April showers bring May flowers and lots of May history!
May 1, 1960, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over central Russia. The pilot, CIA agent Francis Gary Powers, survived, was tried, convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in 1962 in a prisoner exchange.
May 4, 1970, National Guardsmen opened fire on a crowd of 1,000 students at Kent State University killing four – Allison Krause, 19; Sandra Lee Scheuer, 20; Jeffrey Glenn Miller, 20 and William K. Schroeder, 19 were protesting President Richard Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia. Eleven others were wounded.
May 14, 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark departed St. Louis to explore the Northwest. They returned in September of 1806, completing a journey of about 6,000 miles.
May 17, 1875, at Churchill Downs in Louisville the first Kentucky Derby horse race took place.
May 20, 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, in the Spirit of St. Louis at 7:52 a.m. This first solo nonstop flight between New York City and Paris was worth $25,000 in prize money.
May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart departed Newfoundland, Canada, at 7 p.m. She landed near Londonderry, Ireland, completing a 2,026-mile flight in about 13 hours becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
May 30, 1922, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
May 30, 1868, Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in the line of service, defending the United States of America. Remember Them All!
