May 31st

On this day - May 31st 1930 - Actor Clint Eastwood was born 

Clint Eastwood was born in San Francisco in 1930 by Clinton Eastwood and Margareth Ruth. He has one younger sister. He rose to fame as an american actor in the 1960s and 1970s with roles such as "man with no name" in the Dollar Trilogy and "Harry Callahan" in Dirty Harry. He has also had success as an director and he won academy awards for both "Unforgiven" in 1992 and "Million Dollar Baby" in 2004. He has also been involved in politics and served as Mayor Carmel-by-the-sea in California.

May 30th

On this day - May 30th 1972 - The Lod Airport massacre 

The Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack at the airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. The terrorists were 3 members of the Japanese red army (a militant communist group founded in 1971) who had been recruited by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-External Operations, a Palestinian group. Two of the terrorists were killed in the attack, while the third, Kozo Okamoto, was captured.  The airport was prepared for a Palestinian attack, but the three Japanese men with violin cases on the plane from Rome received very little attention by the guards. When they reached the waiting area unpacked the terrorists assault riffles from their violin cases and started shooting. 26 people were killed and another 80 was injured. One of the attackers were accidentally shot dead by one of the two others, while the second attacker to die did so by his own grenade. Okamoto was sentenced to prison but has since been released. He is still today a wanted man by the Japanese government. 

May 29th

On this day - May 29th 1988 - Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev meet at the Moscow summit

The Moscow summit was a meeting between the american president, Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Unions leader, Michael Gorbachev. The summit lasted from may 29th til June 3 and it was the first time an American president had traveled to the soviet union since the cold war began. The two leaders discussed several topics such as human rights and fishing rights, and agreements was signed on several areas. Reagan also gave Gorbachev a version of the movie "Friendly Persuasion" which had been blacklisted in the USA due to its allegedly communist sympathies.

May 28th

On this day - May 28th 2011 - The Maltese divorce referendum 

In 2011 was a referendum held in Malta on the question if the country should allow divorces. At the time was Malta one out of only three countries in the world that didn't allow divorces. The other two was the Philippines and the Vatican State. 53 percent of the participants voted Yes to changing the law, and later in 2011 was a law implemented and divorces became legal. Over 46 percent voted No to allowing divorces.

May 27th

On this day  May 27th 1941 - the sinking of the battleship German "Bismarck"

Bismarck was a battleship built by the German army and first launched in 1936. It is named after the former German chancellor, Otto Von Bismarck. She was one of the largest battleships owned by the German army. The ship was heavily hit in an attack on May 26th by torpedo bombers when it was on its way to occupied France after the Battle of  the Denmark Strait. The ship was further destroyed in an bombardment by the British fleet. The ships port rudder got stuck and the ship was unable to steer. Eventually the ship was sunk by the British fleet, and over 2000 Germans died with it. Only 114 people were rescued. The ship wreck was found in 1989 at a depth of 4791 meters.

Source: Bundesarchive

Illustration by Ken Marschall

May 26th

On this day - May 26th 1897 - Bram Stokers "Dracula" was published 

Irish Author Bram Stokers was the first to introduce the vampire Dracula in his novel with the same name. The novel was horror story about Dracula who tried to move from Transylvania to England to find new blood. Bram Stokers spent year researching European folklore and stories about vampires before he published his story. Vampires was not invented by Stokers, but he defined the modern version of them and count Dracula has been the inspiration for countless modern stories about vampires. The novel was modestly popular when it was published, and it wasn't until the 20th century that the character gained the cult-status it has today.

May 25th

On this day - May 25th 1977 - The First Star Wars movie was released in theaters 

A New Hope (IV) was created by George Lucas and released by 20th century fox. The movie was first just titled Star Wars and it wasn't until 1981, after the second movie was released , that the first movie was titled "A New Hope". The movie was released on Wednesday May 24th in 32 theaters in the US. Neither Fox nor Lucas was expecting the film to become as popular as it did, and Star Wars was considered more of a B-track movie by Fox. The movie instantly broke all box office records and the release was expanded. The movie earned 461 million dollars in the US and 314 million dollars abroad. It held the record or the all time highest grossing film until E.T was released in 1982. It was named the movie of the year in Time Magazine in May 19977 and nominated to 10 academy awards and won 6 of those. It won for best score by John Williams.

May 24th

On this day - May 24th 1830 - "Mary had a little lamb" was published 

"Mary had a little lamb" is a nursery rhyme written by Sarah Josepha Hale. It was published by Marsh, Capen & Lyon which was a Boston based publishing firm. The rhyme is inspired by an actual story where a young girl named Mary actually brought a lamb to school. The rhyme is perhaps best known for being the first ting recorded on Edison's phonograph in 1877. Several musical versions of the nursery rhyme has since been created by musicians of all kind of generes. Paul McCartney might be the creator of the best known of those versions of the poem. Othervise it is probably Lowell Masons version from 1830 that is the best known, and probably the song you will have stuck on your mind after reading this.

Mary had a little lamb,

His fleece was white as snow,

And everywhere that Mary went,

The lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day,

Which was against the rule,

It made the children laugh and play

To see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out,

But still it lingered near,

And waited patiently about,

Till Mary did appear.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"

The eager children cry.

"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"

The teacher did reply.

May 23

On this day - May 23 1934 -Bonnie and Clyde died in a police ambush 

Bonnie and Clyde was to famous American bank robbers during the Great Depression. They traveled around the Central US with their gang, robbing and killing banks, stores and people during their travels. Their gang consisted of different people, but Clydes older brother and his wife was with Bonnie and Clyde the day they died. It is believed that the gang killed nine police officers, but they got their revenge on May 23. Bonnie and Clyde was ambushed in Louisiana by six police officers who shot and killed the couple. The police knew where the couple would be because they traveled the same route based on family visits. The police predicted where the couple would travel next. The offices emptied their guns on the couple in the car and they both died. Their life is portrayed in the movie "Bonnie and Clyde" from 1964.

May 22nd

On this day - May 22 1980 - The first version of the arcade game "Pac-Man" was released

Pac-Man is a Japanese invented arcade game which was popular in the 80s. I was developed by Namco and created by Toru Iwatani. The game was first released in Japan on May 22nd, and in the US in October the same year. The games reception was just lukewarm in Japan, but it became an instant hit to everyones surprise in the US. The game is still being played today. Several other merchandise such as films have also been created about the yellow figure hunted by ghosts. Pac-man is considered as a land mark in the video game history and it is one of the most successful games of all time. Over 30 official spinn of games with bases in Pac-Mah has been released since 1980. The maximum score possible to achieve in Pac-Man is 3,333,360, and the current world record holder managed this in under 3 and a half hour.

May 21st

On this day - May 21st 1980 - The Empire Strikes back is released

The Empire Strikes back is the 2nd movie released in the series of Star Wars but its the fifth in chronological order. It was released three years after the success of the original Star Wars movie and is also set three years after the first movie. The initial reviews were mixed but as the series grew in popularity the critics agree that it is one of the greatest movies of all time. The initial filming began in Hardangerjøkulen in Norway and during the filming one of the worst winter storms in over fifty years hit. It was a good thing the opening was set in an artic environment. The Star Wars saga is one of the most recognized brands in the world and adaptations into books, comic books, novels, video games and even a radio play has followed. Disney acquired the rights to the Star Wars franchise when they bought Lucasfilm in 2012. It was then announced new Star Wars movies starting with the 2015 movie The Force Awakens.  The movie holds one of the most recognized quotes that is also often misquoted "No, I am your father". 

May 20th

On this day - May 20th 1902 - Cuba gained its independence from the USA

Cuba was under Spanish rule until 1898 when it was given to the US after the Spanish-American War. In 1901 was the Platt Amendment signed, which stipulated Cuban independence under certain set rules and it established the american dominance over the island. It was also under this agreement that the USA least Guantanamo bay from Cuba. On May 20th 1902 was the Cuban constitution adapted and Cuba became an independence, but US dominated country, as the Republic of Cuba. The US dominance lasted until the Cuban revolution in 1959.

May 19th

On this day - May 19th 1971 - The Mars 2 probe launched 

The Mars 2 probe was one of the space probes of the Mars program. It consisted of a series of unmanned lander and orbiter probes launched by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The Mars 2 lander was the first man made object to land on Mars. The probe reached Mars on November 27th 1971. Around 4.5 hours before reaching Mars the landing module separated and entered at a speed of 6km/h but the decent system failed most likely due to the angle of decent was to steep. The parachute did not even deploy and it became the first man made object to hit Mars. The exact site for the crash is unknown but its estimated to be at 45°S 313°W 

May 18th

On this day - May 18th 1944 -  Deportation of of Crimean Tatars

Up to as many as 238,500 Tatars were deported from Crimea on Joseph Stalin and Lavrentiy Beria orders. The deportations began on May 18th 1944 and lasted until May 20th.The justification for the deportation was allegations against the Tartars for working against the Red Army and with the German Nazis. The tartars were given 30 minutts to gather their belongings, and everything left behind by the tartars were confiscated by the Soviet Union. The tartars were thereafter put on cattle trains and sent out of Crimea. The events in May 1944 recently received new interest as the topic for the winner song in The Eurovision Song Contest 2016.The song was by Jamal / Ukraine and had the title "1944".

May 17th

On this day - May 17th 1814 - The Norwegian constitution was signed 

The Norwegian constitution was signed in 1814 when Norway declared itself independent from Denmark. The background for the signing of the constitution was the defeat of Napoleon and, with Napoleon, danish troops. Prince Christian-Frederik founded a independent movement.and a national assembly was called. The constitution was written over a five weeks period in the spring of 181, ratified on may 16th and signed on May 17th. It is the second oldest constitution still in use today and it was considered radical and liberal when it was first created. May 17th is celebrated as the national day in Norway today, but Norway did not receive its independence in 1814. After a short war with  entered Norway in a forced union with Sweden and it wasn't until 1905 that Norway gained its independence.

May 16th

On this day - May 16th 1929- The first Academy Award ceremony (Oscar's)  

The Academy award is an annual award ceremony to recognize achievement in the American film industry. The awards are given by voting from the members. The first ceremony was held in 1929 in Hollywood where about 270 people participated. The cost for the tickets were $5. The year after was the award ceremony broadcast to radio and in 1953 was the ceremony broadcast on TV as well. 2947 Oscar awards have been awarded between 1929 and today. The first award was given to Emil Jannings as best actor. He had gone to Europe at the time of the show and the award was therefore given to him in advance of the ceremony. Wings by paramount pictures received the first award for best picture.

Academy Award 1959

May 15th

On this day - May 15th 1940 - the first McDonald's restaurant opened 

McDonald's was founded in California, USA in 1940 as a bbq restaurant by the brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald. The restaurant was named "McDonald's Bar-B-Que". It wasn't until 1948 that the restaurant was reorganized as a burger stand with production line principles in place. The big Mac was introduced in 1968, and by tat time had the McDonalds brothers been bought out of the firm, McDonalds had become a stock-market company and the chain restaurant had established itself in several american states.Today McDonald's operate restaurants in 119 countries all around the world.

May 14th

On this day - May 14th 1948 - Israel is declared as an independent state

Israel is a Jewish state in the middle east that was established in 1948 when the British mandate for Palestine ended. The declaration as given by the head of the world Zionist organization, David Ben-Gurion. The deceleration of an independent Israel state was controversial, and neighboring countries invaded the newly established state the day after the declaration. The Arab-Israel war lasted for a year.

May 13th

On this day - May 13th 1888 - Slavery was abolished in Brazil 

On may 13th 1888 was the Lei Áurea, or golden law in English adopted in Brazil. This law officially abolished slavery and the law was signed into effect by Princess Isabel. Slavery was abolished for several reason, foremost due to ethical reasons, but also because slavery was not longer profitable in Brazil. European immigrants could do the same job as the former slaves for a lower cost. The import of new slaves had also slowed down significantly due to Brazil being the last western country to abolish slavery. Although slavery became prohibited with this law, did the life of the slaves not improve much as most of them were without any kind of education or political representation. The adoption of the Lei Áurea and the following uproar among the former slave owners contributed heavily to the fall of the monarchy in Brazil the following year.

May 12th

On this day - May 12th 1949 - The end of the Berlin blockage 

The Berlin blockage started in June 1948 and was one of the first major crisis during the cold war. The blockage lasted until this day in 1949. The Soviet union blocked all entry to their part of Berlin in Germany. USA and the western nation respons was to fly over the city to drop food packages to the people. By April 1949 was more food and necessities being transported into the city by air than had previously been transported by rail, and the Soviet union decided to end the blockage. An agreement was reached between the four involved nations (Soviet Union, France, England and USA) on May 4th and the blockage was lifted 8 days later, one minute after midnight.

May 11

On this day - May 11th 1997 - Deep Blue beats Garry Kasparov

On this day Deep Blue won the deciding rematch against Garry Kasparov in chess. This was not the first match Kasparov had against Deep Blue, he won the match 4-2 in 1996. Earlier in 1997 Kasparov won one then lost one and played a draw three times. The draw games Kasparov had an advantage but was not able to take advantage. With the win Deep Blue marked the start of Artificial Intelligence being taken serious since it had "mastered" chess. Some would argue that Kasparov did not play up to his usual standard and others argued that chess was not complex enough. It started the Go challenge for AI to beat the best Go players. Googles AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol 4-1 in March 2016. We congratulate all the researchers in their effort to make better artificial intelligences and hope they don't end up making Skynet. 

 

May 10th

On this day - May 10th 1962 - The first "The Incredible Hulk" cartoon was published 

The Hulk was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and published by Marvel Comics. The first comic was inced by Paul Reinman and the title of the comic book was "The Incredible Hulk #1. The series first ran for six issues, before it was canceled in march 1963. The Hulk thereafter became a character in  "Tales to Astonish", which later changed its name to the Incredible Hulk, and Hulk from 1999. The Hulk-series are still being produced today. The fictional superhero was inspired by Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. His main color is green, although he has been colored in other colors since the superhero was first created and his alter ego is Dr. Bruce Banner. The first story in the first magazine was about how Dr. Bruce Banner became the Hulk in an accident with the "gamma bomb". The cartoon have since been made into two movies, and The Hulk played a prominent role in two of the Avenger movies.

May 9th

On this day - May 9th 1958 - Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Vertigo" premiered

Vertigo is an american psychological thriller movie. It is based on the novel "From Among the Dead" and directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock. The movie was filmed between September and December 1957 in California. The movie received mixed critics, but is today considered as one of the defining works of Hitchcock carrier. The movie was voted the greatest movie of all times in a 2012 British film critics poll. In 1993 was an alternative ending to the movie found. This ending can be seen on the dvd. 

May 8th

On this day - May 8th 1970 - The Beatles released their last album 

"Let it be" was the Beatles 12th and final album. It was released almost a month after the band officially broke up. The album was recorded in January 1969, before the released of the bands 11th album, Abbey Road. The album and a documentary about the band was all about getting back to live performances, which the Beatles hadn't done in two years. However, the recording did not go smoothly and the band broke up rather than getting back to their roots before the album was released.  The album quickly became a number one album in several countries, including UK and USA, even though the reviews were not the best.

May 7th

On this day - may 7th 1664 - Construction of Palace of Versailles was started 

Construction of Palace of Versailles was started by King Louis XIV of France in 1664. The Palace is about 20 km outside of France and one of the biggest palaces in the world. The building was the center for French politics between 1682 and 1789 and it was expanded several times during this period. The first building period started in 1664 and lasted until 1668. The royal family lived in the palace at this time, and the palace came to be seen as a symbol of monarchy during the French revolution. The palace is still used for french political meetings today, as well as it being a major turist attraction.

May 6th

On this day - May 6th 2004 - The final episode of "Friends" aired 

The American sitcom first aired in 1994 and ran for a total of 10 seasons. On May 6th was the final episode aired. It had the title " The Last One" and consisted of two separate episodes aired at the same day. 52.5 million viewers watched the american airing of the show, which made it into the 6th most watch final episode of any american tv-show (M.A.S.H is number one ). The last part of the episode show the six friends leaving their flat for the last time to go to "Central Perk" to have a last coffee before their major life changing events (such as adopting twins).

You can buy the complete series on Amazon.


Monica: Do you realise that all of us have lived in this appartment at some point?
Ross Geller: Uh, I haven't!
Monica: What about that summer you stayed with Grandma and you tried to make it as a dancer?
Ross Geller: Do you know we almost made it ten years without that coming up?

 

May 5th

On this day - May 5th 1821 - Napoleon died in exile 

Napoleon Bonaparte rise to power during the French Revolution and became the emperor of the French between 1804 and 1814. He was then exiled to Elba, where he escaped in 1815. His second reign lasted for a few months in 1815. Napoleon dominated European politics and led a series of war known as the Napoleonic wars. He ruled over much of mainland Europe before the collapse in 1814 and 1815. He was also the King of Italy and the Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, and had a lasting impact on Europe. He was defeated for the second time in the Battle of Waterloo. He was exiled to the island Sint Helena, a remote and unhealthy place. He died there on this day in 1821 at the age of 51. Over one million people witnessed the returns of his remains to Paris the same year.

May 4th

On this day - May 4th 1959 - The first Annual Grammy Award 

The Grammy awards is a music award ceremony held in the US. The first of the annual Grammy award was held in 1959 in two separate ceremonies held at the same time. One was hosted in New York while the other was held in Beverly Hills, California. Record, album and song of the year went to Domenico Modugno. Best Country song went to The Kingston Trio for the still well-known song "Tom Dooley".Best Jazz performance went to Ella Fitzgerald (individual) and Count Basie (Group). Best Album cover went to Frank Sinatra! The Grammy awards was not televised before the second award show in November the same year.

May 3

On this day - May 3 1960 - European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was established 

EFTA was established as a free trade organization for those western European countries who were not able to and chose not to be a part of the European Economic Community (Today's EU). The main difference between EU and EFTA was that EFTA did not set a common custom tariff, thus leaving it up to each country to decide this independently. Seven nations signed the agreement on the "Stockholm Convention" held January 1960. On May 3 was the organization officially established. Those nations who originally joined were United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Portugal. Several other nations joined EFTA in the years which followed, but in more recent time most of the nations left to join the EU instead of. The nations left in EFTA today is Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. But perhaps United Kingdom will once again join EFTA if they choose to leave EU in the upcoming referendum?

May 2

On this day - May 2nd 2011 - Osama Bin Laden was killed

Osama Bin Laden was the founder of the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is most known for taking responsibility for the September 11 attacks against the United States of America in 2001. Bin Laden founded al-Qaeda in 1988 in Saudi Arabia, the group was forced out in 1992 and settled in Sudan. The US pressured Sudan to forcing Bin Laden out of Sudan and in 1996 he left for Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan he declared war against the United States. In 1998 his involvement in the 1998 embassy bombing in Kenya, landed Bin Laden a spot on the FBI's ten most wanted list. After 9-11 the FBI upped the bounty on his head to 25 million USD. Bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan by SEAL team Six under the orders of president Barrack Obama 

May 1

On this day - May 1 1999 - George Mallory is found on mount Everest 

British mountaineer George Mallory was part of an English expedition to mount Everest in the early 1920s. In the expedition in 1924 both Mallory and his partner Andrew Irvine both disappeared from the North-East ridge. The pair were attempting the first ascent of Everest, they were last seen 245 vertical meters from the summit. The bodies were not found on that expedition and their fate were unknown until Mallory's body were found in 1999. The 1999 expedition was called the Mallory and Irvine research expedition, and led by Eric Simmons. Conrad Anker was the one to find Mallory's body and it was first believed to be Irvine's body but the name tag read G. Leigh Mallory. Irvine was supposed to have a camera and experts from Kodak believes that there is a chance to develop the film if it is found. There have been a few expeditions after the one in 1999 to find Irvine's body but it remains lost. It is not known if the climbers reached the top and the camera could resolve that.