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17 April 1964 – Ford Mustang is introduced to the North American market.

Ford Mustang

American car manufactured by Ford

For the separate model battery-powered crossover with the same name, see Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Motor vehicle

The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its seventh generation, it is the fifth-best selling Ford car nameplate. The namesake of the "pony car" automobile segment, the Mustang was developed as a highly styled line of sporty coupes and convertibles derived from existing model lines, initially distinguished by "long hood, short deck" proportions.^[3]

Originally predicted to sell 100,000 vehicles yearly, the 1965 Mustang became the most successful vehicle launch since the 1927 Model A.^[4] Introduced on April 17, 1964^[5] (16 days after the Plymouth Barracuda), over 400,000 units were sold in its first year; the one-millionth Mustang was sold within two years of its launch.^[6] In August 2018, Ford produced the 10-millionth Mustang; matching the first 1965 Mustang, the vehicle was a 2019 Wimbledon White convertible with a V8 engine.^[7]

The success of the Mustang launch led to multiple competitors from other American manufacturers, including the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird^[8] (1967), AMC Javelin (1968), and Dodge Challenger^[9] (1970). It also competed with the Plymouth Barracuda, which was launched around the same time. The Mustang also had an effect on designs of coupes worldwide, leading to the marketing of the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri in the United States (the latter, by Lincoln-Mercury). The Mercury Cougar was launched in 1967 as a unique-bodied higher-trim alternative to the Mustang; during the 1970s, it included more features and was marketed as a personal luxury car.

From 1965 until 2004, the Mustang shared chassis commonality with other Ford model lines, staying rear-wheel-drive throughout its production. From 1965 to 1973, the Mustang was derived from the 1960 Ford Falcon compact. From 1974 until 1978, the Mustang (denoted Mustang II) was a longer-wheelbase version of the Ford Pinto. From 1979 until 2004, the Mustang shared its Fox platform chassis with 14 other Ford vehicles (becoming the final one to use the Fox architecture). Since 2005, Ford has produced two generations of the Mustang, each using a distinct platform unique to the model line.

Through its production, multiple nameplates have been associated with the Ford Mustang series, including GT, Mach 1, Boss 302/429, Cobra (separate from Shelby Cobra), and Bullitt, along with "5.0" fender badging (denoting 4.9 L OHV or 5.0 L DOHC V8 engines).

1. ^ "History of the Ford T5". fordt5.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
2. ^ "Official Ford Mustang 2017 (reassessment) safety rating". Euro NCAP. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
3. ^ Mueller, Mike (1997). Ford Mustang. MotorBooks/MBI. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-87938-990-1.
4. ^ Hinckley, Jim; Robinson, Jon G. (2005). The Big Book of Car Culture. Motorbooks/MBI. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-7603-1965-9. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
5. ^ Flory, J. Kelly (2004). American Cars, 1960–1972: Every Model, Year by Year. McFarland. pp. 367–68. ISBN 978-0-7864-1273-0.
6. ^ Drummond, Meghan (September 22, 2020). "History of the Ford Mustang". cjponyparts.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
7. ^ MotorAuthority (August 9, 2018). "Mustang milestone: 10 millionth 'Stang gallops off assembly line". The ClassicCars.com Journal. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
8. ^ Young, Anthony (2004). Camaro. MotorBooks/MBI. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7603-1932-1.
9. ^ Zazarine, Paul (2002). Barracuda and Challenger. MotorBooks/MBI. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-87938-538-5.

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18 April 1983 – A suicide bomber destroys the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 63 people.

April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing

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19 April 1984 – Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.

Advance Australia Fair

National anthem of Australia

"Advance Australia Fair" is the national anthem of Australia. Written by Scottish-born Australian composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed as a patriotic song in Australia in 1878. It replaced "God Save the Queen" as the official national anthem in 1974, following a nationwide opinion survey, only for "God Save the Queen" to be reinstated in January 1976. However, a plebiscite to choose the national song in 1977 preferred "Advance Australia Fair", which was in turn reinstated as the national anthem in 1984. "God Save the Queen" became the royal anthem (later "God Save the King" on the ascension of King Charles III), and is used at public engagements attended by the King or members of the monarchy of Australia. The lyrics of the 1984 version of "Advance Australia Fair" were modified from McCormick's original and its verses were trimmed down from four to two. In January 2021, the official lyrics were changed once again, in recognition of the long habitation of Indigenous Australians.

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20 April 1902 – Pierre and Marie Curie refine radium chloride.

Maria Sklodowska-Curie

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21 April 1506 – The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end with the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics.

Lisbon Massacre

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22 April 1964 – The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.

1964 New York World's Fair

Event held in New York City

The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants representing 80 nations, 24 U.S. states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or attractions at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.^[1][2][3] The immense fair covered 646 acres (2.61 km²) on half the park, with numerous pools or fountains, and an amusement park with rides near the lake. However, the fair did not receive official support or approval from the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE).

Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding", dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe". American companies dominated the exposition as exhibitors. The theme was symbolized by a 12-story-high, stainless-steel model of the Earth called the Unisphere, built on the foundation of the Perisphere from the 1939 World's Fair.^[4] The fair ran for two six-month seasons, April 22 – October 18, 1964, and April 21 – October 17, 1965. Admission price for adults (13 and older) was $2.00 in 1964 (equivalent to $19.65 in 2023 after calculating for inflation). Admission in 1965 increased to $2.50 (equivalent to $24.17 in 2023 after calculating for inflation). In both years, children (2–12) admission cost $1.00 (equivalent to $9.82 in 2023 after calculating for inflation).^[5]

The fair is noted as a showcase of mid-twentieth-century American culture and technology. The nascent Space Age, with its vista of promise, was well represented. More than 51 million people attended the fair, though fewer than the hoped-for 70 million. It remains a cultural touchstone for many American Baby Boomers who visited the optimistic exposition as children a few short years before the social and political turmoil of the Vietnam War era and the massive cultural changes of the later '60s.

In many ways the fair symbolized a grand consumer show, covering many products then-produced in America for transportation, living, and consumer electronic needs in a way that would never be repeated at future world's fairs in North America. American manufacturers of pens, chemicals, computers, and automobiles had a major presence.^[2][1] The fair gave many attendees their first ever interaction of any sort with computer hardware; corporations demonstrated the use of mainframe computers, computer terminals with keyboards and CRT displays, teletype machines, punch cards, and telephone modems in an era when computers had rooms of their own in the back office, decades before the advent of personal computers and the Internet.

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Flushing Meadows Corona Park: World's Fair Playground". nycgovparks.org. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "IBM Pavilion NY World's Fair". EamesOffice.com. 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
3. ^ Archdiocese History Archived November 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Archdiocese of New York. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
4. ^ Gordon, John Steele (October 2006). ""The World's Fair: It was a disaster from the beginning". American Heritage.
5. ^ Arnold, Martin (January 13, 1965). "FAIR INCREASING ADMISSION TO $2.50; 50-Cent Raise Does Not Apply to Children's Rates – Longer Run Possible". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2016.

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23 April 1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

Chinese Civil War

1927–1949 civil war in China

For other uses, see Chinese Civil War (disambiguation).

The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party, with armed conflict continuing intermittently from 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949, resulting in a Communist victory and control of mainland China in the Chinese Communist Revolution.

The war is generally divided into the First Kuomintang-Communist Civil War and the Second Kuomintang-Communist Civil War with an interlude: from August 1927 to 1937, the KMT–CCP Alliance collapsed during the Northern Expedition, and the Nationalists controlled most of China. From 1937 to 1945, hostilities were mostly put on hold as the Second United Front fought the Japanese invasion of China with eventual help from the Allies of World War II, although co-operation between the KMT and CCP during this time was minimal and armed clashes between the groups were common. Exacerbating the divisions within China further was the formation of a puppet government, sponsored by Japan and ostensibly led by Wang Jingwei, which was established to nominally govern the regions of China that came under Japanese occupation.

The civil war resumed as soon as it became apparent that Japanese defeat was imminent, with the communists gaining the upper hand in the second phase of the war from 1945 to 1949.

The Communists gained control of mainland China and proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949, forcing the leadership of the Republic of China to retreat to the island of Taiwan.^[13] Starting in the 1950s, a lasting political and military standoff between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has ensued, with the ROC in Taiwan and the PRC in mainland China both claiming to be the legitimate government of all China. After the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, both tacitly ceased to engage in open conflict in 1979; however, no armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed.^[14]

1. ^ Li, Xiaobing (2012). China at War: An Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 295. ISBN 9781598844153. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
2. ^ Li, Xiaobing (1 June 2007). A History of the Modern Chinese Army. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-7224-8. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
3. ^ ^{a b} Hsiung, James C. (1992). China's Bitter Victory: The War With Japan, 1937–1945. New York: M. E. Sharpe publishing. ISBN 1-56324-246-X. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
4. ^ ^{a b} Sarker, Sunil Kumar (1994). The Rise and Fall of Communism. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. ISBN 9788171565153. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
5. ^ 曹, 前发. "毛泽东的独创："兵民是胜利之本"". 中国共产党新闻网. 人民网-中国共产党新闻网. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Lynch, Michael (2010). The Chinese Civil War 1945–49. Osprey Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-84176-671-3.^{[permanent dead link]}
7. ^ Ho. Studies in the Population of China. p. 253.
8. ^ Ho. Studies in the Population of China. p. 253.
9. ^ White, Matthew (2011). Atrocities. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-393-08192-3.
10. ^ The History of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Beijing: People's Liberation Army Press. 1983.
11. ^ "Twentieth Century Atlas - Death Tolls". Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
12. ^ "Twentieth Century Atlas - Death Tolls". Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
13. ^ Lew, Christopher R.; Leung, Pak-Wah, eds. (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Civil War. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 3. ISBN 978-0810878730. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
14. ^ Green, Leslie C. The Contemporary Law of Armed Conflict. p. 79.

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24 April 1967 – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.

Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov

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25 April 1916 – Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland.

Easter Rebellion

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26 April 1954 – The Geneva Conference, an effort to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, begins.

Geneva Conference (1954)

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27 April 1977 – Twenty-eight people are killed in the Guatemala City air disaster.

Guatemala City air disaster

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28 April 1969 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France.

Charles de Gaulle

French army officer and statesman (1890–1970)

"De Gaulle" redirects here. For the film, see De Gaulle (film). For other uses, see Charles de Gaulle (disambiguation).

In this article, the surname is De Gaulle, not Gaulle.

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle^[a] (/də ˈɡoʊl, də ˈɡɔːl/ də GOHL, də GAWL, French: [ʃaʁl də ɡol] ^ⓘ;^[1] 22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. In 1958, amid the Algerian War, he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969.

Born in Lille, he was a decorated officer of the First World War, wounded several times and taken prisoner by the Germans. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions. During the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured division that counterattacked the invaders; he was then appointed Undersecretary for War. Refusing to accept his government's armistice with Germany, De Gaulle fled to England and exhorted the French to continue the fight in his Appeal of 18 June. He led the Free French Forces and later headed the French National Liberation Committee and emerged as the undisputed leader of Free France. He became head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, the interim government of France following its liberation. As early as 1944, De Gaulle introduced a dirigiste economic policy, which included substantial state-directed control over a capitalist economy, which was followed by 30 years of unprecedented growth, known as the Trente Glorieuses. He resigned in 1946, but continued to be politically active as founder of the Rally of the French People. He retired in the early 1950s and wrote his War Memoirs, which quickly became a staple of modern French literature.

When the Algerian War threatened to bring the unstable Fourth Republic to collapse, the National Assembly brought him back to power during the May 1958 crisis. He founded the Fifth Republic with a strong presidency; he was elected with 78% of the vote to continue in that role. He managed to keep France together while taking steps to end the war, much to the anger of the Pieds-Noirs (ethnic Europeans born in Algeria) and the armed forces. He granted independence to Algeria and acted progressively towards other French colonies. In the context of the Cold War, De Gaulle initiated his "politics of grandeur", asserting that France as a major power should not rely on other countries, such as the United States, for its national security and prosperity. To this end, he pursued a policy of "national independence" which led him to withdraw from NATO's integrated military command and to launch an independent nuclear strike force that made France the world's fourth nuclear power. He restored cordial Franco-German relations with Konrad Adenauer to create a European counterweight between the Anglo-American and Soviet spheres of influence through the signing of the Élysée Treaty on 22 January 1963.

De Gaulle opposed any development of a supranational Europe, favouring Europe as a continent of sovereign nations. De Gaulle openly criticised the US intervention in Vietnam and the "exorbitant privilege" of the US dollar. In his later years, his support for the slogan "Vive le Québec libre" and his two vetoes of Britain's entry into the European Economic Community generated considerable controversy in both North America and Europe. Although reelected to the presidency in 1965, he faced widespread protests by students and workers in May 68 but had the Army's support and won a snap election with an increased majority in the National Assembly. De Gaulle resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum in which he proposed more decentralisation. He died a year later at the age of 79, leaving his presidential memoirs unfinished. Many French political parties and leaders claim a Gaullist legacy; many streets and monuments in France and other parts of the world were dedicated to his memory after his death.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Wells, John C. (2008), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.), Longman, ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0

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29 April 1861 – American Civil War: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union.

Union (American Civil War)

Civil War term for northern United States

During the American Civil War, the United States was referred to as simply the Union, also known colloquially as the North, after eleven Southern slave states seceded to form the Confederate States of America (CSA), which was called the Confederacy, also known as the South. The name the "Union" arose from the declared goal of the United States, led by President Abraham Lincoln, of preserving the United States as a constitutional federal union.

In the context of the Civil War, "Union" is also often used as a synonym for "the northern states loyal to the United States government".^[1] In this meaning, the Union included 20 free states and four southern border slave states—Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, though Missouri and Kentucky both had dual competing Confederate and Unionist governments with the Confederate government of Kentucky and the Confederate government of Missouri.^[2]

The Union Army was a new formation comprising mostly state units, together with units from the regular U.S. Army. Keeping the southern border states in the Union was considered essential to its winning the war.^[3][4]

The Northeast and Midwest provided the industrial resources for a mechanized war producing large quantities of munitions and supplies and financing the war. The Northeast and Midwest provided soldiers, food, horses, financial support, and training camps. Army hospitals were set up across the Union. Most Northern states had Republican governors who energetically supported the war effort and suppressed anti-war subversion, particularly that that arose in 1863–64.^[5] The Democratic Party strongly supported the war at the beginning in 1861, but by 1862, was split between the War Democrats and the anti-war element known as Peace Democrats, led by the extremist "Copperheads".^[6] The Democrats made major electoral gains in 1862 in state elections, most notably in New York. They lost ground in 1863, especially in Ohio. In 1864, the Republicans campaigned under the National Union Party banner, which attracted many War Democrats and soldiers^[7] and scored a landslide victory for Lincoln and his entire ticket against Democratic candidate George B. McClellan.

The war years were quite prosperous except where serious fighting and guerrilla warfare ravaged the countryside. Prosperity was stimulated by heavy government spending and the creation of an entirely new national banking system. The Union states invested a great deal of money and effort in organizing psychological and social support for soldiers' wives, widows, and orphans, and for the soldiers themselves. Most soldiers were volunteers, although after 1862 many volunteered in order to escape the draft and to take advantage of generous cash bounties on offer from states and localities. Draft resistance was notable in some larger cities, especially in parts of New York City, with its massive anti-draft riots of July 1863 and in some remote districts such as the Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

1. ^ "Books and Manuscript Submission Guide". Army University Press. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
2. ^ In 1863, West Virginia separated from Virginia and became another border state.
3. ^ "Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation"
4. ^ Lincoln, Abraham. The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2: 1860–1865. Jazzybee Verlag. p. 94. ISBN 9783849679682.
5. ^ Smith, Michael T.; Engle, Stephen D. (2018). "Review of GATHERING TO SAVE A NATION: Lincoln and the Union's War Governors, EngleStephen D". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 59 (3): 361–363. ISSN 0024-6816. JSTOR 26564816.
6. ^ Thomas, Benjamin P. (September 26, 2008). Abraham Lincoln: A Biography. SIU Press. p. 377. ISBN 9780809328871.
7. ^ Thomas, Benjamin P. (September 26, 2008). Abraham Lincoln: A Biography. SIU Press. p. 428. ISBN 9780809328871.

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30 April 1871 – The Camp Grant massacre takes place in Arizona Territory.

Camp Grant massacre

Part of the Apache Wars

32°50′54″N 110°42′17″W / 32.848305°N 110.704654°W / 32.848305; -110.704654

The Camp Grant massacre, on April 30, 1871, was an attack on Pinal and Aravaipa Apaches who surrendered to the United States Army at Camp Grant, Arizona, along the San Pedro River. The massacre led to a series of battles and campaigns fought between the Americans, the Apache, and their Yavapai allies, which continued into 1875, the most notable being General George Crook's Tonto Basin Campaign of 1872 and 1873.

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1 May 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.

Roman Emperors

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

Death of Osama bin Laden

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3 May 1937 – Gone with the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind most often refers to:

• Gone with the Wind (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
• Gone with the Wind (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel

Gone with the Wind may also refer to:

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4 May 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales.

Battle of Tewkesbury

1471 Yorkist victory in the Wars of the Roses

The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the most decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses in England.

King Edward IV and his forces loyal to the House of York completely defeated those of the rival House of Lancaster. The Lancastrian heir to the throne, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, and many prominent Lancastrian nobles were killed during the battle or executed. The Lancastrian king, Henry VI, who was a prisoner in the Tower of London, died shortly after the battle, perhaps murdered. Tewkesbury restored political stability to England until the death of Edward IV in 1483.

1. ^ ^{a b} Gravett 2003, p. 28.
2. ^ ^{a b} Goodchild 2005, p. 114.
3. ^ Warner, p.96
4. ^ Weir, p.407

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5 May 1961 – The Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 3 – Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, on a sub-orbital flight.

Mercury-Redstone 3

First United States human spaceflight (1961)

Mercury-Redstone 3, or Freedom 7, was the first United States human spaceflight, on May 5, 1961, piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard. It was the first crewed flight of Project Mercury. The project had the ultimate objective of putting an astronaut into orbit around the Earth and returning him safely. Shepard's mission was a 15-minute suborbital flight with the primary objective of demonstrating his ability to withstand the high g-forces of launch and atmospheric re-entry.

Shepard named his space capsule Freedom 7, setting a precedent for the remaining six Mercury astronauts naming their spacecraft and the format of their names, the number 7 later included in all the crewed Mercury spacecraft names to honor NASA's first group of seven astronauts. His spacecraft reached an altitude of 101.2 nautical miles (116.5 statute miles, 187.5 km) and traveled a downrange distance of 263.1 nautical miles (302.8 statute miles, 487.3 km). It was the fourth Mercury flight launched with the Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle,^{[Note 1]} from Cape Canaveral, Florida, close to the Atlantic Ocean.

During the flight, Shepard observed the Earth and tested the capsule's attitude control system, turning the capsule around to face its blunt heat shield forward for atmospheric re-entry. He also tested the retrorockets which would return later missions from orbit, though the capsule did not have enough energy to remain in orbit. After re-entry, the capsule landed by parachute on the North Atlantic Ocean off the Bahamas. Shepard and the capsule were picked up by helicopter and brought to U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain.

The mission was a technical success, though American pride in the accomplishment was dampened by the fact that just three weeks before, the Soviet Union had launched the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, who completed one orbit on Vostok 1. In 2017 the first National Astronaut Day was held on May 5 to pay tribute to this first U.S. flight.

1. ^ Swenson, Loyd S. Jr.; Grimwood, James M.; Alexander, Charles C. (1989). "11-1 Suborbital Flights into Space". In Woods, David; Gamble, Chris (eds.). This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury (url). NASA History Series. NASA. SP-4201. Archived from the original on July 13, 2009. Retrieved August 15, 2017.

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6 May 1937 – Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.

Hindenburg disaster

1937 airship fire

The Hindenburg disaster was an airship accident that occurred on May 6, 1937, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, U.S. The LZ 129 Hindenburg (Luftschiff Zeppelin #129; Registration: D-LZ 129) was a German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume.^[1] It was designed and built by the Zeppelin Company (Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH) and was operated by the German Zeppelin Airline Company (Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei). It was named after Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, who was president of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934. Filled with hydrogen, it caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst. The accident caused 35 fatalities (13 passengers and 22 crewmen) from the 97 people on board (36 passengers and 61 crewmen), and an additional fatality on the ground.

The disaster was the subject of newsreel coverage, photographs and Herbert Morrison's recorded radio eyewitness reports from the landing field, which were broadcast the next day.^[2] A variety of theories have been put forward for both the cause of ignition and the initial fuel for the ensuing fire. The publicity shattered public confidence in the giant, passenger-carrying rigid airship and marked the abrupt end of the airship era.^[3]

1. ^ "Hindenburg Statistics." Archived December 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine airships.net, 2009. Retrieved: July 22, 2017.
2. ^ WLS Broadcast Of the Hindenburg Disaster 1937. Chicagoland Radio and Media Archived February 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
3. ^ Craats 2009, p. 36.

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7 May 2000 – Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia.

Vladimir Putin

President of Russia (1999–2008, 2012–present)

"Putin" redirects here. For other uses, see Putin (disambiguation).

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin^[c][d] (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who is the president of Russia. Putin has held continuous positions as president or prime minister since 1999:^[e] as prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012, and as president from 2000 to 2008 and since 2012.^[f][7] He is the longest-serving Russian or Soviet leader since Joseph Stalin.

Putin worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel before resigning in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg. In 1996, he moved to Moscow to join the administration of President Boris Yeltsin. He briefly served as the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and then as secretary of the Security Council of Russia before being appointed prime minister in August 1999. Following Yeltsin's resignation, Putin became acting president and, in less than four months, was elected to his first term as president. He was reelected in 2004. Due to constitutional limitations of two consecutive presidential terms, Putin served as prime minister again from 2008 to 2012 under Dmitry Medvedev. He returned to the presidency in 2012, following an election marked by allegations of fraud and protests, and was reelected in 2018.

During Putin's initial presidential tenure, the Russian economy grew on average by seven percent per year,^[8] driven by economic reforms and a fivefold increase in the price of oil and gas.^[9][10] Additionally, Putin led Russia in a conflict against Chechen separatists, reestablishing federal control over the region.^[11][12] While serving as prime minister under Medvedev, he oversaw a military conflict with Georgia and enacted military and police reforms. In his third presidential term, Russia annexed Crimea and supported a war in eastern Ukraine through several military incursions, resulting in international sanctions and a financial crisis in Russia. He also ordered a military intervention in Syria to support his ally Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war, ultimately securing permanent naval bases in the Eastern Mediterranean.^[13][14][15]

In February 2022, during his fourth presidential term, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which prompted international condemnation and led to expanded sanctions. In September 2022, he announced a partial mobilization and forcibly annexed four Ukrainian oblasts into Russia. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes^[16] related to his alleged criminal responsibility for illegal child abductions during the war.^[17] In April 2021, after a referendum, he signed into law constitutional amendments that included one allowing him to run for reelection twice more, potentially extending his presidency to 2036.^[18][19] In June 2023, he survived the Wagner Group rebellion. In March 2024, he was reelected for another term.

Under Putin's rule, the Russian political system has been transformed into an authoritarian dictatorship.^[20][21][22] His rule has been marked by endemic corruption and widespread human rights violations, including the imprisonment and suppression of political opponents, intimidation and censorship of independent media in Russia, and a lack of free and fair elections.^[23][24][25] Putin's Russia has consistently received low scores on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, The Economist Democracy Index, Freedom House's Freedom in the World index, and the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index.

1. ^ "Vladimir Putin quits as head of Russia's ruling party". 24 April 2012. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference RFERL080418 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT120505 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Proekt201125 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Times190526 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference SonntagsZeitung was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
7. ^ "Timeline: Vladimir Putin – 20 tumultuous years as Russian President or PM". Reuters. 9 August 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
8. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (18 February 2020). "Pessimistic Outlook in Russia Slows Investment, and the Economy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Putin 2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fragile Empire 2013 page 17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
11. ^ "Fighting in volatile Chechnya kills 13 rebels, police: agency". Reuters. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
12. ^ "Putin Warns 'Mistakes' Could Bring Back '90s Woes". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 17 October 2011. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
13. ^ Borshchevskaya, Anna (2022). Putin's War in Syria. I. B. Tauris. pp. 70, 71, 80, 81, 157, 169, 171, 174. ISBN 978-0-7556-3463-7.
14. ^ "Russia carries out first air strikes in Syria". Al Jazeera. 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
15. ^ Geukjian, Ohannes (2022). "5: Russian Diplomacy, War, and Peace Making, 2017–19". The Russian Military Intervention in Syria. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-2280-0829-3.
16. ^ "Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova". International Criminal Court. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
17. ^ "International court issues war crimes warrant for Putin". AP News. 17 March 2023. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
18. ^ Odynova, Alexandra (5 April 2021). "Putin signs law allowing him to serve 2 more terms as Russia's president". CBS News. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
19. ^ "Putin – already Russia's longest leader since Stalin – signs law that may let him stay in power until 2036". USA Today. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
20. ^ Plokhy, Serhii (16 May 2023). The Russo-Ukrainian War: From the bestselling author of Chernobyl. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-80206-179-6. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
21. ^ Zavadskaya, Margarita (2023). "Russia: Nations in Transit 2023 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 25 March 2024. In Russia, national governance represents outright authoritarianism, dominated by widespread oppression and large-scale corruption among the top elites. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine has set the Russian regime on a further downward spiral, making it one of the most notorious personalist dictatorships in the world.
22. ^ Kovalev, Alexey (26 March 2024). "Russia Is Returning to Its Totalitarian Past". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
23. ^ Gill, Graeme (2016). Building an Authoritarian Polity: Russia in Post-Soviet Times (hardback ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-13008-1. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
24. ^ Reuter, Ora John (2017). The Origins of Dominant Parties: Building Authoritarian Institutions in Post-Soviet Russia (E-book ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316761649. ISBN 978-1-316-76164-9. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
25. ^ Frye, Timothy (2021). Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia. Princeton University Press. p. ^{[page needed]}. ISBN 978-0-691-21246-3. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2023.

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8 May 1972 – Four Black September terrorists hijack Sabena Flight 571. Israeli Sayeret Matkal commandos recapture the plane the following day.

Sabena Flight 571 hijacking

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10 May 1849 – Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 25 and injuring over 120.

Astor Place Riot

1849 theatre-related riot in Manhattan

The Astor Place Riot occurred on May 10, 1849, at the now-demolished Astor Opera House^[1] in Manhattan and left between 22 and 31 rioters dead, and more than 120 people injured.^[2] It was the deadliest to that date of a number of civic disturbances in Manhattan, which generally pitted immigrants and nativists against each other, or together against the wealthy who controlled the city's police and the state militia.

The riot resulted in the largest number of civilian casualties due to military action in the United States since the American Revolutionary War, and led to increased police militarization (for example, riot control training and larger, heavier batons).^[3] Its ostensible genesis was a dispute between Edwin Forrest, one of the best-known American actors of that time, and William Charles Macready, a similarly notable English actor, which largely revolved around which of them was better than the other at acting the major roles of Shakespeare.40°43′48″N 73°59′28″W / 40.729999°N 73.991244°W / 40.729999; -73.991244

1. ^ Staff (September 20, 1899). "Charles P. Daly Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
2. ^ Cliff, pp. 228, 241
3. ^ Cliff, pp. 241, 245

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11 May 1996 – The 1996 Mount Everest disaster: on a single day eight people die during summit attempts on Mount Everest.

1996 Mount Everest disaster

Death of eight climbers

The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making it the deadliest season on Mount Everest at the time and the third deadliest after the 23 fatalities resulting from avalanches caused by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake^[1] and the 16 fatalities of the 2014 Mount Everest avalanche. The 1996 disaster received widespread publicity and raised questions about the commercialization of Everest.^[2]

Numerous climbers were at a high altitude on Everest during the storm including the Adventure Consultants team, led by Rob Hall, and the Mountain Madness team, led by Scott Fischer. While climbers died on both the North Face and South Col approaches, the events on the latter were more widely reported. Four members of the Adventure Consultants expedition died, including Hall, while Fischer was the sole casualty of the Mountain Madness expedition. Three officers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police also died.

Following the disaster, several survivors wrote memoirs. Journalist Jon Krakauer, on assignment from Outside magazine and on the Adventure Consultants team, published Into Thin Air (1997)^[3] which became a bestseller. Anatoli Boukreev, a guide in the Mountain Madness team, felt impugned by the book and co-authored a rebuttal called The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest (1997).^[4] Beck Weathers, of Hall's expedition, and Lene Gammelgaard, of Fischer's expedition, wrote about their experiences in their respective books, Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest (2000)^[5] and Climbing High: A Woman's Account of Surviving the Everest Tragedy (2000).^[6] In 2014, Lou Kasischke, also of Hall's expedition, published his own account in After the Wind: 1996 Everest Tragedy, One Survivor's Story.

In addition to the members of the Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness teams, Mike Trueman, who coordinated the rescue from Base Camp, contributed The Storms: Adventure and Tragedy on Everest (2015). Graham Ratcliffe, who climbed to the South Col of Everest on 10 May, noted in A Day to Die For (2011) that weather reports forecasting a major storm developing after 8 May and peaking in intensity on 11 May were delivered to expedition leaders. Hall and Fischer received these before their planned summit attempts on 10 May. Some of their teams summited Everest during an apparent break in this developing storm only to descend into the full force of it late on 10 May.

1. ^ "Mount Everest Nepal Earthquake". The New York Times. 28 April 2015.
2. ^ Dahlburg, John-Thor (1996). "Climbing Veterans Call Everest Deaths Inevitable". Los Angeles Times.
3. ^ Krakauer 1997, p. 296
4. ^ Boukreev, Anatoli; G. Weston Dewalt (1997). The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest. New York: St. Martins. ISBN 978-0-312-96533-4.
5. ^ Weathers, Beck; Stephen G. Michaud (2000). Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest. New York: Villard. ISBN 978-0-375-50404-4.
6. ^ Gammelgard, Lene (2000). Climbing High: A Woman's Account of Surviving the Everest Tragedy. New York: Perennial. ISBN 978-0-330-39227-3.

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12 May 1975 – Mayagüez incident: the Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.

Mayagüez incident

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13 May 1963 – The U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland is decided.

Brady v. Maryland

For the 1970 Supreme Court case on coerced plea bargains, see Brady v. United States.

1963 United States Supreme Court case

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Brady v. Maryland

Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that established that the prosecution must turn over all evidence that might exonerate the defendant (exculpatory evidence) to the defense.^[1]: 4 The prosecution failed to do so for Brady, and he was convicted. Brady challenged his conviction, arguing it had been contrary to the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[2][3]

1. ^ Criminal Law: Cases and Materials, 7th ed., 2012, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder, ISBN 978-1-4548-0698-1
2. ^ Kim, Jonathan. "Brady Rule". Legal Information Institute. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
3. ^ Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).

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14 May 1610 – Henry IV of France is assassinated bringing Louis XIII to the throne.

Henry IV of France

King of France from 1589 to 1610

For other uses, see Henry IV (disambiguation).

"Henry of Navarre" redirects here. For other uses, see Henry of Navarre (disambiguation).

"Henri 4" redirects here. For the film, see Henri 4 (film).

Henry IV (French: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He pragmatically balanced the interests of the Catholic and Protestant parties in France as well as among the European states. He was assassinated in 1610 by a Catholic zealot, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.

Henry was baptised a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother. He inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on his mother's death. As a Huguenot (Protestant), Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. He later led Protestant forces against the French royal army. Henry inherited the throne of France in 1589 upon the death of Henry III. Henry IV initially kept the Protestant faith (the only French king to do so) and had to fight against the Catholic League, which refused to accept a Protestant monarch. After four years of military stalemate, Henry converted to Catholicism, reportedly saying, "Paris is well worth a mass." As a pragmatic politician he promulgated the Edict of Nantes (1598), which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants, thereby effectively ending the French Wars of Religion.

An active ruler, Henry worked to regularise state finance, promote agriculture, eliminate corruption and encourage education. He began the first successful French colonization of the Americas. He promoted trade and industry, and prioritized the construction of roads, bridges, and canals to facilitate communication within France and strengthen the country's cohesion. These efforts stimulated economic growth and improved living standards.

While the Edict of Nantes brought religious peace to France, some hardline Catholics and Huguenots remained dissatisfied, leading to occasional outbreaks of violence and conspiracies. Henry IV also faced resistance from certain noble factions who opposed his centralization policies, leading to political instability.

His main foreign policy success was the Peace of Vervins in 1598, which made peace in the long-running conflict with Spain. He formed a strategic alliance with England through his marriage to the cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. He also forged alliances with Protestant states, such as the Dutch Republic and several German states, to counter the Catholic powers. His policies contributed to the stability and prominence of France in European affairs.

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15 May 1848 – A revolution breaks out in Hungary. The Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party.

Hungarian Revolution of 1848

The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 (Hungarian: 1848–49-es forradalom és szabadságharc) was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although the revolution failed, it is one of the most significant events in Hungary's modern history, forming the cornerstone of modern Hungarian national identity—the anniversary of the Revolution's outbreak, 15 March, is one of Hungary's three national holidays.

In April 1848, Hungary became the third country of Continental Europe (after France, in 1791, and Belgium, in 1831) to enact a law implementing democratic parliamentary elections. The new suffrage law (Act V of 1848) transformed the old feudal parliament (Estates General) into a democratic representative parliament. This law offered the widest right to vote in Europe at the time.^[4] The April laws utterly erased all privileges of the Hungarian nobility.^[5]

The crucial turning point came when the new Austrian monarch Franz Joseph I arbitrarily revoked the April laws without any legal right (since they had already been ratified by King Ferdinand I).^[6] This unconstitutional act irreversibly escalated the conflict between him and the Hungarian parliament. The new constrained Stadion Constitution of Austria, the revocation of the April laws, and the Austrian military campaign against the Kingdom of Hungary resulted in the fall of the pacifist Batthyány government (who sought agreement with the court) and led to Lajos Kossuth's followers (who demanded full independence for Hungary) suddenly gaining power in the parliament. Austrian military intervention in the Kingdom of Hungary resulted in strong anti-Habsburg sentiment among Hungarians, and the events in Hungary grew into a war for total independence from the Habsburg dynasty. Around 40% of the private soldiers in the Hungarian Revolutionary Volunteer Army consisted of ethnic minorities of the country.^[7] Regarding the officer staff of Hungary: Around half of the officers and generals of the Hungarian Honvéd Army had foreign origin. There were at least as many ethnic Hungarian professional officers in the Imperial Habsburg army as in the Hungarian revolutionary Honvéd army.^[8]

In regard to diplomacy and foreign policy during the revolution, the Hungarian liberals - similar to the other European liberal revolutionaries of 1848 - were primarily motivated by ideological considerations. They supported countries and forces that aligned with their new moral and political standards. They also believed that governments and political movements sharing the same modern liberal values should form an alliance against the "feudal type" of monarchies. This outlook was similar to modern liberal internationalism.^[9]

After a series of serious Austrian defeats in 1849, the Austrian Empire came close to the brink of collapse. The new emperor Franz Joseph I had to call for Russian help in the name of the Holy Alliance.^[10] In the hope of Russian military support, the young Emperor Franz Joseph kissed the hands of the Ruler of all the Russians in Warsaw on 21 May 1849.^[11] Nicholas I of Russia agreed with Franz Joseph and sent a 200,000 strong army with 80,000 auxiliary forces. The joint Russo-Austrian army finally defeated the Hungarian forces, Habsburg power was restored and Hungary was placed under martial law.^[12]

1. ^ Rosonczy: OROSZ GYORSSEGÉLY BÉCSNEK 1849 TAVASZÁN (PhD dissertation 2015)
2. ^ Zachary C Shirkey: Joining the Fray: Outside Military Intervention in Civil Wars Military Strategy and Operational Art – pp. 1944– ISBN 978-1-4094-7091-5 [1] Archived 2014-12-27 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle ..., by Spencer C. Tucker, 2009 p. 1188
4. ^ prof. András Gerő (2014): Nationalities and the Hungarian Parliament (1867–1918) Link:[2] Archived 2019-04-25 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ Chris Thornhill (2011). A Sociology of Constitutions.Constitutions and State Legitimacy in Historical-Sociological Perspective. Cambridge University Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-1-139-49580-6.
6. ^ "Between the campaigns of Napoleonic troops and the abolition of bondage". City of Bratislava. Archived from the original on 24 February 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2007.
7. ^ "Bona Gábor: A szabadságharc honvédsége Link
8. ^ Isser Woloch (1996). Revolution and the Meanings of Freedom in the Nineteenth Century. Stanford University Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-8047-2748-8.
9. ^ "Hungary's Place in Europe: Liberal–Conservative Foreign Policy Disputes in the Reform Era". 29 July 2023. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
10. ^ Eric Roman: Austria-Hungary & the Successor States: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present: p. 67, Publisher: Infobase Publishing, 2003 ISBN 978-0-8160-7469-3
11. ^ Paul Lendvai (2021). The Hungarians A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat. Princeton University Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-691-20027-9.
12. ^ The Making of the West: Volume C, Lynn Hunt, pp. 683–684

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16 May 1929 – In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards are awarded.

Academy Awards

Annual awards for cinematic achievements

"Oscars" and "The Oscar" redirect here. For other uses, see Oscar (disambiguation).

The Academy Awards of Merit,^[1] commonly known as the Oscars or Academy Awards, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the film industry. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States, in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership.^[2] The Oscars are widely considered to be the most prestigious awards in the film industry.^[3]

The major award categories are presented during a live-televised Hollywood ceremony, that is typically held in February or March. It is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony.^[4] The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929.^[5] The second ceremony, in 1930, was the first one broadcast by radio. The 1953 ceremony was the first one televised.^[4] It is the oldest of the four major annual American entertainment awards. Its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music – are modeled after the Academy Awards.^[6] The Oscar statuette depicts a knight, rendered in the Art Deco style.^[7]

1. ^ "96th Academy Awards® of Merit" (PDF). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
2. ^ Feinberg, Scott (January 20, 2020). "Oscars: What the '1917' PGA Win and 'Parasite' SAG Win Mean for Best Picture". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
3. ^ Attributed to multiple references:
   • Mifflin, Lawrie (May 22, 1995). "More Awards Programs, More Winners, More Money". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 31, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2024. People love the Academy Awards — the celebrities, the music, the jokes and the suspense of the most prestigious awards program in show business.
   • "What are the Oscars and BAFTAs and what's the difference?". BBC News. February 26, 2017. Archived from the original on January 20, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2022. The Oscars are thought to be the most prestigious film awards in the world.
   • Whipp, Glenn (January 9, 2023). "Awards show power rankings, from worst to first". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2024. 1. The Oscars
   • Vega, Nicolas (March 26, 2022). "The Oscar statuette is the most prestigious prize in Hollywood—here's why it's only worth $1". CNBC. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2022. Winning an Academy Award is often considered the most prestigious honor you can receive in Hollywood.
   • Rao, Sonia (April 16, 2021). "Why do the Oscars matter?". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021. They are, after all, the most extravagant of award shows, considered important enough for an adjacent industry of publicists and marketing experts to devote months to campaigning, and entertaining enough for a broadcast television network to allocate hours of Sunday night airtime to the ceremony.
   • Torres, Libby (January 21, 2020). "The 18 best Oscar hosts of all time, ranked". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2024. The Academy Awards are Hollywood's biggest night, and celebrate achievements in cinema by A-list stars and directors.
   • Wilkinson, Alissa (March 2, 2022). "The Oscars can't quite decide if they're about America or the whole world". Vox. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2024. And are the Oscars, given out by Hollywood's most prestigious professional association, the biggest prize in the world — or just in America?
   • Kenyon, Sandy (February 6, 2020). "Oscars campaigning: How do studios lobby for Academy Awards?". ABC 7. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2024. The Oscar has always been the most prestigious award in all of show business, but now it's also the most valuable.
   • Davies, Hannah J. (March 28, 2022). "Stage frights: five of the most shocking moments in Oscars history". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2024. Will Smith isn't the only actor to cause consternation at the world's most coveted film awards.
   • Starkey, Adam (January 23, 2023). "Who has won the most Oscars?". NME. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2024. The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, is seen as the most prestigious award show in the film industry.
   • Shrader, Natalie (March 14, 2023). "14 UNCSA connections to 2023 Oscar-winning films". University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2024. The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the entertainment industry.
4. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference history was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ Essex, Andrew (May 14, 1999). "The Birth of Oscar". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
6. ^ Monush, Barry (February 9, 2012). "The Lure of Oscar: A Look at the Mightiest of All Award Shows, the Academy Awards". Paley Center for Media. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
7. ^ Nichols, Chris (February 25, 2016). "Meet George Stanley, Sculptor of the Academy Award". Los Angeles Magazine. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.

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17 May 1987 – An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.

USS Stark incident

1987 Iraqi attack during the Iran–Iraq War

The USS Stark incident occurred during the Iran–Iraq War on 17 May 1987 in Persian Gulf, when an Iraqi jet aircraft fired two Exocet missiles at the U.S. frigate USS Stark. A total of 37 United States Navy personnel were killed or later died as a result of the attack, and 21 were injured.

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference JAG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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18 May 1756 – The Seven Years' War begins when Great Britain declares war on France.

Seven Years' War

Global war among European powers (1756–1763)

This article is about the mid-18th century war. For other wars of the same name, see Seven Year War.

The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict involving most of the European great powers, fought primarily in Europe and the Americas. One of the opposing alliances was led by Great Britain, primarily supported by Prussia. The other alliance was led by France, backed by Spain, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. Related conflicts include the 1754 to 1763 French and Indian War, and 1762 to 1763 Anglo-Spanish War.

The War of the Austrian Succession ended in 1748, but failed to resolve ongoing tensions between the European powers. Continuing colonial disputes between Britain and France in North America resulted in the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754. Following the realignment of traditional alliances in the so-called 1756 Diplomatic Revolution, Prussia allied with Britain, while the long running French–Habsburg rivalry ended when Austria signed a treaty with France.

Spain entered the war on the French side in 1762, unsuccessfully attempting to invade Britain's ally Portugal in what became known as the Fantastic War. Spain lost Havana in Cuba and Manila in the Philippines to Britain, but they were returned in the 1763 Treaty of Paris.

In Europe, the large-scale conflict that drew in most of the European powers was centred on the desire of Austria to recover Silesia from Prussia. The Treaty of Hubertusburg ended the war between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. France's supremacy in Europe was halted, while Prussia confirmed its status as a great power, challenging Austria for dominance within the Holy Roman Empire, thus altering the European balance of power.

1. ^ Kohn (2000), p. 417.
2. ^ "British History in depth: Was the American Revolution Inevitable?". BBC History. Retrieved 21 July 2018. In 1763, Americans joyously celebrated the British victory in the Seven Years' War, revelling in their identity as Britons and jealously guarding their much-celebrated rights which they believed they possessed by virtue of membership in what they saw as the world's greatest empire.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Danley (2012), p. 524.
4. ^ Speelman (2012), p. 524.

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19 May 1997 – The Sierra Gorda biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts.

Sierra Gorda biosphere

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• Sierra Gorda

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20 May 1940 – The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.

The Holocaust

Genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany

This article is about the state-sponsored genocide of European Jews during World War II. For all peoples persecuted during this era, see Holocaust victims.

"Holocaust" and "Shoah" redirect here. For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation).

The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out primarily through mass shootings and poison gas in extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, and Chełmno in occupied Poland.

The Nazis developed their ideology based on racism and pursuit of "living space", and seized power in early 1933. Meant to force all German Jews regardless of means to attempt to emigrate, the regime passed anti-Jewish laws, encouraged harassment, and orchestrated a nationwide pogrom in November 1938. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, occupation authorities began to establish ghettos to segregate Jews. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, 1.5 to 2 million Jews were shot by German forces and local collaborators.

Later in 1941 or early 1942, the highest levels of the German government decided to murder all Jews in Europe. Victims were deported by rail to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, most were killed with poison gas. Other Jews continued to be employed in forced labor camps where many died from starvation, abuse, exhaustion, or being used as test subjects in deadly medical experiments. Although many Jews tried to escape, surviving in hiding was difficult due to factors such as the lack of money to pay helpers and the risk of denunciation. The property, homes, and jobs belonging to murdered Jews were redistributed to the German occupiers and other non-Jews. Although the majority of Holocaust victims died in 1942, the killing continued at a lower rate until the end of the war in May 1945. Separate Nazi persecutions killed a similar or larger number of non-Jewish civilians and POWs; the term Holocaust is sometimes used to also refer to the persecution of these other groups.

Many Jewish survivors emigrated outside of Europe after the war. A few Holocaust perpetrators faced criminal trials. Billions of dollars in reparations have been paid, although falling short of the Jews' losses. The Holocaust has also been commemorated in museums, memorials, and culture. It has become central to Western historical consciousness as a symbol of the ultimate human evil.

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21 May 1991 – Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras.

Rajiv Gandhi

Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989

This article is about the politician. For other uses, see Rajiv Gandhi (disambiguation).

Rajiv Gandhi^[1] (Hindi pronunciation: [raːdʒiːʋ ɡaːndʱiː] ^ⓘ; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991)^[2][3] was an Indian politician who served as the 6th Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the assassination of his mother, then–prime minister Indira Gandhi, to become at the age of 40 the youngest Indian prime minister. He served until his defeat at the 1989 election, and then became Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, resigning in December 1990, six months before his own assassination.

Gandhi was not related to the world-famous Mahatma Gandhi. Instead, he was from the politically powerful Nehru–Gandhi family, which had been associated with the Indian National Congress party. For much of his childhood, his maternal grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru was prime minister. Gandhi attended The Doon School, an elite boarding institution, and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He returned to India in 1966 and became a professional pilot for the state-owned Indian Airlines. In 1968, he married Sonia Maino; the couple settled in Delhi for a domestic life with their children Rahul and Priyanka. For much of the 1970s, his mother was prime minister and his younger brother Sanjay an MP; despite this, Gandhi remained apolitical.

After Sanjay died in a plane crash in 1980, Gandhi reluctantly entered politics at the behest of his mother. The following year he won his brother's Parliamentary seat of Amethi and became a member of the Lok Sabha—the lower house of India's Parliament. As part of his political grooming, Rajiv was made general secretary of the Congress party and given significant responsibility in organising the 1982 Asian Games.

On the morning of 31 October 1984, his mother (the then prime minister) was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards^[4][5][6][7] Satwant Singh and Beant Singh in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, an Indian military action to remove Sikh separatist activists from the Golden Temple of the Harmandir Sahib. Later that day, Gandhi was appointed prime minister. His leadership was tested over the next few days as organised mobs of Congress supporters rioted against the Sikh community, resulting in anti-Sikh massacres in Delhi. Sources estimate the number of Sikh deaths at about 8,000–17,000.^[8] That December, the Congress party won the largest Lok Sabha majority to date, 411 seats out of 542. Gandhi's period in office was mired in controversies; perhaps the greatest crises were the Bhopal disaster, Bofors scandal and Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum. Soon after the installation of Gul Shah as chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir, the 1986 Kashmir riots erupted.^[9] In 1988, he reversed the coup in Maldives, antagonising militant Tamil groups such as PLOTE, intervening and then sending peacekeeping troops to Sri Lanka in 1987, leading to open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In mid-1987, the Bofors scandal damaged his corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 election.

Gandhi remained Congress president until the elections in 1991. While campaigning for the elections, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the LTTE. His widow Sonia became the president of the Congress party in 1998 and led the party to victory in the 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections. His son Rahul was a Member of Parliament from 2004 and was the President of the Indian National Congress until 2019 and his daughter Priyanka Vadra was a general secretary of the INC. In 1991, the Indian government posthumously awarded Gandhi the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. At the India Leadership Conclave in 2009, the Revolutionary Leader of Modern India award was conferred posthumously on Gandhi.^[10]

1. ^ "Shri Rajiv Gandhi". Prime Ministers of India. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
2. ^ "Rajiv Gandhi | prime minister of India". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
3. ^ Patel, Dhirubhai (17 February 2017). Rajiv Gandhi: Youngest Indian Prime Minister. Independently published. ISBN 978-1-5206-2973-5.
4. ^ Kaur, Jaskaran; Crossette, Barbara (2006). Twenty years of impunity: the November 1984 pogroms of Sikhs in India (PDF) (2nd ed.). Portland, OR: Ensaaf. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-9787073-0-9. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
5. ^ "1984: Assassination and revenge". BBC News. 31 October 1984. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
6. ^ Shaw, Jeffrey M.; Demy, Timothy J. (2017). War and Religion: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict. ABC-CLIO. p. 129. ISBN 978-1610695176.
7. ^ Brass, Paul R. (October 1996). Riots and Pogroms. NYU Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0814712825.
8. ^ Joseph, Paul (11 October 2016). The SAGE Encyclopedia of War: Social Science Perspectives. SAGE. p. 433. ISBN 978-1483359885. "around 17,000 Sikhs were burned alive or killed"
9. ^ Aiyar, pp. 148–
10. ^ "Special award bestowed on Rajiv Gandhi". The Hindu. 27 September 2009. Retrieved 28 February 2021.

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22 May 1906 – The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine".

Wright brothers

American aviation pioneers, inventors of the airplane

For other uses, see Wright brothers (disambiguation).

The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane.^[3][4][5] They made the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, four miles (6 km) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at what is now known as Kill Devil Hills. In 1904 the Wright brothers developed the Wright Flyer II, which made longer-duration flights including the first circle, followed in 1905 by the first truly practical fixed-wing aircraft, the Wright Flyer III.

The brothers' breakthrough invention was their creation of a three-axis control system, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. Their system of aircraft controls made fixed-wing powered flight possible and remains standard on airplanes of all kinds.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11]: 183} Their first U.S. patent did not claim invention of a flying machine, but rather a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine's surfaces.^[12] From the beginning of their aeronautical work, Wilbur and Orville focused on developing a reliable method of pilot control as the key to solving "the flying problem". This approach differed significantly from other experimenters of the time who put more emphasis on developing powerful engines.^[13] Using a small home-built wind tunnel, the Wrights also collected more accurate data than any before, enabling them to design more efficient wings and propellers.^{[11]: 156 [14]: 228}

The brothers gained the mechanical skills essential to their success by working for years in their Dayton, Ohio-based shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles, in particular, influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle such as a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice.^[14]: 169 This was a trend, as many other aviation pioneers were also dedicated cyclists and involved in the bicycle business in various ways.^[15] From 1900 until their first powered flights in late 1903, the brothers conducted extensive glider tests that also developed their skills as pilots. Their shop mechanic Charles Taylor became an important part of the team, building their first airplane engine in close collaboration with the brothers.^[16]

The Wright brothers' status as inventors of the airplane has been subject to numerous counter-claims. Much controversy persists over the many competing claims of early aviators. Edward Roach, historian for the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park, argues that the Wrights were excellent self-taught engineers who could run a small company, but did not have the business skills or temperament to dominate the growing aviation industry.^[17]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTOrville was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTWilbur was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ "The Wright Brothers and the invention of the aerial age". National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on August 13, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
4. ^ Johnson, Mary Ann (September 28, 2001). "Program 3". Following the footsteps of the Wright Brothers: Their sites and stories symposium papers. Following in the Footsteps of the Wright Brothers: Their Sites and Stories. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
5. ^ "Flying through the ages". BBC News. March 19, 1999. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
6. ^ "Inventing a flying machine – the breakthrough concept". The Wright Brothers and the invention of the aerial age. The Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
7. ^ "Wagging Its Tail". The Wright Story – Inventing the Airplane, wright-brothers.org. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
8. ^ "Aviation: From sand dunes to sonic booms". U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
9. ^ Padfield, Gareth D.; Lawrence, Ben (December 2003). "The birth of flight control: An engineering analysis of the Wright brothers' 1902 glider" (PDF). Department of Engineering. The Aeronautical Journal. 107 (1078). The University of Liverpool: 697–718. doi:10.1017/S0001924000013464. S2CID 17689037. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
10. ^ Howard 1988, p. 89.
11. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Jakab-1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
12. ^ "Flying machine". May 22, 1906. US Patent 821393. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
13. ^ Mortimer 2009, p. 2.
14. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference Crouch-2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
15. ^ Guroff, Margaret (July 8, 2016). "The Untold Story Of How Bicycle Design Led To The Invention Of The Airplane". Fast Company. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
16. ^ "Taylor, Charles "Charley" : National Aviation Hall of Fame". www.nationalaviation.org. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
17. ^ Roach, Edward J. The Wright Company: From Invention to Industry. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-8214-2051-5, page 2.

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23 May 1934 – The American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana.

Bonnie and Clyde

American bank robbers in the 1930s

For other uses, see Bonnie and Clyde (disambiguation).

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910 – May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut "Champion" Barrow (March 24, 1909 – May 23, 1934) were American bandits who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The couple was known for their bank robberies and multiple murders, although they preferred to rob small stores or rural funeral homes. Their exploits captured the attention of the American press and its readership during what is occasionally referred to as the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934. They were ambushed by police and shot to death in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. They are believed to have murdered at least nine police officers and four civilians.^[1][2]

The 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in the title roles, was a commercial and critical success which revived interest in the criminals and glamorized them with a romantic aura.^[3] The 2019 Netflix film The Highwaymen depicted their manhunt from the point of view of the pursuing lawmen.

1. ^ Jones deposition, October 17, 1933. FBI file 26-4114, Section Sub A Archived June 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, pp. 59–62. FBI Records and Information Archived May 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
2. ^ Jones, W.D. "Riding with Bonnie and Clyde" Archived March 9, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Playboy, November 1968. Reprinted at Cinetropic.com.
3. ^ Toplin, Robert B. History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois, 1996.) ISBN 0-252-06536-0.

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24 May 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.

Fifth Crusade

1217–1221 attempted conquest of the Holy Land

The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al-Adil, brother of Saladin.

After the failure of the Fourth Crusade, Innocent III again called for a crusade, and began organizing Crusading armies led by Andrew II of Hungary and Leopold VI of Austria, soon to be joined by John of Brienne, titular King of Jerusalem. An initial campaign in late 1217 in Syria was inconclusive, and Andrew departed. A German army led by cleric Oliver of Paderborn, and a mixed army of Dutch, Flemish and Frisian soldiers led by William I of Holland, then joined the Crusade in Acre, with a goal of first conquering Egypt, viewed as the key to Jerusalem. There, cardinal Pelagius Galvani arrived as papal legate and de facto leader of the Crusade, supported by John of Brienne and the masters of the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who had taken the cross in 1215, did not participate as promised.

Following the successful siege of Damietta in 1218–1219, the Crusaders occupied the port for two years. Al-Kamil, now sultan of Egypt, offered attractive peace terms, including the restoration of Jerusalem to Christian rule. The sultan was rebuked by Pelagius several times, and the Crusaders marched south towards Cairo in July 1221. En route, they attacked a stronghold of al-Kamil at the battle of Mansurah, but they were defeated and forced to surrender. The terms of surrender included the retreat from Damietta—leaving Egypt altogether—and an eight-year truce. The Fifth Crusade ended in September 1221, a Crusader defeat that failed to achieve its goals.

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25 May 1865 – In Mobile, Alabama, 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.

Mobile magazine explosion

May 25, 1865 explosion in Mobile, Alabama, in the Southern United States

On May 25, 1865, in Mobile, Alabama, in the Southern United States, an ordnance depot or "magazine" exploded, killing some 300 persons. This event occurred just after the end of the American Civil War, during the occupation of the city by Federal troops.

The depot was a warehouse on Beauregard Street, where the troops had stacked some 200 tons of shells and powder. Some time in the afternoon of May 25, a cloud of black smoke rose into the air and the ground began to rumble. Flames shot up into the sky and bursting shells were heard throughout the city. In the nearby Mobile River, two ships sank, and a man standing on a wharf was blown into the river. Several houses collapsed from the concussion.

A reporter for The Mobile Morning News newspaper described "bursting shells, flying timbers, bales of cotton, horses, men, women, and children co-mingled and mangled into one immense mass". He continued: "The heart stood still, and the stoutest cheek paled as this rain of death fell from the sky and crash after crash foretold a more fearful fate yet impending ... old and young, soldier and citizen vied with each other in deeds of daring to rescue the crumbled and imprisoned."^[1]

On the heels of the explosion came fires, which burned until the entire northern part of Mobile lay in smoking ruins. A huge hole where the warehouse once stood remained for many years, a reminder of the disaster.

The exact cause of the magazine explosion was never determined. Some northern newspapers tried to pin the blame on an imagined gang of unreconstructed Confederate officers. Most people, though, accepted that it was the result of simple carelessness on the part of workers handling wheelbarrows full of live ammunition.

1. ^ "UPDATED WITH PODCAST – Gunpowder explodes in warehouse at Mobile and destroys half the town. [pictures & list of wounded soldiers] – Alabama Pioneers".

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26 May 1940 – World War II: Battle of Dunkirk – In France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk, France.

Battle of Dunkirk

1940 battle between the Allies and Germany in France

This article is about the Second World War battle in 1940. For details about the major evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, see Dunkirk evacuation. For the other battles of the name, see Battle of Dunkirk (disambiguation).

The Battle of Dunkirk (French: Bataille de Dunkerque) was fought around the French port of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and other Allied forces to Britain from 26 May to 4 June 1940.

After the Phoney War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May 1940. To the east, the German Army Group B invaded the Netherlands and advanced westward. In response, the Supreme Allied Commander, French General Maurice Gamelin, initiated "Plan D" and British and French troops entered Belgium to engage the Germans in the Netherlands. French planning for war relied on the Maginot Line fortifications along the German–French border protecting the region of Lorraine but the line did not cover the Belgian border. German forces had already crossed most of the Netherlands before the French forces had arrived. Gamelin instead committed the forces under his command – three mechanised forces, the French First and Seventh Armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) – to the River Dyle. On 14 May, German Army Group A burst through the Ardennes and advanced rapidly westward toward Sedan, turning northward to the English Channel, using Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein's plan Sichelschnitt (under the German strategy Fall Gelb), effectively flanking the Allied forces.^[7]

A series of Allied counter-attacks, including the Battle of Arras, failed to sever the German spearhead, which reached the coast on 20 May, separating the BEF near Armentières, the French First Army, and the Belgian Army further to the north from the majority of French troops south of the German penetration. After reaching the Channel, the German forces swung north along the coast, threatening to capture the ports and trap the British and French forces.

In one of the most debated decisions of the war, the Germans halted their advance on Dunkirk. What became known as the "Halt Order" did not originate with Adolf Hitler. Generaloberste (Colonel-Generals) Gerd von Rundstedt and Günther von Kluge suggested that the German forces around the Dunkirk pocket should cease their advance on the port and consolidate to avoid an Allied breakout. Hitler sanctioned the order on 24 May with the support of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German high command). The army was to halt for three days, which gave the Allies sufficient time to organise the Dunkirk evacuation and build a defensive line. While more than 330,000 Allied troops were rescued,^[8] the British and French sustained heavy casualties and were forced to abandon nearly all their equipment; around 16,000 French and 1,000 British soldiers died during the evacuation. The British Expeditionary Force alone lost some 68,000 soldiers during the French campaign.

1. ^ Shirer 1959, p. 736 Footnote
2. ^ Ellis, Major L F. "The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940 (Chapter XII: Dunkirk Bethune and Ypres)". History of the Second World War. Archived from the original on 30 May 2007 – via Hyperwar Foundation.
3. ^ ^{a b} Hooton 2010, p. 71.
4. ^ ^{a b} Murray 2002, p. 42 (1985 ed.)
5. ^ Franks 2008, pp. 33–39.
6. ^ Franks 2008, p. 160.
7. ^ MacDonald 1986, p. 8.
8. ^ Frieser 2005, pp. 291–292.

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