This date in history

[Jimbuna]

1607 First English colony in American lands at Cape Henry, Virginia.

1945 World War II: Battle of Bautzen - last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.

1945 Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, leader of France's Vichy collaborationist regime during WW II, arrested for treason.

1952 US minesweeper Hobson rams aircraft carrier Wasp, kills 176.

1982 Argentina surrenders to Britain on S Georgia near Falkland Islands.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

1945 World War II: Battle of Bautzen - last successful German tank-offensive of the war and last noteworthy victory of the Wehrmacht.

An interesting and useless disaster on both sides-the big picture was Berlin:

Polish historians have been much more critical of Świerczewski's command, blaming his drive on Dresden for the near destruction of the Polish force. Świerczewski's lack of competence, according to some sources, included commanding the battle while drunk. He was briefly relieved of command by Marshal Konev,. but due to the backing of the Soviet high command (most likely the NKVD) he not only retained his position but all controversies were hushed up, and after the war was hailed as a hero. The actions of other Polish officers have also been questioned, such as the 9th Infantry Division commander's decision to advance without sufficient reconnaissance and escort.

Ferdinand Schörner, upon Hitler's suicide, promoted to last commander of the Oberkommando des Heeres (Supreme Command of the Army, the OKH) was not much better. A favorite of Goebbels and Hitler: on 4 April 1945, Schörner was promoted to field marshal and was named as the new Commander-in-Chief of the German Army (Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres) in Hitler's last testament.

German veterans particularly criticized Schörner for a 1945 order that all soldiers found behind the front lines, who did not possess written orders to be in that particular area, were to be court-martialed on the spot and hanged if found guilty of desertion. This is mentioned in the writings of and Joseph Goebbels. "Deserters get no mercy from him," Goebbels wrote of Schörner on 11 March 1945. "They are hanged from the nearest tree with a placard round their necks saying: 'I am a deserter. I have declined to defend German women and children and therefore I have been hanged.'" The approving Goebbels continued with, "Naturally such methods are effective. Every man in Schörner's area knows that he may die at the front but will inevitably die in the rear." Gottlob H. Bidermann, a German infantry officer who served in Schörner's command in 1944-45, reported in his memoirs that the General was despised by officers and men alike.
While Schörner's men were marched off to die in Soviet POW camps at the cessation of hostilities, Schörner made certain that he personally avoided their fate. When captured by the Americans in their sector, Schörner is said to have been dressed as a Bavarian non-combatant, behavior for which he had only recently had his own soldiers executed.
Moreover, Schörner did not hesitate to second Hitler's daydreams in the last weeks of the war, agreeing that the Red Army's main objective would be Prague instead of Berlin (in itself a colossal strategic blunder), and so leading him to weaken the already critically thin defense lines in front of the German capital to counter this perceived threat. Historian Ian Kershaw described him in 2011 (BBC History Magazine) as "extraordinarily brutal". Following the war he was convicted of war crimes by courts in the Soviet Union, East Germany, and West Germany. Schörner was arrested in August 1951 by the Soviet authorities on charges of war crimes. In February 1952 the Military Board of the USSR Supreme Court sentenced him to 25 years' imprisonment. A decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in April 1952 reduced this sentence to 12 and a half years. A decree of December 1954 allowed him to be handed over to authorities of the German Democratic Republic, who allowed him to leave for West Germany in 1958. There he was arrested and charged with the illegal executions of German Army soldiers accused of desertion. He was found guilty and sentenced to four and a half years' jail, which he served.

He was released in 1963 and lived in obscurity in Munich until his death in 1973. In the late 1960s he gave a lengthy interview the battle of Caporetto in World War I rather than on his World War II service. At his death in 1973 he was the last living German Field Marshal. The end of wars of annihilation are never good. The pictures show the grimness, hatred and utter waste of the closing days. View at your discretion: https://historyimages.blogspot.com/2011/09/1945-soviet-army-last-stages-ww2.html

[Jimbuna]

1940 Himmler orders establishment of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

1945 Italian partisans capture Benito Mussolini at Dongo (Lake Como).

1946 First radar installed aboard a commercial ship.

1989 Beijing students take over Tiananmen Square in China.

[Jimbuna]

1655 English General-at-Sea Robert Blake (he was never titled Admiral) beats North African pirate fleet.

1770 British Captain James Cook, aboard the Endeavour, lands at Botany Bay in Australia.

1789 Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on HMS Bounty against its captain William Bligh.

1910 First night air flight by Claude Grahame-White in England.

1937 1st commercial flight across Pacific operated by Pan Am.

1940 SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) Rudolf Höss (not Hess, diferent Nazi) becomes commandant of concentration camp Auschwitz.

1944 Exercise "Tiger" ends with 750 US soldiers dead in D-Day rehearsal after their convoy ships were attacked by German torpedo boats off Slapton Sands, Devon.

[Kaye T. Bai]

1503 - The Battle of Cerignola is fought between the Spanish and the French. It is the first battle in history won by firearms.
1788 - Maryland officially joins the United States of America.
1923 - Wembley Stadium opens in the United Kingdom.
1967 - Amidst the Vietnam War, boxer Muhammad Ali refuses to be drafted into the U.S. Army.
1969 - Charles de Gaulle resigns as the president of France.
1975 - With enemy forces closing in on the South Vietnamese capital, General Cao Văn Viên, the South Vietnamese army's head, departs for the U.S.
1986 - The USS Enterprise becomes the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to pass through the Suez Canal.
1994 - Aldrich Ames, a man who worked for the CIA, pleads guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later the Russian Federation.
1996 - 35 people are killed after an armed gunman opens fire at the Broad Arrow Cafe in Port Arthur, Australia.
2007 - A minor earthquake hits Kent, United Kingdom.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Kaye T. Bai

1503 - The Battle of Cerignola is fought between the Spanish and the French. It is the first battle in history won by firearms.

PERHAPS NOT THE FIRST! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_gunpowder

The Battle of Crécy in 1346 was one of the first in Europe where cannons were used. Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani describes the deployment of firearms thus, "The English king arranged his archers, of whom he had many, on the carts, and some below and with guns [bombarde] that threw out small iron pellets [pallottole] with fire, to frighten the French horsemen and cause them to desert."

Traditionally the first appearance of the hand cannon is dated to the late 13th century, just after the Mongol conquest of the Song dynasty. However a sculpture depicting a figure carrying a gourd shaped hand cannon was discovered among the Dazu Rock Carvings in 1985 by Robin Yates. The sculptures were completed roughly 250 km northwest of Chongqing by 1128, after the fall of Kaifeng to the Jin dynasty. If the dating is correct this would push back the appearance of the cannon in China by a hundred years more than previously thought. The bulbous nature of the cannon is congruous with the earliest hand cannons discovered in China and Europe.
Archaeological samples of the gun, specifically the hand cannon (huochong), have been dated starting from the 13th century. The oldest extant gun whose dating is unequivocal is the Xanadu Gun, so called because it was discovered in the ruins of Xanadu, the Mongol summer palace in Inner Mongolia. The Xanadu Gun is 34.7 cm in length and weighs 6.2 kg. Its dating is based on archaeological context and a straightforward inscription whose era name and year corresponds with the Gregorian Calendar at 1298. Not only does the inscription contain the era name and date, it also includes a serial number and manufacturing information which suggests that gun production had already become systematized, or at least become a somewhat standardized affair by the time of its fabrication. The design of the gun includes axial holes in its rear which some speculate could have been used in a mounting mechanism. Like most early guns with the possible exception of the Western Xia gun, it is small, weighing just over six kilograms and thirty-five centimeters in length. Although the Xanadu Gun is the most precisely dated gun from the 13th century, other extant samples with approximate dating likely predate it.
One candidate is the Heilongjiang hand cannon, discovered in 1970, and named after the province of its discovery, Heilongjiang, in northeastern China. It is small and light like the Xanadu gun, weighing only 3.5 kilograms, 34 cm (Needham says 35 cm), and a bore of approximately 2.5 cm. Based on contextual evidence, historians believe it was used by Yuan forces against a rebellion by Mongol prince Nayan in 1287. The History of Yuan states that a Jurchen commander known as Li Ting led troops armed with hand cannons into battle against Nayan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayan_(Mongol_Prince).

[Kaye T. Bai]

1781 - British and French ships battle each other off of the coast of Martinique during the U.S. Revolutionary War.
1861 - At the start of the American Civil War, the U.S. state of Maryland chooses to remain a part of the United States.
1862 - U.S. Marines capture the city hall of New Orleans during the American Civil War.
1903 - A mudslide kills 70 people in Frank, Canada.
1916 - A rebellion in Ireland comes to an end as its leaders surrender to the UK.
1945 - During World War II, German forces in Italy surrender to the Allies and American soldiers liberate the Dachau concentration camp.
1946 - The Japanese prime minister and dozens of other Japanese officials are indicted for war crimes committed during World War II.
1970 - During the Vietnam War, American and South Vietnamese forces enter Cambodia in search of Viet Cong.
1975 - With a North Vietnamese victory imminent, the U.S. begins withdrawing its citizens from South Vietnam.
1986 - A fire at a library in Los Angeles County destroys thousands of books.
1991 - An earthquake hits the country of Georgia, killing hundreds.
1992 - Riots erupt in Los Angeles County after the courts acquit several policemen who were accused of severely beating a prostrate man.
1997 - The Chemical Weapons Convention enters into force, banning the possession, creation, and usage of such weapons by countries that have ratified it.
2006 - Anti-war protests occur in New York City, New York.
2010 - Dozens of people are stabbed at a school in China.
2013 - A building in the Czech Republic explodes, probably due to a gas leak, injuring 43 people.
2015 - The Americas are declared free of rubella by the World Health Organization, the first place in the world to be.

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

*snip*

Oops, thanks for the correction. My source told me it was the first.

[Jimbuna]

1429 Joan of Arc arrives at the seige of Orleans.

1587 Sir Frances Drake sails into Cadiz Spain & sinks Spanish fleet ("singeing the King of Spain's beard").

1916 Irish republicans abandon the post office in Dublin and surrender unconditionally, marking the end of the Easter Rising.

1945 US Army liberates 31,601 in Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, Germany.

1946 28 former Japanese leaders indicted in Tokyo as war criminals.

1975 Vietnam War: US begins to evacuate it's citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind in response to advancing North Vietnamese forces, bringing an end to US involvement in the war.

1981 Peter Sutcliffe admits he is the Yorkshire Ripper (murdered 13 women).

1990 Wrecking cranes began tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate.

[Jimbuna]

1789 George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America.

1798 US Department of the Navy forms.

1900 Casey Jones dies heroically in a train wreck at Vaughn, Mississippi, while driving Cannonball Express (immortalized in"Ballad of Casey Jones").

1942 First submarine built on Great Lakes launched, (Peto), Manitowoc, Wi.

1943 Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp for Jews forms.

1945 Concentration camp Munchen-Allag freed.

1945 Lord Haw-Haw (William Joyce) calls for crusade against the Bolsheviks.

1945 Red Army opens attack on German Reichstag building in Berlin.

1945 Soviet Army frees Ravensbruck concentration camp.

1945 Record 48 U-boats sunk by the Allies this month.

1975 Last US helicopter leaves US embassy grounds, Saigon surrenders.

[Aktungbby]

1945: AS SOVIET TROOPS APPROACH ADOLF HITLER COMMITS SUICIDE (after practicing it on his faithful hound: Blondie) IN HIS BUNKER ALONGSIDE HIS WIFE OF ONE DAY, EVA BRAUN.

[Kaye T. Bai]

1803 - The U.S. purchases France's claim to the Louisiana territory.
1863 - French and Mexican soldiers battle each other at Hacienda Camarón, Mexico.
1900 - Hawaii becomes a U.S. territory.
1945 - Soviet soldiers capture the Reichstag building in Germany.
1947 - Boulder Dam is renamed Hoover Dam.
1948 - The Organization of American States is established.
1961 - The first Soviet SSBN submarine is commissioned.
1975 - The North Vietnamese army captures the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon; South Vietnam surrenders and the Vietnam War ends.
2009 - Chrysler files for bankruptcy and seven civilians are killed after a botched assassination attempt against the Dutch queen.

[Aktungbby]

1517: Evil May Day a riot which took place in 1517 as a protest against foreigners living in London with more killing planned for May 1. A broker, John Beal, called on all "Englishmen to cherish and defend themselves, and to hurt and grieve aliens for the common weal".... Apprentices attacked foreign residents notably Flemish bankers and Frenchmen generally. Although King Henry VIII granted a pardon for the remainder following public pleadings from his wife, good Queen Catherine of Aragon, in London, 14 people were hung, drawn and quartered after May Day. Another 400 were spared when Henry VIII took pity on them. They already had the nooses round their necks.

The mob freed several prisoners who were locked up for attacking foreigners and proceeded to St Martin le Grand, a privileged liberty north of St Paul's Cathedral where numerous foreigners lived. Here they were met by the under-sheriff of London, Thomas More, who attempted in vain to persuade them to return to their homes. As soon as More had calmed them, however, the inhabitants of St Martin started to throw stones, bricks, bats and boiling water from their windows, some of which fell on an official who screamed: "Down with them!" This sparked panic in the mob and they looted foreigners' houses there and elsewhere in the city, although no one was killed. The Duke of Norfolk entered the city with his private army of 1300 retainers to suppress the riots. By 3 am the riot had died down, and 400 hundred people arrested were pardoned. However thirteen of the rioters were convicted of treason and executed on 4 May. While the mob were on the rampage, Sir Richard Cholmeley, the Lieutenant of the Tower of London furiously ordered the firing of some of the Tower's artillery at the city, drawing the ire of the city elders.In other versions the rioters closed the city gates to prevent the King's guard from being reinforced and then temporarily took control over the city. King Henry was awakened in the middle of the night at his residence in Richmond and was told of the mayhem ensuing in the capital. Then forces under the command of the Duke of Norfolk (or the Earl of Shrewsbury and Duke of Suffolk) and his son the Earl of Surrey finally arrived in the city and seized prisoners. The public was shocked by the wayHenry VIII had dealt with the rioters. "For the first time since he became King, Henry risked his popularity with the people by his severe repression of the anti-foreign rioters of Evil May Day. The resentment felt against the foreigners; the sympathy for the young apprentices; the grief of the parents when their boys of thirteen were executed....
By 5 May there were over five thousand troops in London.

Well, when your own wife is Spanish 'ya gotta do what ya gotta do'!
wiki http://spartacus-educational.com/Evil_May_Day_Riots.htm

[Kaye T. Bai]

1707 - England and Scotland join to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, which would ultimately become the UK.
1778 - U.S. and British forces fight each other at the Battle of Crooked Billet in Pennsylvania.
1862 - The U.S. Army captures New Orleans, Louisiana during the country's civil war.
1884 - Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black baseball player in the U.S.
1898 - The U.S. Navy defeats a Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay.
1930 - The planet of Pluto is named.
1948 - The country of North Korea is established.
1956 - A polio vaccine becomes available to the public.
1960 - A U-2 spy plane is shot down over the Soviet Union.
1961 - Cuba becomes a socialist state.
1965 - Chinese and Taiwanese warships battle each other in the Taiwan strait.
1999 - Spongebob Squarepants premieres on the Nickelodeon network.
2003 - The U.S. invasion of Iraq concludes, with the country's Ba'athist regime deposed.
2004 - Several new countries join the European Union.
2010 - A car bomb is discovered in New York City's Time Square and is defused.
2016 - A wildfire starts in Fort McMurray, Canada; it is still burning a year later.

[Jimbuna]

1328 Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton - the Kingdom of England recognises the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.

1707 Acts of Union comes into force, uniting England and Scotland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

1898 US Admiral George Dewey commands "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley" as US route Spanish fleet at Manila.

1915 British liner Lusitania leaves NY for Liverpool.

1915 German submarine torpedoes US tanker Gulflight.

1944 Messerschmitt Me 262 Sturmvogel, first jet bomber, makes first flight.

1945 About 1,000 citizens of Demmin in Germany, commit suicide provoked by occupation by Soviet Red Army.

1945 Admiral Karl Doenitz forms German government.

1948 North Korea proclaims itself Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

1960 Russia shoots down Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane over Sverdlovsk.

[Jimbuna]

1945 World War II: Battle of Berlin ends as Soviet army takes Berlin and General Weidling surrenders.

1982 Falklands War: Argentine cruiser General Belgrano sunk by British submarine Conqueror, killing more than 350 men.

2011 Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man is killed by US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.