Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 – June 6, 1799) was an American attorney known for his declaration to the Second Virginia Convention in 1775: "Give me liberty or give me death!" Beginning a law practice in 1760, he soon became prominent through his victory in the Parson's Cause. Henry was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he quickly became notable for his inflammatory rhetoric against the Stamp Act of 1765. In 1774 and 1775, Henry served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses. Back in Virginia, Henry urged independence, and when this was declared, served as governor until 1779, and then in the Virginia House of Delegates until he began his last two terms as governor in 1784. Henry feared a strong federal government, and he actively opposed the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. A slaveholder throughout his adult life, he hoped to see slavery end, but had no plan to accomplish that. Henry is remembered for his oratory, and as a Founding Father. (Full article...)

May Morning by Edith Maryon

• ... that Edith Maryon's fireplace relief May Morning (pictured) was inspired by an ode by William Wordsworth?
• ... that in 1939 the Ukrainian National Union's newspaper waited for the rise of a Ukrainian Mussolini or Hitler?
• ... that, following the Battle of Treviso, King Ildibad had Uraias murdered after Uraias's wife insulted Ildibad's wife in a bath house?
• ... that the attractions at Six Flags Great America include the world's first inverted roller coaster and a double-decker carousel?
• ... that a UK prime minister's comments about gender irked Max Balegde into organising a fundraiser event?
• ... that recipes for Robert E. Lee cake appeared in many cookbooks of the American South in the late 19th century?
• ... that tenor René Barbera sang a leading role in his first opera when he was eleven years old?
• ... that lead climbing is planned to be a standalone medal event at the 2028 Summer Olympics?
• ... that a Chinese robot beat the world record for a half-marathon?

Annita Demetriou

• The Democratic Rally, led by Annita Demetriou (pictured), wins the most seats in the Cypriot legislative election.
• American jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins dies at the age of 95.
• In auto racing, Felix Rosenqvist wins the Indianapolis 500.
• A suicide bombing targeting a shuttle train in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, kills at least 47 people.
• In association football, the Women's Champions League concludes with Barcelona defeating OL Lyonnes in the final.

May 29: Feast day of Saint Paul VI (Catholicism); Oak Apple Day (parts of England)

Sojourner Truth

• 1176 – Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines: Troops of the Lombard League defeated forces of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Legnano in present-day Italy.
• 1792 – The Great Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was disbanded following the Russian invasion of Poland.
• 1851 – Sojourner Truth (pictured) delivered her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech at the Woman's Rights Convention in Akron.
• 1953 – The mountaineers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
• 1999 – President Olusegun Obasanjo took office as Nigeria's first elected and civilian head of state after 16 years of military dictatorship.

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Physella acuta is a species of small, air-breathing freshwater snail in the family Physidae of North American origin. Like other physids, P. acuta presents a sinistral (left-coiling) shell as well as a unique set of muscles called the physid musculature that allows it to rapidly twist the shell as a defence mechanism. Physella acuta is invasive on all continents except Antarctica. Its first introduction outside North America likely occurred through the 18th-century cotton trade to Europe, with later spread mainly through the aquarium trade. The species can occupy diverse freshwater habitats and tolerates polluted as well as oxygen-poor environments. Due to its high reproductive rate and tolerance to habitat degradation, it frequently outcompetes native snail species. In aquariums, P. acuta is usually introduced through ornamental plants and can become a "nuisance snail" due to its rapid reproduction. However, a controlled population can help clean up organic leftovers and control algae. (Full article...)

Statue of Pope John Paul II

• ... that a monument to Pope John Paul II (pictured) was cast using more than seven million donated keys?
• ... that the United States Armed Forces funded a radio station on Ascension Island that transmitted from an extinct volcano?
• ... that John Laugharne suddenly died the night after his re-election in 1715?
• ... that The Fantod Pack, a set of divination cards, predicts only misfortune for its users, including "unstable furniture", "misplaced confidence", and "worms"?
• ... that author and sugarcane cutter John Naish was critical of the sugar industry's role in the oppression of Indigenous Australians?
• ... that 2,920 gold coins, a gold chain from the Renaissance period, three gold medals, and an engraved copper casket were found by a construction worker?
• ... that less than a year after the owner of a Missouri TV station declared that "cancellation of a network affiliation is almost unheard of", his station's affiliation was canceled?
• ... that one journalist said that the only reason to go to Bastardstown is to say that you have been there?
• ... that a Golkar official claimed that he "would run around town naked" if Laurentius Say survived two terms as regent of Sikka?

Annita Demetriou

• The Democratic Rally, led by Annita Demetriou (pictured), wins the most seats in the Cypriot legislative election.
• American jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins dies at the age of 95.
• A suicide bombing targeting a shuttle train in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, kills at least 47 people.
• In association football, Arsenal win the Premier League.

May 28: Menstrual Hygiene Day; Republic Day in Armenia (1918); Independence Day in Azerbaijan (1918)

William Knox D'Arcy

• 621 – Tang forces led by Li Shimin defeated and captured Dou Jiande at the Battle of Hulao in the civil war that followed the collapse of the Sui dynasty.
• 1608 – Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi debuted his second opera L'Arianna, now one of his lost works, at a royal wedding in Mantua.
• 1901 – Mozaffar ad-Din, Shah of Persia, granted exclusive rights to prospect for oil in the country to businessman William Knox D'Arcy (pictured).
• 1940 – Second World War: Belgium surrendered to Nazi Germany, ending the Battle of Belgium.
• 2016 – Harambe was shot and killed after grabbing a three-year-old boy in his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, drawing widespread criticism and inspiring internet memes.

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Flag of the Nation of Islam

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. It is centralized, hierarchical, and committed to black nationalism; membership is open only to people of color. Practitioners are expected to live disciplined lives, adhering to patriarchal gender roles, strict dress codes and specific dietary requirements. The NOI campaigns for the creation of an independent African-American nation-state and calls for African Americans to be economically self-sufficient. In 2007, it was estimated to have 50,000 members. While describing itself as Islamic and using Islamic terminology, its religious tenets differ substantially from orthodox Islamic traditions. Scholars of religion characterize it as a new religious movement. Muslim critics accuse the NOI of promoting teachings that are not authentically Islamic. Other critics have characterized it as a hate group that promotes antisemitism, racism against white people, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. (Full article...)

Victoria Hall

• ... that Victoria Hall (pictured), a National Historic Site of Canada, was gutted by fire weeks after its centennial?
• ... that consumer rights activist Mary Bach successfully sued Walmart in 2011 over a matter of two cents?
• ... that the works of Edith Maryon include sculptures of a witch on a broomstick, a dance from Peer Gynt, and a child sucking its thumb?
• ... that a Nintendo 3DS game was originally planned to be available for six months, but was still available almost seven years later until the 3DS eShop closed in March 2023?
• ... that Maggi Rubenstein has been called the "godmother of sex education"?
• ... that Bryan Cranston wore a suit of 10,000 bees for a scene in the first season of Malcolm in the Middle, but was stung only once?
• ... that OneBlood served about 90 percent of Florida's blood-donation needs in 2015?
• ... that a 1991 US postage stamp based on a print by Sabra Field sold more than 60 million copies?
• ... that Poland has a monument to something that never happened?

Mikel Arteta

• A suicide bombing targeting a shuttle train in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, kills at least 48 people.
• In association football, Arsenal (manager Mikel Arteta pictured) win the Premier League.
• A gas explosion at a coal mine in Changzhi, Shanxi, China, leaves at least 82 people dead.
• Author Yang Shuang-zi and translator Lin King win the International Booker Prize for Taiwan Travelogue.

May 27

Massacre of the Jews of Metz, by the 19th-century painter Auguste Migette

• 1096 – The largest of the Rhineland massacres (depicted) took place in Mainz, where at least 1,100 Jews were killed by the People's Crusade.
• 1896 – The St. Louis–East St. Louis tornado, one of the deadliest and most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history, struck St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois, killing more than 255 people and injuring at least 1,000 others.
• 1983 – An explosion at an illegal fireworks factory near Benton, Tennessee, killed eleven people.
• 2001 – Twenty tourists were kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in Palawan, Philippines, triggering a hostage crisis that lasted for more than a year.
• 2014 – The football club Kerala Blasters FC and its first supporters' group Manjappada were formed.

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Sally Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the third woman and the first American woman to fly in space. A graduate of Stanford University, where she earned a PhD in physics in 1978, she was selected as a mission specialist with NASA Astronaut Group 8, the first class of NASA astronauts to include women. She flew in space on the Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-7 mission in 1983 and the STS-41-G mission in 1984. She left NASA in 1987 and worked at Stanford's Center for International Security and Arms Control, and then at the University of California, San Diego, researching nonlinear optics and Thomson scattering. She served on the committees that investigated the losses of Challenger and of Columbia, and was the only person to participate in both investigations. She is the first astronaut known to have been LGBTQ, a fact that she hid until her death from pancreatic cancer in 2012. (Full article...)

Freddie Moore

• ... that Freddie Moore (pictured) began playing drums at 12, but didn't record an album as leader until he was in his 80s?
• ... that Totila's actions during the siege of Naples fitted his general strategy of winning by being kind?
• ... that Taihi Kimura hosted the closing ceremony for a nationwide baseball tournament before starting a career in voice acting?
• ... that JPEGMafia once released a flash drive containing All My Heroes Are Cornballs that resembles a PlayStation 2 memory card?
• ... that laws on compulsory voting were not enforced during the 1967 Salvadoran presidential election?
• ... that the failures of the Chaldean National Congress reflected the sectarian nature of Chaldean identity, according to its co-founder?
• ... that Nining Suningsih Rochadiat's decision to join the diplomatic service was influenced by reading Little House on the Prairie?
• ... that the 2026 wildfires in Ōtsuchi are regarded as one of the worst mountain-wildfire disasters in Japan in decades?
• ... that every in-game environment and asset in Lego Horizon Adventures was constructed entirely from individual digital Lego bricks, meaning that they could theoretically be built in real life?

Yang Shuang-zi

• A suicide bombing targeting a shuttle train in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan, kills at least 48 people and injures more than 90 others.
• In association football, Arsenal win the Premier League.
• A gas explosion at a coal mine in Changzhi, Shanxi, China, leaves at least 82 people dead.
• Author Yang Shuang-zi (pictured) and translator Lin King win the International Booker Prize for Taiwan Travelogue.

May 26: National Sorry Day in Australia; Independence Day in Georgia (1918)

Edmund I

• 946 – King Edmund I (pictured) of England was murdered at Pucklechurch on the feast day of St Augustine.
• 1906 – Vauxhall Bridge in London opened, crossing the River Thames between Vauxhall and Westminster.
• 1940 – Second World War: The Allies began a mass evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk.
• 1989 – Tropical Storm Cecil dissipated over Laos after devastating Quảng Nam province, Vietnam, and causing the deaths of 751 people.
• 2020 – Protests following the murder of George Floyd erupted in Minneapolis–Saint Paul before spreading across the United States and internationally.

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Jewish head coverings called kippot

Menora v. Illinois High School Association is a case heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit which centered on two Jewish schools which sued the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) when the IHSA would not let them compete in a basketball tournament unless student-athletes removed their kippot (examples pictured) from their heads during play. The schools argued that their First Amendment right of freedom of religion was violated. The IHSA stated that banning the kippot was reasonable because they could fall off during play, risking player injury. The Seventh Circuit held that no conflict would exist if the schools designed a head covering that was not a safety risk. The case was settled in June 1983, allowing kippot to be worn with contour clips. Legal scholars criticized the Seventh Circuit's false conflict approach in the decision as unsupported by precedent. American Jewish communities largely took it as a win that the students were allowed to play with kippot on. (Full article...)

Keely Hodgkinson

• ... that Keely Hodgkinson (pictured) broke an athletics world record that had been set on the day that she was born?
• ... that the writer of "It Makes No Difference Now" sold the song for $300 before it became a hit that was covered by Ray Charles, the Supremes, and Merle Haggard?
• ... that South Hampstead Synagogue has been described as a "model of elegant simplicity in wood, glass and stone"?
• ... that Sundae Girl is a children's novel that deals with dementia and alcoholism?
• ... that some communities bake flatbread by covering it in sand?
• ... that an Arizona TV station running a marathon of Star Trek caused a buying frenzy of blank videotapes in the local area?
• ... that Amy Hart left her job as a cabin crew manager to appear on Love Island?
• ... that, when it came time to close Gaming Historian, its creator released a swath of court documents from Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.?
• ... that linguist Julian Granberry also hunted ghosts?

Francisco Carvalho

• In golf, Aaron Rai wins the PGA Championship.
• The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, led by Francisco Carvalho (pictured), wins the most seats in the parliamentary election.
• Bulgaria, represented by Dara with the song "Bangaranga", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
• Protests erupt in Bolivia against the government of Rodrigo Paz, causing clashes between the protesters and the police.

May 25: International Missing Children's Day; Memorial Day in the United States (2026); Africa Day (1963); Independence Day in Jordan (1946)

Oprah Winfrey

• 1644 – Ming–Qing transition: Ming general Wu Sangui allowed the invading Manchu to cross the Great Wall of China, enabling them to capture Beijing and establish the Qing dynasty.
• 1816 – The poems Kubla Khan and Christabel by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge were published.
• 1961 – A fire broke out at a squatter settlement in Bukit Ho Swee, Singapore, rendering approximately 16,000 people homeless.
• 2011 – The final episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated daytime talk show in U.S. television history, hosted by Oprah Winfrey (pictured), was broadcast.

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Capital Indoor Stadium

The figure skating team event at the 2022 Winter Olympics was held between 4 and 7 February at the Capital Indoor Stadium (pictured) in Beijing, China. It consisted of competitions in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters and teams earned points based on their placements in each event; medalists were determined based on their total points. The team representing the Russian Olympic Committee originally finished in first place, while the team from the United States finished second, and the Japanese team third. The medal ceremony was postponed when a positive test confirming the presence of a banned substance was received for Kamila Valieva of Russia. After nearly two years of litigation, Valieva's scores were stricken and the newly tabulated results placed the American team first, the Japanese team second, and the Russian team third. The American and Japanese teams received their medals at a ceremony held at the Jardins du Trocadéro in Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympics. (Full article...)

Semois Valley National Park

• ... that the Semois Valley National Park (pictured) and the National Park Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse together form part of one of the largest forested areas of Western Europe?
• ... that Eorcengota had a vision predicting her own death in which she was symbolically represented as a gold coin?
• ... that quarterback Bart Houston was named after quarterback Bart Starr?
• ... that HMS Solebay and HMS Derwent were the first ships assigned to suppress the Atlantic slave trade?
• ... that the Chinese dinosaur Chilantaisaurus is only known from a few giant bones including a huge hand claw?
• ... that a statue at a baseball stadium has been criticized for connections to racial segregation?
• ... that Cambridge won all but one of the eight events at the 2026 Boat Race, the exception being the Oxford women's team, who broke their streak of eight consecutive losses?
• ... that a critic scored Angine de Poitrine's album Vol. II a perfect 10 despite calling it "pretentious and performative"?
• ... that Nicholas McKay formed the Helmac Products Corporation in 1956 to manufacture and sell his invention: the lint roller?

Francisco Carvalho

• In golf, Aaron Rai wins the PGA Championship.
• The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, led by Francisco Carvalho (pictured), wins the most seats in the parliamentary election.
• Bulgaria, represented by Dara with the song "Bangaranga", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
• Protests erupt in Bolivia against the government of Rodrigo Paz, causing clashes between the protesters and the police.

May 24: Aldersgate Day (Methodism)

Bottle of 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay

• 1667 – Led by King Louis XIV, the French army invaded the Spanish Netherlands, beginning the War of Devolution.
• 1830 – The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was first published as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale.
• 1976 – In a wine competition in Paris (wine bottle pictured), French judges shocked the wine industry by rating California wines higher than French ones.
• 1986 – A stationary front began over the central Caribbean Sea, leading to severe floods that over two weeks killed dozens of people in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.
• 2022 – An 18-year old gunman shot and killed nineteen students and two teachers in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

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Paramore performing during the This Is Why Tour

"Running Out of Time" is a song by the American rock band Paramore (pictured). It was released on May 23, 2023, by Atlantic Records as the fourth single from the band's sixth studio album This Is Why (2023). Hayley Williams, Taylor York, and Zac Farro wrote the song in the early stages of the album's production, and Carlos de la Garza produced it. The band premiered the song at a concert at the Grand Ole Opry on February 7, 2023, and performed it on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on February 14. Described by critics as a pop-rock and dance-rock song, "Running Out of Time" deals with time management and comments on social anxieties over death, aging, and losing friends. Williams said the song was influenced by her personal struggle with punctuality and her friendship with Taylor Swift. Critics positively reviewed the song, praising its lyrics as playful and its composition as well-balanced. The song peaked on several international charts in 2023 and ranked on Billboard's year-end Alternative Airplay chart. (Full article...)

John Mackenzie Moore

• ... that 1,500 citizens petitioned Canadian architect John Mackenzie Moore (pictured) to run for election as mayor of London, Ontario, and he ultimately defeated the popular incumbent?
• ... that the Zebulon Devil Dogz, a collegiate baseball team in the United States, is to consist entirely of athletes from Australia?
• ... that The Assembly premiered during Autism Acceptance Week?
• ... that an audit led by Gaynor Legall found that Wales had more than 200 commemorations of people linked to the slave trade?
• ... that the title phrase of the 1952 R&B song "Rock Me All Night Long" is a euphemism for sexual intercourse?
• ... that Henry Morford wrote sequels to works by Charles Dickens and Lord Byron?
• ... that a 1998 documentary covers economic exploitation in post-communist gay pornography from Eastern Europe?
• ... that a museum exhibit later became a Rockefeller family residence?
• ... that, after the US government asked Marvel Comics to make a comic about how drugs are dangerous, the Comics Code Authority refused to approve it because it was about drugs?

Francisco Carvalho

• In golf, Aaron Rai wins the PGA Championship.
• The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, led by Francisco Carvalho (pictured), wins the most seats in the parliamentary election.
• Bulgaria, represented by Dara with the song "Bangaranga", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
• Protests erupt in Bolivia against the government of Rodrigo Paz, causing clashes between the protesters and the police.

May 23: Aromanian National Day

Stanley Kubrick

• 1706 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Grand Alliance armies routed the Franco-Spanish-Bavarian army in Ramillies, present-day Belgium.
• 1980 – The Shining, the psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick (pictured), was premiered on 10 screens in New York City and Los Angeles.
• 2008 – The International Court of Justice awarded the Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca to Singapore, resolving a 29-year-old territorial dispute in the Singapore Strait.
• 2021 – Ryanair Flight 4978 was forced to land by Belarusian authorities, who detained dissident journalist Roman Protasevich.

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Proboscis of a male Intraproboscis sanghae

Intraproboscis is a genus in Acanthocephala (thorny-headed or spiny-headed parasitic worms) containing a single species. Found in Central Africa, it infests the black-bellied pangolin and the tree pangolin, which are both threatened with extinction. Female worms reach up to 180 mm (7.1 in) long (mostly trunk) and 2 mm (0.079 in) wide; males seem to be smaller. The body consists of a long, narrow trunk and a tubular proboscis covered with hooks (pictured), used for feeding and attachment. The life cycle of I. sanghae remains unknown but it likely involves a complex life cycle with at least two hosts, the pangolin and one believed to be an arthropod, such as an insect. Within this host, the larvae develop into an infectious stage called a cystacanth. When a vertebrate consumes the intermediate host, the cystacanths enter the intestines where they mature. The worm's eggs are expelled and hatch into new larvae. Infestation by I. sanghae can cause intestinal perforation and death in the black-bellied pangolin. (Full article...)

Festival in Bolero, 2025

• ... that the 2025 celebration of Tumbuka culture (pictured) saw the unveiling of a tombstone to their first chief at Bolero in northern Malawi?
• ... that George F. Durand and his boss were dismissed from a project in part because they were not American?
• ... that Ghafur Akbar Dharmaputra led the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Ukraine while suffering from terminal cancer?
• ... that an inscribed stone from the abandoned village of Tarmisa, Libya, bears a Christian Chi Rho monogram within a wreath that may have originated in a Roman-era church?
• ... that the anthology The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays has a section on plays that include puppetry?
• ... that Polish writer Magdalena Kozak combines military science fiction writing with a career as a parachute-trained paramedic and military officer, with over 300 jumps and service in Afghanistan?
• ... that France beat Spain 2–1 in 1955, after which a British journalist nicknamed Raymond Kopa the "Napoleon of football"?
• ... that Underscores described U as "music for my iPhone spy movie"?
• ... that Boston Navy Yard had a flirtation walk until World War II?

Francisco Carvalho

• In golf, Aaron Rai wins the PGA Championship.
• The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, led by Francisco Carvalho (pictured), wins the most seats in the parliamentary election.
• Bulgaria, represented by Dara with the song "Bangaranga", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
• Protests erupt in Bolivia against the government of Rodrigo Paz, causing clashes between the protesters and the police.

May 22: National Maritime Day in the United States; Harvey Milk Day in some parts of the United States; Unity Day in Yemen; First day of Shavuot, (Judaism, 2026)

HMS Beagle

• 1629 – Albrecht von Wallenstein and King Christian IV of Denmark signed the Treaty of Lübeck to end Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War.
• 1826 – HMS Beagle (pictured) departed on her first voyage from Plymouth for a hydrographic survey of the Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego regions of South America.
• 1960 – The most powerful earthquake ever recorded, registering approximately 9.5 M_w, struck near Valdivia, Chile, generating tsunamis that reached Hawaii and Japan.
• 2002 – Police announced that the skeletal remains of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for a year, had been found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.

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The 2006 Football League Championship play-off final was an association football match played on 21 May 2006 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, between Leeds United and Watford. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, to the FA Premiership. The winners of two semi-finals competed for the final Premiership place of the 2006–07 season. Winning the final was estimated to be worth up to £40 million to the successful team. The match was watched by a crowd of 64,736. It was the last play-off final to be held at the Millennium Stadium, as the new Wembley Stadium was completed in time for the 2007 final. Watford won the match 3–0, with opening goalscorer Jay DeMerit named man of the match. Leeds goalkeeper Neil Sullivan scored an own goal to make the score 2–0 to Watford after 60 minutes, and the final goal was a penalty kick scored by Darius Henderson. (Full article...)

• ... that a Love Island derivative (episode featured) has been described as "the perfect example of AI slop"?
• ... that Rudolph Hering designed and constructed the water supply and sewerage for 150 cities?
• ... that 72,000 forms for the 2017 Chilean census from the Atacama Region, enough for 60% of its population, were damaged by heavy rains?
• ... that the Chinese courtesan Lin Daiyu was reported to regularly "take baths" to escape debt?
• ... that oxalate salts of plutonium and neptunium, which have nuclear-power applications, can be produced in reactions using a form of vitamin C?
• ... that Alabama judge Helen Shores Lee's house was bombed twice within two weeks?
• ... that New Zealand's only dental school has 80 mannequins with removable jaws in one teaching space?
• ... that Romanian comedian Dem Rădulescu confronted spectators who mocked his serious rendition of Hamlet, grabbing one of them by the collar?
• ... that the Wooshkeetaan Kootéeyaa depicts Uncle Sam in reference to a US Navy attack on an Alaska Native village?

Francisco Carvalho

• The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, led by Francisco Carvalho (pictured), wins the most seats in the parliamentary election.
• Bulgaria, represented by Dara with the song "Bangaranga", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
• In Iraq, Ali al-Zaidi succeeds Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani as prime minister.
• Niuean prime minister Dalton Tagelagi is re-elected for a third term.

May 21: International Tea Day; World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development; Circassian Day of Mourning in Circassian communities

Busoni c. 1897

• 1138 – The Crusades: The siege of Shaizar ended, and the Emir of Shaizar became a vassal of the Byzantine Empire.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The inconclusive Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia ended with combined Union and Confederate casualties totaling around 31,000.
• 1925 – The opera Doktor Faust, unfinished when composer Ferruccio Busoni (pictured) died, was premiered in Dresden.
• 1946 – While working with a mass of plutonium known as the demon core, Manhattan Project physicist Louis Slotin accidentally exposed himself to a lethal dose of hard radiation, making him the second victim of a criticality accident in history.
• 2015 – Islamic State militants entered the ancient city of Palmyra.

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Continental Army riflemen skirmishing with enemy troops at the Battle of Saratoga

The Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment was organized in June 1776 as a light infantry unit of riflemen in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The regiment consisted of nine companies – four from Maryland and five from Virginia – and was directly responsible to national authority as an Extra Continental regiment. Most of the regiment surrendered to British and German forces at the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776. However, a portion of the unit continued to serve actively in the Continental Army throughout most of the remainder of the war. Elements of the regiment served with George Washington's main army and participated in its major engagements. Select members of the unit were also attached to Colonel Daniel Morgan's elite Provisional Rifle Corps. The regiment was reorganized in January 1779 and stationed at Fort Pitt, headquarters of the Continental Army's Western Department, in present-day western Pennsylvania. Disbanded in January 1781, it was the longest serving Continental Army rifle unit of the war. (Full article...)

Penguins on Heard Island

• ... that the Trump administration imposed a 10-percent tariff on an uninhabited island territory home mostly to penguins (examples pictured)?
• ... that the first Japan Cup was won by an American second-rate mare?
• ... that, according to Australian newspapers, Stephen Jolly was the only Westerner to address protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989?
• ... that fans of Ninomae Ina'nis bought a billboard in Times Square to celebrate her "birthday"?
• ... that a Salvadoran bishop threatened to excommunicate Catholics who campaigned for the Renovating Action Party?
• ... that Fabian Wrede's family was granted a barony to honor his grandfather Henrik Wrede's sacrifice in giving his horse to Charles IX of Sweden during a battlefield retreat?
• ... that Margaret Barker performed in a play with her friend Katharine Hepburn while they were students at Bryn Mawr College?
• ... that Seven Guitars was the last collaboration between August Wilson and his long-time director?
• ... that Dr. Dre dissuaded Eminem from releasing a diss track aimed at Suge Knight?

Francisco Carvalho

• The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, led by Francisco Carvalho (pictured), wins the most seats in the parliamentary election.
• Bulgaria, represented by Dara with the song "Bangaranga", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
• In Iraq, Ali al-Zaidi succeeds Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani as prime minister.
• Niuean prime minister Dalton Tagelagi is re-elected for a third term.

May 20: Independence Day in Timor-Leste (2002); National Day of Remembrance in Cambodia (1975); National Awakening Day in Indonesia (1908)

The Luttra Woman's skull

• 685 – The Picts defeated the Northumbrians at the Battle of Dun Nechtain, severely weakening the latter's power in northern Great Britain.
• 1811 – A British squadron under Charles Marsh Schomberg defeated a French force off Tamatave, Madagascar, that was attempting to reinforce the French garrison on Mauritius.
• 1943 – The Luttra Woman (skull pictured), a bog body from the Early Neolithic period, was discovered near Luttra, Sweden.
• 1965 – While attempting to land at Cairo International Airport, Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705 crashed for unknown reasons, killing all but 6 of the 121 people on board.
• 1996 – In deciding Romer v. Evans, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a constitutional amendment in Colorado that prevented protected status under the law for homosexuals or bisexuals.
• 2022 – Russo-Ukrainian war: Russia claimed full control of Mariupol after a nearly three-month siege.

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Approximate extent of the Silverthrone Caldera

The Silverthrone Caldera is a poorly studied volcano in the Range 2 Coast Land District of British Columbia, Canada. It lies within the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains and reaches an elevation of 2,860 metres (9,380 feet), although some sources give an elevation as high as 3,160 m (10,370 ft). Deeply eroded, the caldera is about 25 by 20 kilometres (16 by 12 miles) in size and has a rugged topography. The area is the origin of several streams and contains several named mountains, including Silverthrone Mountain. Volcanic rocks deposited by eruptions include rhyolites, dacites, andesites and basaltic andesites. They are exposed in valleys, but at higher elevations they are largely buried under glacial ice. The Silverthrone Caldera was a source of obsidian for indigenous peoples during the pre-Columbian era. Geological studies have been conducted at the volcano since at least the 1960s, but its very remote location has impeded detailed fieldwork. (Full article...)

Julius Prott

• ... that international opera star Julius Prott (pictured) was also a horticulturalist who was acclaimed for his cultivation of roses?
• ... that the plateau vole handles hypoxia at high altitudes by producing more hemoglobin and metabolizing glucose?
• ... that Olympic diver and coach Aileen Allen was also an actress in silent films?
• ... that a restaurant in a New York City warehouse converted a loading dock into a terrace?
• ... that the 2024 Chilean census was delayed twice by a total of nearly two years?
• ... that Nathan Farb carried his large-format 8×10 Deardorff view camera into the backcountry of the Adirondack Mountains to capture scenery far from the most-visited areas?
• ... that the Brazilian film O Menino e o Vento was rejected from the 1967 Venice Film Festival for being "old and unimportant" and "full of useless ideas"?
• ... that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy jumped to kiss his best friend on the head as he walked to his inauguration in 2019?
• ... that marine ecologist Alan J. Southward almost never got sea-sick—because he was deaf?

Dara

• Bulgaria, represented by Dara (pictured) with the song "Bangaranga", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
• The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
• Niuean prime minister Dalton Tagelagi is re-elected for a third term.
• The Philippine Senate goes into lockdown after the attempted arrest of senator Ronald dela Rosa.

May 19: Pontian Greek Genocide Remembrance Day in Greece (1919); Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day in Turkey (1919)

John III Sobieski

• 715 – Gregory II began his pontificate; his conflict with Byzantine emperor Leo III eventually led to the establishment of the temporal power of the pope.
• 1655 – Anglo-Spanish War: English forces invaded Jamaica, then administered by Spain as the Colony of Santiago, and captured it a week later.
• 1674 – John III Sobieski (pictured) was elected by the szlachta as the monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: A Continental Army garrison west of Montreal surrendered to British troops at the Battle of the Cedars.
• 1991 – Breakup of Yugoslavia: With the local Serb population boycotting the referendum, Croatians voted in favour of independence from Yugoslavia.
• 2015 – A corroded pipeline near Refugio State Beach, California, spilled 142,800 gallons (3,400 barrels) of crude oil onto the Gaviota Coast.

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The Sursock bronze is a gilded bronze sculptural group of Heliopolitan Jupiter dating to the 2nd century AD. A miniature of the cult statue that stood in the Great Temple of Baalbek, Lebanon, it depicts the god as a beardless youth wearing a kalathos, a basket-shaped headdress, and an ependytes, a close-fitting dress, under ornate armor. The front of the armor bears busts of seven deities associated with celestial bodies—Sol, Luna, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Juno (replacing Venus), and Saturn—arranged in an order encoding both the Chaldean sequence of planets and the days of the Roman week. The piece illustrates the syncretism of Canaanite, Greek, and Roman traditions, tracing the evolution of Heliopolitan Jupiter from the Canaanite storm god Baal Hadad into a cosmic deity of planetary order and prophecy. Named after its former owner, the Beiruti aristocrat Charles Sursock, and acquired by the Louvre in 1939, the piece inaugurated the first issue of Syria, the leading French journal of Levantine archaeology, in 1920. (Full article...)

Templeton Library

• ... that a library of religion and science in Tennessee (pictured) never opened to the public?
• ... that the 2020 series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars brought back the actor who played Darth Maul in Phantom Menace in 1999 to perform a fight scene?
• ... that Byzantine archers hoisted at the ships' masts during the siege of Panormus were elevated above the city walls and caused its Gothic garrison to surrender?
• ... that Edward Hopper painted flowers just once in a major work, dismissing them as fit only for "lady painters"?
• ... that teenage vocalist Alda Risma won Best Pop Female Solo Artist at the Indonesian Music Awards for her debut album?
• ... that Domino's reported what at the time was its biggest day of sales during O. J. Simpson's white Bronco chase?
• ... that Frederick McAlpine called his own party a "Pinocchio government"?
• ... that the Nik-O-Lok Company installed coin-operated locks on an estimated 40,000 toilet stalls before the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America got them banned?
• ... that children smoked their priest off his pulpit before Christ Church was completed?

Dalton Tagelagi

• The World Health Organization declares the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
• Niuean prime minister Dalton Tagelagi (pictured) is re-elected for a third term.
• The Philippine Senate goes into lockdown after the attempted arrest of senator Ronald dela Rosa.
• The Progressive Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Philip Davis, wins a second term in the Bahamian general election.
• Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius disembark in Tenerife after being quarantined due to a hantavirus outbreak.

May 18: Haitian Flag Day in Haiti (1803); Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Crimean Tatar Genocide in Ukraine; Victoria Day in Canada

Aimee Semple McPherson

• 1388 – At the Battle of Buir Lake, a Ming Chinese army led by general Lan Yu defeated the forces of Tögüs Temür, the Mongol khan of Northern Yuan.
• 1926 – Pentecostal evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson (pictured) was reportedly kidnapped near Venice Beach in Los Angeles before reappearing five weeks later in Mexico.
• 1936 – In a crime that captivated Japan, Sada Abe strangled her lover, cut off his genitals, and carried them around with her for several days until her arrest.
• 2006 – The Parliament of Nepal unanimously voted to strip King Gyanendra of many of his powers.
• 2018 – Cubana de Aviación Flight 0972 crashed near Santiago de las Vegas shortly after takeoff from José Martí International Airport, killing 112 of the 113 people on board.

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Shannen Doherty

"All Hell Breaks Loose" is the third-season finale of Charmed, an American fantasy series that aired on The WB. It follows Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano), three sisters who discover they are witches and use their powers to protect innocents from demons. "All Hell Breaks Loose" was written by Brad Kern and directed by Doherty (pictured), and aired on May 17, 2001. It was the third episode of the series directed by Doherty. In the episode, Prue and Piper are caught using their powers on live television, which proves to have deadly consequences. During filming, Doherty used a Salvador Dalí painting as inspiration for the episode's aesthetic, and helped her co-stars shoot emotionally challenging scenes. A week prior to the episode's airing, Doherty was fired from the series due to a feud with Milano, which resulted in her character being killed off. "All Hell Breaks Loose" has been cited as one of the show's best episodes, with critics highlighting Prue's death. (Full article...)

The Park

• ... that The Park (pictured) by Gustav Klimt has been interpreted as producing a sense of anxiety in the viewer despite its "apparently innocent depiction of a park"?
• ... that Tray Wellington was a part of the black reclamation of banjo music?
• ... that, on the fourth anniversary of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a video address showing the bunker in which he told the US that he needed ammunition, not a ride?
• ... that Pamela Ball was prouder of her mathematics degrees than of being the first Jamaican woman to be a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England?
• ... that Frank DeAngelis, the former principal of Columbine High School, wrote in his book that he recites the names of the victims of the Columbine High School massacre every day?
• ... that a contract for building the Boracay Bridge was awarded despite opposition from the local municipality, the Ati people, and the Archbishop of Capiz?
• ... that Cifelliodon is estimated to have been as large as a hare at a time when most other mammaliaforms were shrew- and mouse-sized?
• ... that a test of the Spadina subway line took 3.5 hours and used a diesel locomotive because electrical workers were on strike?
• ... that Jordan Hadaway was the youngest manager in Welsh senior football at the age of 18?

Dalton Tagelagi

• Niuean prime minister Dalton Tagelagi (pictured) is re-elected for a third term following a general election.
• The Philippine Senate goes into lockdown after the attempted arrest of senator Ronald dela Rosa.
• The Progressive Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Philip Davis, wins a second term in the Bahamian general election.
• Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius disembark in Tenerife after being quarantined due to a hantavirus outbreak.

May 17: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia; World Hypertension Day

Edward Stafford

• 1395 – An outnumbered Wallachian army repulsed invading Ottoman forces at the Battle of Rovine.
• 1521 – Edward Stafford (pictured), whose father had been beheaded for rebelling against King Richard III of England, was himself executed for treason against King Henry VIII.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: The Siege of Mafeking in South Africa was lifted after 217 days, a decisive victory for the British against the Boers.
• 1974 – The Troubles: The Ulster Volunteer Force detonated a series of car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, killing 34 people and injuring almost 300 others.
• 1995 – Six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama selected by the 14th Dalai Lama, was kidnapped by the Chinese government, who advocated a proxy.

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Richard Harmon, who portrayed Erik Campbell

Erik Campbell is a character in Final Destination Bloodlines (2025), the sixth film in the supernatural horror franchise Final Destination, and was portrayed by Richard Harmon (pictured). Introduced as a grandson of Iris Campbell, who escaped Death in the 1960s, Erik is revealed to have been conceived out of his mother's affair and thus not in any danger. Despite this, while trying to help his brother cheat Death, Erik is sucked into an MRI machine by a wheelchair that crushes and impales him. The reveal of Erik's parentage was due to the film's crew wanting to subvert the audience's expectations regarding the order of deaths; a discarded idea involved twins. The directors were initially apprehensive about incorporating an MRI-machine death, but chose to include it due to positive feedback from the production team. Critics responded positively to Erik, describing him as a fan favorite and Bloodlines' best character, as well as praising his death scene and Harmon's performance. (Full article...)

Lawrence Weston Wind Turbine

• ... that the tallest onshore wind turbine in England (pictured) is owned by the community of Lawrence Weston?
• ... that a pulp mill was fined by the state of Washington for its greenhouse gas emissions, even though it had been closed for the past two years?
• ... that the Crusader castle of Smar Jbeil was built atop a Roman-period necropolis?
• ... that "tank-resembling" Bubo Barnett was "unstopped by anything but a pastry window"?
• ... that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that plans for a New York City office tower could be rejected?
• ... that William Bramwell Smith Jr. composed music for the presidential inauguration of John F. Kennedy?
• ... that the camp song "Little Sir Echo" has been recorded in big-band, punk, country, and French versions, and from performances by Jerry Lewis and the Wiggles?
• ... that an Idaho TV station warned businesses, "The rumors of our going dark are not unfounded"?
• ... that Henry Patenson threw rocks at aggravating courtiers while at the Holy Roman Emperor's court?

Philip Davis

• The Progressive Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Philip Davis (pictured), wins a second term in the Bahamian general election.
• Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius disembark in Tenerife after being quarantined due to a hantavirus outbreak.
• The education platform Canvas goes offline, affecting thousands of educational institutions, after a ransomware attack by the group ShinyHunters.
• American media proprietor and philanthropist Ted Turner dies at the age of 87.

May 16:

Battle of Albuera

• 1426 – Mohnyin Thado captured Sagaing to become the king of Ava, in present-day Myanmar.
• 1811 – Peninsular War: Allied British, Spanish, and Portuguese forces clashed with French troops at the Battle of Albuera (depicted) fought south of Badajoz, Spain.
• 1925 – The first modern performance of Claudio Monteverdi's opera Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria occurred in Paris.
• 1961 – Led by Park Chung Hee, the Military Revolution Committee carried out a bloodless coup against the government of Yun Po-sun in Seoul, ending the Second Republic of Korea.
• 2014 – At least 12 people were killed and 70 others injured when two bombs exploded in a market in Nairobi, Kenya.

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Contested area during Operation Brevity

Operation Brevity was an offensive conducted in May 1941, during the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War, against Axis front-line forces in the Sollum–Capuzzo–Bardia area of the border between Egypt and Libya (map pictured). British Middle East Command general Archibald Wavell defined Operation Brevity's main goals as the acquisition of territory from which to launch a further planned offensive toward Tobruk. On 15 May, Brigadier William Gott attacked in three columns with a mixed infantry and armoured force. The Halfaya Pass was taken against stiff Italian opposition, and Fort Capuzzo deeper inside Libya was captured, but German counter-attacks under Colonel Maximilian von Herff regained the fort during the afternoon. Gott conducted a staged withdrawal to the Halfaya Pass on 16 May, and Operation Brevity ended. The Halfaya Pass was recaptured 11 days later during Operation Skorpion, a German counter-attack. (Full article...)

Lawrence Weston Wind Turbine

• ... that the tallest onshore wind turbine in England (pictured) is owned by the community of Lawrence Weston?
• ... that a pulp mill was fined by the state of Washington for its greenhouse gas emissions, even though it had been closed for the past two years?
• ... that the Crusader castle of Smar Jbeil was built atop a Roman-period necropolis?
• ... that "tank-resembling" Bubo Barnett was "unstopped by anything but a pastry window"?
• ... that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that plans for a New York City office tower could be rejected?
• ... that William Bramwell Smith Jr. composed music for the presidential inauguration of John F. Kennedy?
• ... that the camp song "Little Sir Echo" has been recorded in big-band, punk, country, and French versions, and from performances by Jerry Lewis and the Wiggles?
• ... that an Idaho TV station warned businesses, "The rumors of our going dark are not unfounded"?
• ... that Henry Patenson threw rocks at aggravating courtiers while at the Holy Roman Emperor's court?

Philip Davis

• The Progressive Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Philip Davis (pictured), wins a second term in the Bahamian general election.
• Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius disembark in Tenerife after being quarantined due to a hantavirus outbreak.
• The education platform Canvas goes offline, affecting thousands of educational institutions, after a ransomware attack by the group ShinyHunters.
• American media proprietor and philanthropist Ted Turner dies at the age of 87.
• Wu Yize defeats Shaun Murphy to win the World Snooker Championship.

May 15: Feast day of Saint Carthage (Catholicism); Nakba Day in Palestinian communities

Baily's beads observed during a solar eclipse in 2019

• 1836 – English astronomer Francis Baily observed Baily's beads (example pictured), a phenomenon during a solar eclipse in which the rugged topography of the lunar limb allows sunlight to shine through.
• 1891 – Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum novarum, which addressed the condition of the working classes and is considered to be the foundation of modern Catholic social teaching.
• 1966 – Disapproving of General Tôn Thất Đính's handling of the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ ordered an attack on his forces and ousted Đính from his post.
• 2001 – A runaway train loaded with hazardous chemicals traveled driverless for 66 miles (106 km) through Ohio before being stopped near Kenton.
• 2010 – Three days before her seventeenth birthday, Jessica Watson arrived in Sydney after sailing non-stop and unassisted around the world.

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Locomotive No. 1 Talyllyn arriving at Nant Gwernol

The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge preserved railway in Wales running for 7.25 miles (11.67 km) from Tywyn on the Mid Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1866 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow-gauge railway in Britain authorised by act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe under-investment, the line remained open, and on 14 May 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be operated as a heritage railway by volunteers. Since preservation, the railway has operated as a tourist attraction, significantly expanding its rolling stock through acquisition and an engineering programme to build new locomotives and carriages. The fictional Skarloey Railway, which formed part of the Railway Series of children's books by the Rev. W Awdry, was based on the Talyllyn Railway. The preservation of the line inspired the Ealing comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt. (Full article...)

Nancy Chitera

• ... that Nancy Chitera (pictured) leads a university whose commercial subsidiaries plan to manufacture tractors and commence gold mining in Malawi?
• ... that an Ibadi mosque in Temezda, Libya, was originally a Byzantine church?
• ... that sheep farming in Ukraine declined from 6.4 million sheep in 1938 to about 0.7 million in the early 21st century?
• ... that "We Are Charlie Kirk" was ranked as the worst song of 2025 by the magazine Paste?
• ... that writer and composer Stanley Kimmel survived the sinking of SS Antilles after it was attacked by a German submarine?
• ... that Danquah Circle was named in honor of J. B. Danquah, one of Ghana's Big Six?
• ... that sailors in Britain and its colonies used gunpowder to ink their sailor tattoos?
• ... that Tim Birkhead wrote a book about bird's eggs after watching a presenter spin an egg on television?
• ... that chocolatieres were among the gifts brought by the 1686 Siamese embassy to France?

MV Hondius

• Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius (pictured) disembark in Tenerife after being quarantined due to a hantavirus outbreak.
• The education platform Canvas goes offline, affecting thousands of educational institutions, after a ransomware attack by the group ShinyHunters.
• American media proprietor and philanthropist Ted Turner dies at the age of 87.
• Wu Yize defeats Shaun Murphy to win the World Snooker Championship.
• An explosion at a fireworks factory in Liuyang, Hunan, China, kills 37 people.

May 14: Feast day of Saint Matthias (Catholicism)

First page of score of BWV 43

• 1726 – J. S. Bach composed the cantata Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen (first page pictured) in Leipzig for the Feast of the Ascension.
• 1856 – Major Henry C. Wayne arrived in Indianola, Texas, with 34 camels to form the short-lived United States Camel Corps.
• 1868 – Boshin War: Troops of the Tokugawa shogunate withdrew from the Battle of Utsunomiya Castle and retreated north towards Nikkō and Aizu.
• 1980 – Salvadoran Civil War: Refugees trying to flee El Salvador across the Sumpul River to Honduras were attacked by both Salvadoran and Honduran forces, resulting in at least 300 deaths.
• 2008 – On the day of the UEFA Cup Final, violence erupted between football hooligan supporters of both teams and the Greater Manchester Police, resulting in 39 arrests and 39 injured officers.

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Logo of Splatoon 3

Splatoon 3: Side Order is an expansion pack for the single-player mode of Splatoon 3 (logo pictured). It is the second half of the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass and was released on 22 February 2024. Side Order follows Agent 8, who finds themselves trapped in the featureless Memverse. They uncover Order, a rogue artificial intelligence who threatens to abduct souls to remove their free will and instigate a world of pure orderliness; Agent 8 journeys up a thirty-floor spire to destroy Order. Development began after the release of Splatoon 3 in 2022. The team sought to reinvent the traditional structure of Splatoon single-player campaigns, such as having the player's death causing the loss of progress from their current climb, and the option to purchase upgrades to ease future attempts. Side Order received favorable reviews from critics, with praise given to its art direction and integration of Splatoon's gameplay mechanics into the roguelike genre. Some critics were displeased with a perceived lack of level diversity. (Full article...)

Smoke plume from the Bolt Creek fire

• ... that, on some days during the Bolt Creek fire (smoke pictured), IQAir ranked the air quality in the Seattle area as among the worst in the world?
• ... that the first victim of spree killer Andrew Cunanan was interviewed on CBS News in 1993 to share his opinion on the proposed "don't ask, don't tell" policy?
• ... that the French state was found guilty of negligence after the Thomas family murders?
• ... that Arena Football League coach Joe Haering once punched the league's president?
• ... that the underperformance of the liberalized telephone system was a major issue in the 2001 Liechtenstein general election?
• ... that the novel We Cast a Shadow has been called an allegory for the struggles of marginalized people in America?
• ... that Metacritic promised stricter moderation tools after Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores faced a coordinated review bombing campaign over an optional same-sex kiss?
• ... that Indonesian diplomat Sulaiman Binol reportedly received his posting in Tokyo due to his wife's lobbying?
• ... that a filler episode may not be considered filler?

MV Hondius

• Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius (pictured) disembark in Tenerife after being quarantined due to a hantavirus outbreak.
• The education platform Canvas goes offline, affecting thousands of educational institutions, after a ransomware attack by the group ShinyHunters.
• American media proprietor and philanthropist Ted Turner dies at the age of 87.
• Wu Yize defeats Shaun Murphy to win the World Snooker Championship.
• An explosion at a fireworks factory in Liuyang, Hunan, China, kills 37 people.

May 13

Ben Carlin

• 1110 – Baldwin I of Jerusalem captured Beirut from the Fatimid Caliphate with the help of a Genoese fleet.
• 1725 – Johann Sebastian Bach first performed the church cantata Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 183 in Leipzig, Germany.
• 1958 – The Australian adventurer Ben Carlin (pictured) became the only person to circumnavigate the world in an amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 80,000 kilometres (50,000 miles) by land and sea.
• 1985 – Eleven members of the American Black liberation group MOVE were killed when a Philadelphia police helicopter dropped a bomb on their house during a raid.
• 2005 – Uzbek Interior Ministry and State Security Service troops fired at protesters in Andijan, killing between 187 and 1,500 people.

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Illustration with Aeneas holding the Golden Bough

The Golden Bough is a fantastical object in the Aeneid, an epic poem by the 1st century BCE Roman poet Virgil. The Trojan hero Aeneas is tasked to find the bough and remove it from its host tree to prove his divine favour before his journey into the Underworld. It briefly resists as he does so – the implications of which have been widely debated in scholarship. In the medieval period, commentators often interpreted the bough allegorically and as a symbol of wisdom. More recent scholars have viewed the episode as reflecting Virgil's ambivalence towards the Roman Empire, and connected it to the deaths of two of Aeneas's antagonists, Dido and Turnus. The bough has been widely referenced in art and literature. It was used by James Frazer for the title of his 1890 work on comparative religion, is recalled in Dante's Divine Comedy, and was the subject of an 1834 painting by J. M. W. Turner. It is also a recurring motif in the "Byzantium" poems of W. B. Yeats and in the poetry of Seamus Heaney. (Full article...)

Raven on the Yaxté totem pole

• ... that the Yaxté totem pole (detail pictured) has survived being shot at, set on fire, and pecked by woodpeckers?
• ... that Frederick McAlpine called his own party a "Pinocchio government"?
• ... that a private WeChat group coordinated harassment against a Chinese diver, including a rule that banned personal attacks on everyone except her?
• ... that a rights dispute meant that two different actors played Quicksilver in two competing film franchises at the same time?
• ... that the 1994 video game Apocalypse, about combat helicopter operations, also involves transporting medical personnel and evacuating the wounded?
• ... that Momoko Seto said that she received her first voice-acting role after only four months of training?
• ... that a rare plant blocked Ballymun United from building more pitches?
• ... that gay rights activist Sergey Androsenko sued the Belarusian government over his arrest and beating at the 2010 Minsk Pride?
• ... that the lead actor of Cold War 1994 said he almost got hit by a plane during its filming?

MV Hondius

• Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius (pictured) disembark in Tenerife after being quarantined due to a hantavirus outbreak.
• The education platform Canvas goes offline, affecting thousands of educational institutions, after a ransomware attack by the group ShinyHunters.
• American media proprietor and philanthropist Ted Turner dies at the age of 87.
• Wu Yize defeats Shaun Murphy to win the World Snooker Championship.
• An explosion at a fireworks factory in Liuyang, Hunan, China, kills 37 people.

May 12 :

Roald Amundsen's airship Norge

• 1510 – Zhu Zhifan, the Prince of Anhua (in modern Shaanxi, China), began an unsuccessful rebellion against the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.
• 1846 – The Donner Party, an American pioneer group which became known for resorting to cannibalism when they became trapped in the Sierra Nevada, left Independence, Missouri, for California.
• 1926 – The crew of the airship Norge (pictured), led by Roald Amundsen, became the first people to make a verified trip to the North Pole.
• 1941 – German engineer Konrad Zuse presented the Z3, the first working programmable and fully automatic computer, to an audience of scientists in Berlin.
• 2015 – A train derailment killed eight people and injured more than 200 others in Philadelphia.

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Admire Moon moments away from winning the 2007 race, ahead of Pop Rock and Meisho Samson

The Japan Cup is a Group 1 horse race in Japan, held annually on the last Sunday of November at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchū, Tokyo. It is a flat race run over a distance of 2400 metres (about 1+1⁄2 miles), with a maximum of 18 horses. First run in 1981, the Japan Cup was created by the Japan Racing Association and extends invitations to top-performing horses aged 3 and above from around the world. The race has had a total prize purse of over one billion yen since 2023, and is the middle leg of the informal "Autumn Triple Crown" along with the Tennō Shō (Autumn) and the Arima Kinen. The Japan Cup is regularly ranked highly in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities' "Top 100 Group 1 Races of the Year" compilation due to the high quality and depth of racers, and has had winners from all over the world. Initially, the race was dominated by foreign horses, with 8 of the first 10 winners coming from abroad, however, in the last twenty years only one horse from outside Japan has won. (Full article...)

Sobaity seabream

• ... that the sobaity seabream (example pictured) is reserved for special occasions in the Persian Gulf region?
• ... that actor Éric Bernard was advised not to hold hands with his husband at the Cannes Film Festival to avoid damaging possible roles as a straight man?
• ... that the Punisher skull has been adopted as an unofficial emblem by real-world police departments and far-right activists?
• ... that Constantinianus, a trusted adviser to Emperor Justinian I, investigated plots against him even from suspected relatives?
• ... that five different disorders have been identified as forms of POLR3-related leukodystrophy?
• ... that Benjamin Karim introduced Malcolm X at the event at which he was assassinated?
• ... that the Indonesian women's magazine Ummi dealt with issues such as dress, food, jewellery, contraceptives, and accepting sons' jihad?
• ... that "Will Play on the Beat" is the only Pakistan Super League anthem to have no opening ceremony?
• ... that fans of a fictional moving statue have nicknamed it "Peanut"?

MV Hondius

• Passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius (pictured) disembark in Tenerife after being quarantined due to a hantavirus outbreak.
• American media proprietor and philanthropist Ted Turner dies at the age of 87.
• Wu Yize defeats Shaun Murphy to win the World Snooker Championship.
• An explosion at a fireworks factory in Liuyang, Hunan, China, kills 37 people.
• American low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines ceases operations after entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

May 11

Cast of a 2011 production of Cats

• 1813 – William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth departed westward from Sydney on an expedition to become the first confirmed Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains.
• 1894 – In response to a 28-percent wage cut, 4,000 Pullman Palace Car Company workers went on strike in Illinois, bringing rail traffic west of Chicago to a halt.
• 1981 – Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats (performers pictured), opened at the New London Theatre.
• 2011 – An earthquake registering M_w 5.1, the worst to hit the region for more than 50 years, struck near Lorca, Spain.
• 2022 – Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while reporting on an Israel Defense Forces raid on the Jenin refugee camp.

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Ben&Ben are a Filipino indie folk-pop band from Manila. They were formed in 2016 by twin brothers Paolo and Miguel Benjamin Guico (lead vocals and acoustic guitars), calling themselves the Benjamins. A year later, they expanded into an ensemble and settled on the current name, adding Poch Barretto (electric guitar), Keifer Cabugao (violin), Patricia Lasaten (keyboards), Toni Muñoz (percussion), Andrew de Pano (percussion), Agnes Reoma (bass guitar), and Jam Villanueva (drums). The band's musical style has garnered praise for its anthemic quality and emotional engagement that appeals to a broad audience, while their lyrics focus on subjects including loss, heartbreak and relationship, and the journey towards self-love. Ben&Ben have received numerous accolades, including an Asia Artist Award, an Aliw Award, a NME Award, two Myx Music Awards, three Star Awards, and sixteen Awit Awards. In 2020, they placed 29th on the Billboard Social 50 chart. (This article is part of a featured topic: Overview of Ben&Ben.)

Perth County Courthouse

• ... that the Perth County Courthouse (pictured) was built after a judge refused to hold hearings in its predecessor building?
• ... that two films by Chaerul Umam – Ketika Cinta Bertasbih and its sequel – were the first to be labelled halal by the Indonesian Ulama Council?
• ... that the novel The Poison of Polygamy was rediscovered almost a century after its publication by a researcher studying early Chinese-language Australian newspapers?
• ... that the science-fiction novel Finity was praised by reviewers as an "adventure of ideas", with inventive use of virtual reality and parallel-world concepts despite its thin plot?
• ... that the vodka brand Zirkova raised funds for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, and brought its master distiller to Canada to continue production?
• ... that Albert Einstein debated the nature of time with the "most famous philosopher" alive in 1922?
• ... that Indonesian military leader Moergito banned the production of machetes in East Java shortly after the government ordered twenty thousand of them?
• ... that, under Werth v. Taylor, doctors are not always liable for giving blood transfusions to Jehovah's Witnesses who have explicitly refused them?
• ... that Jay Som created 1 Billion Dogs?

MV Hondius

• A hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius (pictured) forces most of the remaining passengers to quarantine on board.
• American media proprietor and philanthropist Ted Turner dies at the age of 87.
• Wu Yize defeats Shaun Murphy to win the World Snooker Championship.
• An explosion at a fireworks factory in Liuyang, Hunan, China, kills 37 people.
• American low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines ceases operations after entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

May 10

Rudolf Hess

• 1627 – Dutch explorer Pieter Nuyts was appointed governor of Formosa (modern-day Taiwan) by the Dutch East India Company.
• 1801 – First Barbary War: The Barbary corsairs of Tripoli declared war on the United States by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. consulate.
• 1941 – World War II: German Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess (pictured) parachuted into Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace with the British government.
• 1994 – American serial killer John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection for the murders of twelve teenage boys and young men in a series of killings committed between 1972 and 1978.
• 2012 – Suicide bombers detonated two car bombs outside a military intelligence complex, killing 55 people in Damascus.

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Bomb exploding near the Berghof

The bombing of Obersalzberg was a World War II air raid that targeted a complex of residences and bunkers built for Adolf Hitler at Obersalzberg, Bavaria. It was carried out by 359 Allied heavy bombers on 25 April 1945, during the last days of World War II in Europe. The Allies believed that the German government would use the Obersalzberg complex to command an Alpine Fortress. Many buildings were destroyed, though the Berghof, which was Hitler's residence, and the bunker network were only slightly damaged. Hitler was not present. Two bombers were shot down with the loss of four airmen, and 31 Germans were killed. Historians have identified several motives for the attack, including supporting Allied ground forces, demonstrating the effectiveness of the heavy bomber, convincing die-hard Germans that the war was lost and obscuring the memory of pre-war appeasement policies. The raid was celebrated at the time, but as the Alpine Fortress proved to be a myth most post-war histories make little mention of it. (Full article...)

Siri Dahl

• ... that the cisgender actress Siri Dahl (pictured) once won a Trans Erotica Award?
• ... that scenes for Home and Away's Anzac storyline were shot at the Australian War Memorial after budget issues prevented filming in Europe?
• ... that William Robinson, once deemed the first important architect in London, Ontario, did not call himself an architect until his forties?
• ... that a performer in the Indonesian film Nada dan Dakwah refused a best supporting actor nomination because of his congregation's complaints?
• ... that Cecile Long Steele pioneered the broiler chicken industry in the United States after accidentally receiving 500 chickens?
• ... that not all schools of Hindu theology believe that reality was created out of nothing?
• ... that the American band Beach House initially rejected an offer to distribute their fourth studio album at Starbucks stores?
• ... that deep-fried noodles called sangza are eaten by Uyghur people for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha?
• ... that Adam Bernero signed his first contract with a Major League Baseball team on a Denny's napkin?

Rumen Radev

• The Progressive Bulgaria party, led by former president Rumen Radev (pictured), wins a majority of the National Assembly in the parliamentary elections, in a bid to end the ongoing Bulgarian political crisis.
• Separate school shootings in Siverek and in Onikişubat, Turkey, leave 12 people dead and 35 others injured.
• Romuald Wadagni wins the Beninese presidential election.
• In golf, Rory McIlroy wins the Masters Tournament.

April 25: Liberation Day in Italy (1945); Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand; Flag Day in the Faroe Islands

Mswati III

• 775 – The Abbasid army won a decisive victory over the forces of rebelling Armenian princes at the Battle of Bagrevand.
• 1644 – Ming–Qing transition: The Ming dynasty of China fell when the Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
• 1920 – A march by blind people from across the United Kingdom to protest poor working conditions ended at Trafalgar Square, London.
• 1986 – Mswati III (pictured) was crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
• 2014 – A water crisis began when officials in Flint, Michigan, switched the city's water supply to the Flint River, leading to contamination.

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Ornithoprion is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish. Its only species lived during the Moscovian age. Its fossils are preserved in black shales from the Midwestern United States. Ornithoprion's genus name, which is Greek for 'bird saw', was inspired by its bird-like skull and the saw-like appearance of the teeth in the lower jaw. The specific name honors the German zoologist Oscar Hertwig. Ornithoprion had a unique projection of its lower jaw termed the mandibular rostrum, which was covered by a beak of fused bony scales. It inhabited shallow, seasonal marine and brackish water environments. The rounded shape of Ornithoprion's teeth suggests that it hunted hard-shelled invertebrates, and bite marks and damage to some of its fossils indicate that it was fed on by other carnivores. Ornithoprion was small relative to other members of its order, with a cranium length of up to 10 cm (3.9 in) and an estimated body length of up to approximately 91 cm (36 in). (Full article...)

Roman glass ewer from Gyeongju, Korea

• ... that a 4th-century set of Roman glassware (pictured) was highly valued by Silla royalty in Korea, and is considered a National Treasure?
• ... that the Tabaru River hosts the westernmost mangroves in Japan?
• ... that the Heliodorus stele is an independent source for an episode previously known only from 2 Maccabees?
• ... that one critic described a 1995 romance novel as having characters with "all the depth of a cookie sheet (though fewer dimensions)"?
• ... that the Ballymun Concrete News shut down when a replacement for the Ballymun Shopping Centre was cancelled?
• ... that Sasha Stiles's A Living Poem is rewritten in an infinite loop every sixty minutes?
• ... that around 7,000 trucks took part in the Razorback Blockade?
• ... that Robert Dalzell avoided a court-martial by marrying his commander's daughter?
• ... that the broadcast time slot of Then You Try Making It! was considered unusual because the series has a male protagonist?

Rumen Radev

• The Progressive Bulgaria party, led by former president Rumen Radev (pictured), wins a majority of the National Assembly in the parliamentary elections, in a bid to end the ongoing Bulgarian political crisis.
• Separate school shootings in Siverek and in Onikişubat, Turkey, leave 12 people dead and 35 others injured.
• Romuald Wadagni wins the Beninese presidential election.
• In golf, Rory McIlroy wins the Masters Tournament.

April 24: Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (1915)

Max Bruch

• 1866 – German composer Max Bruch (pictured) conducted the premiere of his first violin concerto, which later became his most famous work.
• 1915 – The Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire began with the arrest and deportation of hundreds of prominent Armenians in Constantinople.
• 1944 – World War II: The British Special Boat Service executed a successful raid to destroy an Axis radio station on the Greek island of Santorini.
• 2011 – Secret documents relating to detainees at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camp were released on WikiLeaks and several independent news organizations.

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Beyoncé (born 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead vocalist of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups. Beyoncé then embarked on a successful solo career, releasing eight chart-topping studio albums—from Dangerously in Love (2003) to Cowboy Carter (2024)—and becoming one of the best-selling musicians in history. Her singles include nine US Billboard Hot 100 number ones, among them "Crazy in Love", "Irreplaceable", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Break My Soul", and "Texas Hold 'Em". Her accolades include a record 35 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Peabody Award. A cultural icon spanning three decades, Beyoncé was named Billboard's greatest pop star of the 21st century and Rolling Stone's eighth-greatest singer of all time. Her business endeavors include the nonprofit BeyGood, the hair care brand Cécred, the whiskey SirDavis, and Parkwood Entertainment. (Full article...)