ThisDayThatYear.com - Events from History on May 20

Events from History on May 20

1293 : Earthquake strikes Kamakura Japan, 30,000 killed
1303 : Treaty of Paris restores Gascony to British in Hundred Years War
1310 : Shoes were made for both right & left feet
1347 : Rienzo calls Rome for people's tribunal
1495 : French King Charles VIII leaves Naples
1498 : Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calcutta India
1501 : Joao da Nova Castell discovers Ascension Islands
1521 : Ignatius Loyola seriously wounded by a cannon ball
1524 : Duke of Albany leaves Scotland
1570 : Egidius Coppens publishes Abraham Ortelius' "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum"
1571 : Venice, Spain & Pope Pius form anti-Turkish Saint League
1591 : Spanish troops in Zutphen surrenders to Willem Louis/Mauritius
1631 : German army under earl Johann Tilly conquerors Maagdenburg
1639 : Dorchester Mass, forms 1st school funded by local taxes
1690 : England passes Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II
1704 : Elias Neau forms school for slaves in NY
1734 : 1st Jockey Club forms in SC
1774 : Britain gives Qu‚bec, Labrador & territory north of Ohio
1775 : Citizens of Mecklenburg County, NC declare independence of Britain
1784 : England & Netherlands signs peace treaty (Peace of Paris)
1825 : Charles X becomes King of France
1830 : 1st railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American)
1830 : D Hyde patents fountain pen
1845 : 1st legislative assembly convenes in Hawaii
1861 : Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle
1861 : Kentucky proclaims its neutrality in Civil War
1861 : North Carolina becomes 11th & last state to secede from Union
1861 : US marshals appropriate previous year's telegraph dispatches, to
1861 : reveal prosecessionist evidence
1862 : Homestead Act provides cheap land for settlement of West
1864 : Battle at Ware Bottom Church, Virginia, 1,400 killed or injured
1864 : Spotsylvania-campaign ends after 10,920 killed/injured person
1867 : Brit parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women suffrage
1867 : Royal Albert Hall foundation laid by Queen Victoria
1868 : Republican National Convention, meets in Chicago, nominates Grant
1870 : Second Chamber abolishes capital punishment
1874 : Levi Strauss markets blue jeans with copper rivets, price $13.50 doz
1875 : Intl Bureau of Weights & Measures forms by treaty
1882 : Germany/Austria-Hungary/France sign Triple Alliance
1882 : Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts" (Gengangere) premieres in Chicago
1882 : St Gotthard-railroad tunnel between Switzerland & Italy opens
1892 : George Sampson patents clothes dryer
1892 : Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy & Austria forms
1895 : 1st commercial movie performance (153 Broadway, NYC)
1902 : Cuba gains independence from Spain
1902 : US military occupation of Cuba (since Jan 1, 1899) ends
1910 : Funeral for Britain's King Edward VII
1911 : Edwin Boaler Alletson hits 189 in 90 mins Notts v Sussex
1915 : Bataafsche Petroleum Me begins oil extraction of Maracaibo
1916 : Codell, Kansas hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 & 1918)
1916 : Saturday Evening Post cover features Norman Rockwell painting
1917 : Turkish govt authorizes Jews to return to Tel Aviv & Jaffa
1918 : 1st electrically propelled warship (New M‚xico)
1919 : Volcano Keluit on Java, erupts killing 550
1920 : Policemen raid the Cubs' bleachers & arrest 24 fans for gambling
1922 : "Egypt" sinks off Ushant after colliding with "Seine," killing 90
1922 : Babe Ruth & Bob Meusel, suspended on October 16, 1921, by Judge
1922 : Kennesaw Mountain Landis, return to the NY lineup & go hitless
1923 : Stanley Baldwin, becomes PM of UK
1926 : Belgian govt of Jaspar takes power
1926 : Congress passes Air Commerce Act, licensing of pilots & planes
1926 : Railway Labor Act became law
1926 : Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies
1927 : At 7:40 AM, Lindbergh takes off from NY to cross Atlantic for Paris
1927 : Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)
1930 : & cure of athlete's foot
1930 : 1st airplane catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot
1930 : University of California dedicates $1,500 to research on prevention
1932 : Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland 1st woman fly solo across Atlantic
1932 : Engelbert Dollfuss becomes chancellor of Austria
1939 : 1st regular transatlantic airmail (NY to Marsseille France)
1939 : Pan Am begins transatlantic passenger & air mail service
1940 : Gen Guderians tanks reach The Channel (British expeditionary army)
1940 : Igor Sikorsky unveils his helicopter invention
1940 : Soccer team HZVV forms in Hoogeveen
1940 : Trailing 7-1 in 9th to Pitts, Phils win 8-7
1941 : Archer's "Christian Calendar & Gregorian Reform" published
1941 : Former Dutch PM Colijn says Neth Indies not ready for independence
1941 : Germany invades Crete
1942 : US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve
1943 : French, British & US victory parade in Tunis Tunisia
1944 : US Communist Party dissolves
1945 : Keith Miller scores 105 in the 1st Victory Test Cricket at Lord's
1946 : Cubs Claude Passeau makes his 1st error since September 21, 1941,
1946 : ending pitcher's fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances
1948 : 1st use of Israeli Air Force & 1st war victory, defeating Syrian army
1948 : Cleve Indians tie AL record of 18 walks (beat Red Sox 13-4)
1954 : Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China
1955 : Argentine parliament accepts separation of church & state
1956 : Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane-Bikini Atoll
1956 : Jordan government of Samir resigns
1958 : US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)
1959 : Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship
1959 : Shah of Persia visits Netherlands
1959 : Yanks sink to last place, 1st time since May 25, 1940
1961 : Henzes opera "Elegy for Young Lovers," premieres in Schwetzingen
1961 : Mauritania adopts constitution
1961 : White mob attacks "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama
1963 : Sukarno appointed president of Indonesia
1964 : Buster Mathis defeats Joe Fraizer to qualify for US Olympic team
1965 : Pakistani Boeing 720-B crashes at Cairo Egypt, killing 121
1965 : Yorkshire all out for 23 v Hampshire at Middlesbrough
1967 : 10,000 demonstrate against war in Vietnam
1967 : BBC bans Beatle's "A Day in the Life" (drug references)
1969 : US troop capture Hill 937/Hamburger Hill Vietnam
1970 : 100,000 march in NY supporting US policies in Vietnam
1970 : 2 die in a NYC subway accident
1970 : Beatles' "Let it Be" movie premieres in UK
1971 : Pentagon reports blacks constitute 11% of US soldiers in SE Asia
1972 : "Different Times" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 24 performances
1972 : "Hard Job Being God" closes at Edison Theater NYC after 6 performances
1972 : Cameroon adopts its constitution
1972 : Republic of Cameroon declared as constitution is ratified
1973 : "2 Gentlemen of Verona" closes at St James Theater NYC after 613 perfs
1973 : 25th Emmy Awards: Waltons, All in the Family & Mary Tyler Moore
1974 : Soyuz 14 returns to Earth
1976 : USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1978 : 3 PFLP members kill a cop near El Al airlines in Orly Airport, Paris
1978 : US launches Pioneer Venus 1; produces 1st global radar map of Venus
1979 : "I Love My Wife" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 864 perfs
1979 : 1st western pop star to tour USSR-Elton John
1980 : 710 families in Love Canal area (Niagara Falls NY) are evacuated
1980 : Drummer Peter Criss quits Kiss
1980 : Fire in nursing home in Kingston Jamaica, kills 157
1980 : In a referendum, 59.5% of Qu‚bec voters reject separatism
1983 : Larry Holmes beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1983 : Michael Dokes & Mike Weaver fight to a draw in 15 for hw boxing title
1983 : Phillies Steve Carlton passes W Johnson with 2nd most strike outs
1984 : "On Your Toes" closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 505 performances
1984 : Boston's Roger Clemens beats Twins, 5-4, for his 1st victory
1985 : 1150 Lebanese/Palestinian prisoners exchanged for 3 Israelis
1985 : Dow Jones industrial avg closes above 1300 for 1st time
1985 : FBI arrests John A Walker Jr, convicted of spying for USSR
1985 : Israel exchanges 1,100+ Arab prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers
1985 : Larry Holmes beats Carl Williams in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1985 : US began broadcasts to Cuba on Radio Marti
1986 : Christy Fichtner, 23, (Texas), crowned 35th Miss USA
1986 : Flintstones 25th Anniversary Celebration airs on CBS-tv
1987 : Wrestler Jerry Lawler sues WWF & Harley Race for trademark name "king"
1988 : Howard Stern fans disrupt WMMR's & John DeBella's "Louie Louie" parade
1988 : Mike Schmidt hits his 535th HR, moving into 8th place
1989 : China declares martial law in Beijing
1989 : Toonces The Cat takes the wheel on Saturday Night Live
1989 : Walter McConnel, 57, is oldest to reach 27,000' Mt Everest top
1990 : "Truly Blessed" closes at Longacre Theater NYC after 33 performances
1990 : Hubble Space Telescope sends 1st photograph's from space
1991 : Chic Bull Michael Jordan, named NBA's MVP
1991 : Jeff Reardon gains his 300th career save
1991 : Soviet parliament approves law allowing citizens to travel abroad
1992 : India launches its 1st satellite independently
1992 : Rap singer raps 597 syllables in under 60 seconds
1992 : VP Quayle attacks Murphy Brown for being a single mother
1993 : 10m meteor comes within 150,000 km of Earth (1993KA)
1993 : 274th & final "Cheers" on NBC
1993 : Ukraine Premier Leonid Koetsjma resigns
1994 : Bobcat Goldthwait charged with misdemeanors for fire on Tonight Show
1994 : Miss India (Sushmita Sen) selected Miss Universe
1994 : Sony Theaters & Cineplex (NYC) hike movie ticket prices to $8.00
1995 : CBS News fires co-anchor Connie Chung
1997 : Cosmos Zenit-2 Launch (Russia), Failed
1997 : Thor-2A Delta 2 Launch (Norway/USA), Successful
1997 : White Sox Frank Thomas reaches base safely for 15th straight time
2002 : India's first innings in the final test in West Indies ended at 212 with Dillon claiming 5 wickets. Earlier West Indies were 422 in their first innings in which Harbhajan Singh claimed 5 wickets.
2002 : The first test between Sri Lanka and England ended with a draw.

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