Sir Thomas More’s resignation as Lord Chancellor on May 16, 1532, did not provoke a riot in the streets or a dramatic rupture in the Tudor court—but it marked, with grave finality, the moment when one of England’s most brilliant minds stepped away from…
Read More
The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the first such trial in American history, was a highly contentious and politically charged event that culminated in his acquittal on May 16, 1868. Johnson, who ascended to the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, quickly found himself…
Read More
On May 15, 1536, Anne Boleyn—Queen of England, second wife of Henry VIII, and mother of the future Elizabeth I—stood trial at the Tower of London. The charges were staggering: adultery, incest, and high treason. The outcome was foreordained. Condemned by a hand-picked jury…
Read More
On May 15, 1940, in San Bernardino, California, Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s restaurant, marking the birth of what would become a global fast-food empire. This pioneering establishment, known then as “McDonald’s Bar-B-Q,” was initially a carhop drive-in with an expansive menu of…
Read More
In a bizarre legal footnote to American religious history—and a final echo of the spectral hysteria that once gripped colonial New England—the last case resembling a witchcraft trial in the United States began not in the 17th century, but in 1878. Nearly two centuries…
Read More
The 1948 Arab-Israeli War, also known as the War of Independence or Nakba , depending on one’s perspective, erupted immediately following the declaration of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, and lasted until early 1949. It marked the culmination of decades of tensions between…
Read More
On May 13, 1846, the United States Congress formally declared war on the Federal Republic of Mexico—a decision that, while presented to the public as a response to a Mexican military incursion, in fact reflected the culmination of deeper ideological currents, territorial ambitions, and…
Read More
On May 13, 1981, as Pope John Paul II greeted the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Mehmet Ali Ağca emerged from the throng, brandishing a handgun. In a matter of seconds, shots rang out, shattering the tranquility of the moment and plunging the square…
Read More
On May 12, 1743, Maria Theresa of Austria—daughter of the late Emperor Charles VI and the embattled heiress to the Habsburg dominions—was crowned Queen of Bohemia in Prague’s St. Vitus Cathedral, sealing a hard-won victory not only over the armies of her Bavarian rival,…
Read More
On May 12, 1846, the ill-fated journey of the Donner Party began their journey as they departed from Independence, Missouri, embarking on a journey that would ultimately become one of the most tragic tales of American pioneer history. Led by George Donner and James…
Read More
