May 30 - This Day In History

1431 - At the age of 12, Joan of Arc was an illeterate farm girl who began to have visions and hear the voices of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret whom, she said, told her to drive out the English and bring the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation. At the age of 16, she petitioned to be sent to visit the Dauphin at a time when France was on the verge of defeat in the 100 Years War. The Dauphin, with no other options, allowed her to be outfitted as a knight and sent her to Orleans. There, she led the French to adopt an agressive strategy that resulted in a series of victories, wholly changing the fortunes of war. Captured during a minor engagement, she eventually was given over to the English who tried her for heresy. On May 30, 1431, at the age of 19, she was burned alive at the stake. Her conviction for heresy was later overturned by the Pope and, in 1920, she was elevated by the Church to sainthood. She is the patron Saint of France.

1536 – King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives. She died from the complications of childbirth a little over a year later.

1539 – Hernando de Soto landed at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.

1635 – The Peace of Prague was signed by the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, and most of the Protestant states of the Empire. It effectively brought to an end the civil war aspect of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648); however, the war still carried on due to the continued intervention on German soil of Spain, Sweden, and France. The Thirty years war was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe. Initially the war was fought largely as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire, although disputes over the internal politics and balance of power within the Empire played a significant part. Gradually the war developed into a more general conflict involving most of the European powers. The devestation was so severe that the population of Germany decreased by some 30% and most of the combatants were bankrupted by the time of the war's end.

1806 – Andrew Jackson killed Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson accused Jackson's wife of bigamy.

1942 – Britain finally began to go on the offensive in WWII. On this day in 1942, 1000 British bombers blackened the sky over Cologne, Germany in a 90 minute bombing run. The total tonnage of bombs dropped was 1,455 tons with two-thirds of that being incendiaries. Two and a half thousand separate fires were started by the bombs, resulting in mass devestation to the city.

1958 – Memorial Day - the remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue was unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

Births

1909 – Benny Goodman, American clarinetist and bandleader (d. 1986)

Deaths

1593 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright (b. 1564)

1640 – Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter (b. 1577)

1744 – Alexander Pope, English writer (b. 1688)

1778 – Voltaire, French philosopher and author (b. 1694)

1912 – Wilbur Wright, aviation pioneer (Wright Brothers) (b. 1867)

1947 – Georg Ludwig von Trapp, World War I Austrian submarine commander. His family was the basis for the movie, The Sound of Music.

Holidays and observances

Today is Canary Islands Day in the Canary Islands and Parliament Day in Croatia.

Feasts today are held in honor of Saint Isaac of Dalmatia and Saint Joan of Arc.

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This Day In History - May 29

1453 – Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, making skillful use of cannon and other gunpowder weapons, captured Constantinople (today known as Istanbul), destroying the great Eastern Christian Empire of the Byzantines that had lasted over a millenium. With its fall, Mehmed claimed the title of Caeser and converted the second most historic church in Christendom, the Hagia Sophia built in 532 A.D., into a mosque. Islam, which since its founding had been spread by wars of conquest over Christian lands faster than any other imperialist force before or since, would continue to spread by the sword for another two centuries, reaching its high water mark just outside the gates of Vienna, Austria in 1683.

1660 – English Restoration - Charles II was restored to the throne of Great Britain, reestablishing the monarchy after the English Civil War and the Interregnum period overseen by the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, Oliver Cromwell. As a condition of his return, Charles II promised in the Declaration of Breda to agree to "a free parliament, by which, upon the word of a king, we will be advised" and religious toleration.

1765 - Patrick Henry, only nine days after being seated in the Virginia legislature at Williamsburg, introduced the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions. It was possibly the most anti-British American political action to that point, and some credit the Resolutions with being one of the main catalysts of the Revolution. The proposals were based on principles that were well established British rights, such as the right to be taxed by one's own representatives. They went further, however, to assert that the colonial assemblies had the exclusive right to impose taxes on the colonies and could not assign that right. He finished his speech with the now famous line, "Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it!"

1780 – At the Battle of Waxhaws, British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton massacred 113 American soldiers under the command of Colonel Abraham Buford after they had surrendered. Tarleton would later be the basis for the antagonist in the Mel Brooks film, The Patriot, a fictional story loosely based on the great Revolutionary War commander Francis Marion, the "swamp fox," one of the founding fathers of the world's most elite fighting force, the United States Army Rangers.

1790 – Rhode Island becomes the last of the original United States colonies to ratify the Constitution and is admitted as the 13th U.S. state.

1886 – Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal.

1942 – Bing Crosby records Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas single in history.

1943 - Meat & cheese rationed in US

1945 - US 1st Marine division conquerors Shuri-castle Okinawa

1948 – Creation of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation

1953 – Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay's 39th birthday.

1964 – The Arab League meets in East Jerusalem to discuss the Palestinian situation in Israel, leading to the formation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

1982 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff ever to visit Canterbury Cathedral.

1988 – President Ronald Reagan begins his first visit to the Soviet Union as he arrives in Moscow for a superpower summit with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

1990 – Boris Yeltsin is elected president of the Russian SFSR by the Russian parliament.

Births

1736 – Patrick Henry, American patriot, statesman, and orator. One of his most famous acts is discussed above.

1874 – G. K. Chesterton, English novelist (d. 1936)

1903 – Bob Hope, British-born comedian and actor (d. 2003)

1917 – John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States

1957 – Ted Levine, American actor. I watched this guy for six years play the police captain in Monk before realizing that he was the same actor who played the psychopathic transexual wanna-be Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs.

Deaths

1453 – Constantine XI Palaeologus, last Byzantine Emperor, who died making a final charge against the Turks at the seige of Constantinople. He was beheaded by the Turks and his head sent to Asia Minor as proof of his death.

1790 – Israel Putnam, American Revolutionary War general (b. 1718)

1866 – Winfield Scott, American general (b. 1786)

1939 – Ursula Julia Ledochowska, Polish-Austrian Catholic saint (b. 1865)


Holidays

Today is International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

And in the UK, its Oak Apple Day, a holiday established in 1660 to celebrate the English Restoration, though seldom celebrated in the modern era.

Feasts

Today is the feast of Saint Maximinus of Trier, a 4th century French bishop who is today invoked as protection against perjury, loss at sea and destructive rains.

And it is the feast of Saint Alexander of Alexandria, the 19th Pope of Alexandria who held that post from 313 A.D. until his death in 326 A.D. He took part in the First Council of Nicea, organized at the direction of Constantine to organize Christianity, standardize practices and agree on biblical texts.

Art: The Seige of Constantinople, painted 1499, painter unknown.

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This Day In History - May 28

585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by Greek scientist Thales, while the Lydian King Alyattes was fighting against the Median army under King Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse. The eclipse was taken as a sign from the gods that the fighting should stop and the two sides agreed to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated.

1533 – The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declares the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn valid. Cranmer, along with Thomas Cromwell, supported the principle of Royal Supremacy, in which the king was considered sovereign over the Church within his realm. After the break with Rome, Cranmer organized the Anglican Church. He would later be executed for heresy when "Bloody Mary" ascended to the throne.

1588 – The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel. The Armada was harried by the great Sea Lord, Francis Drake who then defeated the superior Spanish force in the Battle of Gravelines. As the Spanish attempted to return to port in Spain, the majority of ships were lost to storm off the Irish Coast.

1644 – In one of the most brutal acts of the English Civil War, Royalist troops under the command of the Earl of Derby slaughtered some 1,600 soldiers and civilians at the Bolton Massacre.

1754 – In the first engagement of the French and Indian War, 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington led a force of Virginia militia to defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen.

1774 – The first Continental Congress convenes.

1905 – At the Battle of Tsushima, Japan shocked the Western world when they destroyed the Russian Baltic Fleet.

1937 – The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1982 – British forces defeat the Argentines at the Battle of Goose Green in the Falklands War.

Births

1738 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician and creator of the guillotin, meant as a humane method of execution.

1888 – Jim Thorpe, American Olympian and football player.

1908 – Ian Fleming, English WWII spy and later author of the James Bond novels.

Deaths

1971 – Audie Murphy, American actor and war hero. He lied about his age and enlisted in the Army in 1942 at the age of 16. In 27 months of combat action, Murphy became one of the most highly decorated United States soldiers of World War II. He received the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest award for valor, along with 32 additional U.S. and foreign medals and citations

Holidays and Feasts

Today is Republic Day in both Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Today is the Feast day of the following St. Lanfranc. He was a very influential monk who befriended William the Bastard and accompanied him to England where he was later named Archbishop of Canterbury.

Art: A frame from the Bayeux Tapestry that documents the Norman invasion of Britain.

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May 27 - This Day In History

1328 – Philip VI is crowned King of France. He started the 100 Years War with England, only to see the French army all but annihilated by a much smaller English army incorporating the longbow at the Battle of Crécy.

1703 – Czar Peter the Great founded the city of Saint Petersburg, built by slave labor and prisoners of war. The city was later renamed Leningrad, reverting back to its original name after the fall of the Soviet Union.

1895 – Irish author and wit Oscar Wilde is imprisoned for sodomy.

1941 – British warships caught up with the German battleship Bismarck, sinking it after a three hour battle. .

Births

1837 – Wild Bill Hickok, American gunfighter (d. 1876)

1911 – Vincent Price, American actor (d. 1993)

1912 - Slammin' Sammie Snead, American golfer (d. 2002)

Deaths

735 – The Venerable Bede, monk and the "Father of English History." Much of our knowledge of his era dates from his many writings, the most famous of which is Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People).

1564 – John Calvin, the French theologian who founded Calvinism. "The Presbyterian and other Reformed churches, which look to Calvin as a chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. Calvin's thought exerted considerable influence over major religious figures and entire religious movements, such as Puritanism, and his ideas have been cited as contributing to the rise of capitalism, individualism, and representative democracy in the West.

1949 – Robert Ripley, showman and student of the bizarre. He has gifted/cursed us with Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Holidays and Feasts:

In Nigeria, its Children's Day. Bolivia is celebrating Mother's Day. And today is the feast day for the Roman soldier and Christian martyr, Saint Julius the Veteran.

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