Oldest university founded in Americas, 1551
On 12th May 1551 King Charles I of Spain (also Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) signed a Royal Decree at Valladolid establishing the first university in the Americas at Lima…
First Formula One Championship race, 1950
Following the conclusion of hostilities in Europe in 1946, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) standardised the rules of automobile racing. The FIA tasked their Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) with…
First Formula One Championship race, 1950
Following the conclusion of hostilities in Europe in 1946, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) standardised the rules of automobile racing. The FIA tasked their Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) with…
Sud-Aviation workers` strike and factory occupation, 1968
On 14th May 1968, young workers at the Sud-Aviation’s Bourguenais factory near Nantes decided to go on strike and lock the plant’s manager in his office along with other supervisors.…
First machine-gun patented, 1718
The son of a merchant of the same name, James Puckle was born sometime in or before 1667 in London. He inherited his father’s estate in 1690 to add to…
Collapse of Ronan Point, 1968
At around 5:45 in the morning of Thursday 16th May 1968, in flat 90 of the newly completed Ronan Point high-rise housing block in Newham, East London, a 56 year…
The Catonsville Nine, 1968
In May 1968, while students clashed with police outside, representatives of the United States and North Vietnam began peace talks in Paris to try bring about an end to the…
Frankfurt Parliament convened, 1848
1848 was a year of revolutions: the Sicilian Revolution of Independence from the Bourbon monarchy; elsewhere in Italy – the Roman and Venetian republics; the Hungarian Revolution against Hapsburg rule;…
England declared a republic, 1649
From the beginning of his reign, King Charles I’s relations with the Parliament of England were strained. In 1625, he married a Catholic, Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV of…
Charles Lindbergh arrived in Paris, 1927
At 10:22pm on 21st May 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Aerodrome, Paris completing the first ever non-stop solo transatlantic flight. Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field, New York…