This Date In History
1264
The Battle of Lewes leaves England's King Henry III a captive of France, making Simon de Montfort temporary ruler of the British Isles.
1316
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, is born.
1610
King Henry IV of France dies.
1643
Five year old Louis XIV is crowned the king of France following his father's untimely death.
1686
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, whose temperature scale still bears his name, is born.
1710
King Adolf Frederick of Sweden is born.
1727
Thomas Gainsborough, famous artist and painter of "The Blue Boy", is born.
1787
The Constitutional Convention begins in Philadelphia.
1796
Edward Jenner begins dispensing his smallpox vaccination for the first time.
1804
Lewis and Clark make their first move into uncharted wilderness, leaving their camp in Missouri to sail up the Missouri River.
1811
Paraguay declares its independence from Spain. May 14 is considered Flag Day in the country still.
1853
Gail Borden patents his process for condensing milk.
1878
Twenty years after Robert Cheseborough began work on his new lubricating oil, he trademarks a name for it: Vaseline.
1897
At a Philadelphia ceremony commemmorating George Washington, John Philip Sousa debuts a new march: "Stars and Stripes Forever."
1908
The first passenger airplane flight takes place outside of New York City.
1912
Golf great Ben Hogan is born.
1914
H. J. Heinz, founder of Heinz Co. and the originator of the "57 varieties" slogan, dies.
1929
Hockey Hall of Famer Gump Worsley is born.
1936
Early pop singer Bobby Darin ("Splish Splash", "Mack the Knife") is born.
1940
The Netherlands surrender to Germany after heavy bombing in Rotterdam kills hundreds.
1943
Jack Bruce, bass guitarist for Cream, is born.
1944
Star Wars creator and movie executive George Lucas is born.
1948
Israel, backed by Great Britain, declares itself an independent state and begins forming an autonomou government.
1952
Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne is born. Director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) is born.
1955
The Warsaw Pact is signed, linking Russia with most of Eastern Europe into a mutual defense cotract.
1961
Cult actor Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead) is born.
1962
Don Juan Carlos and Princess Sophia of Greece are married in a lavish ceremony in Madrid. Poison singer and guitarist C. C. DeVille is born. The Cult singer Ian Astbury is born.
1965
Eoin Culfer, creator of 12-year-old superthief Artemis Fowl, is born.
1973
Skylab is launched, marking the United States' first foray into space station technology.
1975
The S.S. Mayaguez, captured by Cambodian rebels, is recaptured by American troops, at the cost of 40 servicemen.
1978
William P. Lear, engineer and founder of the Lear Jet Corporation, dies.
1987
Famed actress and dancer Rita Hayworth dies.
1991
Jiang Qing, leader of the Gang of Four, commits suicide.
1997
Approachable magician Harry Blackstone, Jr. dies.
1998
"Ol' Blue Eyes" himself, Frank Sinatra, dies. Another pop culture icon comes to an end as the last episode of "Seinfeld" appears on NBC.
2000
Obuchi Keizo, Japanese prime minister, passes away.
2003
NBA Hall of Famer Dave DeBusschere passes away. Actor Robert Stack ("Unsolved Mysteries", Airplane!), passes away.