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May 16th - History On The Way To Today at UselessKnowledge.com

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On The Way To Today...   May 16th

1532 - Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro landed with a small band of soldiers on the northern coast of Peru.

1568 - Mary, Queen of Scots, fled to England after her defeat at Langsides, Glasgow.

1763 - Samuel Johnson, British writer and lexicographer, met his future biographer and traveling companion James Boswell for the first time in Tom Davie's bookshop in London.

1770 - At Versailles, the French Dauphin (who would become Louis XVI) married Marie Antoinette, daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.

1811 - In the Peninsular War, the French under Marshal Nicolas Soult were held by an allied force of 46,000 at the battle of Albuhera.

1868 - In the United States, the Senate voted on one count in the impeachment proceedings of President Andrew Johnson. The vote fell one short of the two-thirds majority needed to take action. On May 26, further charges similarly failed and he was acquitted.

1881 - The first electric tram went into public service in Germany, near Berlin.

1888 - Emile Berliner gave the first demonstration of flat disc recording and reproduction before the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

1910 - The U.S. Bureau of Mines was authorized by the U.S. Congress.

1914 - The AHPA was formed in Kansas City, Kansas. AHPA is the American Horseshoe Pitchers Association.

1920 - Joan of Arc, the French national heroine, was canonized by Pope Benedict XV. A 14th century peasant girl who grew up to lead a victorious French army against English troops at Orleans, she was later captured and burned by the English and their French collaborators as a heretic. Her example was a decisive factor in the awakening of French national consciousness.

1929 - The first Oscar awards by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were presented during a quiet dinner-and-ceremony presentation in Los Angeles. The first Academy Awards went to actress Janet Gaynor and actor Emil Jannings. The best film was "Wings." The awards were named Oscars in 1931.

1929 - Paul Whiteman and his orchestra backed Bing Crosby for the tune "Sposin’" which ‘Der Bingle’ recorded for Columbia Records.

1932 - Japan's Premier Tsuyoshi Inukai was assassinated in Tokyo

1938 - The first animal breeding society was organized in three New Jersey counties.

1939 - The Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians met at Shibe Park in Philadelphia for the first baseball game to be played under the lights in the American League. The Indians beat Philly 8-3 in 10 innings.

1941 - The Icelandic parliament ended a treaty with Denmark and proclaimed independence.

1943 - In World War II, British Lancaster aircraft succeeded in bombing the Mohne and the Eder dams in Germany's industrial Ruhr basin using a bouncing bomb.

1946 - The musical, Annie Get Your Gun, featuring songs by Irving Berlin and starring Ethel Merman, debuted on Broadway.

1953 - Bill Haley and His Comets made it to the "Billboard" music charts for the first time with "Crazy Man Crazy". The tune went to number six and became the first rock ’n’ roll record to make the pop music chart.

1960 - A research study reported that TV commercials “in living color” were over three times more effective than black and white commercials.

1961 - Maj. Gen. Park Chung-hee staged a military coup in South Korea and ruled until his intelligence chief assassinated him in 1979.

1963 - U.S. astronaut Gordon Cooper in his Mercury-Atlas craft splashed down near Midway in the Pacific after orbiting the Earth 22 times in a mission lasting just over 34 hours -- the longest American space mission so far.

1965 - "The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd", a Broadway musical starring Anthony Newley, made its premiere at the Shubert Theatre in New York City. Cyril Ritchard appeared in the production which entertained audiences for 231 performances.

1967 - French President Charles De Gaulle spoke of "formidable obstacles" in Britain's application to join the EEC, a virtual veto.

1969 - The Russian spacecraft Venus 5 landed on the planet Venus.

1969 - Singers Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were charged with assault after Townshend kicked a cop offstage at New York's Filmore East. The plainclothesman was trying to clear the hall because of a fire next door.

1971 - An ounce of first-class mail rocketed to eight cents for delivery -- two cents more than the previous stamp.

1974 - Helmut Schmidt was sworn in as new chancellor of West Germany, after the resignation of Willy Brandt.

1975 - Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei became the first woman to climb Everest.

1976 - Civil war in Lebanon reached a new peak of violence.

1981 - Bette Davis Eyes, by Kim Carnes, rocketed to the Number 1 spot on Billboard's record charts on this date, and remained there for 9 weeks. Carnes received a personal thank-you letter for the song from actress Bette Davis, saying that it had impressed her young grandson.

1984 - Despite the fact that he was a non-smoker and was a practitioner of health food eating, comedian Andy Kaufman died in Los Angeles only a few months after lung cancer was detected. Kaufman, best-known for his role of Latka Gravas on the TV sitcom, Taxi, was only 35 at the time of his death.

1985 - Michael ‘Air’ Jordan was named Rookie of the Year in the National Basketball Association. Jordan of the Chicago Bulls was the number three draft choice. At the time, Michael Jordan was third in the league scoring with a 28.2 average and fourth in steals with 2.39 per game.

1986 - The members of the military junta which lead Argentina to defeat in the 1982 Falklands war with Britain were sentenced to between eight and 14 years imprisonment and stripped of their rank. Former President Leopold Galtieri was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

1987 - It was a grand day in New York Harbor. "Bobro 400", a huge barge, set sail within eyesight of the Statue of Liberty with 3,200 tons of garbage that nobody wanted. The floating trash heap soon became America’s most well-traveled garbage can as it began an eight-week, 6,000 mile odyssey in search of a willing dumping site. "Bobro 400" returned to New York Harbor after the lengthy journey - and brought all that garbage back with it!

1989 - The Vatican released a report condemning pornography and violence in films, specifically mentioning Kung Fu movies.

1989 - Madonna's hit single Like a Prayer was certified platinum.

1989 - A car bomb in Beirut killed the religious leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims, Sheikh Hassan Khaled, and at least 21 others. The Grand Mufti of the Republic was 68.

1989 - Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping met in Beijing in the first Sino-Soviet summit in 30 years, formally ending the feud between the two countries.

1990 - Sammy Davis Jr, American entertainer, died of throat cancer.

1990 - Hungarian Prime Minister-designate Jozsef Antall named a center-right coalition Cabinet after 40 years of Communist rule.

1990 - Jim Henson, the beloved creator of the Muppets and the voice of Kermit the Frog, died of pneumonia at age 53. He was misdiagnosed earlier that week, and had he been diagnosed and put on antibiotics only eight hours earlier, Henson would have survived. He was completing negotiations with the Disney company to include his Muppets at the world-famous fantasy amusement parks.

1991 - Queen Elizabeth, on a tour of the United States, became the first monarch to address Congress.

1993 - Suleyman Demirel was sworn in as Turkey's ninth president, succeeding Turgut Ozal, who died on April 17.

1993 - Maoist rebels bombed a bridge in Lima, Peru, capping a three-day offensive that killed seven.

1995 - Japanese police arrested doomsday cult leader Shoko Asahar in connection with the nerve-gas attack that killed 12 on Tokyo's subways two months earlier.

1996 - Romano Prodi, leader of the victorious Olive Tree alliance in the Italian elections, was asked to form the new government.

1997 - Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko left Kinshasa and said he was giving up executive powers but keeping the title of president.

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