TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – MAY 7
558 The dome of the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople collapses. Its immediate rebuilding is ordered by Justinian.
1429 Joan of Arc breaks the English siege of Orleans.
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.
1847 The American Medical Association is formed in Philadelphia.
1877 Indian chief Sitting Bull enters Canada with a trail of Indians after the Battle of Little Bighorn.
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.Two crucial battles in 1942 marked the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
1945 Germany signs an unconditional surrender, effectively ending World War II in Europe.
1946 Sony is founded The company started as Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering. It is now one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products.
1947 Levitt and Sons, Builders announce a 2,000 home rental community at Island Trees later becoming Levittown, Hempstead, Long Island, New York ideal for GI’s returning home following the end of World War II, the project used a new type of construction based on mass-production housing never used before, due to the prefabricated design they could build 30 houses a day.
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
1954 The 56-day-long battle of Dienbienphu ended with Ho Chi Minh’s forces defeating the French, signaling the end of French power in Indochina.
1960 Leonid Brezhnev becomes president of the Soviet Union.
1971 The Concorde, the worlds first faster than sound passenger plane, took off for a 75 minute publicity flight to Toulouse carrying the french president on board.
1975 U.S. President Ford declared an end to the Vietnam War.
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 The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting mid-term Congressional pay raises, was ratified.
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 AG agreed to buy Chrysler Corp. for more than $37 billion.
1999 During action against Yugoslavia, NATO jets mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three and injuring 20.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
