populations by the mid-16th century. Around the same time, nations such as Great Britain began to realize that the great auk was disappearing and it became the beneficiary of many early environmental laws, but despite that the great auk were still hunted.

Its growing rarity increased interest from European museums and private collectors in obtaining skins and eggs of the bird. On 3 June 1844, the last two confirmed specimens were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, ending the last known breeding attempt. Later reports of roaming individuals being seen or caught are unconfirmed. A report of one great auk in 1852 is considered by some to be the last sighting of a member of the species. The great auk is mentioned in several novels, and the scientific journal of the American Ornithological Society was named The Auk (now Ornithology) in honour of the bird until 2021.

1. ^ BirdLife International (2021). "Pinguinus impennis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22694856A205919631. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22694856A205919631.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
2. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
3. ^ Grieve, Symington (1885). The Great Auk, or Garefowl: Its history, archaeology, and remains. Thomas C. Jack, London. ISBN 978-0665066245. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
4. ^ Parkin, Thomas (1894). The Great Auk, or Garefowl. J.E. Budd, Printer. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
5. ^ Smith, N (2015). "Evolution of body mass in the Pan-Alcidae (Aves, Charadriiformes): the effects of combining neontological and paleontological data". Paleobiology. 42 (1): 8–26. Bibcode:2016Pbio...42....8S. doi:10.1017/pab.2015.24. S2CID 83934750.

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4 June 1942 – World War II: The Battle of Midway begins. The Japanese Admiral Chūichi Nagumo orders a strike on Midway Island by much of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Battle of Midway

1942 major naval battle in World War II

This article is about the 1942 battle. For other uses, see Battle of Midway (disambiguation).

The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese Combined Fleet under the command of Isoroku Yamamoto suffered a decisive defeat by the U.S. Pacific Fleet near Midway Atoll, about 1,300 mi (1,100 nmi; 2,100 km) northwest of Oahu. Yamamoto had intended to capture Midway and lure out and destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet, especially the aircraft carriers which had escaped damage at Pearl Harbor.

Before the battle, Japan desired to extend its Pacific defense perimeter, especially after the Doolittle air raid of Tokyo in April 1942, and to clear the seas for attacks on Midway, Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii. A related Japanese attack on the Aleutian Islands began one day earlier, on 3 June. The Japanese strike force at Midway, known as the Kidō Butai, was commanded by Chuichi Nagumo. Yamamoto's plan for the operation, which depended on precise timing and coordination, was undermined by its wide dispersal of forces, which left the rest of the fleet unable to support the Kidō Butai effectively.

On 4 June, the Japanese began bombing Midway and prepared to wait for the Pacific Fleet to arrive from Pearl Harbor to defend the island. Unknown to Yamamoto, U.S. code breakers had determined the date and location of his planned attack, enabling the Americans to prepare their own ambush; Chester Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet, had sent a large force under Frank Jack Fletcher to the Midway area before the Japanese had arrived. Land-based planes from Midway and carrier-based planes from the U.S. fleet surprised and attacked Nagumo's force. All four Japanese fleet carriers—Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and Hiryū—present at the battle were sunk, as was the heavy cruiser Mikuma. Japan also lost 3,000 men, including many well-trained and difficult-to-replace pilots. The U.S. lost the carrier Yorktown and the destroyer Hammann, while the carriers Enterprise and Hornet (under the command of Raymond Spruance during the battle) survived the fighting without damage.

The Battle of Midway, along with the Guadalcanal campaign, is widely considered a turning point in the Pacific War. After Midway and the attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign, Japan's ability to replace its losses in materiel and trained men became rapidly insufficient, while the U.S.'s massive industrial and training capabilities increased over time. Historian John Keegan called the battle "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare",^[9] while historian Craig Symonds called it "one of the most consequential naval engagements in world history, ranking alongside Salamis, Trafalgar, and Tsushima Strait, as both tactically decisive and strategically influential."^[10]

1. ^ Blair 1975, p. 240 map
2. ^ Parshall & Tully 2005, pp. 90–91
3. ^ ^{a b} Scott Fisher; Nathan Forney (1996). "The Turning Point of the Pacific War: Two Views The Battle of Midway or the Struggle for Guadalcanal". Retrieved 8 February 2025.
4. ^ "The Battle of Midway". Office of Naval Intelligence. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
5. ^ "The Battle of Midway". Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
6. ^ Parshall & Tully 2005, p. 524
7. ^ Cite error: The named reference ParTulcas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
8. ^ "Battle of Midway: June 4–7, 1942". Naval History & Heritage Command. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
9. ^ Keegan 2005, p. 275
10. ^ Symonds 2018, p. 293

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