TODAY HISTORY LESSON: MAY 7
0558 The dome of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople collapses. Its immediate rebuilding is ordered by Justinian.
1355 1,200 Jews of Toledo Spain killed by Count Henry of Trastamara
1429 English siege of Orleans broken by Joan of Arc and the French army
1525 The German peasants’ revolt is crushed by the ruling class and church.
1763 Indian chief Pontiac begins his attack on a British fort in present-day Detroit, Michigan.
1800 Congress divides the Northwest Territory into two parts. The western part will becomes the Indiana Territory and the eastern section remains the Northwest Territory.
1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel Patents Dynamite in England, the first of three patents he would receive for the explosive material
1877 Indian chief Sitting Bull enters Canada with a trail of Indians after the Battle of Little Bighorn.
1914 US Congress establishes mother’s day
1915 The German submarine U-20 torpedoes the passenger ship Lusitiania, sinking her in 21 minutes with 1,978 people on board.
1942 In the Battle of the Coral Sea, Japanese and American navies attack each other with carrier-launched warplanes. It is the first time in the history of naval warfare where two fleets fought without seeing each other.
1945 Germany signs an unconditional surrender, effectively ending World War II in Europe.
1952 In Korea, Communist POWs at Koje-do riot against their American captors.
1952 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer
1960 Leonid Brezhnev replaces Kliment Voroshilov as President of USSR
1963 Bruno Sammartino becomes WWF champion
1982 Federal jury rules NFL violates antitrust laws in preventing Oakland Raiders from moving to Los Angeles
1984 A $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the Agent Orange class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans who claimed they had suffered injury from exposure to the defoliant while serving in the armed forces.
1992 A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring the U.S. Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified as the 27th Amendment.
1997 A report released by the U.S. government said that Switzerland provided Nazi Germany with equipment and credit during World War II. Germany exchanged for gold what had been plundered or stolen. Switzerland did not comply with postwar agreements to return the gold.
1998 Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler Corp. for close to $40 billion. It was the largest industrial merger on record.
1999 During action against Yugoslavia, NATO jets mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three and injuring 20.
2000 Vladimir Putin becomes President of Russia. The former KGB officer enjoys high approval ratings in his country as living standards in Russia have improved drastically under his rule. Internationally, he has been criticized for his authoritarian style of government.
2003 In Washington, DC, General Motors Corp. delivered six fuel cell vehicles to Capitol Hill for lawmakers and others to test drive during the next two years.
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
