Monday, May 30, 2005

Monday, May 30

This Day In History

  • 1431   Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.
  • 1539   Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto landed in Florida.
  • 1854   The territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established.
  • 1883   A rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in danger of collapsing triggered a stampede that led to the trampling deaths of 12 people.
  • 1911   The first long-distance auto race in Indianapolis was won by Ray Harroun.
  • 1922   The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., by Chief Justice William Howard Taft.
  • 1943   American forces secured the Aleutian island of Attu from the Japanese during World War II.
  • 1967   Daredevil Evel Knievel jumped 16 automobiles in a row in a motorcycle stunt at Ascot Speedway in Gardena, CA.
  • 1982   Spain became NATO's 16th member, the first country to enter the Western alliance since West Germany in 1955.
  • 1989   Student demonstrators at Tiananmen Square in Beijing erected a 33-foot statue they called the ''Goddess of Democracy.''
  • 1996   Britain's Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson were granted an uncontested decree ending their 10-year marriage.
  • 1997   Child molester Jesse K. Timmendequas was convicted in Trenton, N.J., of raping and strangling a 7-year-old neighbor, Megan Kanka   a case that inspired ''Megan's Law,'' which requires that communities be notified when sex offenders move in.
  • 2002   A solemn, wordless ceremony marked the end of the cleanup at Ground Zero in New York, 8 1/2 months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
  • 2002   Nine climbers fell into a crevasse near the summit of Oregon's Mount Hood; three died.
Happy Birthday To
  • 1672   Peter the Great (Piotr Alekseevich Romanov) (Peter I: Russian Czar [1682-1721], Emperor of Russia [1721-1725]; died Jan 28, 1725; note: these dates are based on the Julian calendar -- see June 9 for Gregorian calendar dates)
  • 1892   Stepin Fetchit (Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry) (actor: Amazing Grace, The Sun Shines Bright, Miracle in Harlem, Judge Priest; died Nov 19, 1985)
  • 1909   Benny Goodman
  • 1964   Wynonna Judd (Christina Claire Ciminella)
  • 1981   Blake Bashoff (actor: Bushwacked, Big Bully, The New Swiss Family Robinson, Deuces Wild)

No comments: