1420 After two years of patient preparation following the Battle of Agincourt, King Henry V of England renewed the war against France on a larger scale in 1417, during the Hundred Years War. By 1419, the English were outside the walls of Paris and the French were forced into signing the Treaty of Troyes on May 21, 1420. The treaty agreed that during the insane King Charles VI of France's lifetime Henry would act as regent and succeed to the throne through marrying Charles' daughter.
1471 After being defeated at the Battle of Tewkesbury during the War Of Roses, on May 4, 1471, King Henry VI of England was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he died during the night of May 21, 1471. According to the Historie of the arrivall of Edward IV, Henry died of melancholy on hearing news of the Battle of Tewkesbury and his son's death there It is widely suspected, however, that Edward IV had in fact ordered his murder.
1502 The South Atlantic island of Saint Helena was discovered by the Portuguese navigator João de Nova on May 21, 1502. The island was named by de Nova after St Helena the consort of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus, mother of Constantine the Great. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross. Oliver Cromwell granted the English East India Company a charter to govern Saint Helena in 1658.
1527 Philip II of Spain was born on May 21, 1527 at Palacio de Pimentel in the Spanish capital of Valladolid. His father was Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, and his mother Infanta Isabella of Portugal. Philip was their only son to survive childhood. Charles V became convinced of Philip's potential statesmanship, and so he determined to leave in his hands the regency of Spain in 1543. Philip began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen.
1536 The Protestant Reformation reached the Swiss city of Geneva in the 1530s. The people of the city voted on May 21, 1536 to live "according to the gospel and the Word of God and to put an end to the masses and other papal practices" in their territory. John Calvin arrived in the city two months later. In 1541 John Calvin was appointed pastor of Geneva's Cathedral of St Peter He established a rigorous theocracy ( a government by priests) in the city.
1662 Catherine of Braganza, the daughter of John IV, King of Portugal married Charles II of England on May 21, 1662 at Portsmouth in two ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service at the chapel of Domus Dei. The prim and proper, quiet but fiery Catherine was marginalized by her childlessness (she had nine miscarriages) and her lack of education. Charles fathered up to 17 illegitimate children but had no legitimate offspring.
1688 English poet Alexander Pope was born on May 21, 1688 to Alexander Pope Senior of Plough Court, Lombard Street, London, and his wife Edith (née Turner). Pope's father was a well to do Catholic linen draper. He'd made his fortune and had retired to the country with his newly wedded wife. From his early childhood Alexander suffered numerous health problems, including Pott's disease (a form of tuberculosis affecting the spine) which deformed his body and stunted his growth.
1690 John Eliot "the apostle to the Indians" died on May 21, 1690, aged 85. His last words were "welcome joy!" The minister and "teaching elder" at the First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, much of Eliot's ministry focused on the conversion of Massachusett and other Algonquian Indians. Accordingly, Eliot translated the Bible into the previously unwritten language of the Algonquin Indians, the first Bible printed in any North American language.
1738 Charles Wesley converted from High Church to Evangelical Christianity on May 21, 1738 through a Mrs Turner. As she spoke to him about Christ, he picked up his Bible and opened to “He hath put a new song, in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Psalm 40 v 3. Wesley wrote the hymn "And Can It Be" the same year to celebrate his conversion. Three days after Charles Wesley 's conversion, his brother, John Wesley, had the same experience.
1780 Elizabeth Fry was born on May 21, 1780 in the family's town house at Gurney Court, off Magdalen Street in Norwich, Norfolk. Elizabeth's mother, Catherine, was the most important influence on her life. A devout Quaker, she was very involved in charity work and when Catherine visited and helped the sick and poor in the district, Betsy loved to go with her mother. From her mid 30s onwards, Elizabeth made it her life's work to improve the conditions in prisons in England.
1809 On May 21, 1809 the French made their first major effort to cross the Danube during the Napoleonic Wars, precipitating the Battle of Aspern-Essling. However, they were driven back by the Austrians under Archduke Charles. The result was the first defeat Napoleon suffered personally in a major set-piece battle in over a decade. The French emperor's set back caused excitement throughout many parts of Europe because it proved that he could be beaten on the battlefield.
1862 Edwin Pearce Christy, the founder of the Christy Minstrels show, died on May 21, 1862.
Christy started singing with two assistants in public houses in Buffalo, New York, in 1842. He enlarged his troop of black-faced minstrels, and they ran for a seven-year stint at New York City's Mechanics' Hall. Christy created many of the features of the classic minstrel show - the white-faced Mr. Interlocutor, the end men, Tambo and Bones, and the semi-circle of black face musicians.
1894 The Manchester Ship Canal linking Greater Manchester in North West England to the Irish Sea, was officially opened by Queen Victoria on May 21, 1894. The ship canal took six years to complete at a cost of just over £15 million. At 36¼ miles (58km) long, the Manchester Ship Canal is still the longest river navigation canal and remains the world's eighth-longest ship canal, only slightly shorter than the Panama Canal in Central America.
1898 On May 21, 1898, the first car bumper was fitted. The bumper was fitted to a prototype vehicle at the Imperial Wesseldorf wagon factory in Moravia (now Czech Republic). The car set off on a test drive to Vienna and the bumper fell off after less than ten miles.
1901 Connecticut became the first US state on May 21, 1901 to pass a law on regulating vehicle speed. The law established different speed limits based on the location. Within city limits, the maximum speed limit was set at 12 miles per hour (mph). On country roads, the speed limit was slightly higher, set at 15 mph.
1904 The world governing body for international football, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), was formed in Paris on May 21, 1904. British football remained aloof with England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland {Northern Ireland from 1920} all staying away.
1927 Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in the Spirit of St Louis on May 21, 1927. When Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Airport at 10:22 pm (22:22) on May 21, 1927, his first words on French soil were "well, I made it". As he had arrived well ahead of his flight plan, Lindbergh assumed no one would be there to greet him. He was wrong, a crowd of 150,000 surged around the plane. Lindbergh was carried shoulder high to the pavilion.
1929 Walter Deubener and his wife, Lydia, the owners of the S. S. Kruesge grocery store on Seventh Street in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota noticed that their customers were having a difficult time carrying their groceries by hand, As a solution Walter Deubener came up with the first shopping bag with handles and sold it for five cents. The Deubener couple were issued a patent for their bag on May 21, 1929, sold their store and went into the shopping bag business full-time.
1932 Amelia Earhart completed the first transatlantic solo flight by a woman on May 21, 1932. She took off in her Lockheed Vega 5B from Trepassey Harbor, Newfoundland on May 20th and bad weather forced her to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, approximately 15 hours later the next day.
1471 After being defeated at the Battle of Tewkesbury during the War Of Roses, on May 4, 1471, King Henry VI of England was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he died during the night of May 21, 1471. According to the Historie of the arrivall of Edward IV, Henry died of melancholy on hearing news of the Battle of Tewkesbury and his son's death there It is widely suspected, however, that Edward IV had in fact ordered his murder.
1502 The South Atlantic island of Saint Helena was discovered by the Portuguese navigator João de Nova on May 21, 1502. The island was named by de Nova after St Helena the consort of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus, mother of Constantine the Great. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross. Oliver Cromwell granted the English East India Company a charter to govern Saint Helena in 1658.
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| A View of Saint Helena, engraving, c. 1790 |
1527 Philip II of Spain was born on May 21, 1527 at Palacio de Pimentel in the Spanish capital of Valladolid. His father was Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, and his mother Infanta Isabella of Portugal. Philip was their only son to survive childhood. Charles V became convinced of Philip's potential statesmanship, and so he determined to leave in his hands the regency of Spain in 1543. Philip began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen.
1536 The Protestant Reformation reached the Swiss city of Geneva in the 1530s. The people of the city voted on May 21, 1536 to live "according to the gospel and the Word of God and to put an end to the masses and other papal practices" in their territory. John Calvin arrived in the city two months later. In 1541 John Calvin was appointed pastor of Geneva's Cathedral of St Peter He established a rigorous theocracy ( a government by priests) in the city.
1662 Catherine of Braganza, the daughter of John IV, King of Portugal married Charles II of England on May 21, 1662 at Portsmouth in two ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service at the chapel of Domus Dei. The prim and proper, quiet but fiery Catherine was marginalized by her childlessness (she had nine miscarriages) and her lack of education. Charles fathered up to 17 illegitimate children but had no legitimate offspring.
1688 English poet Alexander Pope was born on May 21, 1688 to Alexander Pope Senior of Plough Court, Lombard Street, London, and his wife Edith (née Turner). Pope's father was a well to do Catholic linen draper. He'd made his fortune and had retired to the country with his newly wedded wife. From his early childhood Alexander suffered numerous health problems, including Pott's disease (a form of tuberculosis affecting the spine) which deformed his body and stunted his growth.
1690 John Eliot "the apostle to the Indians" died on May 21, 1690, aged 85. His last words were "welcome joy!" The minister and "teaching elder" at the First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, much of Eliot's ministry focused on the conversion of Massachusett and other Algonquian Indians. Accordingly, Eliot translated the Bible into the previously unwritten language of the Algonquin Indians, the first Bible printed in any North American language.
1738 Charles Wesley converted from High Church to Evangelical Christianity on May 21, 1738 through a Mrs Turner. As she spoke to him about Christ, he picked up his Bible and opened to “He hath put a new song, in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Psalm 40 v 3. Wesley wrote the hymn "And Can It Be" the same year to celebrate his conversion. Three days after Charles Wesley 's conversion, his brother, John Wesley, had the same experience.
1780 Elizabeth Fry was born on May 21, 1780 in the family's town house at Gurney Court, off Magdalen Street in Norwich, Norfolk. Elizabeth's mother, Catherine, was the most important influence on her life. A devout Quaker, she was very involved in charity work and when Catherine visited and helped the sick and poor in the district, Betsy loved to go with her mother. From her mid 30s onwards, Elizabeth made it her life's work to improve the conditions in prisons in England.
1809 On May 21, 1809 the French made their first major effort to cross the Danube during the Napoleonic Wars, precipitating the Battle of Aspern-Essling. However, they were driven back by the Austrians under Archduke Charles. The result was the first defeat Napoleon suffered personally in a major set-piece battle in over a decade. The French emperor's set back caused excitement throughout many parts of Europe because it proved that he could be beaten on the battlefield.
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| The Battle of Aspern-Essling by Fernand Cornon |
1819 The bicycle evolved from a tiny wooden horse with a front wheel that was invented in France in the 1790s. The design was improved in 1817, by Germany's Baron Karl von Drais, who developed the steerable front wheel. Bicycles were first seen in the U.S. in New York City on May 21, 1819. Originally known as "Swift Walkers" or "Velocipedes," they were based on Baron Karl von Drais two-wheeled, steerable machine.
Christy started singing with two assistants in public houses in Buffalo, New York, in 1842. He enlarged his troop of black-faced minstrels, and they ran for a seven-year stint at New York City's Mechanics' Hall. Christy created many of the features of the classic minstrel show - the white-faced Mr. Interlocutor, the end men, Tambo and Bones, and the semi-circle of black face musicians.
1894 The Manchester Ship Canal linking Greater Manchester in North West England to the Irish Sea, was officially opened by Queen Victoria on May 21, 1894. The ship canal took six years to complete at a cost of just over £15 million. At 36¼ miles (58km) long, the Manchester Ship Canal is still the longest river navigation canal and remains the world's eighth-longest ship canal, only slightly shorter than the Panama Canal in Central America.
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| The yacht Norseman headed a convoy of vessels at the canal's opening in 1894. |
1898 On May 21, 1898, the first car bumper was fitted. The bumper was fitted to a prototype vehicle at the Imperial Wesseldorf wagon factory in Moravia (now Czech Republic). The car set off on a test drive to Vienna and the bumper fell off after less than ten miles.
1901 Connecticut became the first US state on May 21, 1901 to pass a law on regulating vehicle speed. The law established different speed limits based on the location. Within city limits, the maximum speed limit was set at 12 miles per hour (mph). On country roads, the speed limit was slightly higher, set at 15 mph.
1904 The world governing body for international football, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), was formed in Paris on May 21, 1904. British football remained aloof with England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland {Northern Ireland from 1920} all staying away.
1927 Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in the Spirit of St Louis on May 21, 1927. When Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Airport at 10:22 pm (22:22) on May 21, 1927, his first words on French soil were "well, I made it". As he had arrived well ahead of his flight plan, Lindbergh assumed no one would be there to greet him. He was wrong, a crowd of 150,000 surged around the plane. Lindbergh was carried shoulder high to the pavilion.
1929 Walter Deubener and his wife, Lydia, the owners of the S. S. Kruesge grocery store on Seventh Street in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota noticed that their customers were having a difficult time carrying their groceries by hand, As a solution Walter Deubener came up with the first shopping bag with handles and sold it for five cents. The Deubener couple were issued a patent for their bag on May 21, 1929, sold their store and went into the shopping bag business full-time.
1932 Amelia Earhart completed the first transatlantic solo flight by a woman on May 21, 1932. She took off in her Lockheed Vega 5B from Trepassey Harbor, Newfoundland on May 20th and bad weather forced her to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, approximately 15 hours later the next day.
1934 Oskaloosa, Iowa, was the first US township to fingerprint all of its citizens, including children, on May 21, 1934. The town's police chief, Harry O. Overstreet, was inspired to do so after reading about the success of fingerprinting programs in other countries. He believed that fingerprinting would help to solve crimes and to identify people who were lost or missing.
1945 Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart married in a three minute ceremony on May 21, 1945. The wedding took place at Malabar Farm, home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Louis Bromfield, in the Pleasant Valley area of Richland County, Ohio (now within the township of Lucas, Ohio). The home is now an Ohio State Park.
2004 Nepalese Pemba Dorje Sherpa climbed from Base Camp to the summit of Mount Everest in a time of 8 hr 10 min on May 21, 2004. It broke the record for the fastest ever ascent of the world's highest mountain. Its an incredible feat, considering that the average time it takes to climb Everest is about two weeks.
2005 The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opened at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey on May 21, 2005. It is 139 meters (456ft) high and reaches a top speed of 128 miles per hour (206 km/h). Riders must be at least 54 inches (137 cm) tall.
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