May 10th is

National Shrimp Day

World Lupus Day *

World Migratory Bird Day *

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MORE!  Max Steiner, Tonita Peña and Elena Kagan, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Christianity: Ascension Day/The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord/ Ascension Thursday – traditionally, Christ’s fortieth day on Earth after the Resurrection – the day of his ascension into Heaven

Mexico/El Salvador – Día de la Madre
(mothers’ day)

Micronesia – Federation/Constitution Day

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On This Day in HISTORY

28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China

AD 70 – Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacks the city’s Third Wall to the northwest

Siege of Jerusalem, by David Roberts, 1850

1503 – Christopher Columbus visits the Cayman Islands, naming them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there

1774 – Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette become King and Queen of France

1775 – Representatives from the Thirteen American Colonies begin the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia

1801 – The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America

1824 – The National Gallery in London opens to the public.

1837 – New York City banks fail, and during the subsequent recession, unemployment reaches record levels, as high as 25 % in some areas

1857 – Indian Rebellion of 1857: Indian Sepoys mutiny against their commanding officers at Meerut

1865 – Union soldiers ambush and mortally wound Confederate raider William Quantrill in Kentucky

1869 – The first transcontinental railroad, linking the eastern and western U.S., is completed at Promontory Summit in Utah when the golden spike is driven in

Missing from the photo: all the Chinese workers, who were not allowed to appear

1872 – Victoria Woodhull is the first woman nominated for President of the U.S, by the Equal Rights Party

1876 – The Centennial Exposition is opened in Philadelphia by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II

1888 – Max Steiner born in Austria, American composer for theatre and a pioneer in composing Hollywood film scores; nominated for 24 Oscars, winning for The Informer, Since You Went Away and Now, Voyager; best known for his scores for King Kong,  Gone With the Wind and Casablanca

1893 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883

1893 – Tonita Peña born, renowned influential American Pueblo artist and teacher

Corn Dance, by Tonita Peña

1894 – Dmitri Tiomkin born in Russia, American film composer; nominated for 22 Academy Awards and won three times, for High Noon, The High and the Mighty, The Old Man and the Sea, and also won an Oscar for Best Original Song for “The Ballad of High Noon”

1898 – Ariel Durant born in Russia, American historian and co-author with her husband of the eleven volume The Story of Civilization

1900 – Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin born, British astronomer and astrophysicist, first person to receive a Ph.D. in astronomy from Radcliffe, proposed an explanation for the composition of the stars in her thesis that was confirmed four years later by Henry Norris Russell, who was often given credit for the discovery even though his paper credited her work

1901 – Hildrus Poindexter born, African American bacteriologist, expert on the epidemiology of tropical diseases, particularly Malaria; commissioned officer  in the U.S. Public Health Service; My World of Reality is his autobiography

1909 – ‘Mother’ Maybelle Carter born, American singer, songwriter and guitarist

1911 – Bel Kaufman born, American author and educator, known for her novel Up the Down Staircase

1916 – Sailing in the lifeboat James Caird, Ernest Shackleton and five crew members arrive at South Georgia after a journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island; Polar and Naval historians regard the voyage as one of the greatest small-boat journeys ever undertaken, through shifting ice, heavy seas, freezing temperatures and high winds

1918 – Diva Diniz Corrêa born, Brazilian marine zoologist; first woman director of the University of São Paulo of the Department of Zoology

1919 – Ella Grasso born, American Democratic politician, daughter of Italian immigrants; Governor of Connecticut (1975-1980), the first woman elected as governor of a U.S. state who wasn’t the wife or widow of a past governor; U.S. Congresswoman (D-CT 1971-1975); Connecticut Secretary of State (1959-1971); Connecticut State House of Representatives (1952-1957), the first woman elected as Floor Leader (1955)

1922 – The United States annexes the Kingman Reef in the North Pacific Ocean

1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed first Director of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and remains so until his death in 1972

1927 – Nayantara Sahgal born, Indian author, one of the first women from India to receive wide recognition for her works in English; Rich Like Us

1933 – In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings

1933 – Barbara Taylor Bradford born, British-American novelist; her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, ranks as one of the top-ten bestselling books of all time, and all of her 35 novels have best bestsellers

1940 – WWII: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg

1940 – WW II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom  following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain

1942 – WWII: Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign

1947 – Caroline B. Cooney born, American young adult author of suspense, horror and mystery novels; winner of an ALA Best Book for Young Adults award

1948 – The Republic of China implements “temporary provisions” granting President  Chiang Kai-shek extended powers to deal with the Communist uprising, which remain in effect until 1991

1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets release “Rock Around the Clock”, the first rock and roll record to reach #1 on the Billboard charts

1962 – Marvel Comics publishes the first issue of The Incredible Hulk

1963 – Debbie Wiseman born, English composer and conductor for film and television; Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music; film scores include Tom and Viv, Before You Go, and Lesbian Vampire Killers; for TV, she did the scores for Wolf Hall, The Promise and A Poet in New York

1974 – Eric Clapton records “I Shot the Sheriff”

1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder in Japan

1981 – François Mitterrand wins the presidential election and becomes the first Socialist President of France

2004 – World Lupus Day is sponsored by the World Lupus Federation as a call-to-action on behalf of millions of people of all ages who are affected by lupus, for more funding for research and better disease management

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2005 – Germany dedicates a national Holocaust memorial

2010 – President Obama nominates Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court

2013 – One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere

2018 – World Migratory Bird Day * is designated by a coalition of bird conservation and environmental groups as a twice-a-year event, on the Second Saturdays in May and October, in order to unite their separate efforts to raise awareness of the dwindling populations of many migratory birds

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