This Week in History
This Week in History... May 25-31, 2009
- 05-24-1911 - The New York Public Library, at the time the largest marble structure ever built in the United States, was dedicated by President Taft in New York City after 16 years of construction.
- 05-24-1844 - Samuel Morse transmitted the first telegraph message, in which he asked, "What hath God wrought?"
- 05-24-1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City, opened to traffic.
- 05-24-2000 - Israeli troops pulled out of Lebanon after 18 consecutive years of occupation.
- 05-24-2001 - Vermont senator James Jeffords quit the Republican Party and became an Independent, giving Democrats control of the Senate.
- 05-25-1787 - The Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia under the leadership of George Washington, in order to establish a new U.S. government.
- 05-25-1925 - John Scopes was indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
- 05-25-1979 - The worst air disaster in U.S. history (excluding the Sept. 11 attacks) occurred when a DC-10 crashed at Chicago's O'Hare airport, killing over 270 people.
- 05-26-1521 - Martin Luther's writings were banned by the Edict of Worms.
- 05-26-1868 - President Andrew Johnson avoided conviction for impeachment charges of "high crimes and misdemeanors" by one vote.
- 05-26-1940 - Allied troops began the massive naval evacuation of troops from Dunkirk, France, during World War II.
- 05-26-2003 - Rwandans voted to approve a new constitution that instituted a balance of power between Hutu and Tutsi.
- 05-27-1647 - The first recorded execution of a witch reportedly took place in Massachusetts when Achsah Young was hanged.
- 05-27-1703 - St. Petersburg was founded by Czar Peter the Great.
- 05-27-1936 - The Queen Mary left England on its maiden voyage, arriving in France four hours later.
- 05-27-1937 - Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco opened.
- 05-27-1941 - British ships sank the German battleship Bismarck off the coast of France, resulting in the loss of 2,300 lives.
- 05-27-1996 - After a year and a half of bloodshed, Russian President Boris Yeltsin met with the leader of the Chechen rebels and negotiated a cease-fire.
- 05-27-1999 - Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague for crimes against humanity.
- 05-28-1754 - Lieutenant Colonel George Washington begins the Seven Years' War
- 05-28-1863 - Robert Gould Shaw, leading the first northern all-black regiment, leaves Boston for the Civil War.
- 05-28-1918 - U.S. troops score victory at Cantigny
- 05-28-1937 - Golden Gate Bridge opens
- 05-28-1940 - Belgium surrenders unconditionally
- 05-28-1969 - U.S. troops abandon "Hamburger Hill"
- 05-28-1987 - Mathias Rust, a 19-year-old pilot from West Germany, landed his private plane in Moscow's Red Square. He was arrested and sentenced to four years in a labor camp, but was released after just one.
- 05-28-2003 - Pres. Bush signed a $350 billion tax cut into law; the third largest tax cut in U.S. history.
- 05-29-1780 - Tarleton gives "quarter" in South Carolina
- 05-28-1765 - Patrick Henry bitterly denounced the Stamp Act in the Virginia House of Burgesses.
- 05-28-1790 - Rhode Island became the 13th state in the United States, the last of the original colonies to ratify the Constitution.
- 05-29-1843 - Fremont begins his second western expedition
- 05-29-1848 - Wisconsin became the 30th state in the United States.
- 05-29-1864 - Union troops reach Totopotomoy Creek, Virginia
- 05-29-1865 - President Andrew Johnson issues general amnesty for all Confederates
- 05-29-1917 - John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass.
- 05-29-1942 - Jews in Paris are forced to sew a yellow star on their coats
- 05-29-1942 - Bing Crosby recorded his version of "White Christmas." It would go on to sell over 30 million copies.
- 05-29-1988 - Reagan arrives in Moscow for summit talks
- 05-29-1990 - Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic by the parliament.
- 05-30-1431 - Joan of Arc was burned at the stake as a heretic.
- 05-30-1536 - King Henry VIII of England married his 3rd wife, Jane Seymour, 11 days after he had his 2nd wife, Anne Boleyn executed.
- 05-30-1806 - Patriot and future President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel
- 05-30-1861 - Union troops occupy Grafton, Virginia
- 05-30-1862 - Confederates evacuate Corinth, Mississippi
- 05-30-1864 - Confederates attack at Bethesda Church, Virginia
- 05-30-1922 - The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, was dedicated by Chief Justice William Howard Taft.
- 05-31-1775 - Mecklenburg Resolutions reject the power of the British in North Carolina
- 05-31-1790 - The first U.S. Copyright Law was enacted, protecting books, maps, and other original materials.
- 05-31-1859 - Big Ben goes into operation in London
- 05-31-1889 - Heavy rains caused the South Fork Dam to collapse, sending 20 million tons of water into Johnstown, Pa. Over 2,200 people were killed and the town was nearly destroyed.
- 05-31-1911 - The hull of the Titanic was launched in Belfast. At the ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, "Not even God himself could sink this ship."
- 05-31-1962 - Former Gestapo official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel.
- 05-31-2004 - Alberta Martin, 97, one of the last widows of a U.S. Civil War veteran, died. She had married Confederate veteran William Martin in 1927 when she was 21 and he was 81.
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