• on this day in May

May 1	1966 The Beatles gave their last UK concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley 1961 Betting shops were legalised in the UK
May 2	1519 Leonardo da Vinci died
May 3	1953 Dylan Thomas gave the first public reading of "Under Milk Wood" 1810 In imitation of Leander, Lord Byron swam the Hellespont at the mouth of the Dardanelles in 1 hour 10 minutes
May 4	1829 The Earl of Surrey became the first Roman Catholic MP
May 5	1980 An SAS team stormed the London Iranian Embassy to rescue hostages, killing five of the six terrorists 1961 Alan Shepard became the first American in space 1646 Charles I surrendered to the Scots at Newark
May 6	1965 Julie Andrews won an Oscar for her performance in Mary Poppins - bet the Academy is proud of that decision 1626 Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island for 24 dollars - little knowing that twenty years later to the day Charles I would surrender to the Scots at Newark
May 7	1765 Nelson's flagship Victory was launched at Chatham
May 8	1988 The science fiction author Robert Heinlein died
May 9	1926 Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett made the first flight over the North Pole
May 10	1937 The first frozen food went on sale in the UK - it was asparagus 1919 The first commercial air service - between Manchester and Southport - started
May 11	1922 The radio station 2LO was established at Marconi House in London's Strand 1812 Spencer Perceval became the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated
May 12	1969 The voting age in the UK was lowered from 21 to 18
May 13	2002 Patrick Fyffe (Dame Hilda Bracket of Hinge and Bracket) died aged 60 of cancer 1961 Gary Cooper (super duper) died
May 14	1817 Mary Shelley finished writing Frankenstein
May 15	1928 The Australian Flying Doctor Service was inaugurated
May 16	1763 James Boswell first met Dr Johnson
May 17	1899 Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the Victoria and Albert museum
May 18	1888 Emile Berliner demonstrated the first horizontal gramophone disc 1857 The British Museum Reading Room was opened
May 19	1906 The Simplon rail tunnel opened between Italy and Switzerland
May 21	1904 FIFA was founded 1894 Queen Victoria opened the Manchester ship canal
May 22	1954 Robert Zimmerman celebrated his bar mitzvah
May 23	1934 Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed in a police trap
May 24	1972 The Gravelly Hill interchange, better known as Spaghetti Junction, was opened
May 25	735 The Venerable Bede died
May 26	1913 The first UK woman magistrate was appointed
May 27	1674 Ashcah Young became the first person in America to be condemned and hung as a witch
May 28	1931 August Piccard and Charles Kipfer reached a height of 52,462 feet in a balloon - the first men to reach the stratosphere. 1907 The first Isle of Man TT motorcycle race was held
May 29	1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest 1950 The Archers was first broadcast 1942 Bing Crosby recorded White Christmas
May 30	1988 6,500 people played musical chairs on the beach at Weymouth, Dorset and entered the Guinness Book of Records
May 31	2002 Captain Philippa Tattersall became the first woman to earn the Royal Marines green beret 1911 The Titanic was launched

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