Patrick Henry was born on May 29, 1736, in Studley, Virginia. He was a brilliant orator and an influential leader in the Revolutionary opposition to British government. Continue reading. 

On May 29, 1848, Wisconsin became the thirtieth state admitted to the Union. The “Badger State” was the last state formed in its entirety from the Northwest Territory. Continue reading.

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A bit of May 21st history…

1819 - 1st bicycles - the swift walker- introduced in the US in NYC (pictured)

1881 - American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton

1918 - US House of Reps passes amendment allowing women to vote

2017 - Barnum and Bailey Circus performs for the last time in NYC after 146 years 

On May 28 and 29, 1851, the Ohio Woman’s Rights Convention met in Akron. Mrs. Frances D. Gage, convention president, began the proceedings with a stirring call to arms. Continue reading.

World-class athlete Jim Thorpe was born in a one-room cabin near Prague in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, on May 28, 1888. Continue reading.

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A bit of May 20th history…

1310 - Shoes were made for both the right and left feet (pictured)

1498 - Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut, India becoming 1st European to reach India by sea

1609 - Shakespeare’s Sonnets are 1st published in London

1862 - President Lincoln signs into law the Homestead Act to provide cheap land for the settlement of the American West

1927 - Lindbergh takes off from NY to cross the Atlantic for Paris - 1st non-stop flight

1932 - Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland to become 1st woman to fly solo and non-stop across Atlantic 

On May 27, 1937, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was opened to the public for the first time for "Pedestrian Day," marking the start of the weeklong "Golden Gate Bridge Fiesta" held to celebrate its completion. Continue reading.

Frontiersman, lawman, army scout, gambler, and legendary marksman James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok was born on May 27, 1837, in Troy Grove, Illinois. Continue reading.

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A bit of May 19th history…

1536 - Ann Boleyn, 2nd wife to King Henry VIII, is beheaded on charges of adultery, incest, and treason

1883 - William “Buffalo Bill” Cody opens Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Omaha, Nebraska (pictured)

1900 - World’s longest railroad tunnel (Simplon) linking Italy and Switzerland opens

1919 - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk lands at Samsun on the Black Sea coast, beginning Turkish War of Independence

2011 - Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, project to search for dark matter, is installed on the International Space Station 

On May 26, 1864, President Lincoln signed an enabling act creating the Territory of Montana. Continue reading.

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A bit of May 18th history…

1652 - Rhode Island enacts 1st law declaring slavery illegal

1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate

1830 - Edwin Buddig of England signs agreement for the manufacture of his invention - the lawn mower (pictured)

1897 - Bram Stoker’s Dracula is published

1917 - US Congress passes Selective Service Act, authorizing the federal government to raise a national army for entry into WW1 through compulsory enlistment

1980 - Mount St Helens erupts in Washington state, causing largest landslide in history 

Essayist, philosopher, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston on May 25, 1803. Continue reading.

Legendary jazz tap dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was born on May 25, 1878, in Richmond, Virginia. Continue reading.

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A bit of May 17th history…

1733 - Great Britain passes Molasses Act on colonies

1803 - Reaping Machine patented

1861 - 1st color photographs shown (of a tartan ribbon) in London

1902 - Discovery of the Antikythera Mechanism - ans ancient mechanical analog computer (2nd picture)

1993 - Intel’s Pentium processor is unveiled

2004 - Massachusetts becomes 1st state to legalize same sex marriage (pictured top)

2009 - Minecraft is 1st released to public while in development