May 7th: This Day in History

 

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

On this day in 558 in Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapsed. Justinian I immediately ordered the dome to be rebuilt. In 1274 on this day, the Second Council of Lyons (14th Ecumenical Council) opened in France to regulate the election of the pope. On this day in 1429, the English siege of Orléans was broken by the French, led by the "Maid of Orléans" Joan of Arc. The German peasants' revolt was crushed by the ruling class and church on this day in 1525. On this day in 1664, King Louis XIV of France initiated the "Pleasures of the Enchanted Island" (Les Plaisirs de l'Île enchantée),  which was a six-day celebration to inaugurate the new Palace of Versailles. Stockholm's royal castle (dating back to medieval times) was destroyed by fire on this day in 1697. The castle was then replaced by the current Royal Palace in the 18th century. William Penn began monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation on this day in 1700. The city of New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville on this day in 1718. The first Presidential Inaugural Ball in American history was held for George Washington in New York City on this day in 1789. The U.S. Congress divided the Northwest Territory into two parts on this day in 1800. The western part became the Indiana Territory and the eastern section remained the Northwest Territory. Beethoven's 9th (Chorale) Symphony premiered in Vienna, Austria, on this day in 1824. Greece became an independent republic on this day in 1832 after the Treaty of London was signed, which formally recognized Greece, and Otto of Bavaria was chosen King of Greece. This treaty was a key step in ending the Greek War of Independence and solidifying Greece's status as a sovereign state. German Premier Otto von Bismarck was seriously wounded in after an assassin attempt on this day in 1866. In Saint Petersburg on this day in 1895, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrated to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, which was the world's first radio receiver. In the former Soviet Union, the anniversary of this day was celebrated as Radio Day. In 1896 on this day, Dr. H. H. Holmes, one of America's first well-known serial killers, was hanged to death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On this day in 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania, a civilian ship, was sunk by a German submarine. 1,201 people were killed. Great Britain lowered the age of women voters from 30 to 21 on this day in 1928. Germany & Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis on this day in 1939. In 1941 on this day during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill survived a vote of confidence vote from the British House of Commons by a count of 477-3. There was a Nazi decree on this day in 1942 during World War II ordering that all Jewish pregnant women of the Kovno Ghetto were to be executed. On this day in 1943 during World War II, the last major German strongholds in North Africa, Tunis and Bizerte, fell to Allied forces. The British 11th Huzaren occupied Tunis, Tunisia. The Mauthausen Concentration Camp was liberated on this day in 1945. On this day in 1945 in the final days of World War II in Europe, Nazi Generals Jodl and Von Friedenburg surrendered. In 1945 on this day in the final days of World War II in Europe, the SS opened fire on a crowd in Amsterdam, Netherlands, killing 22. American General MacArthur approved the Japanese constitution on this day in 1947. Paraguay's government unleashed a contra revolt on this day in 1947. In 1954 on this day, the French military forces were defeated at Dien Bien Phu after a 55-day siege. During the French-Algerian War, the Battle at Oran in Algeria was fought on this day in 1956, with 300 people killed. On this day in 1960, Leonid  Brezhnev replaces Kliment Voroshilov as President of USSR. American President Gerald Ford declared an end to the "Vietnam Era" on this day in 1975. In 1993 on this day during the late stage of white minority apartheid rule in South Africa, the Nationalist Party controlled government and the ANC agreed to multiracial elections. On this day in 1994, Norway's most famous painting, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, was recovered almost three months after it was initially stolen from a museum in Oslo. In 1997 on this day, a report released by the U.S. government said that Switzerland had provided Nazi Germany with equipment and credit during World War II. Germany exchanged for gold what had been plundered or stolen. Switzerland did not comply with postwar agreements to return the gold.

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!


http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/munchs-the-scream-recovered



• On this day in 558 in Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapsed. Justinian I immediately ordered the dome to be rebuilt.

• In 1274 on this day, the Second Council of Lyons (14th Ecumenical Council) opened in France to regulate the election of the pope.

1355 - 1,200 Jews of Toledo Spain killed by Count Henry of Trastamara

1416 - Monk Nicolaas Serrurier arrested because of heresy at Tournay

The cathedral at Orléans, in the Loire Valley

Picture of the Monument Jeanne d'Arc/Joan of Arc Monument (above) in the gardens in Québec City which now bears her name.

Joan of Arc Statue in Philadelphia

• On this day in 1429, the English siege of Orléans was broken by the French, led by the "Maid of Orléans" Joan of Arc.

• The German peasants' revolt was crushed by the ruling class and church on this day in 1525.

1579 - Congress of Cologne forms in Netherlands

1624 - Admiral Hermites conquering fleet reaches Callao the Lima, Peru

1638 - Cornelis S Goyer takes possession of Mauritius (uninhabited)

1660 - Isaack B Fubine of Savoy, in The Hague, patents macaroni

1663 - Theatre Royal in Drury Lane London opens

Louis XIV, the "Sun King" of France

• On this day in 1664, King Louis XIV of France initiated the "Pleasures of the Enchanted Island" (Les Plaisirs de l'Île enchantée),  which was a six-day celebration to inaugurate the new Palace of Versailles.

•  Stockholm's royal castle (dating back to medieval times) was destroyed by fire on this day in 1697. The castle was then replaced by the current Royal Palace in the 18th century.

•  William Penn began monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation on this day in 1700.

•  The city of New Orleans was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville on this day in 1718.

1727 - Jews are expelled from Ukraine by Empress Catherine I of Russia

1748 - French troops conquer Maastricht in the War of the Austrian Succession

1763 - Indian chief Pontiac began all out war on the British in New York.

1765 - Adm Nelsons flagship HMS Victory launched

1771 - Samuel Hearne explores Copper Mine River of Canada

1775 - Turkish state of Bukovina secedes from Austria

Statue of George Washington in Morristown, New Jersey

•  The first Presidential Inaugural Ball in American history was held for George Washington in New York City on this day in 1789.

1792 - Capt Robert Gray discovers Grays Harbor (Washington)

• The U.S. Congress divided the Northwest Territory into two parts on this day in 1800. The western part became the Indiana Territory and the eastern section remained the Northwest Territory.

Bust of iconic German composer and musician Ludwig van Beethoven

•  Beethoven's 9th (Chorale) Symphony premiered in Vienna, Austria, on this day in 1824.

• Greece became an independent republic on this day in 1832 after the Treaty of London was signed, which formally recognized Greece, and Otto of Bavaria was chosen King of Greece. This treaty was a key step in ending the Greek War of Independence and solidifying Greece's status as a sovereign state. 

1836 - The settlement of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico is elevated to the royal status of villa by the government of Spain.

1840 - Tornado strikes Natchez Miss, kills 317

1847 - American Medical Association organized in Philadelphia

1848 - Prussians stop insurrection in Varsovia

1856 - Argentine & Brazilian sign a navigation pact

1861 - Riot occurs between prosecessionist & Union supporters in Knoxville TN

1862 - Battle of West Point, VA (Eltham's Landing, Barnhamsville)

1862 - Much of Enschede Neth destroyed by fire

1864 - Battle of Wilderness ends (total losses: USA-17,666; CSA-7,500)

1864 - Skirmish at Port Walthall Junction Virginia (Drewry's Bluff)

Bust of German statesman & Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck

• German Premier Otto von Bismarck was seriously wounded in after an assassin attempt on this day in 1866.

1867 - Blacks stage ride-in to protest segregation in New Orleans

1873 - US marines attack Panama

1875 - German SS Schiller sinks near Scilly Islands, 312 killed

1877 - Cin Enquirer, 1st uses term "Bullpen" to indicate foul territory

1885 - John E W Thompson, named minister to Haiti

1888 - Edouard Lalo's opera "Le roi d'Ys," premieres in Paris

1888 - George Eastman patents "Kodak box camera"

1891 - Battle in Bunyoro: Capt F Lugard stops Moslem rebellion, 300 killed

•  In Saint Petersburg on this day in 1895, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrated to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, which was the world's first radio receiver. In the former Soviet Union, the anniversary of this day was celebrated as Radio Day.

• In 1896 on this day, Dr. H. H. Holmes, one of America's first well-known serial killers, was hanged to death in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although his criminal exploits were just as extensive and occurred during the same time period as Jack the Ripper, the Arch Fiend--as Holmes was known--has not endured in the public's memory the way the Ripper has.    Born with the unfortunate moniker Herman Mudgett in New Hampshire, Holmes began torturing animals as a child. Still, he was a smart boy who later graduated from the University of Michigan with a medical degree. Holmes financed his education with a series of insurance scams whereby he requested coverage for nonexistent people and then presented corpses as the insured.    In 1886, Holmes moved to Chicago to work as a pharmacist. A few months later, he bought the pharmacy from the owner's widow after his death. She then mysteriously disappeared. With a new series of cons, Holmes raised enough money to build a giant, elaborate home across from the store.    The home, which Holmes called "The Castle," had secret passageways, fake walls, and trapdoors. Some of the rooms were soundproof and connected by pipes to a gas tank in the basement. His bedroom had controls that could fill these rooms with gas. Holmes' basement also contained a lab with equipment used for his dissections.    Young women in the area, along with tourists who had come to see the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and had rented out rooms in Holmes' castle, suddenly began disappearing. Medical schools purchased many human skeletons from Dr. Holmes during this period but never asked how he obtained the anatomy specimens.    Holmes was finally caught after attempting to use another corpse in an insurance scam. He confessed, saying, "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing."    Reportedly, authorities discovered the remains of over 200 victims on his property.    Devil in the White City, a book about Holmes' murder spree and the World Fair by Erik Larson, was published in 2003.

1898 - The first Intercollegiate Trapshooting Association meet was held in New Haven, CT.

1902 - Soufriere volcano on St Vincent kills 2-5,000

1904 - Flexible Flyer trademark registered

1907 - Charles Collier wins 1st Isle of Man TT Race: (38.22 mph)

1909 - Construction begins on first 100 houses in Ahuzat Bayit (Tel Aviv)

1910 - 35th Preakness: R Estep aboard Layminster wins in 1:40.6

1912 - Columbia University approves plans for awarding the Pulitzer Prize in several categories The award is established by Joseph Pulitzer

1912 - The first airplane equipped with a machine gun flew over College Park, MD.

1913 - British House of Commons rejects woman's right to vote

1914 - US Congress establishes mother's day

1915 - The Lusitania, a civilian ship, was sunk by a German submarine. 1,201 people were killed.

• On this day in 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania, a civilian ship, was sunk by a German submarine. 1,201 people were killed. On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland. Within 20 minutes, the vessel sank into the Celtic Sea. Of 1,959 passengers and crew, 1,198 people were drowned, including 128 Americans. The attack aroused considerable indignation in the United States, but Germany defended the action, noting that it had issued warnings of its intent to attack all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain.    When World War I erupted in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson pledged neutrality for the United States, a position that the vast majority of Americans favored. Britain, however, was one of America's closest trading partners, and tension soon arose between the United States and Germany over the latter's attempted quarantine of the British isles. Several U.S. ships traveling to Britain were damaged or sunk by German mines, and in February 1915 Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare in the waters around Britain.    In early May 1915, several New York newspapers published a warning by the German embassy in Washington that Americans traveling on British or Allied ships in war zones did so at their own risk. The announcement was placed on the same page as an advertisement of the imminent sailing of the Lusitania liner from New York back to Liverpool. The sinkings of merchant ships off the south coast of Ireland prompted the British Admiralty to warn the Lusitania to avoid the area or take simple evasive action, such as zigzagging to confuse U-boats plotting the vessel's course. The captain of the Lusitania ignored these recommendations, and at 2:12 p.m. on May 7 the 32,000-ton ship was hit by an exploding torpedo on its starboard side. The torpedo blast was followed by a larger explosion, probably of the ship's boilers, and the ship sunk in 20 minutes.    It was revealed that the Lusitania was carrying about 173 tons of war munitions for Britain, which the Germans cited as further justification for the attack. The United States eventually sent three notes to Berlin protesting the action, and Germany apologized and pledged to end unrestricted submarine warfare. In November, however, a U-boat sunk an Italian liner without warning, killing 272 people, including 27 Americans. Public opinion in the United States began to turn irrevocably against Germany.    On January 31, 1917, Germany, determined to win its war of attrition against the Allies, announced that it would resume unrestricted warfare in war-zone waters. Three days later, the United States broke diplomatic relations with Germany, and just hours after that the American liner Housatonic was sunk by a German U-boat. On February 22, Congress passed a $250 million arms appropriations bill intended to make the United States ready for war. In late March, Germany sunk four more U.S. merchant ships, and on April 2 President Wilson appeared before Congress and called for a declaration of war against Germany. On April 4, the Senate voted to declare war against Germany, and two days later the House of Representatives endorsed the declaration. With that, America entered World War I.

1920 - USSR recognizes Georgia's independence

1923 - Mine strike at Belgian Borinage railroad

1924 - Peruvian Torre forms APRA, Alianza Popular Revolutionaria Americana

1925 - Pirate shortstop Glenn Wright makes an unassisted triple play

1926 - A U.S. report showed that one-third of the nation's exports were motors.

1927 - SF Municipal Airport (Mills Field) dedicated

1927 - Angelos Sikelianos organizes the first Delphic Festival in Delphi to celebrate the ancient Greek Delphic ideal.

•  Great Britain lowered the age of women voters from 30 to 21 on this day in 1928.

1928 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Thornton Wilder for (Bridge of San Luis Rey)

1930 - Duleepsinhji scores 333 for Sussex v Northants in 330 mins


1934 - Neth Princess Juliana opens Juliana Canal

1934 - Part of Khabarovsk becomes a Jewish Autnomous Region

1934 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Sidney Kingsley (Men in White)

1934 - World's largest pearl (6.4 kg) found at Palawan, Philippines

1937 - The German Condor Legion arrived in Spain to assist Franco’s forces.


1938 - Dutch Minister of Justice Goseling calls fugitives of nazi-Germany "undesired strangers"


•  Germany & Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis on this day in 1939.

•   In 1941 on this day during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill survived a vote of confidence vote from the British House of Commons by a count of 477-3.

1941 - Cornerstone of B of A building at 300 Montgomery laid

1941 - Glenn Miller records "Chattanooga Choo Choo" for RCA

1942 - In the Battle of the Coral Sea, Japanese and American navies attacked each other with carrier planes. It was the first time in the history of naval warfare where two enemy fleets fought without seeing each other. It ended Japanese expansion.

•  There was a Nazi decree on this day in 1942 during World War II ordering that all Jewish pregnant women of the Kovno Ghetto were to be executed.

•  On this day in 1943 during World War II, the last major German strongholds in North Africa, Tunis and Bizerte, fell to Allied forces. The British 11th Huzaren occupied Tunis, Tunisia.

1943 - Dutch men 18-35 obliged to report to labor camps

1943 - Liberty Ship George Washington Carver, named after scientist, launched

1943 - US 1st Armour division occupies Ferryville Tunisia

1943 - US 9th Infantry division occupies Bizerta/Bensert Tunisia

1944 - German assault on Tito's hideout in Drvar Bosnia

1945 - Baseball owner Branch Rickey announced the organization of the United States Negro Baseball League. There were 6 teams.

1945 - British troops pull into Utrecht, Netherlands

1945 - Formal undertaking of complete and unconditional German surrender, ending World War II in Europe. It would take effect the next day.

•  The Mauthausen Concentration Camp was liberated on this day in 1945. 

•  On this day in 1945 in the final days of World War II in Europe, Nazi Generals Jodl and Von Friedenburg surrendered.

1945 - Princess Irene Brigade moves into the Hague Neth

1945 - Pulitzer prize awarded to John Hersey (Bell for Adano)

•  In 1945 on this day in the final days of World War II in Europe, the SS opened fire on a crowd in Amsterdam, Netherlands, killing 22.

1946 - William H Hastie inaugurated as first black governor of Virgin Islands

1946 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with around 20 employees.

1947 - "Kraft Television Theater" premieres on NBC

•  American General MacArthur approved the Japanese constitution on this day in 1947.

• Paraguay's government unleashed a contra revolt on this day in 1947.

1948 - Nazi collaborator V-Mann Antonius van de Waals sentence to death

1949 - 75th Kentucky Derby: Steve Brooks aboard Ponder wins in 2:04.2

1951 - International Olympic committee allows Russia to participate in 1952 Olympics

1951 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Conrad Richter (The Town)

1952 - The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer.

1953 - "Can Can" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 892 performances

1953 - Record 537-kg swordfish is caught by LE Marron, in Chile

• In 1954 on this day, the French military forces were defeated at Dien Bien Phu after a 55-day siege.  In northwest Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh forces decisively defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu, a French stronghold besieged by the Vietnamese communists for 57 days. The Viet Minh victory at Dien Bien Phu signaled the end of French colonial influence in Indochina and cleared the way for the division of Vietnam along the 17th parallel at the conference of Geneva.    On September 2, 1945, hours after the Japanese signed their unconditional surrender in World War II, communist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam, hoping to prevent the French from reclaiming their former colonial possession. In 1946, he hesitantly accepted a French proposal that allowed Vietnam to exist as an autonomous state within the French Union, but fighting broke out when the French tried to reestablish colonial rule. Beginning in 1949, the Viet Minh fought an increasingly effective guerrilla war against France with military and economic assistance from newly Communist China. France received military aid from the United States.    In November 1953, the French, weary of jungle warfare, occupied Dien Bien Phu, a small mountain outpost on the Vietnamese border near Laos. Although the Vietnamese rapidly cut off all roads to the fort, the French were confident that they could be supplied by air. The fort was also out in the open, and the French believed that their superior artillery would keep the position safe. In 1954, the Viet Minh army, under General Vo Nguyen Giap, moved against Dien Bien Phu and in March encircled it with 40,000 Communist troops and heavy artillery.    The first Viet Minh assault against the 13,000 entrenched French troops came on March 12, and despite massive air support, the French held only two square miles by late April. On May 7, after 57 days of siege, the French positions collapsed. Although the defeat brought an end to French colonial efforts in Indochina, the United States soon stepped up to fill the vacuum, increasing military aid to South Vietnam and sending the first U.S. military advisers to the country in 1959.

1954 - US, Great-Britain & France reject Russian membership in NATO

1955 - 81st Kentucky Derby: Bill Shoemaker aboard Swaps wins in 2:01.8

1955 - USSR signs peace treaty with France & Great-Britain

1955 - West Europe Union established

Flag of Algeria

• During the French-Algerian War, the Battle at Oran in Algeria was fought on this day in 1956, with 300 people killed.

1956 - NY Giant Bill White, homers in his 1st at bat

1956 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett

1957 - Indians' pitcher Herb Score is hit by a line drive off Gil McDougald

1957 - Maj Johnson, USAAF flies a Lockheed Starfight to 17.28 miles (27.8 K)

1958 - Howard Johnson sets aircraft altitude record in F-104, 27,810 m

1959 - "Roy Campanella Night" Largest baseball crowd (93,103 in LA Coliseum) sees Dodgers' Sandy Koufax beat Yankees 6-2 in exhibition

1960 - "Christine" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 12 performances

1960 - "Flower Drum Song" closes at St James Theater NYC after 602 perfs

1960 - "From A to Z" closes at Plymouth Theater NYC after 21 performances

1960 - 86th Kentucky Derby: Bill Hartack on Venetian Way wins in 2:02.4

1960 - Dodgers Larry & Norm Sherry are baseball's 10th brother battery

1960 - LA Dodger Norm Sherry's 11th HR wins the game for brother Larry

The flag of the USSR (Soviet Union)

• On this day in 1960, Leonid  Brezhnev replaces Kliment Voroshilov as President of USSR.   Leonid Brezhnev, one of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's most trusted proteges, is selected as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet—the Soviet equivalent to the presidency. This was another important step in Brezhnev's rise to power in Russia, a rise that he later capped by taking control of the Soviet Union in 1964.    Brezhnev had been a trusted associate of Khrushchev since the 1940s. As Khrushchev rose through the ranks, so did his protege. After Stalin's death in 1953, Khrushchev rapidly consolidated his power and succeeded in becoming First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This position had always been the real seat of power in the Soviet Union—the first secretary was able to control the vast Communist Party apparatus throughout the Soviet Union. The position of president (or, more formally, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet) was largely symbolic. The president often greeted foreign visitors and handled more mundane government matters, but policymaking always rested with the first secretary. In May 1960, Khrushchev named Brezhnev to the position of president. While the post meant little in the way of real power, it did allow Brezhnev to come into contact with numerous foreign dignitaries and visitors and to travel the world as a representative of the Soviet government. He made the most of these opportunities and was soon viewed as an efficient and effective official in his own right, not simply a puppet of Khrushchev.    In 1964, Khrushchev was removed from power and Brezhnev was named new first secretary. Brezhnev held that post for 18 years until his death in 1982. His era was marked by a certain blandness of rule, a much-needed stability in Soviet ruling circles, a sometimes harsh repression of the Soviet people, and a hard-line attitude toward relations with the United States.

1960 - Michael Tal beats Botvinnik 12½-8½ for world chess championship

1960 - USSR announces Francis Gary Powers confessed to being a CIA spy

1961 - "Young Abe Lincoln" closes at Eugene O'Neill NYC after 27 perfs

1962 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Theodore H White (Making of President 1960)

1962 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island

1963 - Bruno Sammartino becomes WWF champ

1963 - SETC Telstar 2 launched (apogee 6,700 miles (10,800 km))

1965 - WAOW TV channel 9 in Wausau, WI (ABC) begins broadcasting

1966 - 92nd Kentucky Derby: Donald Brumfield aboard Kauai King wins in 2:02

1966 - Mamas & Papas "Monday Monday" hits #1

1966 - Yankees fire manager Johnny Keene

1967 - Carol Mann wins LPGA Tall City Golf Open

1969 - 2nd ABA championship: Oakland Oaks beat Indiana Pacers, 4 games to 1

1969 - Lt General Robert E Cushman, Jr, USMC, becomes deputy director of CIA

1970 - "Long & Winding Road" becomes Beatles' last American release

1972 - 26th NBA Championship: LA Lakers beat NY Knicks, 4 games to 1

1972 - Betty Burfeindt wins Sealy LPGA Golf Classic

1973 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Eudora Welty (Optimist's Daughter)

1974 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Robert Lowell (Dolphin)

1975 - Flyers 3-Isles 4 (OT)-Semifinals-Flyers hold 3-1 lead

• American President Gerald Ford declared an end to the "Vietnam Era" on this day in 1975.

1975 - Small Astronomy Satellite Explorer 53 launched to study X-rays

1977 - "Happy End" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 75 performances

1977 - 103rd Kentucky Derby: Jean Cruguet on Seattle Slew wins in 2:02.2

1977 - Rookie Janet Guthrie set the fastest time on opening day of practice for the Indianapolis 500. Her time was 185.607.

1979 - 5th UNCTAD-conference opens in Manila

1979 - Gary Roenicke hits into Orioles 13th triple play (Oakland)


1980 - Josip Tito, Yugoslav president, buried

1980 - Samm-Art Williams' "Home," premieres in NYC

1982 - "Is There Life after High School?" opens at Barrymore NYC for 12 perfs

1982 - Federal jury rules NFL violates antitrust laws in preventing

1982 - IBM releases PC-DOS version 1.1

1982 - Oakland Raiders to move to LA

1982 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1983 - 109th Kentucky Derby: Ed Delahoussaye on Sunny's Halo wins in 2:02.2

1983 - August Hoffman performs record 29,051 consecutive sit-ups

1983 - Bruins 4-Isles 8-Wales Conference Championship-Isles win series 4-2

1984 - $180m out-of-court settlement reached in Agent Orange suit

1986 - Bucharest wins 31st Europe Cup I

1987 - Diane Chambers' (Shelley Long) final episode on Cheers

1988 - 114th Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens on Winning Colors wins in 2:02.2

1988 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR

1989 - Mark Merrony (Wales) cycles for 30 mins in Nepal at 21,030 feet

1989 - Panamanian voters reject dictator Manuel Noriega's bid for presidency

1991 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1992 - 5 NYC cops arrested in Hauppauge Long Island for selling cocaine

1992 - A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring the U.S. Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified as the 27th Amendment.

1992 - Jockey Angel Cordero retires after winning over 7,000 horse races

1992 - US space shuttle STS-49 launched (maiden voyage of Endeavour)

This was a picture (which I have since cropped) of the new South Africa flag of the post-apartheid era. I actually took this one at the apartheid museum, as this was the final display, if you will, of the museum, the symbol of the emergence of a "new South Africa."

Statue of Nelson Mandela in the gardens in front of the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa

•  In 1993 on this day during the late stage of white minority apartheid rule in South Africa, the Nationalist Party controlled government and the ANC agreed to multiracial elections.

1994 - 120th Kentucky Derby: Chris McCarron on Go For Gin wins in 2:03.6

1994 - Denver Nuggets become NBA's 1st #8 seed to beat a #1 seed (Seattle)

1994 - Edvard Munchs painting "The Scream" recovered 3 months after stolen

Picture of the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway.

• On this day in 1994, Norway's most famous painting, "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, was recovered almost three months after it was initially stolen from a museum in Oslo. The fragile painting was recovered undamaged at a hotel in Asgardstrand, about 40 miles south of Oslo, police said.    The iconic 1893 painting of a waiflike figure on a bridge was stolen in only 50 seconds during a break-in on February 12, the opening day of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Two thieves broke through a window of the National Gallery, cut a wire holding the painting to the wall and left a note reading "Thousand thanks for the bad security!"    A few days after the theft, a Norwegian anti-abortion group said it could have the painting returned if Norwegian television showed an anti-abortion film. The claim turned out to be false. The government also received a $1 million ransom demand on March 3, but refused to pay it due to a lack of proof that the demand was genuine.    Eventually, police found four pieces of the painting's frame in Nittedal, a suburb north of Oslo, and what may have been a cryptic messages that the thieves wanted to discuss a ransom. Finally, in January 1996, four men were convicted and sentenced in connection with the theft. They included Paal Enger, who had been convicted in 1988 of stealing Munch's "The Vampire" in Oslo. Enger was sentenced this time to six-and-a-half-years in prison. He escaped while on a field trip in 1999, and was captured 12 days later in a blond wig and dark sunglasses trying to buy a train ticket to Copenhagen.    In August 2004, another version of "The Scream" was stolen along with Munch's "The Madonna," this time from the Munch Museum in Oslo. Three men were convicted in connection with that theft in May 2006. Police recovered both works in August with minor marks and tears. Yet another version of "The Scream" remained in private hands and sold on May 2, 2012, for $119.9 million, becoming the most expensive work of art to sell at auction.    Munch developed an emotionally charged style that served as an important forerunner of the 20th century Expressionist movement. He painted "The Scream" as part of his "Frieze of Life" series, in which sickness, death, fear, love and melancholy are central themes. He died in January 1944 at the age of 81.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/munchs-the-scream-recovered

1995 - "On the Waterfront" closes at Atkinson Theater NYC after 8 perfs

1995 - Jacques Chirac wins French presidential election

1995 - Twins beat Indians 10-9 in 17 innings, 6 hours and; 36 minutes

1996 - The trial of Serbian police officer Dusan Tadic opened in the Netherlands. He was later convicted on murder-torture charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

1996 - Comedian Martin Lawrence suffers a nervous breakdown

1997 - Expos scores 13 in 6th at Giants

1997 - Galileo, 4th Ganymede Flyby (Orbit 8)

•  In 1997 on this day, a report released by the U.S. government said that Switzerland had provided Nazi Germany with equipment and credit during World War II. Germany exchanged for gold what had been plundered or stolen. Switzerland did not comply with postwar agreements to return the gold.

1998 - Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for $40 billion USD and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.

1999 - Kosovo War: In Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

1999 - In Guinea-Bissau, the government of President João Bernardo Vieira was ousted in a military coup.

1999 - Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.

1999 - A jury finds The Jenny Jones Show and Warner Bros. liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure, after the show purposely deceived Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a secret same-sex crush episode. Schmitz later killed Amedure and the jury awarded Amedure's family $25 million USD.

2000 - Russian President Vladimir V. Putin named First Deputy Premier Mikhail Kasyanov as premier.

2002 - A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.

2003 - In Washington, DC, General Motors Corp. delivered six fuel cell vehicles to Capitol Hill for lawmakers and others to test drive during the next two years.

2003 - Roger Moore collapsed during a matinee performance of the Broadway comedy "The Play What I Wrote." He finished the show after a 10-minute break. He was fitted with a pacemaker the following day.

2007 - The tomb of Herod the Great is discovered.

2012 - NATO air strike kills 14 and woulds 6 civilians in Afghanistan's Badghis Province

2012 - Vladimir Putin sworn in for third six year term as President of Russia

2012 - Paeleoclimatological research claims dinosaur flatulence may have warmed the earth


Here are the links to the websites that I used to get  most of the information used in this blog entry.

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/may07.htm

http://www.historyorb.com/events/may/7

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/munchs-the-scream-recovered

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory