1851: Queen Victoria<\/a> opens the Great Exhibition<\/a><\/h4>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> A coloured lithograph of The Great Exhibition. (Photo by SSPL\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nIt was a magnificent spectacle that met the young queen as she arrived, cheered on by huge crowds, at the Crystal Palace<\/a> in London\u2019s Hyde Park. Trumpet fanfares, cannon fire and a 1,000-strong choir singing the national anthem all heralded the opening of the Great Exhibition, a world\u2019s fair devised by her husband, Prince Albert<\/a>, as a display of culture and industry; a testament of the age.<\/p>\nIn her remarks, the queen expressed her hope that the exhibition would be in the \u201ccommon interests of the human race, by encouraging the arts of peace and industry [and] strengthening the bonds of union among the nations of the earth\u201d. Over the next six months, millions of people came to see the objects, inventions and wonders gathered from around the British empire.<\/p>\n
2 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1946: A battle breaks out between prisoners and guards at Alcatraz<\/h4>\n
An escape attempt from the notoriously inescapable maximum-security prison, on an island in San Francisco Bay, escalated into a firefight and a siege of one of the cellhouses. After 48 hours of the so-called battle of Alcatraz<\/a>, more than a dozen people were injured and five dead: two officers and three of the escaping prisoners.<\/p>\n3 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1481: Earthquakes and tsunamis batter Rhodes<\/h4>\n
The Greek island suffered severe damage in a series of earthquakes throughout the year, but the worst struck in early May and also triggered a tsunami. There were an estimated 30,000 casualties.<\/p>\n
4 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1471: Edward IV<\/a> reclaims the throne at Tewkesbury<\/h4>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Edward IV. (Photo by The Print Collector\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nAt the battle of Tewkesbury<\/a>, the Yorkist king, who had been overthrown the previous year, secured a decisive victory in the Wars of the Roses<\/a> against Lancastrian forces. Henry VI<\/a> ended up a prisoner in the Tower of London<\/a>, where he died shortly afterwards in mysterious circumstances, while his rival\u2019s son and heir died in the fighting.<\/p>\n- Try our quiz | How much do you know about the Wars of the Roses?\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Coupled with his victory at the battle of Barnet<\/a> less than a month earlier, Edward\u2019s throne was now safe. There would be peace for the rest of his reign.<\/p>\n5 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1862: Mexican forces win at Puebla<\/h4>\n
Despite being outnumbered, inadequately trained and poorly armed, Mexican soldiers commanded by Ignacio Zaragoza defeated an invading French army at the battle of Puebla. In truth, it did not signal a breakthrough in the war, which went on for several more years, but the victory came to be commemorated in annual celebrations, known as Cinco de Mayo<\/a>.<\/p>\n6 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1954: Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute mile<\/h4>\n
The English runner Roger Bannister easily won the mile race at Ifley Road track, Oxford, but as he crossed the finish line the large crowd on that early evening were brimming with excitement and anticipation. The question was how quickly he had won. The official, pipe in mouth and stopwatch in hand, let the tension build before declaring, \u201cThree minutes\u2026\u201d, at which point the rest was drowned out by cheering.<\/p>\n
Bannister had achieved a physical feat never done before, despite the attempts of numerous athletes: running a mile in under four minutes. His actual time was 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, the tall, loping runner had achieved the seemingly impossible in far-from ideal conditions as rain and strong winds hampered the race meet. Just 46 days later, his record time would be broken by Australian John Landy, but Bannister got his revenge by beating his rival in the so-called \u2018Miracle Mile\u2019 race in 1954.<\/p>\n Famous births in May<\/h2>\n1 May 1769<\/h6>\n
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, military leader in the Napoleonic Wars<\/p>\n
1 May 1852<\/h6>\n
Martha Jane Cannary, \u2018Calamity Jane\u2019, American frontierswoman<\/p>\n
2 May 1729<\/h6>\n
Catherine the Great, long-reigning empress of Russia<\/p>\n
2 May 1892<\/h6>\n
Manfred von Richthofen, the \u2018Red Baron\u2019, German ace in the First World War<\/p>\n
3 May 1469<\/h6>\n
Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, Italian political philosopher<\/p>\n
4 May 1929<\/h6>\n
Audrey Hepburn, British actress and star of Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s<\/em><\/p>\n5 May 1864<\/h6>\n
Nellie Bly, American journalist and globe-trotting traveller<\/p>\n
6 May 1856<\/h6>\n
Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis<\/p>\n
7 May 1919<\/h6>\n
Eva Peron, Argentine first lady<\/p>\n
9 May 1874<\/h6>\n
Howard Carter, British Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun<\/p>\n
11 May 1918<\/h6>\n
Richard Feynman, American theoretical physicist<\/p>\n
12 May 1820<\/h6>\n
Florence Nightingale, English nurse in the Crimean War<\/p>\n
17 May 1866<\/h6>\n
Erik Satie, French composer and pianist<\/p>\n
19 May 1890<\/h6>\n
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman<\/p>\n
19 May 1925<\/h6>\n
Malcolm X, American leader in the Nation of Islam and the civil rights movement<\/p>\n
21 May 1527<\/h6>\n
Philip II, King of Spain who launched the Spanish Armada<\/p>\n
23 May 1707<\/h6>\n
Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and zoologist<\/p>\n
26 May 1951<\/h6>\n
Sally Ride, astronaut and the first American woman in space<\/p>\n
28 May 1908<\/h6>\n
Ian Fleming, British author and creator of James Bond<\/p>\n
28 May 1887<\/h6>\n
Jim Thorpe, Native American athlete and Olympic gold medallist<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
7 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1915: RMS Lusitania<\/em> is torpedoed and sunk<\/strong><\/p>\nNearing the end of a voyage across the Atlantic from New York to Liverpool, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania<\/em><\/a> was targeted by a U-boat of the German imperial navy. The First World War was raging and the Germans had recently declared a \u2018war zone\u2019 around Britain, meaning that any ship would be attacked.<\/p>\nThe Lusitania<\/em> sank in 18 minutes, resulting in the deaths of 1,198 people on board and widespread anti-German outrage around the world.<\/p>\n- Read more | How did Britain react to the sinking of the Lusitania<\/em>?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
8 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1945: Millions celebrate Victory in Europe Day<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nThe news of Nazi Germany\u2019s surrender, bringing an end to the Second World War in Europe after nearly six years, leads to joyous VE Day celebrations<\/a> around the world.<\/p>\n- Read more | \u201cHooray! The war is ended\u201d: 5 people\u2019s recollections of VE Day<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
9 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1662: Mr Punch makes his English debut<\/h4>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Punch and Judy. (Photo by Print Collector\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nThe traditional puppet show about the antics of Mr Punch and his wife Judy has its roots in the commedia dell\u2019arte in Italy \u2013 with the character of Punchinello \u2013 but its earliest-mention in England came in the entry for 9 May by famed diarist Samuel Pepys<\/a>. That day, he saw \u201can Italian puppet play\u201d, thought to have been performed by Pietro Gimonde, who was known as \u2018Signor Bologna\u2019.<\/p>\n10 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1872: Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman to run for US president<\/h4>\n
The American activist and suffrage movement leader was nominated as the presidential candidate for the Equal Rights Party in the 1872 election. The famed abolitionist<\/a> Frederick Douglass was put forward as her running mate, without his knowledge.<\/p>\n11 May<\/a><\/h2>\nAD 868: The world\u2019s oldest-known dated book is printed<\/h4>\n
Inside a copy of the Diamond Sutra<\/em>, a Mahayana Buddhist text translated into Chinese, discovered in 1900, it included the date: \u201cthe 15th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong\u201d, or 11 May AD 868.<\/p>\n12 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1789: William Wilberforce takes up the cause of abolition<\/h4>\n
\u201cI mean not to accuse anyone, but to take the shame upon myself, in common, indeed, with the whole parliament of Great Britain, for having suffered this horrid trade to be carried on under their authority. We are all guilty \u2013 we ought all to plead guilty, and not to exculpate ourselves by throwing the blame on others; and I therefore deprecate every kind of reflection against the various descriptions of people who are more immediately involved in this wretched business.\u201d<\/p>\n
- Read more | 7 key questions about the transatlantic slave trade \u2013 answered<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
So said British politician William Wilberforce in his first major speech on abolition in the House of Commons. He went on to describe in detail the conditions of the middle passage<\/a> \u2013 challenging anyone to hear the account of \u201cone of the many hundred Negroes stowed in each ship\u201d and having the heart to bear it \u2013 and concluded by saying that he was, \u201cfrom this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition\u201d.<\/p>\nHe would remain a leading figure in the abolitionist movement until the outlawing of the slave trade in 1807 and end of slavery in 1833.<\/p>\n
13 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1981: The pope survives an assassination attempt<\/h4>\n
As Pope John Paul II passed through St Peter\u2019s Square at the Vatican, blessing those gathered from the Popemobile, a 23-year-old Turk named Mehmet Ali Agca fired a gun four times. Hit in the abdomen and hand, the leader of the Catholic church was rushed to hospital; he would later announce that he had forgiven Agca and met with him in prison.<\/p>\n
14 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1796: the first vaccination<\/a> is administered<\/h4>\nTo test his theory of protecting people from smallpox, the English physician Edward Jenner inoculated eight-year-old James Phipps with the pus from a cowpox sore. The boy fell ill, but when Jenner then infected him with a dose of smallpox, the disease did not develop.<\/p>\n
- Read more | The race for a cure: how we found vaccines for 4 of history\u2019s most dangerous diseases<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
15 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1905: Sin City is founded<\/h4>\n
The growing settlement of Las Vegas was officially founded after 110 acres of land belonging to railroad owner William Clark were auctioned off.<\/p>\n
16 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1770: Marie Antoinette<\/a> marries the French dauphin \u2013 for the second time<\/h4>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> A painting of Marie Antoinette in 1775. (Photo by Universal History Archive\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nThe 14-year-old archduchess of Austria married the heir to the French throne, Louis-Auguste \u2013 who would be the last king before the French Revolution<\/a> \u2013 in a ceremony at Versailles<\/a>. This was the second wedding: she was officially married a month earlier by proxy, with her own brother standing in for her betrothed.<\/p>\n17 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1954: Supreme Court makes a landmark decision for US schools<\/h4>\n
In Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. A major victory of the civil rights movement<\/a>, it was a pivotal challenge to the long-established doctrine of \u2018separate but equal\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n18 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1291: The fall of Acre ends crusader ambition<\/h4>\n
For decades, the city of Acre (in modern-day Israel) was the most important stronghold remaining in the Kingdom of Jerusalem held by the crusaders<\/a>, so when it fell to the Mamluks in a siege it signalled the end of the crusades in the Holy Land.<\/p>\n19 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1536: Anne Boleyn<\/a> is executed<\/h4>\nHaving climbed the scaffold erected within the walls of the Tower of London, Anne Boleyn gave a short speech, ending with \u201cI pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never, and to me he was ever a good, a gentle, and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
- Read more | The final days of Anne Boleyn: why did she die?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
The second of the six wives of Henry VIII<\/a>, found guilty of high treason, removed her ermine-trimmed gown and knelt down, before the executioner stepped up and removed her head with a blow from a sword. Just 11 days later, the \u201cgood\u201d, \u201cgentle\u201d and \u201cmerciful\u201d king was married again, to Jane Seymour<\/a>, who would be able to provide him with his much-desired son, Edward VI<\/a>.<\/p>\n Famous deaths in May<\/h2>\n1 May 1873<\/h6>\n
David Livingstone, Scottish missionary and explorer in Africa<\/p>\n
1 May 1945<\/h6>\n
Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda in Nazi Germany<\/p>\n
2 May 1519<\/h6>\n
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance polymath<\/p>\n
5 May 1821<\/h6>\n
Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of the French<\/p>\n
6 May 1992<\/h6>\n
Marlene Dietrich, German and American leading lady in the golden age of Hollywood<\/p>\n
11 May 1812<\/h6>\n
Spencer Perceval, the only British prime minister to be assassinated<\/p>\n
11 May 1981<\/h6>\n
Bob Marley, Jamaican musician who popularised reggae around the world<\/p>\n
15 May 1886<\/h6>\n
Emily Dickinson, one of the great American poets of the 19th century<\/p>\n
16 May 1926<\/h6>\n
Mehmed II, last sultan of the Ottoman empire<\/p>\n
18 May 1781<\/h6>\n
Tupac Amaru II, Incan revolutionary leader<\/p>\n
19 May 1935<\/h6>\n
TE Lawrence (\u2018of Arabia\u2019), British army officer, archaeologist and author<\/p>\n
21 May 1542<\/h6>\n
Hernando de Soto, Spanish conquistador and explorer of the Mississippi River<\/p>\n
23 May 1701<\/h6>\n
William Kidd, Scottish pirate<\/p>\n
23 May 1910<\/h6>\n
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, American Depression-era outlaws<\/p>\n
24 May 1543<\/h6>\n
Nicolaus Copernicus, Renaissance polymath who developed the heliocentric model of the universe<\/p>\n
26 May AD 735<\/h6>\n
Bede the Venerable, Anglo-Saxon theologian and historian<\/p>\n
26 May 1703<\/h6>\n
Samuel Pepys, English diarist of the Restoration period<\/p>\n
27 May 1564<\/h6>\n
John Calvin, French leading figure of the Protestant Reformation<\/p>\n
27 May 1964<\/h6>\n
Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of India<\/p>\n
30 May 1778<\/h6>\n
Voltaire, French writer, historian and philosopher in the Enlightenment<\/p>\n
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
20 May<\/a><\/h2>\nAD 325: the Christian church holds its first ecumenical council<\/h4>\n
On the command of Constantine I<\/a>, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, the First Council of Nicaea was convened to define a uniform doctrine. The resulting Nicene Creed is still a part of the church to this day.<\/p>\n21 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1927: \u2018Lucky Lindy\u2019 lands in Paris<\/h4>\n
Some 33 and a half hours after taking off from New York, pilot Charles Lindbergh touched down his single-engine monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis<\/em>, in Paris \u2013 completing the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight<\/a> in history. Overnight, \u2018Lucky Lindy\u2019 had become a darling of the press and a global celebrity.<\/p>\nFive years later, fellow American aviator Amelia Earhart<\/a> would be the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, choosing to fly on the exact same date as Lindbergh. Due to poor weather conditions and mechanical issues, however, she did not make it to Paris, but landed in a pasture in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n- Read more | Alcock and Brown: the first aviators to fly across the Atlantic<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
22 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1762: The Trevi Fountain is inaugurated<\/h4>\n
One of the most famous fountains in the world, and a landmark of Rome<\/a>, it took three decades to build the Trevi Fountain. The Baroque masterpiece designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi was officially opened and inaugurated by Pope Clement XIII.<\/p>\n23 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1618: Catholic officials are thrown out of a Prague window<\/h4>\n
The Defenestration of Prague<\/a> took place amidst a climate of religious tension in Bohemia, exacerbated by the new king\u2019s intransigent stance on undoing any changes made by the Reformation<\/a>. A mass Protestant demonstration in Prague as some of their leaders prepared to meet with Catholic officials at Prague (Hrad\u010dany) Castle, but the situation turned violent when two of the Catholic men, plus one of their secretaries, were thrown out of the window.<\/p>\n- Read more | Castles, cathedrals and conflict: exploring Prague\u2019s history<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Count Villem Slavata, Count Jaroslav Martinitz and the secretary plummeted 21 metres, but somehow survived the ordeal. The defenestration, however, had much wider-reaching consequences, sparking the Thirty Years\u2019 War<\/a>.<\/p>\n24 May<\/a><\/h2>\n1844: the first long-distance telegraph is sent<\/h4>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/GettyImages-90771494-1a1b1bb-e1682680610737.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>It was a magnificent spectacle that met the young queen as she arrived, cheered on by huge crowds, at the Crystal Palace<\/a> in London\u2019s Hyde Park. Trumpet fanfares, cannon fire and a 1,000-strong choir singing the national anthem all heralded the opening of the Great Exhibition, a world\u2019s fair devised by her husband, Prince Albert<\/a>, as a display of culture and industry; a testament of the age.<\/p>\n In her remarks, the queen expressed her hope that the exhibition would be in the \u201ccommon interests of the human race, by encouraging the arts of peace and industry [and] strengthening the bonds of union among the nations of the earth\u201d. Over the next six months, millions of people came to see the objects, inventions and wonders gathered from around the British empire.<\/p>\n An escape attempt from the notoriously inescapable maximum-security prison, on an island in San Francisco Bay, escalated into a firefight and a siege of one of the cellhouses. After 48 hours of the so-called battle of Alcatraz<\/a>, more than a dozen people were injured and five dead: two officers and three of the escaping prisoners.<\/p>\n The Greek island suffered severe damage in a series of earthquakes throughout the year, but the worst struck in early May and also triggered a tsunami. There were an estimated 30,000 casualties.<\/p>\n At the battle of Tewkesbury<\/a>, the Yorkist king, who had been overthrown the previous year, secured a decisive victory in the Wars of the Roses<\/a> against Lancastrian forces. Henry VI<\/a> ended up a prisoner in the Tower of London<\/a>, where he died shortly afterwards in mysterious circumstances, while his rival\u2019s son and heir died in the fighting.<\/p>\n Coupled with his victory at the battle of Barnet<\/a> less than a month earlier, Edward\u2019s throne was now safe. There would be peace for the rest of his reign.<\/p>\n Despite being outnumbered, inadequately trained and poorly armed, Mexican soldiers commanded by Ignacio Zaragoza defeated an invading French army at the battle of Puebla. In truth, it did not signal a breakthrough in the war, which went on for several more years, but the victory came to be commemorated in annual celebrations, known as Cinco de Mayo<\/a>.<\/p>\n The English runner Roger Bannister easily won the mile race at Ifley Road track, Oxford, but as he crossed the finish line the large crowd on that early evening were brimming with excitement and anticipation. The question was how quickly he had won. The official, pipe in mouth and stopwatch in hand, let the tension build before declaring, \u201cThree minutes\u2026\u201d, at which point the rest was drowned out by cheering.<\/p>\n Bannister had achieved a physical feat never done before, despite the attempts of numerous athletes: running a mile in under four minutes. His actual time was 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, the tall, loping runner had achieved the seemingly impossible in far-from ideal conditions as rain and strong winds hampered the race meet. Just 46 days later, his record time would be broken by Australian John Landy, but Bannister got his revenge by beating his rival in the so-called \u2018Miracle Mile\u2019 race in 1954.<\/p>\n Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, military leader in the Napoleonic Wars<\/p>\n Martha Jane Cannary, \u2018Calamity Jane\u2019, American frontierswoman<\/p>\n Catherine the Great, long-reigning empress of Russia<\/p>\n Manfred von Richthofen, the \u2018Red Baron\u2019, German ace in the First World War<\/p>\n Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, Italian political philosopher<\/p>\n Audrey Hepburn, British actress and star of Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s<\/em><\/p>\n Nellie Bly, American journalist and globe-trotting traveller<\/p>\n Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis<\/p>\n Eva Peron, Argentine first lady<\/p>\n Howard Carter, British Egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun<\/p>\n Richard Feynman, American theoretical physicist<\/p>\n Florence Nightingale, English nurse in the Crimean War<\/p>\n Erik Satie, French composer and pianist<\/p>\n Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman<\/p>\n Malcolm X, American leader in the Nation of Islam and the civil rights movement<\/p>\n Philip II, King of Spain who launched the Spanish Armada<\/p>\n Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and zoologist<\/p>\n Sally Ride, astronaut and the first American woman in space<\/p>\n Ian Fleming, British author and creator of James Bond<\/p>\n Jim Thorpe, Native American athlete and Olympic gold medallist<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> 1915: RMS Lusitania<\/em> is torpedoed and sunk<\/strong><\/p>\n Nearing the end of a voyage across the Atlantic from New York to Liverpool, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania<\/em><\/a> was targeted by a U-boat of the German imperial navy. The First World War was raging and the Germans had recently declared a \u2018war zone\u2019 around Britain, meaning that any ship would be attacked.<\/p>\n The Lusitania<\/em> sank in 18 minutes, resulting in the deaths of 1,198 people on board and widespread anti-German outrage around the world.<\/p>\n 1945: Millions celebrate Victory in Europe Day<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The news of Nazi Germany\u2019s surrender, bringing an end to the Second World War in Europe after nearly six years, leads to joyous VE Day celebrations<\/a> around the world.<\/p>\n The traditional puppet show about the antics of Mr Punch and his wife Judy has its roots in the commedia dell\u2019arte in Italy \u2013 with the character of Punchinello \u2013 but its earliest-mention in England came in the entry for 9 May by famed diarist Samuel Pepys<\/a>. That day, he saw \u201can Italian puppet play\u201d, thought to have been performed by Pietro Gimonde, who was known as \u2018Signor Bologna\u2019.<\/p>\n The American activist and suffrage movement leader was nominated as the presidential candidate for the Equal Rights Party in the 1872 election. The famed abolitionist<\/a> Frederick Douglass was put forward as her running mate, without his knowledge.<\/p>\n Inside a copy of the Diamond Sutra<\/em>, a Mahayana Buddhist text translated into Chinese, discovered in 1900, it included the date: \u201cthe 15th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong\u201d, or 11 May AD 868.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean not to accuse anyone, but to take the shame upon myself, in common, indeed, with the whole parliament of Great Britain, for having suffered this horrid trade to be carried on under their authority. We are all guilty \u2013 we ought all to plead guilty, and not to exculpate ourselves by throwing the blame on others; and I therefore deprecate every kind of reflection against the various descriptions of people who are more immediately involved in this wretched business.\u201d<\/p>\n So said British politician William Wilberforce in his first major speech on abolition in the House of Commons. He went on to describe in detail the conditions of the middle passage<\/a> \u2013 challenging anyone to hear the account of \u201cone of the many hundred Negroes stowed in each ship\u201d and having the heart to bear it \u2013 and concluded by saying that he was, \u201cfrom this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition\u201d.<\/p>\n He would remain a leading figure in the abolitionist movement until the outlawing of the slave trade in 1807 and end of slavery in 1833.<\/p>\n As Pope John Paul II passed through St Peter\u2019s Square at the Vatican, blessing those gathered from the Popemobile, a 23-year-old Turk named Mehmet Ali Agca fired a gun four times. Hit in the abdomen and hand, the leader of the Catholic church was rushed to hospital; he would later announce that he had forgiven Agca and met with him in prison.<\/p>\n To test his theory of protecting people from smallpox, the English physician Edward Jenner inoculated eight-year-old James Phipps with the pus from a cowpox sore. The boy fell ill, but when Jenner then infected him with a dose of smallpox, the disease did not develop.<\/p>\n The growing settlement of Las Vegas was officially founded after 110 acres of land belonging to railroad owner William Clark were auctioned off.<\/p>\n The 14-year-old archduchess of Austria married the heir to the French throne, Louis-Auguste \u2013 who would be the last king before the French Revolution<\/a> \u2013 in a ceremony at Versailles<\/a>. This was the second wedding: she was officially married a month earlier by proxy, with her own brother standing in for her betrothed.<\/p>\n In Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. A major victory of the civil rights movement<\/a>, it was a pivotal challenge to the long-established doctrine of \u2018separate but equal\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n For decades, the city of Acre (in modern-day Israel) was the most important stronghold remaining in the Kingdom of Jerusalem held by the crusaders<\/a>, so when it fell to the Mamluks in a siege it signalled the end of the crusades in the Holy Land.<\/p>\n Having climbed the scaffold erected within the walls of the Tower of London, Anne Boleyn gave a short speech, ending with \u201cI pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never, and to me he was ever a good, a gentle, and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me.\u201d<\/p>\n The second of the six wives of Henry VIII<\/a>, found guilty of high treason, removed her ermine-trimmed gown and knelt down, before the executioner stepped up and removed her head with a blow from a sword. Just 11 days later, the \u201cgood\u201d, \u201cgentle\u201d and \u201cmerciful\u201d king was married again, to Jane Seymour<\/a>, who would be able to provide him with his much-desired son, Edward VI<\/a>.<\/p>\n David Livingstone, Scottish missionary and explorer in Africa<\/p>\n Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda in Nazi Germany<\/p>\n Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance polymath<\/p>\n Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of the French<\/p>\n Marlene Dietrich, German and American leading lady in the golden age of Hollywood<\/p>\n Spencer Perceval, the only British prime minister to be assassinated<\/p>\n Bob Marley, Jamaican musician who popularised reggae around the world<\/p>\n Emily Dickinson, one of the great American poets of the 19th century<\/p>\n Mehmed II, last sultan of the Ottoman empire<\/p>\n Tupac Amaru II, Incan revolutionary leader<\/p>\n TE Lawrence (\u2018of Arabia\u2019), British army officer, archaeologist and author<\/p>\n Hernando de Soto, Spanish conquistador and explorer of the Mississippi River<\/p>\n William Kidd, Scottish pirate<\/p>\n Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, American Depression-era outlaws<\/p>\n Nicolaus Copernicus, Renaissance polymath who developed the heliocentric model of the universe<\/p>\n Bede the Venerable, Anglo-Saxon theologian and historian<\/p>\n Samuel Pepys, English diarist of the Restoration period<\/p>\n John Calvin, French leading figure of the Protestant Reformation<\/p>\n Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of India<\/p>\n Voltaire, French writer, historian and philosopher in the Enlightenment<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> On the command of Constantine I<\/a>, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, the First Council of Nicaea was convened to define a uniform doctrine. The resulting Nicene Creed is still a part of the church to this day.<\/p>\n Some 33 and a half hours after taking off from New York, pilot Charles Lindbergh touched down his single-engine monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis<\/em>, in Paris \u2013 completing the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight<\/a> in history. Overnight, \u2018Lucky Lindy\u2019 had become a darling of the press and a global celebrity.<\/p>\n Five years later, fellow American aviator Amelia Earhart<\/a> would be the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, choosing to fly on the exact same date as Lindbergh. Due to poor weather conditions and mechanical issues, however, she did not make it to Paris, but landed in a pasture in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n One of the most famous fountains in the world, and a landmark of Rome<\/a>, it took three decades to build the Trevi Fountain. The Baroque masterpiece designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi was officially opened and inaugurated by Pope Clement XIII.<\/p>\n The Defenestration of Prague<\/a> took place amidst a climate of religious tension in Bohemia, exacerbated by the new king\u2019s intransigent stance on undoing any changes made by the Reformation<\/a>. A mass Protestant demonstration in Prague as some of their leaders prepared to meet with Catholic officials at Prague (Hrad\u010dany) Castle, but the situation turned violent when two of the Catholic men, plus one of their secretaries, were thrown out of the window.<\/p>\n Count Villem Slavata, Count Jaroslav Martinitz and the secretary plummeted 21 metres, but somehow survived the ordeal. The defenestration, however, had much wider-reaching consequences, sparking the Thirty Years\u2019 War<\/a>.<\/p>\n2 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1946: A battle breaks out between prisoners and guards at Alcatraz<\/h4>\n
3 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1481: Earthquakes and tsunamis batter Rhodes<\/h4>\n
4 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1471: Edward IV<\/a> reclaims the throne at Tewkesbury<\/h4>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>5 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1862: Mexican forces win at Puebla<\/h4>\n
6 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1954: Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute mile<\/h4>\n
Famous births in May<\/h2>\n
1 May 1769<\/h6>\n
1 May 1852<\/h6>\n
2 May 1729<\/h6>\n
2 May 1892<\/h6>\n
3 May 1469<\/h6>\n
4 May 1929<\/h6>\n
5 May 1864<\/h6>\n
6 May 1856<\/h6>\n
7 May 1919<\/h6>\n
9 May 1874<\/h6>\n
11 May 1918<\/h6>\n
12 May 1820<\/h6>\n
17 May 1866<\/h6>\n
19 May 1890<\/h6>\n
19 May 1925<\/h6>\n
21 May 1527<\/h6>\n
23 May 1707<\/h6>\n
26 May 1951<\/h6>\n
28 May 1908<\/h6>\n
28 May 1887<\/h6>\n
7 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
8 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
9 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1662: Mr Punch makes his English debut<\/h4>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>10 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1872: Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman to run for US president<\/h4>\n
11 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
AD 868: The world\u2019s oldest-known dated book is printed<\/h4>\n
12 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1789: William Wilberforce takes up the cause of abolition<\/h4>\n
13 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1981: The pope survives an assassination attempt<\/h4>\n
14 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1796: the first vaccination<\/a> is administered<\/h4>\n
15 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1905: Sin City is founded<\/h4>\n
16 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1770: Marie Antoinette<\/a> marries the French dauphin \u2013 for the second time<\/h4>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>17 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1954: Supreme Court makes a landmark decision for US schools<\/h4>\n
18 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1291: The fall of Acre ends crusader ambition<\/h4>\n
19 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1536: Anne Boleyn<\/a> is executed<\/h4>\n
Famous deaths in May<\/h2>\n
1 May 1873<\/h6>\n
1 May 1945<\/h6>\n
2 May 1519<\/h6>\n
5 May 1821<\/h6>\n
6 May 1992<\/h6>\n
11 May 1812<\/h6>\n
11 May 1981<\/h6>\n
15 May 1886<\/h6>\n
16 May 1926<\/h6>\n
18 May 1781<\/h6>\n
19 May 1935<\/h6>\n
21 May 1542<\/h6>\n
23 May 1701<\/h6>\n
23 May 1910<\/h6>\n
24 May 1543<\/h6>\n
26 May AD 735<\/h6>\n
26 May 1703<\/h6>\n
27 May 1564<\/h6>\n
27 May 1964<\/h6>\n
30 May 1778<\/h6>\n
20 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
AD 325: the Christian church holds its first ecumenical council<\/h4>\n
21 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1927: \u2018Lucky Lindy\u2019 lands in Paris<\/h4>\n
22 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1762: The Trevi Fountain is inaugurated<\/h4>\n
23 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1618: Catholic officials are thrown out of a Prague window<\/h4>\n
24 May<\/a><\/h2>\n
1844: the first long-distance telegraph is sent<\/h4>\n
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