May 1

1893 - Commodore George Dewey gave the command "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley" as an American naval force destroyed a Spanish fleet in Manila Bay during the Spanish - American War.

May 2

1670 - A charter granting all the Canadian territory draining into Hudson Bay to the Hudson's Bay Company was signed by King Charles II of Britain.

1863 - Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Va; he died 8 days later.

1519 - Leonardo da Vinci died at Cloux, France.

May 3

1898 - Israeli leader and Prime Minister (1969 - 74) Golda Meir was born.

1654 - A bridge in Rowley, Mass was permitted to charge a toll for animals, while people crossed for free.

May 4

1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on present day Manhattan Island.

1886 - At Haymarket Square in Chicago, a labour demonstration for an 8 hr. work day turned into a riot when a bomb exploded.

May 5

1900 - Pte. Richard R. Thompson of Ottawa was awarded the Queen's Scarf -- Knitted by Queen Victoria -- for gallantry in the Boer War.

1821 - Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena

May 6

1877 - About 15500 Sioux, led by Chief Sitting Bull, entered Canada, to settle at Wood Mountain, in present-day Saskatchewan. They came following their victory over Gen. George Custer, and the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

May 7

1789 - The first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President and Mrs. George Washington.

May 8

1882 - The Northwest Territories were divided into 4 districts: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Assiniboia, and Athabaska.

1541 - Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.

1846 - The first major battle of the Mexican War was fought at Palo alto, Texas resulting in victory for Gen. Zachary Taylor's forces.

1884 - The 33rd president of the U.S., Harry S. Truman was born near Lamar, Mo.

1886 - Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invented the flavor syrup for Coca-Cola.

May 9

1502 - Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain on his forth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.

May 10

1798 - English navigator and explorer George Vancouver died. He was noted for undertaking the difficult survey of the Pacific Coast of North America, from the vicinity of San Francisco northward to British Columbia. His book: Voyage of Discover to the North Pacific Ocean and Around the World 1790 - 95 was published in 1798.

1844 - The capital of Canada moved from Kingston, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec.

1899 - Movie musical star, Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, Neb.

1774 - Louis the 16th ascended the throne of France.

1775 - Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys captured the British held fortress at Ticonderoga, NY.

1818 - American patriot Paul Revere died in Boston.

1865 - Union forces captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Ga.

1869 - A golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S.

May 11

1880 - Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt became Canada's first high commissioner in London. He emigrated to Canada to work for the British American Land Company, which opened land for settlement in Quebec's eastern twps.

1647 - Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor.

1888 - Song writer, Irving Berlin was born in Temum, Russia.

May 12

1870 - Royal assent was given to the Manitoba Act, allowing Manitoba to become Canada's fifth province.

1820 - The founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, was born in Florence, Italy.

May 13

1607 - The English Colony at Jamestown, VA was settled.

1842 - Sir Arthur Sullivan was born in London

May 14

1643 - Louis th 14th became King of France at age 4 upon the death of his father Louis the 13th.

1796 - English physician Edward Jenner administered the first vaccination against smallpox to an 8 yr. old boy.

May 15

1874 - Canada introduced football to the U.S.

1602 - Cape Cod was discovered by English navigator, Bartholomew Gosneld.

1886 - Emily Dickinson died in Amherst, Mass.

May 16

1770 - Marie Antoinette, 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.

May 17

1814 - Norway's constitution was signed providing for a limited monarchy.

1849 - A fire in St. Louis, MO., destroyed more than 400 buildings and two dozen steamships.

May 18

1642 - Montreal, Quebec was founded.

May 19

1535 - Jacques Cartier left St. Malo with 3 ships, La Grande Hermine, La Petite Hermine and L'Emerillon. After a 50 day crossing he reached the Golf of the St. Lawrence.

1780 - Complete darkness fell on Eastern Canada and the New England states at two o'clock in the afternoon. The cause of the "dark day" has never been explained

1536 - Ann Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry Viii was beheaded after she was convicted of adultery.

1643 - Delegates from four New England colonies, met in Boston to form a confederation.

1884 - First performance of Ringling Brother's Circus was held today.

May 20

1803 - Chief Justice William Osgoode declared that slavery was inconsistent with the laws of Canada.

1506 - Christopher Columbus died in poverty in Spain.

1799 - French author Honore de Balzac was born in Tours, France.

1861 - The capital of Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond, Va.

1830 - First railroad timetable published for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

May 21

1881 - American National Red Cross founded by Clara Barton.

May 22

1813 - Composer Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany

1868 - The Great Train Robbery took place near Marshfield Indiana, as 7 members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 in loot.

May 23

1430 - Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her, to the English.

1533 - The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was declared null and void.

1701 - Capt. William Kidd was hanged in London after he was convicted of piracy and murder.

May 24

1844 - Samuel F. B. Morse taps out "What hath God wrought," first telegraph message.

1819 - Queen Victoria was born in London.

1881 - Some 200 people died when the Canadian ferry Princess Victoria sank near London, Ontario.

May 25

1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston.

1810 - Argentina's revolt against Spain began.

1895 - Playwright, Oscar Wilde was convicted of a morals charge in London and sentenced to prison.

May 26

1896 - Las Czar of Russia, Nicholas II was crowned.

1901 - The first major oil strike in the Middle East was made in Persia, now Iran.

1805 - Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned King of Italy.

May 27

1647 - The first recorde American execution of a "witch" took place in Massachusettes.

1818 - American reformer Amelia Jenks Bloomer, who popularized the garment that bears her name "bloomers" was born in Homer, NY.

1896 - 255 people were killed when a tornado struck St. Louis, Mo., and East St. Louis, Ill.

May 28

1533 - England's Archbishop declared the marriage of King Henry VIII to Ann Bolyn valid.

May 29

1815 - An Order-in-Council declared Canada opened to citizens of the United States for commerse.

May 30

1431 - Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.

1883 - 12 people were trampled to death in a stampede triggered by a rumor that the recently opened Brooklyn Bridge was in imminent danger of collapsing.

1901 - Memorial Day first observed in the U.S.

May 31

1889 - More than 2000 people perished when a dam break sent water rushing through Johnstown, PA.

1809 - Composer Franz Joseph Hayden died in Vienna, Austria.

1819 - Walt Whitman was born in West Hill, NY.