On May 19th...

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1536 Anne Boleyn, wife of King Henry VIII of England, was executed.

1571 Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi founded Manila in the Philippines.

1643 Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Harbor formed the United Colonies of New England.

1649 An act declaring England a Commonwealth was passed by the Long Parliament.

1749 King George II of Great Britain granted a charter to the Ohio Company to settle Ohio Valley.

1795 Philanthropist Johns Hopkins was born.
1795 Biographer James Boswell died.

1802 The French Order of Legion d'Honneur was formed.

1843 British diplomat Charles Bagot died.

1857 William Francis Channing and Moses G. Farmer patented the electric fire alarm.

1861 Opera singer Nellie Melba was born.

1862 The Homestead Act became law.

1864 Author Nathaniel Hawthorne died.

1879 Nancy Langhorne Astor, the first woman to serve in the British House of Commons, was born.

1884 The Ringling Brothers Circus premiered.

1890 North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh was born.

1892 Charles Brady King invented the pneumatic hammer.

1895 Cuban freedom fighter José Marti died.

1898 William Gladstone, four-time Prime Minister of Great Britain, died.

1900 The Simplon Railroad Tunnel linking Italy and Switzerland opened.

1904 Jamsetji Nasarwanji Tata, Indian industrialist and philanthropist, died.

1906 Federated Boys' Club (now Boys' Club of America) was organized.

1908 Thomas Ethelon Selfridge became the first Army officer to pilot an airplane.

1917 Belva Ann Lockwood, the first woman to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, died.

1918 Swimmer Florence Chadwick was born.

1921 Edward Douglas White, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, died.

1923 Earl Sande rode Zevto victory in the Kentucky Derby.

1925 Activist Malcolm Little (aka Malcolm X) was born.
1925 Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge, was born.

1928 A firedamp exploded in a Mather, Pennsylvania, coal mine, killing 195 of 273 miners.
1928 Chick Lang rode Reigh Count to victory in the Kentucky Derby.
1928 Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars, was born.

1930 White women were granted the vote in South Africa.

1934 Colonel Damian Veltsjev led a military coup in Bulgaria.
1934 Journalist Jim Lehrer was born.

1935 Talk show host David Hartman was born.
1935 Author T. E. Lawrence died.

1939 Astronaut Francis R. Scobee was born.

1941 Author Nora Ephron was born.

1945 The Who guitarist Pete Townshend was born.

1946 Professional wrestler André René Roussimoff (aka André the Giant) was born.
1946 Novelist Booth Tarkington died.

1947 Singer Jerry Hyman was born.

1949 ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill was born.
1949 Football player Archie Manning was born.

1951 Eddie Arcaro rode Bold to victory in the Preakness.
1951 Singer Joey Ramone was born.

1954 AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd was born.

1956 Bill Hartack rode Fabius to victory in the Preakness.

1959 Ben Cortner died when he lost control of his race car during a practice run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

1962 John Rotz rode Greek Money to victory in the Preakness.

1965 Patricia Harris was named the first U. S. black female ambassador (to Luxembourg).

1967 The United Nations ended peace-keeping patrols in Gaza and Sinai.

1969 Jazz musician Coleman Hawkins died.

1971 The fatal shooting of a black youth by a black policeman sparked a riot in Newark, New Jersey.
1971 Poet Ogden Nash died.

1973 Ron Turcotte rode Secretariat to victory in the Preakness.

1974 The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup.

1975 A farm truck loaded with a wedding party was struck by a train south of Poona, India, killing 66 persons in the truck.

1979 Ron Franklin rode Spectacular Bid to victory in the Preakness.

1984 Angel Cordero, Jr., rode Gate Dancer to victory in the Preakness.
1984 The Edmonton Oilers defeated the New York Islanders to win the Preakness.

1989 Author Daphne Du Maurier died.

1990 Pat Day rode Summer Squall to victory in the Preakness.

1991 Willy T. Ribbs became the first black American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

1992 The 27th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, prohibiting Congress from raising its salary, was ratified.

1993 A Boeing 727 crashed into a mountain at Medellin, Colombia, killing 132 persons.

1994 Radio and television personality Henry Morgan died.
1994 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, widow of President John F. Kennedy, died.

2001 Gary Stevens rode Point Given to victory in the Preakness.

2002 John Gorton, former Prime Minister of Australia, died.

2004 Actor Tony Randall died.

2007 Robby Albarado rode Curlin to victory in the Preakness.

2012 Mario Gutierrez rode I'll Have Another to victory in the Preakness.

2014 Racecar driver Jack Brabham died.

2016 EgyptAir Flight MS804, en route from Paris, France, to Cairo, Egypt, went missing over the Mediterranean.
2016 Television journalist Morley Safer died.
2016 Actor Alan Young died.

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This page was last updated on July 09, 2018.