COUNTDOWN!!......

Oops that should read 'herculean'.

111 days to start of the Premiership season on 18th August....

April 29, 1429 "Joan of Arc leads Orleans, France, to victory over English"

April 29, 1553 Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England

April 29, 1813 Rubber is patented

April 29, 1916 Easter Rebellion: Martial law in Ireland is lifted and the rebellion is officially over with the surrender of Irish nationalists to British authorities in Dublin.

April 29, 1927 Construction of the Spirit of St Louis is completed

April 29, 1945 Adolf Hitler marries his long-time partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker and designates Admiral Karl Dnitz as his successor.

29th April 1958 : The Broadway musical "My Fair Lady" opens for its first night in London, with Rex Harrison as Professor Higgins, and Julie Andrews playing Eliza Doolittle. Tickets for the show cost just over £1, the first month is sold out before opening night.

April 29, 1967 "After refusing induction into the United States Army the day before (citing religious reasons), Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title."

1978 Saints complete promotion season with goalless draw at home to Tottenham; Peter Wells, Manny Andruszewski, David Peach, Steve Williams, Chris Nicholl, Malcolm Waldron, Alan Ball, Phil Boyer, Ted MacDougall, Nick Holmes, Tony Funnell. Dell attendance 28846.

1986: The Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, is laid to rest alongside her husband, the abdicated King Edward VIII, at Frogmore in Windsor.

1993: Buckingham Palace will open to the public for the first time in a bid to raise funds to repair Windsor Castle.

April 29, 2011 The Royal Wedding of HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton

110

On April 30th.......

1006 – Supernova SN 1006, the brightest supernova in recorded history, appears in the constellation Lupus.

1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration

1789 George Washington inaugurated as first president of US

1808 The first practical typewriter finished by Italian Pellegrini Turri

1930 Radio telephone service begins between Australia and England.

1938 The first televised FA Cup Final took place between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End

1945 Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide after being married for one day.

1945 Germany surrenders; end of the Third Reich.

1952 Anne Frank published in English. The British public gets the chance to read The Diary of a Young Girl, written by Anne Frank who hid from the Nazis in Holland during the war.

1960 Saints complete promotion season with 2-0 home win over Bradford City; Ron Reynolds, Ron Davies, Tommy Traynor, Dick Conner, John Page, Cliff Huxford, Terry Paine, George O'Brien, Derek Reeves, Tommy Mulgrew, John Sydenham. Scorers Reeves and O'Brien. Dell attendance 21848.

1993 The world number one women's tennis player, Monica Seles, is stabbed in the back during a quarter-final match in Hamburg.

109

On May 1st.....

1308 "Death - Albrecht I van Habsburg German King (1298-1308), murdered"

1682 Louis XIV & his court inaugurate Paris Observatory

1700 "Death - John Dryden English poet/playwright (Rival Ladies), dies"

1703 "Death - Kiva Yoshinaka Japanese monarch, murdered"

1704 Boston Newsletter publishes first newspaper ad

1707 The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1751 The first cricket match is played in America.

1786 "Mozart's opera ""Marriage of Figaro"" premieres in Wien (Vienna)"

1834 The British colonies abolish slavery.

1840 "The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, was issued in the United Kingdom."

1844 Samuel Morse sends first telegraphic message

1851 "Great Exhibition opened in London's Hyde Park, at Crystal Palace by Queen Victoria"

1852 Birth - Calamity [Martha] Jane [Burke] frontier adventurer/Indian fighter

1869 The Folies Bergeres opens in Paris

1873 "Death - David Livingstone British physician/explorer (Africa), dies at 60"

1873 The first US postal card issued

1883 """Buffalo Bill"" Cody put on his first Wild West Show"

1886 The start of the general strike which eventually wins the eight-hour workday in the United States. These events are today commemorated as May Day or Labor Day in most industrialized countries.

1889 Bayer introduces aspirin in powder form (Germany)

1902 "Death - John Glover English chemist (production sulfuric acid), dies at 85"

1904 "Death - Antonn Dvorak Czechoslovakia, composer (Slavic Dancing), dies at 62"

1908 "World's most intense rain shower (2.47"" in 3 minutes) at Portobelo Panama"

1909 Birth - Ethel Jane Cain original UK Speaking Clock voice

1915 "RMS Lusitania departs New York City on her two hundred and second and final crossing of the North Atlantic heading for Liverpool. Six days later, the ship was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany."

1919 "Mount Kelud (Indonesia) erupts, boiling crater lake which broke through crater wall killing 5,000 people in 104 small villages"

1925 Cyprus becomes a British Crown Colony

1927 "Birth - Harry [Harold George Jr] Belafonte New York NY, calypso singer (The Banana Boat Song)"

1927 The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.

1928 "6 children die & 10 injured by hailstones in Klausenburg, Romania"

1930 "Bradman scores 236 Australia vs Worcestershire, his first f-class innings in England"

1930 The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.

1931 Empire State Building opens in New York NY

1939 Batman Comics hit the street

1941 General Mills introduces Cheerios

1941 Orson Welles's Citizen Kane premieres in New York City

1946 "Birth - Joanna Lumley Kashmir India

1946 Fieldmarshal Montgomery appointed British supreme commander

1951 Birth - Gordon Greenidge cricketer (great West Indian and Hampshire opener

1959 Floyd Patterson KOs Brian London in 11 for heavyweight boxing title

1966 Last British concert by the Beatles (Empire Pool in Wembley)

1967 Elvis Presley & Pricilla Beaulieu wed in Las Vegas

1976 SAINTS BEAT MAN UNITED TO WIN FA CUP

1979 Elton John becomes first pop star to perform in Israel

1982 RAF bombs Port Stanley. British planes attack two airstrips near the capital of the Falkland Islands in the war to rid the islands of Argentine forces

1984 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

108

On May 2nd....

1194 King Richard I gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.

1519 "Death - Leonardo Da Vinci artist/scientist, dies at 67"

1536 King Henry VIII accused Anne Boleyn of adultery & incest

1568 "Mary I of Scotland escapes from Loch Leven Castle, where she had been imprisoned by Sir William Douglas."

1863 American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering for the Battle of Chancellorsville. He succumbs to pneumonia 8 days later.

1890 Territory of Oklahoma created

1902 "The first science fiction film, ""A Trip To The Moon"", is released"

1903 "Birth - Benjamin Spock New Haven CT, pediatrician/author (Common Sense Book of Baby Care)"

1919 The first US air passenger service starts

1933 "In Germany, Adolf Hitler bans trade unions"

1934 Nazi-Germany begins People's court

1941 "Anti-British revolt, encouraged by Germany, takes place in Iraq."

1941 Martin Bormann succeeds Rudolf Hess as Hitler's deputy

1945 Berlin surrenders to Russian troops

1945 Birth - Bob Henrit English pop drummer (Kinks-Waterloo Sunset)

1945 "Death - Martin Bormann propoganda minister for Hitler, dies"

1945 "First Helicopter Rescue--Lieutenant August Kleisch, USCG, flying a HNS-1 helicopter rescued 11 Canadian airmen that were marooned in northern Labrador about 125 miles from Goose Bay"

1946 """Battle of Alcatraz"" - Alcatraz Federal prison, San Francisco is taken over by six inmates following failed escape attempt"

1949 "Arthur Miller wins Pulitzer Prize for ""Death of a Salesman"""

1952 The first scheduled jet airliner passenger service begins with a BOAC Comet which flew from London to Johannesburg carrying 36 passengers

1956 US Methodist church disallows race separation

1962 Benfica wins 7th European Cup

1964 First ascent of Shishapangma the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.

1969 British liner Queen Elizabeth II leaves on maiden voyage to New York

1975 Apple records closes down

1980 "Pink Floyd's ""Another Brick in Wall (Part II)"" is banned in South Africa"

1980 Joseph Doherty & 3 other IRA men arrested for murder

1982 The General Belgrano is destroyed in a controversial move by the Royal Navy off the disputed Falklands Islands - a thousand men are believed to be on board.

1997 The Labour Party wins the general election by a landslide, leaving the Conservative Party in tatters after 18 years in power.

2011 "World's most-wanted man, Osama Bin Laden killed in US operation."

107

On May 3rd.....

1494 Christopher Columbus first sights land that will be called Jamaica.

1616 Treaty of Loudun ends French civil war

1715 """Edmund Halley's"" total solar eclipse (the last one visible in London, UK for almost 900 years)."

1830 The first regular steam train passenger service starts

1851 Most of San Fransisco destroyed by fire; 30 die

1903 "Birth - Bing Crosby (Harry Lillis Crosby) Tacoma WA

1916 Easter Rising leaders are executed in Dublin.

1926 British general strike-3 million workers support miners

1926 "Death - Napoleon V Bonaparte French pretender to the throne, dies at 63"

1932 "24 tourists begin first air-charter holiday (London-Basle, Switzerland)"

1937 "Gone with the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction."

1951 King George VI inaugurates the Festival of Britain at a service in St Paul's Cathedral and later attends a concert at the new Royal Festival Hall.

1952 The first landing by an airplane at geographic North Pole

1959 The first Grammy Awards are announced.

1968 The first heart transplant in Britain is carried out at the National Heart Hospital in Marylebone, London.

1972 "Death - Dan Blocker actor (Hoss-Bonanza), dies at 43"

1973 "Chicago's Sears Tower, world's tallest building (443 metres), topped out"

1979 Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher to become United Kingdom's first female prime minister as the Labour government is ousted in parliamentary elections.

1986 A lethal bomb explodes on an Air Lanka passenger jet at Colombo's airport leaving 21 dead and 41 injured. The finger of blame points to the Tamil Tigers.

2007 "4 year old Madeleine McCann disappears from Praia da Luz, Portugal."

106

On May 4th....

1471 "Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales."

1715 French manufacturer debuts first folding umbrella (Paris France)

1776 Rhode Island declares independence from England

1799 "Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is assaulted and the Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris."

1814 Emperor Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.

1859 Cornwall Railway opened across the Royal Albert Bridge linking the counties of Devon and Cornwall.

1865 "Abraham Lincoln buried in Springfield, Illinois, three weeks after his assassination."

1878 Phonograph shown for first time at Grand Opera House

1896 The first edition of London Daily Mail (« penny)

1897 Fire in Paris France bazaar at Rue Jean Goujon kills 200

1904 Charles Stewart Rolls met Frederick Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel in Manchester.

1904 Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal.

1926 General strike hits Britain

1929 "Birth - Audrey Hepburn "

1932 Mobster Al Capone enters the Atlanta federal penitentary to begin serving a term for income tax evasion

1942 Battle of Coral Sea begun (1st sea battle fought solely in air)

1945 "German troops in Netherlands, Denmark & Norway surrender"

1949 "The entire Torino football team (except for one player who did not take the trip due to an injury) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy."

1953 The Duke of Edinburgh is awarded his pilot's "wings" during a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

1966 Harold Wilson's government agrees to increase doctors' and dentists' salaries by up to 30% after fears thousands of GPs would leave the Health Service for private practice

1972 "The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to ""Greenpeace Foundation""."

1979 The Conservative Party wins the general election making Margaret Thatcher Britain's first woman prime minister.

1981 "Death - Bobby Sands Irish IRA-terrorist, dies after hunger strike"

1982 20 sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield (D80) is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.

1984 "Death - Diana Dors actress dies at 52 of cancer"

1990 Angela Bowie reveals that ex husband David slept with Mick Jagger

1994 Arsenal win European Cup

2000 The London Mayoral contest ends in victory for Ken Livingstone, the independent candidate and maverick MP expelled from the Labour Party.

105

On May 5th....

1494 Christopher Columbus discovers the island of Jamaica and claims it for Spain.

1646 King Charles I surrenders at Scotland

1821 "Death - Napoleon I Bonaparte emperor France (1799-1815), dies in St Helena"

1893 "The worst economic crisis in U.S. history (to that time) happened on this day. Stock prices plummeted, major railroads went into receivership, 15,000 businesses went bankrupt and 15 to 20 percent of the work force was unemployed. Within seven months, over 600 banks had closed.

1900 "The Billboard", a magazine for the music and entertainment industries, began weekly publication after six years as a monthly

1901 The first Catholic mass for night workers was held at the Church of St. Andrew in New York City."

1904 "Birth - Sir Gordon Richards British jockey (winner of 4,870 races)"

1930 The first woman to fly solo from England to Australia takes-off (Amy Johnson)

1942 "Birth - Tammy Wynette Redbay AL, country singer (Stand by your Man)"

1944 Gandhi freed from prison

1949 "The Council of Europe in Strasbourg is founded through the Treaty of London as the first European institution working for European integration. Since 1964, May 5 has been designated Europe Day by the Council of Europe and is celebrated since then to commemorate its founding on 5 May 1949."

1961 Commander Alan Shepard returns to Earth and is rescued from his Mercury 3 capsule in the Atlantic after becoming the first American in space.

1967 The first ever all-British satellite (Ariel 3) is successfully launched into orbit from the United States.

1979 Voyager 1 passes Jupiter

1980 Operation Nimrod: The Special Air Service storm the Iranian embassy in London after a six day siege.

1981 Hunger striker Bobby Sands dies in the Maze prison 66 days after first refusing to eat.

2005 Labour under Tony Blair wins a historic third term but with a greatly reduced majority.

2012 SaintMike has to clear snow from his car before he can drive to work

104

On May 6th....

1536 King Henry VIII orders translated Bibles be placed in every church.

1682 Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles.

1851 "Dr John Gorrie patents a ""refrigeration machine"""

1851 Linus Yale patents Yale-lock

1861 Jefferson Davis approves a bill declaring War between US & Confederacy

1877 Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.

1889 The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris.

1890 Mormon Church renounces polygamy

1891 Conductors on London General Omnibus Company go on strike

1902 British SS Camorta sinks off Rangoon; 739 die

1910 "George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII."

1913 "Birth - Stewart Granger [James Stewart], London, actor (Prisoner of Zenda)"

1914 British House of Lords rejects women suffrage

1915 "Birth - Orson Welles

1916 "First ship-to-shore radio telephone voice conversation from USS New Hampshire off Virginia Capes to SECNAV Josephus Daniels in Washington, DC"

1935 British King George V & Queen Mary celebrates silver jubilee

1937 "Hindenberg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenberg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed."

1941 Joseph Stalin became premier of Russia

1950 Liz Taylor's first marriage (Conrad Hilton Jr)

1954 Roger Bannister, a 25-year-old British medical student, becomes the first man to run a mile in less than four minutes.

1960 More than 20 million viewers watch the first ever televised royal wedding service when Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey.

1961 "Birth - George Clooney

1966 Ian Brady and his lover Myra Hindley are sentenced to life imprisonment for the so-called Moors murders.

1976 Italy's worst ever earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale kills at least 60 people and leaves thousands homeless.

1983 The Hitler diaries were revealed as a hoax when experts examined the books and concluded that they were fake.

1994 The Queen and France's President Francois Mitterrand formally open the Channel Tunnel during two elaborate ceremonies in France and Britain.

1997 The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, gives the Bank of England independence from political control.

2001 "During a trip to Syria, Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to enter a mosque."

2001 A bomb explodes at a north London postal sorting office - the second such attack in three weeks - and has been linked to the Real IRA.

103

On May 7th.....

1429 English siege of Orleans broken by Joan of Arc

1663 Theatre Royal in Drury Lane London opens

1697 "Stockholm's royal castle (dating back to medieval times) is destroyed in a huge fire (in the 18th century, it is replaced with the current Royal Palace)."

1700 William Penn began monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation

1765 Admiral Nelson's HMS Victory runs aground

1774 Birth - Sir Francis Beaufort naval officer; devised wind force scale

1812 "Birth - Robert Browning, London, poet

1824 "World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. Work was conducted by Michael Umlauf, under the deaf composer's supervision."

1832 "Greece is recognised independent by the Treaty of London. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King."

1833 "Birth - Johannes Brahms Hamburg Germany, composer

1840 "Birth - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Votkinsk Russia, composer

1840 "The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi, killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in U.S. history."

1866 German premier Otto von Bismarck seriously wounded in assassin attempt

1888 "George Eastman patents ""Kodak box camera"""

1901 "Birth - Gary Cooper, Helena MT, actor

1907 Charles Collier wins first Isle of Man TT Race (38.22 mph)

1909 Birth - Edwin H Land inventor (instant photography (Polaroid))

1914 US Congress establishes Mother's Day

1915 1198 people are killed when the British Cunard liner Lusitania is sunk off the Irish coast by a German torpedo. 128 Americans died and public reaction to the sinking turned many formerly pro-Germans in the United States of America against the German Empire."

1919 "Birth - Eva (Evita) [Duarte] Pern Argentina

1928 England lowers age of women voters from 30 to 21

1934 "World's largest pearl (6.4 kg) found at Palawan, Philippines"

1939 Germany & Italy announced an alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis

1945 Germany signs an unconditional surrender ending six years of war in Europe.

1954 "US, Great-Britain & France reject Russian membership in NATO"

1955 USSR signs peace treaty with France & Great-Britain

1956 The Health Minister, RH Turton, rejects calls for a government campaign against smoking, saying no ill-effects have been proven.

1958 "Major Howard Johnson, USAF, sets aircraft altitude record in F-104 (Lockheed Starfighter), 27,810 meters"

1964 "Pacific Air Lines Flight 773, a Fairchild F-27 airliner, crashes near San Ramon, California, killing all 44 aboard; the FBI later reports that a cockpit recorder tape indicates that the pilot and co-pilot had been shot by a suicidal passenger."

1965 White voters in the African colony of Rhodesia back Prime Minister Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front which is demanding independence from the UK.

1974 West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns.

1975 "President Ford declares an end to ""Vietnam Era"""

1976 Italy's worst earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale kills more than 550 people and leaves 80,000 homeless.

1992 Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its maiden voyage

1993 South Africa agrees to multi-racial elections

1998 Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history

1999 Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope that had visited a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054

2001 More than 1,000 cattle on two farms near Exmoor will be slaughtered - even though they show no sign of foot-and-mouth disease - in order to protect Exmoor from infection

A few minutes late......102

On May 8th....

1660 English parliament asks King Charles II to resign

1792 US establishes military draft

1858 John Brown holds antislavery convention

1896 Yorkshire Cricket all out for 887 against Warwickshire

1898 The first games of the Italian Football League are played

1902 "In Martinique, Mount Pele erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast."

1913 "Birth - Sidney James [Cohen] Johannesburg, actor (Carry On)"

1914 Paramount Pictures is formed.

1919 "Edward George Honey first proposed the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I, which later resulted in the creation of Remembrance Day."

1921 Sweden abolished capital punishment

1923 "Hobbs scores his 100th 100, 116 vs Somerset at Bath"

1926 "Birth - Sir David [Frederick] Attenborough London England, environmentalist/zoologist/TV host (BBC)"

1933 Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest of British oppression in India.

1945 The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, officially announces the end of the war with Germany, VE Day

1962 London trolley buses go out of service

1963 """Dr No"" premieres in US, 007 reigns supreme for over 40 years"

1967 Muhammad Ali is indicted for refusing induction in US Army

1968 The Kray twins, Reginald and Ronnie and their brother Charlie are arrested on suspicion of murfer after dawn raids by police in London

1970 "200,000 Australians participate in antiwar demonstrations (Vietnam)"

1971 Joe Frazier beats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden

1974 50 MPH speed limit in Britain lifted

1993 Lennox Lewis beats Tony Tucker in 12 for heavyweight boxing title

101

On May 9th..


1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC) between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh. It is the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.

1092 Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.

1386 Treaty of Windsor between Portugal-England

1502 Columbus left Spain on his 4th & final trip to New World

1671 Colonel Thomas Blood attempts to steal Crown Jewels

1738 England routes fleet in Mediterranean Sea & West-Indies

1874 "Victoria Embankment, in London opens"

1887 Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.

1896 First horseless carriage show in London (featured 10 models)

1899 Lawn mower patented

1901 Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne

1932 "Piccadilly Circus, first lit by electricity"

1941 English Army breaks German spy codes

1942 "Holocaust: German SS murder 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The victims were shot with machine gun in ravine on the order from Gebietskomissar Eggers and Chief of Gendarmerie Busse."

1945 World War II: The Channel Islands are formally liberated by the British.

1949 Britain's first launderette opens in Queensway London

1955 "Sam and Friends debuts on a local U.S. television channel, marking the first television appearance of both Jim Henson and what would become Kermit the Frog and the Muppets."

1956 Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden refuses to give details about the disappearance of a naval diver during a goodwill visit by the Soviet leadership.

1960 US is first country to use the birth control pill legally

1962 Beatles sign their first contract with EMI Parlophone

100

On May 10th....

1278 Jews of England imprisoned on charges of coining

1291 Scottish nobles recognize authority of English king Edward I

1503 Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.

1655 Jamaica captured by English

1797 "The first U.S. Navy ship, the ""United States"" is launched"

1818 "Paul Revere, American patriot known for his warning ride on horseback to warn of the British invasion, dies in Boston"

1824 National Gallery in London opens to the public.

1915 Zeppelin drops hundred of bombs on Southend-on-Sea

1922 Dr Ivy Williams is first woman to be called to the English Bar

1924 "J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remains so until his death in 1972."

1940 Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British PM

1941 England's House of Commons & Holborn Theater destroyed in a blitz

1941 Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.

1954 "Bill Haley & His Comets release ""Rock Around the Clock"", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts."

1963 Decca signs the Rolling Stones on advice of Beatle George Harrison

1967 "Keith Richards, Brian Jones & Mick Jagger arrested on drug charges"

1968 Vietnam peace talks began in Paris between the US & North Vietnam

1969 Apollo 10 transmit first color pictures of Earth from space

1978 Liverpool wins 23rd European Cup

1981 Francois Mitterrand takes office as the first Socialist President of France.

1994 Nelson Mandela sworn in as South Africa's first black president

1997 "In Northern Iran a 7.5 quake, At least 1,567 people killed, 2,300 injured, 50,000 homeless, 10,533 houses destroyed, 5,474 houses damaged and landslides in the Birjand-Qayen area"

1998 The political wing of the republican IRA back the Good Friday peace agreement heralding a major shift in modern republicanism.

2005 "A hand grenade allegedly thrown by Vladimir Arutinian lands about 65 feet (20 metres) from United States President George W. Bush while he was giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate."

99

On May 11th....

1310 54 members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake in France for being heretics.

1502 "Columbus begins 4th & last trip to ""Indies"

1812 "Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London."

1812 Waltz introduced into English ballrooms - Most observers consider it disgusting & immoral.

1820 Launch of HMS Beagle the ship that took young Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage.

1867 Luxembourg gains its independence.

1916 Einstein's Theory of General Relativity presented

1917 Britain grants Royal Letters Patent to New Zealand

1927 Belgium beats England 9-1 in soccer

1941 The first Messerschmidt 109F shot down above England

1956 Colonial Secretary Alan Lennox-Boyd announces the Gold Coast is to become the first black African nation to be granted independence from Britain.

1963 A British businessman accused of spying for the West is sentenced to eight years' detention by a Moscow tribunal.

1969 Monty Python comedy troupe forms

1971 Britain's oldest tabloid The Daily Sketch newspaper which was founded in 1909 published for the last time.

1981 "Andrew Lloyd Webber/TS Eliot's musical ""Cats"" premieres in London"

1983 Aberdeen wins 23rd European Cup

1984 Transit of Earth as seen on Mars

1984 Johan Cruijff quits soccer

1985 At least 52 people are known to have died and many are missing after fire engulfs Bradford City football stadium.

1987 First heart-lung transplant take place (Baltimore)

1989 "217th & final episode of ""Dynasty"" is aired"

1989 Kenya announces worldwide ban on ivory to preserve its elephant herds

1997 "IBM Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player."

1998 The Indian government announces it has carried out a series of underground nuclear tests in a move which has shocked the world.

2000 Last performance of the musical Cats in London's West End.

2004 The Stockline Plastics factory explosion in Glasgow kills nine people.

98

On May 12th.......

1191 Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre.

1641 Prince Willem II (14) marries English princess Henriette Mary Stuart (9)

1792 Toilet that flushes itself at regular intervals is patented

1926 "UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a nine-day general strike by trade unions ends."

1932 "Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, first appears in 'Mickey's Revue' by Walt Disney"

1937 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, are crowned at Westminster Abbey

1942 "1,500 Jews are sent to gas chambers in Auschwitz."

1951 "The first H Bomb test, on Enewetak Atoll"

1959 Liz Taylor's 4th marriage (Eddie Fisher)

1967 The British Government gives the go-ahead to proposals to convert Stansted into an international airport.

1971 The Rolling Stones singer, Mick Jagger, marries his fiancee Bianca Perez Morena de Macias after a row with the media nearly halts proceedings.

1981 Francis Hughes becomes the second IRA protester to starve to death in the Maze Prison in a republican campaign for political status to be granted to IRA prisoners.

1984 Joe Lucius scored his 13th hole-in-one on the same hole

1984 South Africa prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife for first time in 22 years

1993 NBC TV airs the final episode of the hit comedy Cheers

1994 The Labour leader John Smith dies aged 55 in a London hospital after two serious heart attacks.

2000 Ford workers at its Dagenham plant react with shock and anger at the news that car production is to be transferred to Germany and Spain, with the loss of 3,000 jobs.

97

On May 13th......

1110 Crusaders march into Beirut causing a bloodbath

1568 "Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary Queen of Scots are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother."

1637 Cardinal Richelieu of France creates the table knife

1643 Battle at Grantham: English parliamentary armies beat royalists

1643 Heavy earthquake strikes Santiago Chile; kills 1/3 of population

1787 "A fleet of eleven ships left Britain with two years provision and a cargo of 759 unwilling convicts, their guards,and ships crew numbering - 1530 people in all. They were to colonise a new land. Australia"

1861 "American Civil War: Queen Victoria issues a ""proclamation of neutrality"" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights."

1912 Royal Flying Corps is established in England

1929 The first suicidal person jumps off of the Statue of Liberty.

1941 Martin Bormann is named head of Nazi Party Chancellery in Germany

1942 Helicopter makes its first cross-country flight

1950 Diner's Club issues its first credit cards

1977 England cricket captain Tony Greig is fired for recruiting players to Australian media mogul Kerry Packer's rival World XI team in what is seen as a "breach of trust".

1981 Crowds in St Peter's Square in Rome are stunned by the close-range shooting of the Pope. The Pope was rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery, and survived

1989 British war hero Jackie Mann,74, is feared kidnapped in Beirut after disappearing in the Lebanese capital.

1993 CBS' Knots Landing ends 14 year run with 334th show

1995 A British mother of two becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas.

2005 2005 Malcolm Glazer completes a hostile takeover of Manchester United for $1.4 billion.

96

On May 14th......

1264 Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.

1796 Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination.

1853 Gail Borden patents her process for condensed milk

1870 The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.

1878 Vaseline is first sold (registered trademark for petroleum jelly)

1889 The children's charity the NSPCC is launched in London.

1908 The first passenger flight in an airplane

1935 "Northamptonshire County Cricket Club gains (over Somerset at Taunton by 48 runs) what proved to be their last victory for 99 matches, easily a record in the County Championship. Their next Championship win was not until 29 May, 1939."

1938 "English soccer team beats Nazi-Germany, 6-3"

1939 Lina Medina becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.

1946 The House of Commons passes the Canadian Citizenship Act; first nationality statute in Canada to define its people as Canadians

1955 The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies sign a defence pact in the Polish capital, Warsaw, places all member countries under one military command.

1957 Relief across the country as the paymaster general announces restrictions on fuel consumption imposed during the Suez crisis are to be lifted.

1960 USSR launch first (unmanned) space capsule

1961 Stirling Moss wins the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix.

1964 The Egyptian and Russian leaders end phase one of the construction of the Aswan High Dam by blowing up a huge sand barrage to divert the course of the Nile.

1968 Beatles announce formation of Apple Corp

1977 English football international Bobby Moore retires

1982 "British troops return in force to the Falklands, fierce fighting brings heavy casualties to both sides in the next few weeks"

1986 Institute for War documents publishes Anne Franks complete diary

1991 Winnie Mandela, the wife of anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela, is given a six-year jail term for her part in the kidnap of four youths.

2001 Variant CJD - the human form of BSE or "mad cow disease" - has been found in 99 people so far - but scientists warn a "second wave" in several years could be much larger.

95

On May 15th.....

1252 "Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which authorizes the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition."

1525 "German boer army surrounded/slaughters 5,000; ends Boer war"

1536 Anna Boleyn & Lord Rochford accused of adultery/incest

1567 "Mary Queen of Scots weds James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, her third husband."

1602 Cape Cod discovered by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold

1672 The first copyright law enacted by Massachusetts

1701 The War of the Spanish Succession begins.

1718 "James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun."

1756 The Seven Years' War begins when England declares war on France.

1800 King George III survives a 2nd assassination attempt

1858 Royal Italian Opera opens in Covent Garden London

1862 Confederate cruiser The Alabama runs aground near London

1902 "In a field outside Grass Valley, California, Lyman Gilmore reportedly becomes the first person to fly a powered airplane (a steam-powered glider)."

1905 "Las Vegas, Nevada, is founded when 110 acres (0.4 km), in what later would become downtown, are auctioned off."

1918 "The first regular airmail service (between New York, Philadelphia & Washington DC) inaugurated"

1928 "Release of the animated short ""Plane Crazy"", featuring the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse."

1930 "Aboard a Boeing tri-motor, Ellen Church becomes the first airline stewardess, on a flight from Oakland, California to Chicago."

1936 Amy Johnson arrives in Croydon England from South Africa in record 4 days 16 hours

1940 McDonald's is founded.

1940 Nylon stockings go on sale for first time

1941 The first British turbojet flies

1944 "Eisenhower, Montgomery, Churchill & George VI discuss D-Day plan"

1948 "Australia scores 721 runs in one day vs Essex, world record"

1953 Heavyweight Rocky Marciano KOs Joe Walcott in Chicago for heavywgt boxing title

1954 The Royal Family returns safely from their six-month tour of the Commonwealth to a rapturous welcome in London.

1957 After just two years of development, Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb over Christmas Island, as the arms race begins to escalate.

1974 Sixteen teenagers die along with three Palestinians holding them hostage at an Israeli school near the Lebanese border.

1989 The Golden Toad was last seen due to extinction.

1990 "Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million, the most expensive painting at the time."

1991 Edith Cresson becomes France's first female premier

1993 A hostage crisis at a nursery school in Paris ends when commandos storm the school - and the children's teacher is hailed a hero.

94

On May 16th.....

1532 Sir Thomas More resigns as English Lord Chancellor

1568 Mary Queen of Scots flees to England.

1606 "2,000 foreigners murdered in Russia"

1763 Samuel Johnson meets his future biographer James Boswell in London

1770 14-year old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste who later becomes king of France.

1803 "Britain and France renew war, the French complete their occupation of Hanover, and they threaten to invade England from Boulogne, where they begin to assemble an invasion fleet"

1804 Senate & Tribune declare Napoleon leader of France

1811 "Peninsular War - Allies (Spain, Portugal & Britain) defeat French at the Battle of Albuera."

1836 Edgar Allan Poe marries his 13-year-old cousin Virginia.

1843 "The first major wagon train heading for the Northwest sets out with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri on the Oregon Trail."

1929 "In Hollywood, California, the first Academy Awards are handed out."

1936 The first British air hostess (Daphne Kearley) flight to France

1941 Last great German air attack on Great Britain (Birmingham)

1946 The Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun opens

1960 Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union thus ending a Big Four summit in Paris.

1968 Two women and a man are killed after an entire corner of a new block of flats in London's East End collapses.

1974 Israeli planes bomb seven Palestinian refugee camps and villages in southern Lebanon.

1980 Brian May of rock group Queen collapses on stage with hepatitis

1985 Two South Wales miners are jailed for life for the murder of taxi driver David Wilkie during the miners' strike.

1986 Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) comes back from dead on Dallas

1990 The government again attempts to reassure the public that British beef is safe despite growing fears over BSE.

1991 Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address the U S Congress

1994 Tennis star Jennifer Capriati arrested on possession of marijuana

2001 Labour Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott punches a man who throws an egg at him during a visit to north Wales.

93

On May 17th.....

1521 "Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason."

1536 "Anne Boleyn's 4 ""lovers"" executed"

1590 Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.

1620 "The first merry-go-round seen at a fair (Philippapolis, Turkey)"

1787 "English slave ship Sisters, from Africa to Cuba, capsizes"

1845 Rubber band patents

1846 Saxophone is patented by Antoine Joseph Sax

1881 Revised version of New Testament

1890 "Comic Cuts, first weekly comic paper, published in London"

1899 Victoria & Albert Museum foundation laid England

1900 British troops relieve Mafeking (Cape Colony)

1915 Last liberal British Government of Asquith falls

1916 "British Summer Time (Daylight Savings), first introduced"

1918 Almost the entire leadership of Sinn Fin are arrested.

1920 The first De Havilland double-decker flight (London) lands in Schiphol

1926 German Government of Marx takes power

1943 World War II: The Dambuster Raids by No. 617 Squadron RAF on German dams.

1944 General Eisenhower sets D-Day for June 5th

1949 British government recognizes Republic of Ireland

1955 Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden presents the largest-scale election broadcast ever seen on television.

1960 The much-heralded Big Four summit in Paris fails after U2 spy plane recriminations.

1969 Russian probe Venera 6 landed on Venus

1970 Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.

1973 Watergate scandal: Hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.

1974 Four car bombs explode in the Irish capital, leaving at least 23 dead and more than 100 injured

1978 The coffin containing the body of Charlie Chaplin - missing since his grave was pillaged nearly two months ago - is found.

2000 Two Royal Marine commandos are the first Britons to reach the geographical North Pole braving severe weather conditions.

92

On May 18th..........

1096 Crusaders massacre Jews of Worm

1152 Henry II marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.

1536 "Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII of England, is beheaded after being convicted for adultery"

1588 The Spanish Armada sets sail for England; it is defeated by England the following August

1804 Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.

1830 "Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for manufacture of his invention, the lawn mower"

1876 "Wyatt Earp starts work in Dodge City, Kansas under Marshal Larry Deger."

1897 "Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published."

1935 "T E Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, dies in England from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash"

1950 Twelve nations agree on a permanent defence organisation for the US and Europe.

1964 Scores of youths are given prison sentences following violent clashes between gangs of Mods and Rockers.

1966 Saints complete promotion season with goalless draw away to Man City; Campbell Forsyth, David Webb, Denis Hollywood, Ian White, Tony Knapp, David Walker, Terry Paine, Martin Chivers, Norman Dean, Jimmy Melia, John Sydenham

1972 Doctors say the Duke of Windsor must remain in his bedroom throughout the Queen's visit to his home in Paris.

1991 Britain's first astronaut, 27-year-old Helen Sharman from Sheffield, has blasted into orbit.

91

On May 19th....

1568 Queen Elizabeth I of England has Mary Queen of Scots arrested.

1780 "About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England to this day its cause is still unexplained"

1885 The first mass production of shoes (Jan Matzeliger in Lynn MA)

1897 Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol.

1898 Post Office authorizes use of postcards

1930 White women win voting rights in South-Africa

1940 Amsterdam time becomes MET (Middle European Time)

1958 "Premiere of Harold Pinter's ""Birthday Party"" in London"

1962 "A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's infamous rendition of Happy Birthday."

1965 West Ham United wins European Cup

1974 Valeri Giscard d'Estaing wins French presidential election

1977 """Star Wars"" opened in only 37 U.S. theaters nationwide; Lucas and company feared the worst, but it was an immediate hit."

1980 Nine people die following the massive eruption of Mount St Helens volcano in Washington State, USA.

1986 South African troops attack Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana bringing to an end diplomatic efforts to bring a peaceful end to apartheid.

1992 "Englishman Dave Gauder, 224 lbs, pulls 196 ton jumbo jet, 3 inches"

1993 "Boeing 727 crashes into mountain at Medell¡n Colombia, kills 132"

1997 The sponsorship of sports events by tobacco firms is to be outlawed, says Health Secretary Frank Dobson.

2004 Angry dads hit Blair with purple flour. Security at the House of Commons comes under scrutiny after Fathers 4 Justice protesters attack the prime minister.

90

On May 20th.....

0325 The First Council of Nicaea the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held.

0685 "The Battle of Dunnichen or Nechtansmere is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated."

1217 "The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke."

1310 Shoes were made for both right & left feet (and we thank you)

1498 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calcutta India

1570 Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas.

1631 "The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War."

1845 "HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage. All hands are lost."

1867 British parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women suffrage

1892 George Sampson patents clothes dryer

1895 "The first commercial movie performance (153 Broadway, NYC)"

1910 Funeral for Britain's King Edward VII

1916 "The small town of Codell, Kansas is struck by a tornado. Incredibly, the same town was also hit in 1917 and 1918 on the exact same date"

1923 "Stanley Baldwin, becomes PM of UK"

1927 "At 07:52 Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, touching down at Le Bourget Field in Paris at 22:22 the next day."

1927 Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)

1932 Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin her historic solo flight to Ireland

1939 Pan Am begins regular transatlantic airmail and passenger service across the North Atlantic

1958 Citizens of the English town of High Wycombe witness a unique ceremony at which the mayor is weighed in public.

1959 "Ford wins battle with Chrysler to call its new car ""Falcon"""

1965 Yorkshire all out for 23 vs Hampshire at Middlesbrough

1965 Britain's police are to be armed with tear gas guns and grenades for use against dangerous criminals.

1967 "BBC bans Beatle's ""A Day in the Life"" (drug references)"

1973 Britain sends in Royal Navy ships to protect fishing boats in the disputed Icelandic 50-mile zone.

1983 At least 16 people are killed and more than 130 injured when a car bomb explodes in the centre of Pretoria in South Africa.

1983 Larry Holmes beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title

1983 First publications of the discovery of the virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo individually.

1985 Larry Holmes beats Carl Williams in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

1990 The Hubble Space Telescope sends its first photographs back to Earth

2000 The British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie celebrate the birth of their fourth child, Leo.

89

On May 21st...........

1420 Treaty of Troyes-French King Charles VI gives France to English

1502 The island of Saint Helena is discovered by the Portuguese navigator Joo da Nova.

1553 English Lady Jane Grey marries Guildford Dudley

1819 The first bicycles (swift walkers) in US introduced in NYC

1840 New Zealand became a British colony

1904 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) founded in Paris.

1908 The first horror movie (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde) premieres in Chicago

1916 "Britain begins ""Summer Time"" (Daylight Savings Time)"

1922 """On the Road to Moscow"" is first cartoon to receive a Pulitzer Prize"

1927 "Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean."

1932 "Amelia Earhart, because of bad weather, lands in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean."

1936 Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover's severed genitals in her hand. Her story soon became one of Japan's most notorious scandals.

1945 German war criminal Heinrich Himmler captured

1945 United States screen legend Humphrey Bogart marries actress Lauren Bacall.

1950 Two people die and more are injured as violent storms and a tornado sweep through counties around London.

1956 US explodes first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll

1958 "United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marples announces that from December, Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the Bristol area."

1961 Martial law is imposed in the town of Montgomery, Alabama, after violent racial clashes.

1964 The first nuclear-powered lighthouse begins operations (Chesapeake Bay)

1966 American Cassius Clay beats Britain's Henry Cooper in the sixth round at the Arsenal football ground, North London.

1971 Chelsea wins European Cup

1979 Elton John becomes the first western rock 'n roll artist to perform live in USSR

1980 """Empire Strikes Back"" premiers"

1982 British troops lands on Falkland Islands

1991 Rajiv Gandhi, the former Indian prime minister, is assassinated in a bomb attack in Tamil Nadu.

1993 Robin Smith scores 167 in England Texaco Trophy loss vs Australia

1998 "At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel, suspended for bringing a gun to school, shoots a semi-automatic rifle into a room filled with students, killing 2 wounding 25 others after killing his parents at home."

2000 "A chartered British Aerospace Jetstream 31 crashes near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, killing 19."

2003 "An earthquake hits northern Algeria, killing more than 2,000 people."

2004 "Sherpa Pemba Dorjie climbs Mount Everest in 8 hours 10 minutes, breaking his rival Sherpa Lakpa Gelu's record from the previous year."

2007 "One of the best-preserved clippers in existence, the Cutty Sark, while preserved in Greenwich, is severely damaged by fire."

2010 "Florida woman sent the required $48 renewal fee to the state's DMV, but received a driver's license that included the words ""Eat Ass"" where her street address should have been. But to add insult to insult, when she complained about the error, she was told that the DMV would be happy to replace the offending card, if she were willing to pay another fee. - USA"

2011 "End of World prediction - Judgment Day will begin and the rapture (the taking up into heaven of God's elect people) will occur at the end of the 23-year great tribulation. On October 21st, the world will be destroyed by fire (7000 years from the flood; 13,023 years from creation)."