This Day in History
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18th May 1974
India joins the nuclear club
In the Rajasthan Desert in the state of Pokhran, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, a fission bomb similar in explosive power to the U.S. atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
The test, which made India the world's sixth nuclear power, broke the nuclear monopoly of the five members of the U.N. Security Council--the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, China, and France. -
19th May 1983
Singapore's first test-tude baby
Singapore's first test-tude baby is born at Kandang Kerbau Hospital. A team of doctors led by professor S.S. Ratnam, head of the gynaecology department at the National University of Singapore, delivers the baby. 19th May 2005
Revenge of the Sith opens
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the last movie in the Star Wars saga opens worldwide. -
20th May 1506
Christopher Columbus dies
On May 20, 1506, the great Italian explorer Christopher Columbus dies in Valladolid, Spain at the age of 54. Columbus was the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century. He explored the West Indies, South America, and Central America, but died a disappointed man, feeling he had been mistreated by his patron, King Ferdinand of Spain. 20th May 2002
Timor Leste founded
Timor Leste becomes the world's newest independent state. Its citizens voted in a UN-sponsored referendum for independence from Indonesia in 1999. -
21th May 1881
American Red Cross founded
In Washington, D.C., humanitarians Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons found the American National Red Cross, an organization established to provide humanitarian aid to victims of wars and natural disasters in congruence with the International Red Cross. -
22th May 1939
The "Pact of Steel" is signed; the Axis is formed
On this day in 1939, Italy and Germany agree to a military and political alliance, giving birth formally to the Axis powers, which will ultimately include Japan. -
23th May 1960
Eichmann captured
On May 23, 1960, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announces to the world that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann has been captured and will stand trial in Israel. Eichmann, the Nazi SS officer who organized Adolf Hitler's "final solution of the Jewish question," was seized by Israeli agents in Argentina on May 11 and smuggled to Israel nine days later. -
24th May 1883
Brooklyn Bridge opens
After 14 years and 27 deaths while being constructed, the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River is opened, connecting the great cities of New York and Brooklyn for the first time in history. Thousands of residents of Brooklyn and Manhattan Island turned out to witness the dedication ceremony, which was presided over by President Chester A. Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland. Designed by the late John A. Roebling, the Brooklyn Bridge was the largest suspension bridge ever built to that date. -
25th May 1977
Star Wars released
Space fantasy Star Wars opens on this day in 1977. The film became one of the most popular movies of all time, breaking box office records. Filmmaker George Lucas was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenwriter Oscars, and the film won seven Oscars for technical achievements and its musical score, written by John Williams. The movie was re-released with great fanfare in 1997. -
26th May 1907
John Wayne is born
John Wayne, an actor who came to epitomize the American West, is born in Winterset, Iowa. -
27th May 1987
Singapore hosts Mis Singapore pagneant
Singapore hosts the Mis Singapore pagneant for the first time. Miss Chile, Cecillia Bolocco, wins the crown at the World trade Centre. The pageant is watched by more than 600 million viewers. -
28th May 1959
Animals in space
Two monkeys have become the first animals to travel to space and return alive. A rhesus monkey and a squirrel monkey travel 2,700km in a Nasa space shuttle, and are picked up after the shuttle lands in the Atlantic Ocean. -
29th May 1953
Explorers reach Mount Everest summit
At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth. -
30th May 1431
Joan of Arc martyred
At Rouen in English-controlled Normandy, Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who became the savior of France, is burned at the stake for heresy. -
31th May 1930
Clint Eastwood born
Actor Clint Eastwood is born this day in San Francisco. With his father, he wandered the West Coast as a boy during the Depression. After four years in the Army Special Services, Eastwood came to Hollywood, winning small roles.
For eight years, he played Rowdy Yates in the popular TV western series Rawhide and later starred in three low-budget "spaghetti" westerns: Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More, (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), all of which became hits.
Eastwood's real breakthrough came with the smash hit Dirty Harry, which was followed by four sequels in the 1970s and 1980s. Eastwood began directing in 1971; Unforgiven (1992), which he directed and starred in, won the Best Picture Oscar. -
1st June 1942
News of death camp killings becomes public for first time
On this day in 1942, a Warsaw underground newspaper, the Liberty Brigade, makes public the news of the gassing of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno, a death camp in Poland-almost seven months after extermination of prisoners began. -
2nd June 1953
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
On June 2, 1953, Queen Elizabeth II is formally crowned monarch of the United Kingdom in a lavish ceremony steeped in traditions that date back a millennium. -
3rd June 1989
Crackdown at Tiananmen begins
With protests for democratic reforms entering their seventh week, the Chinese government authorizes its soldiers and tanks to reclaim Beijing's Tiananmen Square at all costs. By nightfall on June 4, Chinese troops had forcibly cleared the square, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of demonstrators and suspected dissidents. -
4th June 1989
Tiananmen Square massacre takes place
Chinese troops storm through Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing, killing and arresting thousands of pro-democracy protesters. The brutal Chinese government assault on the protesters shocked the West and brought denunciations and sanctions from the United States. -
5th June 1967
Six-Day War begins
Israel responds to an ominous build-up of Arab forces along its borders by launching simultaneous attacks against Egypt and Syria. Jordan subsequently entered the fray, but the Arab coalition was no match for Israel's proficient armed forces.
In six days of fighting, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, and the West Bank and Arab sector of East Jerusalem, both previously under Jordanian rule.
By the time the United Nations cease-fire took effect on June 11, Israel had more than doubled its size. The true fruits of victory came in claiming the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan. Many wept while bent in prayer at the Western Wall of the Second Temple. -
6th June 1944
D-Day
On this day in 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, the Allied invasion of northern France. -
7th June 1893
Gandhi's first act of civil disobedience
In an event that would have dramatic repercussions for the people of India, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a young Indian lawyer working in South Africa, refuses to comply with racial segregation rules on a South African train and is forcibly ejected at Pietermaritzburg. -
8th June 632
Founder of Islam dies
In Medina, located in present-day Saudi Arabia, Muhammad, one of the most influential religious and political leaders in history, dies in the arms of Aishah, his third and favorite wife. -
9th June 1934
Donald Duck debuts
On this day in 1934, Donald Duck makes his first film appearance, in The Wise Little Hen, a short by Walt Disney. Donald's popularity also led to other characters in the Duck family, including Daisy Duck, Uncle Scrooge, and nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louey. -
10th June 1940
Norway surrenders to Germany
After two months of desperate resistance, the last surviving Norwegian and British defenders of Norway are overwhelmed by the Germans, and the country is forced to capitulate to the Nazis. -
11th June 1979
John Wayne dies
On this day in 1979, John Wayne dies. The star of countless westerns, Wayne had been battling cancer for more than a decade.