This Day In History: May 27, 1940 In late May 1940, Allied troops were trapped with their backs to the sea on the French beach at Dunkirk. While the Nazis planned to systematically decimate them, the Royal Navy hastily assembled an armada that set out on May 27, 1940. Dubbed Operation Dynamo, a rag-tag assortment of destroyers, rowboats, yachts, fishing […]

This Day In History: May 26, 1897 On May 26, 1897, Irish author Bram Stoker’s masterpiece Dracula was released for sale in London. Dracula was not only a sensation in its own right, but inspired a genre of horror that remains immensely popular today. But Bram Stoker certainly wasn’t the creator of vampire lore; the history of the blood-sucking undead […]

This Day In History: May 25, 1961 “I believe that this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.” –JFK On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech before a joint session of Congress that put the United States […]

This Day In History: May 22, 1958 “They were looking for a place to stick the knife into rock & roll. And Jerry gave it to them—well, I did, I opened my mouth.” – Myra Lewis Williams As 1958 dawned, Jerry Lee Lewis was riding high. He’d recently had two huge hits with “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great […]

This Day In History: May 21, 1992 On May 21, 1992, 17-year-old Amy Fisher was arrested two days after shooting her lover’s wife on the porch of their home in Long Island, New York. The victim, though gravely injured, survived the attack and eventually forgave her assailant. When the sordid details of her affair with her much older, very married, […]

This Day In History: May 20, 1908 James Maitland Stewart, one of the most likable and versatile actors in motion picture history, was born on May 20, 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He appeared in over 80 films during his long career. Stewart is most loved and fondly remembered for his various portrayals of Mr. Every Man, a simple, hard-working American […]

This Day In History: May 19, 1836 A very young Cynthia Ann Parker moved from Illinois to Texas by wagon train with members of her family in 1832. They built a civilian stockade around their settlement, located approximately 40 miles east of present day Waco, which came to be known as Parker Fort. Their solidly constructed protective barricade was supposedly […]

This Day In History: May 18, 1989 On May 18, 1989, an estimated one million Chinese protestors swarmed Tiananmen Square and the surrounding streets of Beijing demanding a democratic system of government. It was the largest popular demonstration in the 40-year history of communist China. Student-driven protests calling for democracy had begun in China a month before but ramped up […]

This Day In History: May 15, 1869 “Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less!” – The Revolution On May 15, 1869, The National Woman Suffrage Association was formed in New York City. The group was the result of ideological and political disagreements between two factions of the suffrage movement, one difference being whether to support […]

This Day In History: May 13, 1981 On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot while passing through St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The pontiff was on the way to hold his weekly public audience. After the shooting, the gunman’s weapon was knocked out of his hands by onlookers who restrained him until police could arrive. John Paul […]

This Day In History: May 12, 1215 “No free man shall be arrested or imprisoned save by the lawful judgment of their equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.” The Magna Carta is one of the most famous and revered documents in […]

This Day In History: May 11, 1981 “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” ― Bob Marley Bob Marley was the first “third-world” global superstar and the artist responsible for bringing reggae to mainstream audiences. Marley’s unforgettable music alone would have earned him a place in music history, but his status as a moral and religious compass to […]

This Day In History: May 8, 1902 “I know nothing about Mount Pelée, but if Vesuvius were looking the way your volcano looks this morning, I’d get out of Naples.” – Marino Leboffe, Captain of the Italian freighter “Orsolina” 5/2/02 On May 8, 1902 Mt. Pelée on the Caribbean island of Martinique unleashed an eruption that killed approximately 30,000 people, […]

This Day In History: May 7, 1896 Dr. Henry Howard Holmes came into this world as Herman Webster Mudgett May 16, 1861 in Galmanton, New Hampshire. His family was affluent, and the intelligent young Herman had the means to attend medical school at the University of Michigan. It was there that he began his lucrative career as a con artist, […]

This Day In History: May 6, 1895 Rudolph Valentino, the first great lover on the movie screen, was born as … *deep breath* … Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaelo Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d’Antonguolla on May 6, 1898 in Castellaneta, Italy. (If you think that’s long, you should know Pablo Picasso’s real name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan […]

This Day In History: May 5, 1945 On May 5, 1945, Reverend Archie Mitchell and his pregnant wife Elsie had driven up to Gearhart Mountain with five of their Sunday school pupils (aged 11-14) to enjoy a picnic lunch. They encountered a road closure due to construction in Bly, Oregon. Elsie and the kids got out of the vehicle to […]

This Day In History: May 4, 1970 Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, We’re finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio – Neil Young “Ohio” By May of 1970, protests against the Vietnam War were popping up with increasing frequency all over the United States, and especially on college campuses. The recent revelation that […]