22nd May 1849: Abraham Lincoln becomes the first and only President to be awarded a patent
Abraham Lincoln was issued a patent for his invention to lift boats over shoals and other obstructions in a ...
22 Touko 0s
21st May 1927 and 1932: Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic, followed five years later by Emilia Earhart as the first woman
The very first non-stop transatlantic flight had occurred in 1919 when John Alcock and Arthur Whiten Brown flew a modified Vickers Vimy bomber aircraft from Newfoundland to Ireland in just under 16 ...
21 Touko 0s
20th May 1882: Establishment of the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple ...
20 Touko 0s
19th May 1922: Young Pioneer organisation formally established in the USSR
Officially known as the Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organisation in honour of the recently deceased Bolshevik leader, the Young Pioneers were modelled in part on scouting organisations, but with a strong political and ideological framework aligned with the principles of the Communist ...
19 Touko 0s
18th May 1848: The Frankfurt Parliament opens at St. Paul’s Church as the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany
The Parliament sought to draft a constitution to unify the independent German states into a single nation governed by liberal principles, but faced significant challenges from the outset and was dissolved by force in June ...
18 Touko 0s
17th May 1756: The Seven Years’ War begins, when Great Britain formally declares war on France
The Seven Years’ War is widely regarded as the first truly global conflict as the declaration of war marked the start of full-scale hostilities between the major European powers and their colonies across the ...
17 Touko 0s
16th May 1960: The first laser was successfully operated by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California
The device constructed by Maiman used a small rod of synthetic ruby crystal, surrounded by a helical flash lamp that provided the necessary energy to excite the atoms within the ruby, and is often seen as the start of the 'laser ...
16 Touko 0s
15th May 1940: The first McDonald’s restaurant opened in San Bernadino, California
Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, ...
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