On May 5, 1866, the small village of Waterloo, New York, held what is widely recognized as the first formal observance of Memorial Day in the United States. Known at the time as Decoration Day, the event was a community-wide tribute to honor the…
Read MoreThe Battle of Puebla, fought on May 5, 1862, holds a significant place in Mexican history, particularly as the origin of the Cinco de Mayo holiday. At the center of this historic event stands Ignacio Zaragoza, a Mexican general whose strategic brilliance halted a…
Read MoreOn May 4, 1886, the Haymarket Affair, a watershed event marked by ideological conflict and explosive violence, unfolded in Chicago, profoundly shaping America’s political and labor landscape. Occurring amid escalating nationwide tensions driven by a determined campaign for an eight-hour workday, this incident encapsulated…
Read MoreOn May 4th, 1961, one of the most important campaigns in the Civil Rights Movement began with a simple bus ride. The Freedom Rides, a series of audacious bus trips through the segregated South, were orchestrated with a singular purpose: to challenge the legality of segregated…
Read MoreOn May 3, 1802, the City of Washington—the urban core of the newly established District of Columbia—was formally incorporated by act of Congress, inaugurating a mayor-council form of government and dissolving the three-man Board of Commissioners that had governed the district since its inception.…
Read MoreOn May 3, 1957, Walter O’Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, a team deeply loved by their fans, made a shocking decision. They were leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles. For Brooklynites, the Dodgers were more than just a baseball team; they were a…
Read MoreOn May 2, 1611, in the heart of London, England, printer Robert Barker released the first edition of what would become one of the most influential and widely read books in the English-speaking world: the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. Commissioned by…
Read MoreMay 2, 1945, saw the conclusion of one of the most important battles in history. That was the day the Red Army announced that it had captured Berlin, effectively ending the Third Reich a few days after Adolph Hitler killed himself while hiding in…
Read MoreOn May 2, 1863, during the American Civil War, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, one of the most renowned figures in the Confederate army, met his fate on the battlefield in a turn of events that would echo through battlefields across the United States. The…
Read MoreOn May 1, 1915, the RMS Lusitania left port in New York to travel back to Great Britain. It never made it when it was sunk by German U-Boats nearly a week later, changing the course of World War 1. “The Lusitania, which was owned by…
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