May in History

Violet Oliver, 2019 - 2020 Editor - in Chief

May 1st: Diocletian retires as Roman emperor.

May 2nd: The U.S. stops minting the 20 cent coin.

May 3rd: Edmond Halley first observes “Bailey’s Beads” during a lunar eclipse.

May 4th: Rhode Island declares independence from Britain.

May 5th: The 5th Olympic Games are hosted in Sweden.

May 6th: The U.S. begins rationing sugar during WWII.

May 7th: The city of New Orleans is founded.

May 8th: The first and only U.S. death by hailstones.

May 9th: Mother’s day is founded.

May 10th: Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands.

May 11th: Constantinople becomes the capital of the Roman Empire.

May 12th: The first ice cream advertisement.

May 13th: First performance of Finland’s national anthem.

May 14th: Louis the XIV becomes the king of France at age 4.

May 15th: Cape Cod is discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold.

May 16th: Denmark abolishes slave trade.

May 17th: A fire destroys St. Louis, Missouri. 

May 18th: Montreal, Canada is founded.

May 19th: Mary Queen of Scots is arrested.

May 20th: An earthquake hits Kamakura, Japan.

May 21st: St. Helena, an island off the coast of Africa, is discovered.

May 22nd: The 14th recorded passage of Halley’s comet in 760.

May 23rd: The Netherlands becomes independent from Spain.

May 24th: “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is first published.

May 25th: The production of the Model T officially ends.

May 26th: Lewis and Clark first find the Rocky Mountains.

May 27th: Birt Acres patents the film camera.

May 28th: The first indoor swimming pool opens.

May 29th: Rhode Island officially ratifies the U.S. constitution.

May 30th: Christopher Columbus makes his 3rd trip to America.

May 31st: The New Orleans mint closes.

https://www.onthisday.com/events/may/