This Date In History

1088

Famous poet and author of the Rubiyaat Omar Khayyam is born.
1618
After initially rejecting it based on faulty calculations, the imminent astrophysicist Johann Kepler reaffirms his third law of planetary motion, stating that the larger a planet's orbit, the slower its rotational velocity is.
1756
This date marks the beginning of the Seven Years' War, with England declaring against France.
1811
Paraguay gains its independence from Spain. It still celebrates May 15 as its national independence day.
1856
L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz series of books, is born.
1859
Famed chemist Pierre Curie is born.
1869
You gotta fight for your rights! Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony form the National Women's Suffrage Association.
1886
Shut in poet Emily Dickinson passes away at the age of 55.
1902
Richard Daley, notorious mayor of Chicago, is born.
1905
Actor Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind) is born.
1909
Actor James Mason (Lolita, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea) is born.
The "city of lights", Las Vegas, Nevada is incorporated by the state.
1911
Standard Oil is declared a monopoly by the United States Supreme Court and is ordered to dissolved.
1918
Famous jazz singer Eddy Arnold is born.
The civil war in Finland comes to an end.
1926
Playwright Peter Shaffer ("Equus", "Amadeus") is born.
Peter's twin brother Anthony is also born, and becomes a famous playwright in his own right ("Sleuth").
1928
The world's most famous animated couple, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, make their first onscreen appearance together in the screwball Disney short "Plane Crazy."
1930
Noted abstract painter Jasper Johns is born.
The first stewardess, a Miss Ellen Church, boards a plane bound for Chicago from Oakland, California.
1932
Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed by 11 navy officers in what becomes known as "the May 15 incident." This helps bring forth the change in Japanese government towards a more militaristic rule, which leads them through World War II.
1936
Noted author Paul Zindel (The Day No Pigs Would Die, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds) is born.
1937
U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright is born.
1940
Germany occupies The Netherlands and begins making preparations for moving into France.
Nylon goes on sale in the United States for the first time.
1942
By president Franklin Delano Roosevelt's orders, the Women's Auxiliary Corps, or WAC, is formed.
1948
Our favorite ambient musician Brian Eno is born.
Israel is attacked by all of its neighbors, marking the start of the Arab-Israeli War.
1951
Singer Jonathan Richman (The Modern Lovers) is born.
Hollywood star Chazz Palmintieri (The Usual Suspects, Oscar) is born.
1953
Composer Mike Oldfield, most famous for his "Tubular Bells" composition used as the theme to The Exorcist, is born.
Baseball hall of famer George Brett is born.
1963
Mercury 9, the last of the Mercury Program shuttles, is launched into orbit.
1967
Spectacular Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz is born.
American painter Edward Hopper, most famous for his painting "Nighthawks", dies.
1969
Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, is born.
1972
While campaigning for the Presidency in Maryland, former Alabama governor George Wallace is shot and paralyzed.
1983
Famed New York City gangland kingpin Meyer Lansky dies.
1988
After nearly 10 years of sustained fighting, the then-U.S.S.R. begins pulling out of Afghanistan, a telling defeat of Communism and the Soviet Union.
1998
Famed Harlem street ball player Earl "The Goat" Manigault dies.
2003
June Carter Cash, country singer and wife of The Man In Black Johnny Cash, dies.