(1918) US Marines enlist their first female recruitHer country embroiled in World War I, 39-year-old Opha Johnson is first in line to enlist at the US Marine Corps Reserves, becoming the first female Marine in history. More than 300 other women will follow Johnson’s lead and serve as Marines during the war, paving the way for future women in the US military.Opha May Johnson was the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. She joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 1918, officially becoming the first female Marine.
Born: 1879 · Indiana, Midwestern United States Died: Aug 11, 1955 · Washington, D.C., United States Buried: Rock Creek Cemetery
Highlights
1898: Historical records identify she married Victor H. Johnson on 20 December 1898 at the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC.
1918: According to 1918 newspaper articles, as well as the published history of Women Marines in World War I, Johnson’s first duties were as a clerk at Marine Corps headquarters, managing the records of other female reservists who joined after she did.
1955: Opha May Johnson died on Thursday, 11 August 1955, at Mount Alto Veterans Hospital in Washington, D.C.
wiki/Opha_May_Johnson(1961) East is sealed off from West in a divided capitalWhile the city sleeps, Soviet-backed East German soldiers begin erecting a barbed-wire barrier in Berlin, making solid what’s been for 15 years a geopolitical split within Germany’s capital. Transit between communist East Berlin and capitalist West Berlin is now strictly verboten.The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic, starting on 13 August 1961, the Wall completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1992. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, “fakir beds” and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the “will of the people” in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
Address: Zimmer Street 88 · 10117 Berlin Phone: 030 3087770 Construction started: Aug 13, 1961 Destroyed: Nov 09, 1989 Map of the Berlin Wall, showing checkpoints.
(1314) Scotland fights England for independence at Bannockburn Stirling Castle watches over the Highlands road, and Scots want it back from its English occupiers. The Scots lay siege, and when England’s King Edward II sends reinforcements they are shockingly defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn by a smaller Scottish force commanded by Robert the Bruce.The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the First War of Scottish Independence, and a landmark in Scottish history.
Start date: Jun 23, 1314 End date: Jun 24, 1314
wiki/Battle_of_Bannockburn(1868) Christopher Sholes receives a patent for his ‘Type-Writer’ Resembling a small piano set inside a wooden cabinet, a new writing machine invented by Christopher Sholes and his associates receives a US patent. Refinements, including the QWERTY keyboard, will be added in years to come as the typewriter taps into a vast business-world need.Christopher Latham Sholes was an American inventor who invented the QWERTY keyboard, and along with Frank Haven Hall, Samuel W. Soule, Carlos Glidden and John Pratt, has been contended as one of the inventors of the first typewriter in the United States. He was also a newspaper publisher and Wisconsin politician.
Born: Feb 14, 1819 · Mooresburg, PA Died: Feb 17, 1890 · Milwaukee, WI Inventions: QWERTY · Sholes and Glidden typewriter Siblings: Charles Sholes (Brother) Parents: Catherine Sholes (Mother) · Orrin Sholes (Father) Buried: Forest Home Cemetery
Highlights
1837: After completing his apprenticeship, Sholes moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1837, and later to Southport, Wisconsin (present-day Kenosha).
1845: In 1845, Sholes was working as editor of the Southport Telegraph, a small newspaper in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
1867: Further inspiration came in July 1867, when Sholes came across a short note in Scientific American describing the “Pterotype”, a prototype typewriter that had been invented by John Pratt.
1890: Sholes died on February 17, 1890 after battling tuberculosis for nine years, and is buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.
wiki/Christopher_Latham_Sholes(1931) Aviator Wiley Post takes off to break world recordOnce a flying circus performer, aviator Wiley Post has bigger plans as he and his navigator take off from New York in their single-engine plane hoping to beat a 21-day circumnavigation flight record. Post will break that record, and by a lot, when he flies around the world in just eight days.Wiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator during the interwar period, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits and discovered the jet stream. On August 15, 1935, Post and American humorist Will Rogers were killed when Post’s aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in the Territory of Alaska.
Born: Nov 22, 1898 · Grand Saline, TX Died: Aug 15, 1935 · Barrow, AK Spouse: Mae Laine (m. 1927) Movies: Air Hawks Parents: William Francis Post · Mae Quinlan Post
Highlights
1921: He was arrested in 1921 and sent to the Oklahoma State Reformatory.
1927: Wiley Post married Mae Laine on June 27, 1927.
1930: Post was the personal pilot of wealthy Oklahoma oilmen Powell Briscoe and F.C. Hall in 1930 when Hall bought a high-wing, single-engine Lockheed Vega, one of the most famous record-breaking aircraft of the early 1930s.
1933: In 1933, he repeated his flight around the world, this time using the auto-pilot and compass in place of his navigator and becoming the first to accomplish the feat alone.
1935: In 1935 Post became interested in surveying a mail-and-passenger air route from the West Coast of the United States to Russia.
1935: On August 15, 1935, Post and American humorist Will Rogers were killed when Post’s aircraft crashed on takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in the Territory of Alaska.
wiki/Wiley_Post(1961) Antarctic arms control treaty avoids ‘Cold War’ Aimed at preserving a pristine part of the globe, the Antarctic Treaty System goes into effect, stipulating the continent can only be used for peaceful and scientific endeavors – military uses, such as weapons testing, are banned. With 12 signatories, it’s the first arms-control treaty of the Cold War.The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth’s only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude. The treaty, entering into force in 1961 and having 53 parties as of 2016, sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on that continent. The treaty was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat headquarters have been located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, since September 2004.
(585 BCE) A calendar-setting solar eclipse halts a Greek battleArguably the oldest historical event that can be precisely dated, the Eclipse of Thales is named after the Greek philosopher who’s said to have predicted the event. The eclipse is responsible for ending the Battle of Halys, as both sides are sufficiently spooked into a ceasefire.The Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus accurately predicted a solar eclipse, according to The Histories of Herodotus. If Herodotus’s account is accurate, this eclipse is the earliest recorded as being known in advance of its occurrence. Many historians believe that the predicted eclipse was the solar eclipse of May 28, 585 BC. How exactly Thales predicted the eclipse remains uncertain; some historians claim the eclipse was never predicted at all. Others have argued for different dates.
Date: 585 BC
wiki/Eclipse_of_Thales(1863) African-American 54th Regiment sets off for gloryAmid much celebration, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment departs Boston heading for Beaufort, South Carolina. Although sendoffs of Union soldiers are a common sight, the 54th distinguishes itself as one of the first African-American regiments to join the conflict.The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The unit was the first African-American regiment organized in the northern states during the Civil War. Authorized by the Emancipation Proclamation, the regiment consisted of African-American enlisted men commanded by white officers.
Founded: 1863 Force: Union Army
wiki/54th_Massachusetts_Infantry_Regiment(1934) Rare quintuplet birth leads to sensation and sadnessOntario, Canada’s Dionne family welcomes five baby girls, an extremely rare multiple birth. All will survive to adulthood, but at four months old they’re made wards of the state, becoming a lucrative attraction while living, and being constantly observed, in a tourist park called ‘Quintland.’The Dionne quintuplets are the first quintuplets known to have survived their infancy. The identical sisters were born in Canada, just outside Callander, Ontario, near the village of Corbeil. All five survived to adulthood.
Born: May 28, 1934 · Ontario, Canada Died: Jun 23, 2001 Parents: Elzire Dionne · Oliva Edouard
wiki/Dionne_quintuplets(1961) ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’ shines a light for human rights English lawyer Peter Benenson’s article in The Observer uncovers human rights abuses that fly under the world’s radar, and whose victims are usually powerless individuals speaking out against tyranny. The article will inspire such a response that Benenson will create Amnesty International within weeks.Peter Benenson was a British lawyer and the founder of human rights group Amnesty International. Benenson refused all honours but in his 80s, largely to please his family, he accepted the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2001.
Lived: Jul 31, 1921 – Feb 25, 2005 (age 83) Spouse: Susan Booth · Margaret Anderson Founded: Amnesty International Parents: Flora Solomon (Mother) Education: University of Oxford · Eton College · Balliol College
(1260) Kublai Khan becomes leader of the Mongol EmpireA grandson of the notoriously fierce Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan ascends the Mongol throne after his older brother dies, but subsequent battles with his younger brother will split the Mongolian Empire apart. Kublai will later go on to found the vast Yuan Dynasty.Kublai Khan, born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu, was the fifth Khagan of the Mongol Empire, reigning from 1260 to 1294. He also founded the Yuan dynasty in China as a conquest dynasty in 1271, and ruled as the first Yuan emperor until his death in 1294.
1224: On his way home after the Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia, Genghis Khan performed a ceremony on his grandsons Möngke and Kublai after their first hunt in 1224 near the Ili River.
1257: Möngke Khan sent two tax inspectors, Alamdar (Ariq Böke’s close friend and governor in North China) and Liu Taiping, to audit Kublai’s officials in 1257.
1262: In 1262, Hulagu’s complete purge of the Jochid troops and support for Kublai in his conflict with Ariq Böke brought open war with the Golden Horde.
1286: Kublai Khan married Nambui in 1286.
1287: Threatened by the advance of Kublai’s bureaucratization, Nayan a fourth generation descendant of one of Genghis Khan’s brothers, either Temüge or Belgutei, instigated a revolt in 1287.
1294: Nevertheless, by 1294, the year that Kublai died, the Thai kingdoms of Sukhothai and Chiang Mai had become vassal states of the Yuan dynasty.
wiki/Kublai_Khan(1921) Chanel No. 5 fragrence introducedFrench fashion designer Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel introduces ‘a woman’s perfume with a woman’s scent.’ Dozens of prototypes had been considered, but No. 5 stood out, due in part to its heavy use of aldehydes. The perfume will become iconic for its fragrance, celebrity endorsements, and distinctive glass bottle.Chanel No. 5 is the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. The chemical formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. Traditionally, fragrance worn by women had adhered to two basic categories: respectable women favored the pure essence of a single garden flower, and sexually provocative perfumes heavy with animal musk or jasmine were associated with women of the demi-monde, prostitutes or courtesans. Chanel felt the time was right for the debut of a scent that would epitomize the flapper and would speak to the liberated spirit of the 1920s.
Inventor: Ernest Beaux
wiki/Chanel_No._5(1961) Mercury program sends the first American into spaceNaval officer, test pilot, and astronaut Alan Shepard pilots the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission as he takes a 15-minute suborbital flight to become the first American in outer space. A decade later he’ll venture somewhat farther and visit the moon.Mercury-Redstone 3, or Freedom 7, was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first manned flight of Project Mercury, the objective of which was to put an astronaut into orbit around the Earth and return him safely. Shepard’s mission was a 15-minute suborbital flight with the primary objective of demonstrating his ability to withstand the high g forces of launch and atmospheric re-entry.
Mission start: May 05, 1961 Mission end: May 05, 1961 Astronaut: Alan Shepard Space program: Project Mercury
wiki/Mercury-Redstone_3(1981) Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands dies in prisonMember of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and prisoner in Northern Ireland’s Maze Prison, Bobby Sands, 27, dies after a 66-day hunger strike protesting prison conditions. A month earlier, he had won a seat in the British House of Commons.Robert Gerard Sands, commonly known as Bobby Sands, was an Irish member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze.
Lived: Mar 09, 1954 – May 05, 1981 (age 27) Height: 5′ 10″ (1.77 m) Spouse: Geraldine Noade (m. 1972 – 1981) Children: Gerard Sands Party: Sinn Féin Parents: Rosaleen Sands (Mother) · John Sands (Father)
Highlights
1955: His younger sisters, Marcella and Bernadette, were born in 1955 and 1958, respectively.
1972: In 1972, Sands joined the Provisional IRA.
1972: Bobby Sands married Geraldine Noade in 1972.
1972: In June 1972, Sands’ parents’ home was attacked and damaged by a loyalist mob and they were again forced to move, this time to the West Belfast Catholic area of Twinbrook, where Sands, now thoroughly embittered, rejoined them.
1980: In late 1980 Sands was chosen as Officer Commanding of the Provisional IRA prisoners in Long Kesh, succeeding Brendan Hughes who was participating in the first hunger strike.
1981: Sands died on 5 May 1981 in the Maze’s prison hospital after 66 days on hunger strike, aged 27.
(1959) First Grammy Awards held in New York and Los AngelesThe National Academy of Recording Arts and Services hosts black-tie dinners on both coasts to give out the first Grammy Awards. Attendees include Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin. ‘Volare’ wins Song and Record of the Year, and Henry Mancini’s ‘The Music From Peter Gunn’ takes Album of the Year.A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the music industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards, and the Academy Awards.
Categories: Grammy Award for Album of the Year · Grammy Award for Song of the Year · Grammy Award for Record of the Year · Grammy Award for Best New Artist · Grammy Award for Best Rap Album · Grammy Award for Best Rock Album · Grammy Award for Best Rock Song · Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award · Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album
wiki/Grammy_Award(1961) Freedom Riders head to the US South Calling themselves the ‘Freedom Riders,’ 13 activists board an interstate bus departing Washington, DC, for New Orleans, Louisiana. Along the way they will defy Jim Crow travel laws, be beaten by angry crowds, and be arrested and jailed.Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years in order to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia, which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17.
Start date: May 04, 1961 End date: Dec 10, 1961
wiki/Freedom_Riders(1970) Students killed as National Guard opens fire on campus A war protest turns deadly as Ohio National Guard troops shoot at unarmed students on the Kent State University commons. Four die, nine are wounded, and less than a week later 100,000 will march against the killings, and the Vietnam War, in Washington, DC.The Kent State shootings were the shootings of unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, by members of the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970. Twenty-nine guardsmen fired approximately 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.
Fatalities: 4 Date: May 04, 1970
wiki/Kent_State_shootings(1979) Thatcher sworn in as Britain’s first female prime ministerThe first woman prime minister in British history arrives at at 10 Downing Street after her Conservative Party sweeps the elections. Margaret Thatcher will prove to be one of the country’s longest tenured PMs as well as one of the most controversial.Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, FRIC was a British stateswoman, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and as Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century, and the first woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her The Iron Lady, a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Lived: Oct 13, 1925 – Apr 08, 2013 (age 87) Height: 5′ 5″ (1.66 m) Spouse: Denis Thatcher (m. 1951 – 2003) Education: Somerville College, Oxford (1943 – 1947) · Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School (1936 – 1943) · City Law School (1952 – 1954) Children: Mark Thatcher (Son) · Carol Thatcher (Daughter) Related movies: The Iron Lady
Highlights
1951: During the campaigns, she was supported by her parents and by Denis Thatcher, whom she married in December 1951.
1975: Thatcher became party leader and Leader of the Opposition on 11 February 1975; she appointed Whitelaw as her deputy.
1979: Thatcher became Prime Minister on 4 May 1979.
2002: Thatcher was voted the fourth-greatest British prime minister of the 20th century in a poll of 139 academics organised by MORI, and in 2002 was ranked number 16 in the BBC poll 100 Greatest Britons.
2005: After leaving the House of Commons, Thatcher became the first former Prime Minister to set up a foundation; the British wing of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation was dissolved in 2005 because of financial difficulties.
2013: In 2013, she died of another stroke in London, at the age of 87.
(1918) US Marines enlist their first female recruit
(1961) East is sealed off from West in a divided capital
