Sunday, May 04, 2014

History for May 4

History for May 4 - On-This-Day.com:
International Respect for Chickens Day
Petite and Proud Day

Happy Birthday! Randy Travis, George F. Will, Pia Zadora

1626 - Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on Manhattan Island. Native Americans later sold the island (20,000 acres) for $24 in cloth and buttons.



1715 - A French manufacturer debuted the first folding umbrella. 


1886 - Chichester Bell and Charles S. Tainter patented the gramophone. It was the first practical phonograph. 



1930 - Mahatma Gandhi was arrested by the British. 



1932 - Al Capone entered the Atlanta Penitentiary federal prison for income-tax evasion. 



1942 - The Battle of the Coral Sea commenced as American and Japanese carriers launched their attacks at each other.

 

1961 - Thirteen civil rights activists, dubbed "Freedom Riders," began a bus trip through the South. 



1970 - The Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on students during an anti-Vietnam war protest at Kent State University. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded. 



1979 - Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first woman prime minister. 



1981 - The Federal Reserve Board raised its discount rate to 14%. 



1987 - Live models were used for the first time in Playtex bra ads. 



1989 - Oliver North, a former White House aide was convicted of shredding documents and two other crimes. He was acquitted of nine other charges stemming from the Iran-Contra affair. The three convictions were later overturned on appeal. 



1998 - Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was given four life sentences plus 30 years by a federal judge in Sacramento, CA. The sentence was under a plea agreement that spared Kaczynski the death penalty.



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