http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/levi-strauss-and-jacob-davis-receive-patent-for-blue-jeans
May 20, 1873: Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive patent for blue jeans
On this day in 1873, San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and Reno, Nevada, tailor Jacob Davis are given a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets, marking the birth of one of the world's most famous garments: blue jeans.
Born Loeb Strauss in Buttenheim, Bavaria, in 1829, the young Strauss immigrated to New York with his family in 1847 after the death of his father. By 1850, Loeb had changed his name to Levi and was working in the family dry goods business, J. Strauss Brother & Co. In early 1853, Levi Strauss went west to seek his fortune during the heady days of the Gold Rush.
In San Francisco, Strauss established a wholesale dry goods business under his own name and worked as the West Coast representative of his family's firm. His new business imported clothing, fabric and other dry goods to sell in the small stores opening all over California and other Western states to supply the rapidly expanding communities of gold miners and other settlers. By 1866, Strauss had moved his company to expanded headquarters and was a well-known businessman and supporter of the Jewish community in San Francisco.
Jacob Davis, a tailor in Reno, Nevada, was one of Levi Strauss' regular customers. In 1872, he wrote a letter to Strauss about his method of making work pants with metal rivets on the stress points--at the corners of the pockets and the base of the button fly--to make them stronger. As Davis didn't have the money for the necessary paperwork, he suggested that Strauss provide the funds and that the two men get the patent together. Strauss agreed enthusiastically, and the patent for "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings"--the innovation that would produce blue jeans as we know them--was granted to both men on May 20, 1873.
Strauss brought Davis to San Francisco to oversee the first manufacturing facility for "waist overalls," as the original jeans were known. At first they employed seamstresses working out of their homes, but by the 1880s, Strauss had opened his own factory. The famous 501 brand jean--known until 1890 as "XX"--was soon a bestseller, and the company grew quickly. By the 1920s, Levi's denim waist overalls were the top-selling men's work pant in the United States. As decades passed, the craze only grew, and now blue jeans are worn by men and women, young and old, around the world.
325 - • The first Christian Ecumenical Council was inaugurated by Emperor Constantine in Nicea, Asia Minor.
1217 - • The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.
1293 - Earthquake strikes Kamakura Japan, 30,000 killed
1293 - King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcalá.
1303 - • Treaty of Paris restored Gascony to British in Hundred Years War
1310 - • Shoes were made for both right & left feet
1347 - Cola di Rienzo took the title of tribune in Rome.
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
1506 - Christopher Columbus died in poverty in Spain.
1520 - • Hernando Cortez defeated Spanish troops that had been sent to punish him in Mexico.
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
1609 - • Shakespeare's Sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.
1631 - Magdeburg in Germany seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire under earl Johann Tilly, most inhabitants massacred, one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
1639 - Dorchester Mass, forms 1st school funded by local taxes
1674 - John Sobieski became Poland’s first King.
1690 - England passed the Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II
1704 - Elias Neau forms school for slaves in NY
1734 - \First Jockey Club forms in SC
1774 - • Britain gives Quebec, Labrador and territory north of Ohio
1774 - Britain's Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish the American colonists for their increasingly anti-British behavior
1775 - Citizens of Mecklenburg County, and North Carolina declared independence from Great Britain, thus making North Carolina the first colony to declare its independence. This is the date that is on the George state flag even though the date of this event has been questioned.
1784 - • A peace treaty was signed at the Peace of Versailles (Treaty of Paris) which ended a war between France, England, and Holland.
1825 - Charles X became King of France
1830 - First railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American)
1830 - The fountain pen was patented by H.D. Hyde.
1835 - Otto is named the first modern king of Greece.
1840 - York Minster was badly damaged by fire
1845 - First legislative assembly convenes in Hawaii
1845 - HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage. All hands are lost.
1861 - During the American Civil War, the capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, AL, to Richmond, VA.
1861 - Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle
1861 - Kentucky proclaims its neutrality in Civil War
1861 - North Carolina became the eleventh and; final, state to secede from Union
1861 - US marshals appropriate previous year's telegraph dispatches, to 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
1867 - Brit parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women's 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
1873 - Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent first blue jeans with copper rivets
1875 - The International Bureau of Weights and Measures was established by treaty.
1879 - 5th Kentucky Derby: Charlie Shauer aboard Lord Murphy wins in 2:37
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
1891 - History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.
1892 - George Sampson patents clothes dryer
1892 - • Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy & Austria forms
1895 - 1st commercial movie performance (153 Broadway, NYC)
1896 - The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier falls on the crowd resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.
1899 - Jacob German of New York City became the first driver to be arrested for speeding. The posted speed limit was 12 miles per hour.
1900 - Second modern Olympic games opens in Paris (lasted 5 months)
1902 - Cuba gained its 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
1913 - 38th Preakness: James Butwell aboard Buskin wins in 1:53.4
1915 - Bataafsche Petroleum Me begins oil extraction of Maracaibo
1916 - Codell, Kansas hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 & 1918)
1916 - • Norman Rockwell’s first cover on "The Saturday Evening Post" appeared.
1917 - • Turkish government authorizes Jews to return to Tel Aviv & Jaffa
1918 - First electrically propelled warship (New Mexico)
1919 - Volcano Keluit on Java, erupts killing 550
1920 - Policemen raid the Cubs' bleachers and 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 Kennesaw Mountain Landis, return to the NY lineup & go hitless
1923 - Stanley Baldwin, becomes PM of UK
1926 - Belgian government of Jaspar takes power
1926 - The U.S. Congress passed the Air Commerce Act. The act gave the Department of Commerce the right to license pilots and planes.
1926 - Railway Labor Act became law
1926 - • Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies
1927 - At 7:40 AM, Charles Lindbergh took off from Long Island, New York to cross the Atlantic for Paris aboard his airplane the "Spirit of St. Louis." The trip took 33 1/2 hours, and was the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.
1927 - • Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)
1930 - The first airplane was catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot
1930 - University of California dedicates $1,500 to research on prevention and cure of athlete's foot
1932 - Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She became the first woman to achieve the feat.
1932 - Engelbert Dollfuss becomes chancellor of Austria
1933 - "Charlie Chan" was heard for the final time on the NBC Blue radio network, after only six months on the air.
1939 - "3 Little Fishies," by Kay Kyser hits #1
1939 - The first telecast over telephone wires was sent from Madison Square Garden to the NBC-TV studios at 30 Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The event was a bicycle race.
1939 - The first regular air-passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean began with the take-off of the "Yankee Clipper" from Port Washington, New York. (Pan Am: NY to Marseille, France)
1940 - Gen Guderians tanks reach The Channel (British expeditionary army)
1940 - Soccer team HZVV forms in Hoogeveen
1940 - Trailing 7-1 in 9th to Pitts, Phils win 8-7
1941 - Archer's "Christian Calendar and Gregorian Reform" published
1941 - Former Dutch PM Colijn says Neth Indies not ready for independence
1941 - Germany invaded Crete by air.
1941 - White Sox Taft Wright sets AL record of RBIs in 13 consecutive games
1942 - Japan completed the conquest of Burma.
1942 - US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve
1943 - French, British and 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, ending pitcher's fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances
1948 - First use of Israeli Air Force and first war victory, defeating Syrian army
1948 - Cleveland Indians tie AL record of 18 walks (beat Red Sox 13-4)
1950 - 76th Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Hill Prince wins in 1:59.2
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 - Ford wins battle with Chrysler to call its new car "Falcon"
1959 - Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship
1959 - Shah of Persia visits Netherlands
1959 - Yanks sink to last place, first time since May 25, 1940
1961 - •A white mob attacked the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama, setting the bus on fire. The event prompted the federal government to send U.S. marshals.
1961 - 87th Preakness: Johnny Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 1:57.6
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 Frazier 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 - 93rd Preakness: Bill Shoemaker aboard Damascus wins in 1:55.2
1967 - BBC bans Beatle's "A Day in the Life" (drug references)
1969 - • U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Apbia Mountain, which was referred to as Hill 937/Hamburger Hill.
1970 - 100,000 marched in New York 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 - 5th ABA Championship: Indiana Pacers beat NY Nets, 4 games to 2
1972 - 98th Preakness: Eldon Nelson aboard Bee Bee Bee wins in 1:55.6
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 and Mary Tyler Moore
1973 - Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Bluegrass Golf Invitational
1974 - Soyuz 14 returns to Earth
1976 - USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1978 - Mavis Hutchinson, at age 53, became the first woman to run across America. The 3,000-mile trek took her 69 days. She ran an average of 45 miles each day.
1978 - 104th Preakness: Steve Cauthen aboard Affirmed wins in 1:54.4
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 - First western pop star to tour USSR-Elton John
1980 - The submarine Nautilus was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
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 Quebec voters reject separatism
1981 - Ipswich Town wins 10th UEFA Cup at Amsterdam
1982 - TV’s "Barney Miller" was seen for the last time on ABC-TV.
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 - The Dow Jones industrial average broke the 1300 mark for the first time. The Dow closed at 1304.88.
1985 - The FBI arrested U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer John Walker. Walker had begun spying for the Soviet Union in 1968.
1985 - Radio Marti was launched.
1985 - 1150 Lebanese/Palestinian prisoners exchanged for 3 Israelis
1985 - Indians-Brewers game at Cleve Stadium is 1st rain-out of 1985, ends record string of 458 ML games since Opening Day without a rain-out
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 - Flintstones 25th Anniversary Celebration airs on CBS-tv
1987 - Gutenborg wins 16th UEFA Cup at Dundee
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 - 115th Preakness: Pat Valenzuela aboard Sunday Silence wins in 1:53.8
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 - Cindy Rarick wins LPGA Planters Pat Bradley Golf International
1990 - The Hubble Space Telescope sends first 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 - FC Barcelona wins 373 Europe Cup 1 at London
1992 - India launches its 1st satellite independently
1992 - Rap singer raps 597 syllables in under 60 seconds
1993 - 10m meteor comes within 150,000 km of Earth (1993KA)
1993 - 274th and 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 - 121st Preakness: Pat Day aboard Timber Coutry wins in 1:54.4
1995 - CBS News fires co-anchor Connie Chung
1995 - Twins Marty Cordova ties rookie record of HRs in 5 consecutive games
1996 - In a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Colorado measure banning laws that would protect homosexuals from discrimination.
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
1999 - At Heritage High School in Conyers, GA, a 15-year-old student shot and injured six students. He then surrendered to an assistant principal at the school.
2002 - The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself was the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
2010 - Scientists announced that they had created a funtional synthetic genome.
2010 - Five paintings worth 100 million Euro were stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
2012 - Tomislav Nikolić elected president of Serbia
2012 - 6.0 magnitude earthquake kills 6 and injures dozens in northern Italy
These are the web pages I used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/day/may/20
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/may20.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/May-20
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
715 - • St Gregory II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1506 - • Columbus selects his son Diego as sole heir
1515 - George van Saksen-Meissen sells Friesland for 100,000 gold guilders to arch duke Charles
1517 - Philip van Bourgondie installed as bishop of Utrecht
1535 -• French explorer Jacques Cartier set sail for North America.
1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded after she was convicted of adultery.
1547 - Monarch Johan Frederik surrenders to Karel
1568 - After being defeated by the Protestants, Mary the Queen of Scots, fled to England where she was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I.
1571 - • Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi founded Manilla in the Phillipines
1585 - Spain confiscated English ships
1588 - The 130-ship-strong Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon, headed for England; where it would be defeated in August.
1608 - Matthias von Habsburgs army reaches Lieben, at Prague
1608 - The Protestant states formed the Evangelical Union of Lutherans and Calvinists.
1635 - • France declares war on Spain
1643 - • Battle at Rocroi/Allersheim: The French army defeated a Spanish army at Rocroi, France.
1643 - • Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Harbor met in Boston and formed a confederation - the United Colonies of New England
1649 - An Act declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
1652 - Spanish troops occupy Grevelingen
1662 - Uniformity Act of England goes into effect
1749 - George II grants charter to Ohio Company to settle Ohio Valley
1780 - • About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England to this day it's cause is still unexplained
1792 - Russian army enters Poland
1793 - Netherlands captures French island of St Maarten (held until 1795)
1796 - The first U.S. game protection law was approved. The law restricted encroachment on Indian hunting grounds, and called for penalties for hunting or destroying game within Indian territory.
1802 - • French Order of Legion d'Honneur formed
1828 - • U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828/Tariff of Abominations into law to protect industry in the North
1847 - The first English-style railroad coach was placed in service on the Fall River Line in Massachusetts.
1848 - First department store opened
1848 - • Mexico gives Texas to US, ending the war
1856 - Sen Charles Sumner, Mass, spoke out against slavery
1857 - The electric fire alarm system was patented by William F. Channing and Moses G. Farmer.
1858 - A pro-slavery band led by Charles Hameton executed unarmed Free State men near Marais des Cygnes on the Kansas-Missouri border.
1862 - Homestead Act becomes law provides cheap land for settlement of West
1863 - Siege of Vicksburg, investment of city complete
1864 - Battle of Port Walthall Junction, VA (Bermuda Hundred)
1864 - • The Union and Confederate armies launched their last attacks against each other at Spotsylvania in Virginia.
1864 - Skirmish at Cassville Georgia
1865 - • President Jefferson Davis is captured by Union Cavalry in Georgia
1878 - Blanche Kelso Bruce appointed register of treasury by President Garfield
1884 - Ringling Brothers circus premiered
1885 - First mass production of shoes (Jan Matzeliger in Lynn, Massachusetts)
1885 - German chancellor Bismarck takes possession of Cameroon & Togoland
1886 - Camille Saint-Saëns' 3rd Symphony in C, premieres
1891 - Rice Institute, which became Rice University, is chartered
1892 - Charles Brady King invents pneumatic hammer
1892 - National Society of Colonial Dames of America founded
1893 - Heavy rain wash "quick clay" into a deep valley, kills 111 (Norway)
1896 - First auto (Benz) to arrive in Netherlands
1897 - • Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol.
1898 - Post Office authorized use of postcards
1900 - Great Britain annexes Tonga archipelago
1900 - World's longest railroad tunnel (Simplon) linked Italy & Switz, opens
1902 - • Great Britain & Boers resume peace talks in Pretoria
1905 - Tom Jenkins beats Frank Gotcha for heavyweight wrestling champ
1906 - Dutch King Victor Emmanuel & Swiss president open Simplon tunnel
1906 - Italian King Victor Emmanuel & Swiss president open Simplon tunnel
1906 - Portugal's King Carlos I names Joao Franco premier
1906 - The Federated Boys' Clubs, forerunner of the Boys' Clubs of America, were organized.
1909 - Jack Johnson fights Jack O'Brien to no decision in 6 for boxing title
1910 - Cleve Indian Cy Young gets his 500th win, beats Wash 5-4 in 11 innings
1911 - The first American criminal conviction that was based on fingerprint evidence occurred in New York City.
1911 - Maurice Ravels opera "L'Heure Espagnole," premieres in Paris
1911 - Phila Athletics are 12½ games back in AL, & will win World Series
1912 - AL Pres Ban Johnson tells Tigers if they continue protest of Ty Cobb's suspension, they will be banned from baseball
1912 - The Associated Advertising Clubs of America held its first convention in Dallas, TX.
1913 - Webb Alien Land-Holding Bill passes, forbidding Japs from owning land
1916 - Escadrille Américaine (Lafayette) transfered to Verdun
1918 - Wash first Sunday game, Senators beat Cleveland 1-0 in 18 innings
1919 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk landed at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what was later termed the Turkish War of Independence. The anniversary of this event is the official date of commemoration of the Pontic Greek Genocide in Greece and Cyprus.
1921 - The U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, which established national quotas for immigrants.
1923 - 49th Kentucky Derby: Earl Sande aboard Zev wins in 2:05.4
1923 - KPD (communist revolts) in German Ruhr cities occupied by Allies
1926 - • Thomas Edison spoke on the radio for the first time.
1926 - • Benito Mussolini announced that democracy was deceased. Rome became a fascist state.
1926 - In Damascus, Syria, French shells killed 600 people.
1928 - "Firedamp" explodes in Mather Pa coal mine killing 195 of 273 miners
1928 - 51 frogs enter 1st annual "Frog Jumping Jubilee" (Angel's Camp, Calaveras County, California)
1929 - Cloudburst causes stampede in Yankee Stadium crushes 2 people to death
1929 - • General Feng Yu-Xiang of China declares war on Chiang Kai-Shek government
1930 - • White woman win voting rights in South Africa
1931 - Ironclad cruiser Germany launched in Kiel \
1934 - Military coup by Col Damian Veltsjev in Bulgaria
1934 - Sherlock Holmes crossword puzzle in "Sat Review of Lit" Males who solved puzzle became members of Baker Street Irregulars
1935 - British author and soldier, T. E. Lawrence, also known as "Lawrence of Arabia," died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash in Great Britain.
1935 - The National Football League (NFL) adopted an annual college draft to begin in 1936.
1937 - John Murray/Allen Boretz' "Room Service," premieres in NYC
Statue of soldier, author and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London
1939 - • Churchill signs British-Russian anti-Nazi pact
1940 - Amsterdam time becomes MET (Middle European Time)
1940 - French counter attack at Pronne under Gen De Gaulle
1941 - Germany occupiers in Holland forbid bicycle taxis
1941 - New Nazi battleship Bismarck leaves Gdynia, Poland
1942 - Braves Paul Waner is 3rd NLer to get 3,000 hits (Anson & Wagner)
1943 - • Berlin is declared "Judenrien" (free of Jews)
1943 - Winston Churchill told the U.S. Congress that his country was pledging their full support in the war against Japan.
1944 - 240 gypsies transported to Auschwitz from Westerbork, Netherlands
1944 - German defense line in Italy collapsed
1946 - Dutch Cooperation for Sexual Reform (NVSH) formed in Amsterdam
1950 - NY Times reports of worlds smallest & dumbest mechanical brain
1951 - 77th Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Bold wins in 1:56.4
1951 - • UN begins counter offensive in Korea
1953 - Nuclear explosion in Nevada (fall-out in St George, Utah)
1954 - Postmaster General Summerfield approves CIA mail-opening project
1955 - Atkinson & Depeiaza make 347 stand for 7th wkt WI v Australia
1956 - 82nd Preakness: Bill Hartack aboard Fabius wins in 1:58.4
1956 - Pirate Dale Long hits 9th-inning HR, 1st HR in 8 straight games
1957 - Adone Zoli forms Italian government
1958 - Premiere of Harold Pinter's "Birthday Party," in London
1958 - South Pacific soundtrack album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks
1958 - • Canada and the U.S. formally established the North American Air Defense Command. (NORAD)
1959 - Jan de Quay becomes premier of Netherlands
1960 - Alan Freed & eight other DJ accused of taking radio payola
1960 - Belgian parliament requires rest day for self employed \
1960 - Juan Marichal debuts as SF Giant pitcher, beats Phillies on 1 hitter
1960 - USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 33,222 m
1961 - New pier opens in Scheveningen
1962 - Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday" for U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The event was a fund-raiser at New York's Madison Square Garden.
1962 - "Bravo, Giovanni" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 76 performances
1962 - "John Birch Society," by Chad Mitchell Trio hits #99
1962 - 88th Preakness: John Rotz aboard Greek Money wins in 1:56.2
1962 - • Indonesian paratroopers land in New Guinea
1962 - Stan Musial breaks Honus Wagner's NL hit record with 3,431
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Christmas Island (atmospheric)
1964 - The U.S. State Department reported that diplomats had found about 40 microphones planted in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
1965 - Patricia R Harris named first US black female ambassador (Luxembourg)
1965 - West Ham United wins 5th Europe Cup II
1967 - The Soviet Union ratified a treaty with the United States and Britain that banned nuclear weapons from outer space.
1967 - U.S. planes bombed Hanoi for the first time.
1968 - 20th Emmy Awards: Get Smart, Mission Impossible & Barbara Bain
1968 - Frank Howard fails to homer, after hitting 10 in 6 consecutive games
1968 - Pirate Radio Brumble of Northern England 1st heard
1971 - USSR launches Mars 2, 1st spacecraft to crash land on Mars
1972 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1972 - WMAV TV channel 18 in Oxford, MS (PBS) begins broadcasting
1973 - "Daisy" A Day by Jud Strunk hits #14
1973 - "Smith" opens at Eden Theater NYC for 17 performances
1973 - 99th Preakness: Ron Turcotte aboard Secretariat wins in 1:54.4
1974 - Stanley Cup: Phila Flyers beat Boston Bruins, 4 games to 2
1974 - Valeri Giscard d'Estaing wins French presidential election
1975 - 27th Emmy Awards: Mary Tyler Moore Show, Robert Blake & Jean Marsh
1975 - Farm truck packed with wedding party struck by a train, killing 66 in truck, 40 miles south of Poona, India
1975 - Junko Tabei is 1st woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest
1976 - Gold ownership legalized in Australia
1976 - Liverpool won 5th UEFA Cup at Bridge
1976 - Senate establishes permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
1976 - USSR performed nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1977 - "Smokey & the Bandit," premieres
1979 - "In The Navy" by Village People hits #3
1979 - 105th Preakness: Ron Franklin aboard Spectacular Bid wins in 1:54.2
1980 - "Blackstone" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 104 performances
1980 - Ringo & Barbara Bach are involved in a car crash
1981 - Pirate Jim Bibby gives up a leadoff single to Brave Terry Harper, then retires next 27 batters
1982 - IFK Göteborg wins 11th UEFA Cup at Göteborg
1982 - Sophia Loren jailed in Naples for tax evasion
1983 - NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 506
1983 - Weird Al Yankovic gives live performance at Wax Museum in Wash DC
1984 - "King Of Suede" by Weird Al Yankovic hits #62
1984 - 110th Preakness: Angel Cordero Jr aboard Gate Dancer wins in 1:53.6
1984 - STS 41-D vehicle moves to launch pad
1984 - Stanley Cup: Edmonton Oilers beat NY Islanders, 4 games to 1
1984 - Pat LaFontaine scores 2 goals within 22 sec in an NHL playoff game
1986 - Anti-apartheid activist HClane Pastoors sentenced to 10 yrs in South Africa
1987 - 1st American Comedy Award 1988 - Red Sox retire Bobby Doerr's #1
1988 - Carlos Lehder Rivas, of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, is convicted in Florida for smuggling more than 3 tons of cocaine into US
1988 - In Jacksonville, FL, Carlos Lehder Rivas was convicted of smuggling more than three tons of cocaine into the United States. Rivas was the co-founder of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel.
1989 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average passed 2,500 for the first time. The close for the day was 2,501.1.
1989 - Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) last appearance on Dallas
1990 - 116th Preakness: Pat Day aboard Summer Squall wins in 1:53.6
1990 - General Elvis, TV Drama last airs on ABC
1991 - "Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story" closes at Shubert NYC after 225 perfs
1991 - Willy T Ribbs becomes 1st black driver to make Indianapolis 500
1992 - Englishman Dave Gauder, 224 lbs, pulls 196 ton jumbo jet, 3 inches
1992 - Ric Flair wins NWA wrestling title
1992 - U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown" for having its title character decide to bear a child out of wedlock and as a poor example of family values
1992 - In Massapequa, NY, Mary Jo Buttafuoco was shot and seriously wounded by Amy Fisher. Fisher was her husband Joey's teen-age lover.
1992 - The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The amendment prohibits Congress from giving itself midterm pay raises.
1993 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed about 3,500 (3,500.03) for the first time.
1993 - Boeing 727 crashes into mountain at Medellin Colombia, kills 132
1993 - Juventus wins 22th UEFA Cup at Torino
1994 - • Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York.
1994 - Final Episode of LA Law after 8 year run
1994 - Omar Sharif suffers a mild heart attack
1994 - Tennis star Jennifer Capriati (18), checks into a drug rehab center
1995 - World's youngest doctor, Balamurali Ambati, 17, graduates Mount Sinai
1996 - STS 77 (Endeavour 11), launched into orbit
1998 - In Russia, strikes broke out over unpaid wages.
1998 - Bandits stole three of Rome's most important paintings from the National Gallery of Modern Art.
1999 - • "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" was released in the U.S. It set a new record for opening day sales at 28.5 million.
1999 - Rosie O'Donnell and Tom Selleck got into an uncomfortable verbal issue concerning gun control on O'Donnell's talk show.
2000 - The bones of the most complete and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton went on display in Chicago.
2000 - Disney released the movie "Dinosaur." Disney movies, music and books
2003 - It was announced that Worldcom Inc. would pay investors $500 million to settle civil fraud charges over its $11 billion accounting scandal.
2003 - Hundreds of Albert Einstein's scientific papers, personal letters and humanist essays were make available on the Internet. Einstein had given the papers to the Hebrew Universtiy of Jerusalem in his will.
2005 - • "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" brought in 50.0 million in its opening day.
2009 - • Sri Lanka announces victory in its 27 year war against the terrorist organisation, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
2012 - Chelsea defeated Bayern Munich in penalty shootout to win the UEFA Champion's League
2161 - Syzygy: 8 of 9 planets aligned on same side of sun
Here are the webpages that I used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/day/may/19
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/may18.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
