May 21 2018 Descendants of Last Slave Ship Still Live in Alabama Community Becky Little The story of the Clotilda and the people who built Africatown For most black Americans descended from enslaved Africans theres no way of tracing back where their ancestors came from Theres also no way of discovering as Malcolm X emphasized their true family name The slave trade ripped families apart and records from slave ships and plantations often identified enslaved people with multiple or incomplete names Its extremely difficult to connect the freed black Americans first named on the 1870 census to their enslaved ancestorsa problem known as the 1870 Brick Wall Given this systematic erasure the story of the Clotilda the last slave ship to reach the US occupies a profoundly unique place in the history of the transatlantic slave trade There were roughly 110 African children teenagers and young adults on board the Clotilda when it arrived in Alabama in 1860 just one year before the Civil War Unable to return to Africa after emancipation on June 19 1865 aka Juneteenth they left records and gave interviews about who they were and where they came from that survive today The musician Questlove is descended from survivors of the ship and when he discovered this on the genealogy show Finding Your Roots historian Henry Louis Gates Jr told him You hit the jackpot Its the best documented story of the entire slave trade not only to the US but to the Americas says historian Sylviane A Diouf author of Dreams of Africa in Alabama The Slave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the Last Africans Brought to America The Clotilda made headlines in January 2018 when researchers announced they may have discovered its remains Though they later determined the vessel theyd found wasnt the Clotilda the event sparked renewed interest in finding the ship In May 2018 Harper Collins published Zora Neale Hurstons lost interview with Cudjo Lewis the last survivor of the ship who died in 1935 These developments have brought more attention to Clotilda survivors as well as to African Town the community they built for themselves in Alabama ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching An aerial photo taken Tuesday January 2 2018 in Mobile Alabama of what was though to be the Clotilda the last slave ship documented to have delivered captive Africans to the United States Credit Ben RainesAlcom via AP Even though slavery was still legal in 1860 the international slave trade was not and hadnt been since 1808 But southern white men broke the law by importing captured Africans long after the practice was banned and even viewed their evasion of the law as a source of pride Mobile businessman Timothy Meaher organized the Clotilda voyage after making a bet that he could as he put it bring a shipful of ns right into Mobile Bay under the officers noses The Clotilda sailed to a West African port now located in the country of Benin There the captain bought people from the Benin region like Cudjo Lewis Originally named Kossula he was only 19 years old when members of the Dahomean kingdom captured him and brought him to the coast for sale In Alabama Meaher sold some of the Africans but divided up most between himself his two brothers and the ships captainnone of whom were ever convicted for their crimes Lewis was one of about 30 Clotilda survivors forced to work for James Meaher for the next five years When news of emancipation reached this group in 1865 the first thing they wanted to do was to go back home Diouf says Meaher didnt provide them with passage back to Africa and they soon realized that they wouldnt be able to earn the money for their passage themselves Understanding that they would have to find a place to live in the US they decided to ask Timothy Meaher to provide a form of reparations In his interview with Zora Neale Hurston Lewis recalls explaining to Meaher that the Clotilda Africans had land and property back home but now had nothing Couldnt Meaher give them a piece of his own land as compensation for the lives and free labor hed stolen from them According to Lewis Meaher responded Fool do you think I goin give you property on top of property I tookee good keer my slaves and derefo I doan owe dem nothin Rebuffed by Meaher the group resolved to work hard and save money in order to buy some land from him which they did Lewis noted dryly to Hurston that Meaher didnt even take off one five cent from de price for us With this and other land they purchased they built a community called African Town Today it exists as the historic site Africatown in Mobile Alabama where many Clotilda descendants still live A man looking at a gravestone for Cudjo Lewis in the cemetery at the Africa Town Welcome Center Credit Jeffrey GreenbergUIG via Getty Images They decided that if you wont send us home well build Africa here in Alabama says Robert Battles Sr former executive director of the Historic Africatown Welcome Center In the midst of Jim Crow segregation and reconstruction they built a free society controlled and run by Africans I think that what this particular story is about is really the unity of the people who were on the ship Diouf says But their story is also the story of all the Africans who arrived through the slave trade We see the unity the strong bond between the people who were on slave ships and the link also to their families back home that was never broken in peoples mind As the Clotilda survivors made a new home for themselves in Alabama they continued to hope theyd see their families again one day They were saying that they knew that their families in Africa had been looking for them Diouf says And when they were interviewed their wish was for the interviewers to give their African names their original names so that if the story could ever go to Africa their families would know that they were still alive After the Clotilda s voyage to Africa Meaher burned the ship in the MobileTensaw River Delta to destroy the evidence of the illegal journey The wreckage was still visible at low tide for a few decades yet remains elusive today Recent speculation about the location of the ship has brought national attention to issues in Africatown such as its lawsuit against an industrial plant for generating cancercausing pollution This spring the community secured a grant to build a museum and many researchers and organizations remain interested in searching for the Clotilda If found the Clotilda would be the only ship from the US slave trade ever recovered But in particular it would be important for the Africatown community Paraphrasing Marcus Garvey Battles reflects If you dont know your history youre just like a tree without no roots Tags Black History By Becky Little

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


THIS

DAY

IN

HISTORY

August

Actress

Ingrid

Bergman

dies

on

her

birthday

On

this

day

in

the

Swedishborn

actress

and

threetime

Academy

Award

winner

Ingrid

Bergman

dies

of

cancer

in

London

on

her

birthday

Bergman

who

was

best

known

for

her

role

as

Ilsa

Lund

in

Casablanca

created

an

international

scandal

in

when

she

had

a

son

with

the

Italian

director

Roberto

Rossellini

to

whom

she

was

not

married

at

the

time

Bergman

who

was

born

on

August

studied

acting

at

Stockholms

Royal

Dramatic

Theatre

and

became

a

film

star

in

Sweden

before

making

her

first

Hollywood

movie

David

O

Selznicks

Intermezzo

A

Love

Story

In

Bergman

costarred

in

Casablanca

with

Humphrey

Bogart

who

uttered

the

famous

line

to

her

Heres

looking

at

you

kid

She

received

a

Best

Actress

Academy

Award

nomination

for

For

Whom

the

Bell

Tolls

which

was

followed

by

a

win

in

the

same

category

for

Gaslight

She

was

nominated

for

the

Best

Actress

Oscar

again

for

The

Bells

of

St

Marys

and

Joan

of

Arc

Bergman

worked

with

director

Alfred

Hitchcock

on

Spellbound

Notorious

and

Under

Capricorn

In

Bergman

began

a

romance

with

Roberto

Rossellini

when

he

directed

her

in

Stromboli

When

the

actress

who

at

the

time

was

married

to

a

Swedish

physician

with

whom

she

had

a

daughter

became

pregnant

with

Rossellinis

child

it

created

a

huge

scandal

Bergman

was

even

reprimanded

on

the

floor

of

the

US

Senate

The

couple

whose

son

was

born

in

February

married

in

May

of

that

same

year

In

Bergman

gave

birth

to

twin

daughters

one

of

them

Isabella

Rossellini

later

became

a

noted

actress

in

her

own

right

Pia

Lindstrom

Bergmans

daughter

from

her

first

marriage

also

had

an

acting

career

Bergman

and

Roberto

Rossellini

divorced

in

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks

for

watching

Bergman

won

another

Best

Actress

Academy

Award

for

Anastasia

the

actor

Cary

Grant

accepted

the

award

on

her

behalf

Bergman

did

not

return

publicly

to

Hollywood

until

the

Oscars

at

which

she

was

a

presenter

She

won

her

third

Academy

Award

in

the

category

of

Best

Actress

in

a

Supporting

Role

for

Murder

on

the

Orient

Express

Her

final

Oscar

nomination

in

the

Best

Actress

category

was

for

Autumn

Sonata

which

was

helmed

by

famed

Swedish

director

Ingmar

Bergman

to

whom

she

was

not

related

Citation

Information

Article

Title

Actress

Ingrid

Bergman

dies

on

her

birthday

Author

Historycom

Editors

Website

Name

HISTORY

URL

httpswwwhistorycomthisdayinhistoryactressingridbergmandiesonherbirthday

Access

Date

January

Publisher

AE

Television

Networks

Last

Updated

December

Original

Published

Date

November

Tags

Film

By

Historycom

Editors

FACT

CHECK

We

strive

for

accuracy

and

fairness

But

if

you

see

something

that

doesnt

look

right

contact

us

ALSO

ON

THIS

DAY

Art

Literature

and

Film

History

La

Bamba

is

a

hit

for

Los

Lobos

and

posthumously

Ritchie

Valens

In

one

of

pop

musics

most

famous

and

beautiful

turns

of

phrase

songwriter

Don

McLean

called

the

date

on

which

the

world

lost

Buddy

Holly

Ritchie

Valens

and

JP

The

Big

Bopper

Richardson

the

Day

the

Music

Died

But

while

three

rising

young

pop

stars

may

have

died

on

read

more

Art

Literature

and

Film

History

Michael

Jackson

is

born

Pop

sensation

Michael

Jackson

is

born

on

this

day

in

Gary

Indiana

Jackson

began

performing

with

his

four

brothers

in

the

pop

group

the

Jackson

when

he

was

a

child

The

group

scored

its

first

No

single

in

with

I

Want

You

Back

By

age

Jackson

was

appearing

on

TV

read

more

General

Interest

Pizarro

Executes

Last

Inca

Emperor

Atahuallpa

the

and

last

emperor

of

the

Incas

dies

by

strangulation

at

the

hands

of

Francisco

Pizarros

Spanish

conquistadors

The

execution

of

Atahuallpa

the

last

free

reigning

emperor

marked

the

end

of

years

of

Inca

civilization

High

in

the

Andes

Mountains

of

Peru

read

more

General

Interest

Soviets

explode

atomic

bomb

At

a

remote

test

site

at

Semipalatinsk

in

Kazakhstan

the

USSR

successfully

detonates

its

first

atomic

bomb

code

name

First

Lightning

In

order

to

measure

the

effects

of

the

blast

the

Soviet

scientists

constructed

buildings

bridges

and

other

civilian

structures

in

the

read

more

General

Interest

Humphrey

nominated

in

Chicago

In

Chicago

the

Democratic

National

Convention

nominates

Vice

President

Hubert

H

Humphrey

for

the

presidency

bringing

to

a

close

the

most

violent

political

convention

in

US

history

In

the

days

preceding

the

convention

thousands

of

antiwar

demonstrators

descended

on

read

more

General

Interest

Eamon

de

Valera

dies

Eamon

de

Valera

the

most

dominant

Irish

political

figure

of

the

century

dies

at

the

age

of

Eamon

de

Valera

was

born

in

New

York

City

in

the

son

of

a

Spanish

father

and

Irish

mother

When

his

father

died

two

years

later

he

was

sent

to

live

with

his

mothers

read

more

Sign

up

now

to

learn

about

This

Day

in

History

straight

from

your

inbox

Lead

Story

Hurricane

Katrina

slams

into

Gulf

Coast

Hurricane

Katrina

makes

landfall

near

New

Orleans

Louisiana

as

a

Category

hurricane

on

this

day

in

Despite

being

only

the

third

most

powerful

storm

of

the

hurricane

season

Katrina

was

the

worst

natural

disaster

in

the

history

of

the

United

States

After

briefly

read

more

World

War

II

Red

Cross

announces

Japan

refuses

passage

of

supplies

for

US

POWs

On

this

day

in

the

international

humanitarian

agency

the

Red

Cross

reveals

that

Japan

has

refused

free

passage

of

ships

carrying

food

medicine

and

other

necessities

for

American

POWs

held

by

Japan

In

January

the

US

government

requested

that

the

American

Red

read

more

Vietnam

War

President

Nguyen

Van

Thieu

retains

control

of

National

Assembly

President

Nguyen

Van

Thieu

retains

control

of

the

South

Vietnamese

National

Assembly

as

candidates

backing

him

sweep

the

opposition

in

the

Mekong

Delta

with

a

solid

majority

in

the

lower

house

Thieu

will

be

reelected

in

October

amid

charges

of

corruption

that

read

more

Vietnam

War

Nixon

announces

another

troop

reduction

President

Nixon

sets

December

as

the

target

date

for

reducing

US

troops

strength

in

Vietnam

by

to

an

alltime

low

since

the

American

troop

buildup

began

in

read

more

Vietnam

War

Khanh

steps

down

Nguyen

Khanh

steps

down

as

president

of

South

Vietnam

and

Xuan

Oanh

former

professor

at

Trinity

College

in

Connecticut

is

named

prime

minister

Khanh

had

been

a

major

player

in

the

instability

that

followed

the

assassination

of

Ngo

Dinh

Diem

in

November

This

period

was

read

more

Sports

Marathoner

assaulted

at

Olympics

On

this

day

in

Brazilian

distance

runner

Vanderlei

de

Lima

is

attacked

by

a

spectator

while

running

the

marathon

the

final

event

of

the

Summer

Olympics

in

Athens

Greece

At

the

time

of

the

incident

De

Lima

had

a

lead

in

the

race

with

four

miles

to

go

De

Lima

read

more

Presidential

Truman

orders

Navy

to

seize

control

of

petroleum

refineries

On

this

day

in

President

Harry

Truman

issues

Executive

Order

No

giving

the

Secretary

of

the

Navy

the

power

to

seize

control

of

and

operate

a

list

of

petroleum

refineries

and

transportation

companies

in

order

to

counteract

strikes

by

oil

workers

The

list

of

plants

read

more

Westward

Expansion

Ishi

discovered

in

California

Ishi

described

as

the

last

surviving

Stone

Age

Indian

in

the

contiguous

United

States

is

discovered

in

California

By

the

first

decade

of

the

century

EuroAmericans

had

so

overwhelmed

the

North

American

continent

that

scarcely

any

Native

Americans

remained

who

had

not

read

more

Art

Literature

and

Film

History

Robert

Frost

leaves

for

a

goodwill

tour

of

USSR

Robert

Frost

leaves

for

the

Soviet

Union

on

this

day

in

The

goodwill

tour

is

sponsored

by

the

US

State

Department

in

an

effort

to

thaw

Cold

War

relations

Frosts

poetry

has

established

his

international

reputation

as

Americans

unofficial

poet

laureate

While

his

best

read

more

Disaster

Hurricane

Katrina

wreaks

havoc

on

Gulf

Coast

On

this

day

in

Hurricane

Katrina

the

most

destructive

hurricane

ever

to

hit

the

United

States

makes

landfall

on

the

US

Gulf

Coast

near

New

Orleans

Louisiana

Katrina

which

formed

over

the

Bahamas

on

August

was

the

third

major

hurricane

of

a

particularly

severe

read

more

Disaster

Hurricane

Donna

is

born

On

this

day

in

the

storm

that

would

become

Hurricane

Donna

forms

near

Cape

Verde

off

the

African

coast

It

would

go

on

to

cause

deaths

from

Puerto

Rico

to

New

England

over

the

next

two

weeks

On

August

Donna

attained

hurricane

status

and

headed

west

toward

the

read

more

Crime

Hero

security

guard

wrongly

accused

as

bombing

suspect

dies

Richard

Jewell

the

hero

security

guard

turned

Olympic

bombing

suspect

dies

at

age

of

natural

causes

at

his

Georgia

home

On

July

during

the

Summer

Games

in

Atlanta

a

pipe

bomb

with

nails

went

off

in

crowded

Centennial

Olympic

Park

killing

one

woman

and

injuring

read

more

O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O


THIS

DAY

IN

HISTORY

May

Six

killed

in

Oregon

by

Japanese

bomb

In

Lakeview

Oregon

Mrs

Elsie

Mitchell

and

five

neighborhood

children

are

killed

while

attempting

to

drag

a

Japanese

balloon

out

the

woods

Unbeknownst

to

Mitchell

and

the

children

the

balloon

was

armed

and

it

exploded

soon

after

they

began

tampering

with

it

They

were

the

first

and

only

known

American

civilians

to

be

killed

in

the

continental

United

States

during

World

War

II

The

US

government

eventually

gave

in

compensation

to

Mitchells

husband

and

each

to

the

families

of

Edward

Engen

Sherman

Shoemaker

Jay

Gifford

and

Richard

and

Ethel

Patzke

the

five

slain

children

The

explosive

balloon

found

at

Lakeview

was

a

product

of

one

of

only

a

handful

of

Japanese

attacks

against

the

continental

United

States

which

were

conducted

early

in

the

war

by

Japanese

submarines

and

later

by

highaltitude

balloons

carrying

explosives

or

incendiaries

In

comparison

three

years

earlier

on

April

the

first

squadron

of

US

bombers

dropped

bombs

on

the

Japanese

cities

of

Tokyo

Kobe

and

Nagoyo

surprising

the

Japanese

military

command

who

believed

their

home

islands

to

be

out

of

reach

of

Allied

air

attacks

When

the

war

ended

on

August

some

tons

of

conventional

Citation

Information

Article

Title

Six

killed

in

Oregon

by

Japanese

bomb

Author

Historycom

Editors

Website

Name

HISTORY

URL

httpswwwhistorycomthisdayinhistorysixkilledinoregonbyjapanesebomb

Access

Date

January

Publisher

AE

Television

Networks

Last

Updated

August

Original

Published

Date

February

Tags

World

War

II

By

Historycom

Editors

FACT

CHECK

We

strive

for

accuracy

and

fairness

But

if

you

see

something

that

doesnt

look

right

contact

us

ALSO

ON

THIS

DAY

Art

Literature

and

Film

History

SpiderMan

is

first

movie

to

top

million

in

opening

weekend

Directed

by

Sam

Raimi

and

starring

Tobey

Maguire

in

the

title

role

the

eagerly

awaited

comic

book

adaptation

SpiderMan

was

released

on

Friday

May

and

quickly

became

the

fastest

movie

ever

to

earn

more

than

million

at

the

box

office

raking

in

a

staggering

read

more

Art

Literature

and

Film

History

Peaches

and

Herb

top

the

pop

charts

with

Reunited

General

Interest

Napoleon

dies

in

exile

Napoleon

Bonaparte

the

former

French

ruler

who

once

ruled

an

empire

that

stretched

across

Europe

dies

as

a

British

prisoner

on

the

remote

island

of

Saint

Helena

in

the

southern

Atlantic

Ocean

The

Corsicaborn

Napoleon

one

of

the

greatest

military

strategists

in

history

read

more

General

Interest

Battle

of

Puebla

During

the

FrenchMexican

War

an

outnumbered

Mexican

army

defeats

a

powerful

invading

French

force

at

the

small

town

of

Puebla

de

Los

Angeles

The

retreat

of

the

French

troops

at

the

Battle

of

Puebla

represented

a

great

moral

victory

for

the

people

of

Mexico

read

more

General

Interest

IRA

militant

Bobby

Sands

dies

On

May

imprisoned

IrishCatholic

militant

Bobby

Sands

dies

after

refusing

food

for

days

in

protest

of

his

treatment

as

a

criminal

rather

than

a

political

prisoner

by

British

authorities

His

death

immediately

touched

off

widespread

rioting

in

Belfast

as

young

read

more

Lead

Story

The

first

American

in

space

From

Cape

Canaveral

Florida

Navy

Commander

Alan

Bartlett

Shepard

Jr

is

launched

into

space

aboard

the

Freedom

space

capsule

becoming

the

first

American

astronaut

to

travel

into

space

The

suborbital

flight

which

lasted

minutes

and

reached

a

height

of

miles

into

the

read

more

Sign

up

now

to

learn

about

This

Day

in

History

straight

from

your

inbox

Vietnam

War

US

forces

capture

Snoul

Cambodia

In

Cambodia

a

US

force

captures

Snoul

miles

from

the

tip

of

the

Fishhook

area

across

the

border

from

South

Vietnam

miles

from

Saigon

A

squadron

of

nearly

tanks

from

the

Armored

Cavalry

Regiment

and

jet

planes

virtually

leveled

the

village

that

had

been

read

more

Vietnam

War

North

Vietnamese

turn

back

South

Vietnamese

relief

column

South

Vietnamese

troops

from

the

Division

trying

to

reach

beleaguered

An

Loc

in

Binh

Long

Province

via

Highway

are

again

pushed

back

by

the

communists

who

had

overrun

a

supporting

South

Vietnamese

firebase

The

South

Vietnamese

division

had

been

trying

to

break

through

read

more

Sports

Cy

Young

throws

perfect

game

On

May

Boston

Red

Sox

pitcher

Cy

Young

throws

a

perfect

game

against

the

Detroit

Tigers

who

had

fellow

future

Hall

of

Fame

pitcher

Rube

Waddell

on

the

mound

This

was

the

first

perfect

game

of

the

modern

era

the

last

had

been

thrown

by

John

Montgomery

Ward

in

It

read

more

Presidential

Reagan

visits

concentration

camp

and

war

cemetery

On

this

day

in

President

Ronald

Reagan

angers

Jewish

leaders

and

Holocaust

survivors

by

visiting

the

Bitburg

war

cemetery

in

Germany

ThenGerman

Chancellor

Helmut

Kohl

who

suggested

the

visit

accompanied

Reagan

to

the

cemetery

where

German

troops

are

buried

read

more

Westward

Expansion

Sitting

Bull

leads

his

people

into

Canada

Nearly

a

year

after

the

Battle

of

the

Little

Big

Horn

Sitting

Bull

and

a

band

of

followers

cross

into

Canada

hoping

to

find

safe

haven

from

the

US

Army

On

June

Sitting

Bulls

warriors

had

joined

with

other

Indians

in

the

Battle

of

the

Little

Big

Horn

in

Montana

read

more

Art

Literature

and

Film

History

The

Examiner

publishes

John

Keats

first

poem

The

first

published

poem

by

John

Keats

appears

in

The

Examiner

on

this

day

in

Unlike

many

writers

of

his

day

Keats

came

from

a

lowermiddleclass

background

His

father

worked

at

a

stable

in

London

and

eventually

married

the

owners

daughter

John

was

the

first

read

more

Disaster

Hail

storm

surprises

Dallas

residents

The

Dallas

Texas

area

is

hit

by

torrential

rains

and

a

severe

hailstorm

that

leaves

dead

and

many

others

seriously

wounded

on

this

day

in

The

storm

which

hit

both

Dallas

and

Tarrant

counties

was

the

worst

recorded

hail

storm

to

hit

the

United

States

in

the

read

more

Crime

Human

remains

found

in

suitcase

near

Virginia

Beach

On

May

a

suitcase

holding

what

is

later

identified

as

the

partial

remains

of

William

McGuire

a

Navy

veteran

and

computer

analyst

is

pulled

from

the

water

near

Virginia

Beach

A

second

suitcase

of

body

parts

was

found

nearby

on

May

and

a

third

washed

up

read

more

Civil

War

Grant

and

Lee

clash

in

the

Wilderness

forest

The

forces

of

Union

General

Ulysses

S

Grant

and

Confederate

General

Robert

E

Lee

clash

in

the

Wilderness

forest

in

Virginia

beginning

an

epic

campaign

Lee

had

hoped

to

meet

the

Federals

who

plunged

into

the

tangled

Wilderness

west

of

Chancellorsville

Virginia

the

day

read

more

Cold

War

Allies

end

occupation

of

West

Germany

The

Federal

Republic

of

Germany

West

Germany

becomes

a

sovereign

state

when

the

United

States

France

and

Great

Britain

end

their

military

occupation

which

had

begun

in

With

this

action

West

Germany

was

given

the

right

to

rearm

and

become

a

fullfledged

member

of

the

read

more

Inventions

Science

Driving

pioneer

Bertha

Benz

dies

Bertha

Benz

the

wife

of

inventor

Karl

Benz

and

the

first

person

to

drive

an

automobile

over

a

long

distance

dies

on

this

day

in

in

Ladenburg

Germany

Born

Bertha

Ringer

she

married

Karl

Benz

around

Karl

Benz

received

a

patent

for

his

horseless

carriage

called

read

more

American

Revolution

Clinton

excludes

Howe

and

Harnett

from

amnesty

offer

In

North

Carolina

British

Lieutenant

General

Henry

Clinton

issues

a

proclamation

denouncing

the

Patriots

wicked

rebellion

and

recommending

that

the

inhabitants

of

North

Carolina

return

their

allegiance

to

the

king

He

offered

full

pardon

to

all

persons

except

Continental

read

more

O O O O O O O B I I I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O