29th May 1854: Paddington Station opens as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway
The completed station was formally opened for use on 29 May 1854 to link London with the west of England and South Wales, reflecting the broader growth of rail transport during the mid-nineteenth ...
29 Maj 0s
28th May 1987: Mathias Rust, an 18-year-old amateur pilot from West Germany, illegally landed a private aircraft near Moscow’s Red Square
Rust approached Moscow in the early evening and, after passing the city's ‘Ring of Steel’ anti-aircraft defences, touched down on a bridge next to St Basil’s Cathedral and taxied his aircraft into Red...
28 Maj 0s
27th May 1199: King John of England crowned at Westminster Abbey in London
John ruled for seventeen years before contracting dysentery while in Kings Lynn, an illness from which he later ...
27 Maj 0s
25th May 1961: US President John F. Kennedy announces his plans for a manned moon landing before the end of the decade
Kennedy's $24 billion of investment did work, and Apollo 11 achieved Kennedy's goal by landing on the moon on 20 July ...
25 Maj 0s
24th May 1956: First Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Lugano, Switzerland
The first Eurovision Song Contest featured only seven countries, and was broadcast across Europe using a terrestrial microwave relay network that linked the countries of Europe together like an invisi...
24 Maj 0s
23rd May 1701: Captain Kidd, the Scottish privateer, executed in London after being convicted of piracy and murder
Kidd was executed for piracy and murder at Execution Dock on the River Thames, and his body was subsequently placed in gibbet and displayed over the River Thames at Tilbury ...
23 Maj 0s
22nd May 1455: Wars of the Roses begin at the First Battle of St Albans between Richard, Duke of York, and King Henry VI
The Wars of the Roses were fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York, both of whom had claims to the ...
22 Maj 0s
