May 41471 - In England, the Yorkists defeated the Landcastrians at the battle of Tewkesbury in the War of the Roses. 1493 - Alexander VI divided non-Christian world between Spain and Portugal. 1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on Manhattan Island. Native Americans later sold the island (20,000 acres) for $24 in cloth and buttons. 1715 - A French manufacturer debuted the first folding umbrella. 1776 - Rhode Island declared its freedom from England two months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted. 1814 - Napoleon Bonaparte disembarked at Portoferraio on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean. 1863 - The Battle of Chancellorsville ended when the Union Army retreated. 1886 - A bomb exploded on the fourth day of a workers' strike in Chicago, IL. Eight people died in the violence during violence that day. 1886 - Chichester Bell and Charles S. Tainter patented the gramophone. It was the first practical phonograph. 1904 - The U.S. formally took control of the property for construction of the Panama Canal. 1905 - Belmont Park opened in suburban Long Island. It opened as the largest race track in the world. 1916 - Germany agreed to limit its submarine warfare after a demand from U.S. President Wilson. 1942 - The Battle of the Coral Sea commenced as American and Japanese carriers launched their attacks at each other. 1942 - The United States began food rationing. 1954 - The first intercollegiate court tennis match was played in the U.S. It was between Yale and Princeton. 1961 - Thirteen civil rights activists, dubbed "Freedom Riders," began a bus trip through the South. 1964 - "Another World" premiered on NBC-TV. 1970 - The Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on students during an anti-Vietnam war protest at Kent State University. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded. 1979 - Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman prime minister. 1981 - The Federal Reserve Board raised its discount rate to 14%. 1987 - Live models were used for the first time in Playtex bra ads. 1987 - The First Bank of the United States was listed as a National Historic Landmark. 1994 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed a historic accord on Palestinian autonomy that granted self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. 2000 - The citizens of London elected their mayor for the first time. 2003 - Idaho Gem was born. He was the first member of the horse family to be cloned. 2010 - Pablo Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" sold for $106.5 million. 2012 - In Las Vegas, NV, Google received the first self-driving vehicle testing license. |