On this Day

Friday, May 20th
The 140th day of 2005
There are 225 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On May 20, 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Ala., prompting the federal government to send in United States marshals to restore order. (Go to article)

On May 20, 1908, James Stewart, the American movie actor, was born. Following his death on July 2, 1997, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obituary)

On May 20, 1876, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the United States Centennial Exhibition. (See the cartoon and read an explanation)

Reference: The New York Times




(The following via Iraq War Today)

Today in History:
1303 - The Treaty of Paris restores Gascony to the British, following the 100 Years War.
1310 - Shoes are first made for both right & left feet.
1704 - Elias Neau forms a school for slaves in New York.
1775 - Mecklenburg County, North Carolina declares its independence from Britain.
1845 - The first legislative assembly convenes in Hawaii.
1861 - Kentucky proclaims its neutrality in the Civil War.
1864 - Battle at Ware Bottom Church VA, results in 1,400 killed or injured.
1868 - The Republican National Convention meets in Chicago, and nominates Grant for President.
1874 - Levi Strauss markets blue jeans with copper rivets - cost is $13.50 / dozen.
1875 - International Bureau of Weights & Measures established by treaty
1892 - German, Italy, and Austria-Hungary form the Triple Alliance.
1902 - The U.S. military occupation of Cuba (since January, 1899) ends.
1916 - Codell, KS is hit by a tornado; it is also hit on the same date in 1917 & 1918)
1917 - The Turkish Government authorizes Jews to return to Tel Aviv & Jaffa.
1918 - Launch of the first electrically propelled warship, the New Mexico.
1926 - Congress passes the Air Commerce Act, requiring licensing of pilots & planes.
1927 - Charles Lindbergh takes off from New York to cross the Atlantic; the Treaty of Jedda grants Saudi Arabia independence from Great Britain.
1932 - Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland; the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
1939 - Pan Am begins regular transatlantic airmail and passenger service across the North Atlantic.
1940 - Igor Sikorsky unveils his invention, the helicopter.
1941 - Germany invades Crete.
1942 - The U.S. Navy first permits black recruits to serve.
1944 - The U.S. Communist Party dissolves.
1948 - The Israeli Air Force is first used, and achieves its first war victory against Syria.
1954 - Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China.
1959 - Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship.
1961 - A white mob attacks "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, AL.
1969 - In Vietnam, U.S. troops capture Hill 937 - Hamburger Hill.
1970 - 100,000 march in New York in support of U.S. policies in Vietnam.
1971 - The Pentagon reports that blacks constitute 11% of the U.S. soldiers in southeast Asia.
1978 - 3 PFLP members kill a police officer near El Al airlines in Orly Airport, Paris.
1980 - 710 families in the Love Canal area, near Niagara Falls, are evacuated.
1985 - The FBI arrests John A. Walker, Jr., later convicted of spying for the U.S.S.R.
1985 - Israel exchanges 1150 Lebanese/Palestinian prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers; the U.S. begins broadcasts to Cuba on Radio Marti.
1989 - China declares martial law in Beijing.
1990 - The Hubble Space Telescope sends its first photographs from space.
1991 - The Soviet parliament approves a law allowing citizens to travel abroad.
1992 - India launches its first satellite independently.
1993 - 1993KA, a ten-meter meteor, comes within 150,000 km of Earth.

Birthdays:
1759 - William Thornton, architect, U.S. Capitol building
1768 - Dolley Dandridge Payne Madison, U.S. First Lady
1828 - Union Brigadier General James William Reilly
1881 - Wladyslaw Sikorski, Polish Premier, WWII general
1895 - Reginald J. "R" Mitchell, English aviation manufacturer (Spitfire)
1908 - Jimmy (James Maitland) Stewart, actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life)
1913 - William Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co
1921 - John Harrison, British Vice Admiral/surgeon; John Marchi (Representative-R-NY)
1923 - Hugh Beach, British General
1925 - D. French Slaughter, Jr. (Representative-VA)
1934 - Alexei A. Leonov, cosmonaut (Voskhod 2, Apollo-Soyuz)
1944 - David M. Walker, Captain USN/astronaut (STS 51-A 30, 53, 69)
1945 - Harold E. Ford (Representative-TN); Nikolai Nikolayevich Fefelov, Russian colonel/cosmonaut; Wally Herger (Representative-CA)
1948 - John R. McKernan, Jr. (Representative / Governor-ME); Samuel Gejdenson (Representative-CT)
1949 - Nick Joe Rahall II (Representative-WV)
1951 - Michael D. Crapo (Representative-ID); Thomas D. Akers, Major USAF/astronaut (STS 41, 49, 61, 79)
1954 - Galina Vasilyevna Amelkina, doctor/cosmonaut

Passings:
1471 - Henry VI, King of England / France
1506 - Christopher Columbus, explorer, dies in poverty in Spain
1622 - Osman II, Sultan of Turkey
1648 - Wladyslaw IV, King of Poland
1834 - Marquis de Lafayette, French general
1996 - Lewis B. Combs, Naval commander/civil engineer

Reported Missing in Action:
1967
Frits, Orville B., US Army (CA); Remains recovered May, 1967
Grammar, William Michael, USMC (OK); Remains recovered May, 1967
Keefe, Douglas O’Neil, USMC (SC)
Maddox, Notley Gwynn, USAF (IL)
Milligan, Joseph E., USAF (NJ); Released by DRV February, 1973 – alive in 1998
Smith, Homer L., USN (WV); Remains returned March, 1974
Vanloan, Jack L.,USAF (OR); Released by DRV March, 1973 – alive and well in 1998

1968
Lehrman, Ronald J., US Army (OK); Released by Sihanouk June, 1968
Robertson, John H., USArmy SF (AL)
Tester, Jerry A., US Army (NC); Released June, 1968

1972
Williams, James W., USAF (TN); Released by DRV March, 1973 – alive and well in 1998