On this Day

Tuesday, May 31st
The 151st day of 2005
There are 214 days left in the year

Today's Highlights in History

On May 31, 1889, more than 2,000 people perished when a dam break sent water rushing through Johnstown, Pa. (Go to article)

On May 31, 1857, Pius XI, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1922 to 1939 , was born. Following his death on Feb. 10, 1939, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obituary Other Birthdays)

On May 31, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the Mississippi Valley Labor Convention. (See the cartoon and read an explanation)

Reference: The New York Times



(The following Via Iraq War Today)

Today in History

1634 - Massachusetts Bay Colony annexes Maine colony
1659 - France, England, and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of The Hague
1678 - Lady Godiva rides naked through Coventry in a protest of taxes
1790 - The US enacts the copyright law
1862 - Battle of Seven Pines, VA (Fair Oaks); a Union victory
1868 - Ironton, OH, holds the first Memorial Day parade
1884 - Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents "flaked cereal"
1900 - British troops under occupy Johannesburg; US troops arrive in Peking to help put down the Boxer Rebellion
1902 - The Boer War Ends; Treaty of Vereeniging signed, Britain annexes Transvaal
1912 - US Marines land on Cuba
1915 - An LZ-38 Zeppelin makes an air raid on London
1916 - Battle of Skagerrak: British-German sea battle at Jutland (10,000 dead); the British battle cruiser Invincible explodes, killing all but 6
1926 - Portuguese President Bernardino Machedo resigns after a coup
1937 - German battleships bomb Almeria, Spain
1941 - The total of U-boats sunk this month: 41 (325,000 tons); British troops vacate Kreta
1942 - The Luftwaffe bombs Canterbury
1944 - Allies break through in Italy
1947 - Communists seize power in Hungary; the Italian Government of Gasperi forms
1953 - Lebanese President Camille Shamun disbands the government
1961 - Dominican Republic President Trujillo is assassinated; Judge Irving Kaufman orders the Board of Education of New Rochelle to integrate; the Union of South Africa becomes a republic, leaving the Commonwealth
1979 - Zimbabwe proclaims its independence
1989 - Speaker of the House Jim Wright resigns

Birthdays
1469 - King Manuel I of Portugal
1557 - Russian Czar Theodorus I (Fedor Ivanovitsj)
1837 - Confederate Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur Major
1837 - Confederate Major General William Henry Fitzhugh "Rooney" Lee
1892 - Gregor Strasser, German pharmacist/NSDAP-Reich organization leader
1907 - Valston Hancock, British air marshal
1912 - Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson (Senator-WA)
1913 - Peter Gibson, British Rear-Admiral
1923 - Clint Rainier III, Prince of Monaco
1927 - James Eberle, British Admiral / Director, Royal Institute of International Affairs
1929 - ? 1st reindeer born in the US
1931 - John Schrieffer, US physicist , Nobel Prize winner; Steve Horn (Representative-CA)
1932 - George Vallings, British Vice-Admiral
1937 - Vladislav Ivanovich Gulyayev, cosmonaut
1948 - Duncan L Hunter (Representative-CA)

Passings
0455 - Petronius Maximus senator/Emperor of Rome, lynched
1910 - Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman physician
1916 - Horace Hood British spy (Battle of Jutland), in battle
1962 - Adolf Eichmann war criminal, hanged for crimes against Jews in WWII
1989 - Terry Drinkwater, CBS news correspondent
1992 - Lutz Stavenhagen, top aid to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl
1996 - Timothy Francis Leary Harvard professor/LSD guru
1997 - Rosie Will Monroe, " Rosie the Riveter," WWII icon

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Peel, Robert D., USAF (TN); Released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well in 1998
1966
Albertson, Bobby J., USAF (CA); all crew killed when C130 was shot down
Case, Thomas F., USAF (GA); all crew killed when C130 was shot down; remains returned April, 1986
Edmonson, William R., USAF (MO); killed when C130 was shot down
Harworth, Elroy E., USAF (MN); killed when C130 was shot down; remains returned April, 1986
Herrold, Ned R., USAF (NJ); killed when F4C was shot down
McDonald, Emmett R., USAF (WA); all crew killed when C130 was shot down
Ragland, Dayton W., USAF (MO); killed when F4C was shot down
Shingledecker, Armon D.; USAF (OH); killed when C130 was shot down; remains returned 1986, ID'd April, 1998
Steen, Martin W., USAF (ND); F105C shotdown; good chute, harness empty
Stickney, Phillip J., USAF (NH); killed when C130 was shot down
Zook, Harold J., USAF (PA); killed when C130 was shot down; remains returned April 1986
1967
Chauncey, Arvin R., USN, (CA); Released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well in 1998
Fitzgerald, Joseph E., US Army (MA); Remains returned February, 1997
Jakovac, John A., US Army (MI); Remains returned February, 1997
McGar, Brian K., US Army (CA); Remains returned February, 1997
1968
Beresik, Eugene Paul, USAF (MA)
Gatewood, Charles Hue, USMC (IL)
Leonard, Edwawrd W., USAF (WA); Released by PL March, 1973 - alive as of 1998
1970
Colne, Roger, Civilian - NBC sound technician (France); Conovoy ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh
Hangen, Welles, Civilian - CBS News correspondent (US); Convoy ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh, executed after capture, remains returned January, 1993
Sakai, Kojiro, Civilian - CBS sound technician (Japan); Convoy ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh Waku, Yoshihiko, Civilian - NBC cameraman (Japan); Convoy ambushed about 32 miles south of Phnom Penh
1971
Brunson, Jack W. , US Army (NY)
Musil, Clinton A., Sr., US Army (MN)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Day in Music
(Via This Day in Music)

2003, UK police announced that thousands of people at this years pop festivals would be subjected to a computerised drug test. Fans would be asked to provide swab samples from their hands, which would be inserted into a drug detection machine. It was to be a voluntary test but Anti-drug officers could search anyone refusing.
1998, Geri Halliwell announced she had quit The Spice Girls saying "This is because of differences between us. I am sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best."
1998, Simply Red went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Blue', their fifth consecutive No.1 album.
1998, The Tamperen went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Feel It'.
1997, Eternal started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Wanna Be The Only One').
1989, David Bowie's Tin Machine made their live debut at the International Music Awards, New York.
1986, Peter Gabriel scored his second solo UK No.1 album with 'So' featuring the singles 'Sledgehammer' and a duet with Kate Bush 'Don't Give Up'.
1986, The Notting Hillbillies made their live debut when they appeared at The Grove in Leeds. The group featured Mark Knopfler, Steve Phillips and Brendan Crocker who were each paid £22.
1982, The Rolling Stones played at the 100 Club, Oxford St, London, to a sold out crowd of 400 people.
1982, R.E.M. signed a five-album deal with I.R.S. Records, an independent label based in California.
1980, Lipps Inc went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Funkytown', a UK No.2 hit.
1980, Paul McCartney went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'McCartney II'.
1980, The Theme From M*A*S*H* (Suicide Is Painless), by Mash was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, 10 years after it was first recorded.
1977, The Patti Smith group started a nine night residency at New York's CBGB's.
1977, The BBC announced a ban on the new Sex Pistols single 'God Save The Queen' saying its, "in gross bad taste". And the IBA issued a warning to all radio stations saying the playing the single would be in breach of Section 4:1:A of the Broadcasting act. The single reached No.2 on the UK chart.
1976, The Who gave themselves a place in the Guinness book of Records as the loudest performance of a rock band at 120 decibels, when they played at Charlton Athletic Football ground.
1975, Freddy Fender went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Before The Next Teardrop Falls', his only US No.1.
1975, During a press conference held at the 5th Avenue Hotel, New York to announce The Rolling Stones American tour, the Stones themselves came down the street playing live from the back of a flat-bed truck.
1971, 36 Grateful Dead fans were medically treated after unknowingly drinking L.S.D. laced cider, at a gig in the US.
1969, The Plastic Ono Band recorded 'Give Peace A Chance' during a 'bed-in' at the Hotel La Reine in Montreal, Canada.
1966, Filming began on The Monkees first TV series.
1965, Marianne Faithfull became a resident guest on BBC2 TV's 'Gadzooks! It's The In Crowd'.
1961, Chuck Berry opened 'Berry Park', an amusement complex near St Louis. The park had it's own zoo, golf course and ferris wheel.

Birthdays
1965, Born on this day, Steve White, drums, The Style Council, (1983 UK No.3 single 'Long Hot Summer' plus 14 other UK Top 40 singles).
1964, Born on this day, MC Darryl 'D' McDaniels, Run-DMC. (1986 UK No.8 single with Aerosmith 'Walk This Way', 1998 UK No.1 single 'It's Like That').
1963, Born on this day, Wendy Smith, guitar, vocals, Prefab Sprout, (1988 UKNo.7 single with 'The King Of Rock 'N' Roll').
1959, Born on this day, Danny Pearson, bass, American Music Club, (1993 album 'Mercury').
1952, Born on this day, Karl Bartos, Kraftwerk, (1975 US No.25 single 'Autobahn', 1982 UK No.1 single 'Computer Love', 'The Model').
1948, Born on this day, John Bonham, drummer, Led Zeppelin, (1969 US No.4 single ‘Whole Lotta Love’. The bands fourth album released in 1971 featuring the rock classic 'Stairway To Heaven', has sold over 11 million copies). Bonham died on October 25th 1980 after choking on his own vomit.
1947, Born on this day, Junior Campbell, Marmalade, (1969 UK No.1 single 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da').
1938, Born on this day, Peter Yarrow, Peter Paul and Mary, (1969 US No.1 & 1970 UK No.1 single 'Leaving On A Jet Plane').