12 History Lessons + 4 Births & 6 Deaths for May 20, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives in Calicut, India, opening a sea route from Europe to Asia.
- 1609 – Shakespeare’s sonnets are first published in London.
- 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, granting land to settlers.
- 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
- 1883 – Krakatoa volcano begins erupting; its explosion later that year becomes one of the most violent in recorded history.
- 1927 – Charles Lindbergh takes off from New York aboard The Spirit of St. Louis for the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.
- 1932 – Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.
- 1969 – U.S. and South Vietnamese forces capture Ap Bia Mountain (Hamburger Hill) after 10 days of heavy fighting.
- 1980 – In a referendum, Quebec votes against seceding from Canada.
- 1990 – The Hubble Space Telescope sends back its first images from space.
- 2002 – East Timor becomes an independent nation after centuries of Portuguese and Indonesian rule.
- 2013 – A devastating EF5 tornado strikes Moore, Oklahoma, killing 24 people and destroying hundreds of homes.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1946 – Cher, American singer, actress, and pop culture icon (Believe) (79)
- 1955 – Zbigniew Boniek, Polish football legend and sports official (70)
- 1966 – Mindy Cohn, actress (The Facts of Life) and voice of Velma in Scooby-Doo (59)
- 1972 – Busta Rhymes, American rapper and record producer (Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See) (53)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1506 – Christopher Columbus, explorer who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean (Age ~54)
- 1622 – Osman II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, assassinated (Age 18)
- 1873 – Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American inventor and engineer (Age 49)
- 2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French classical flutist (Age 78)
- 2009 – Lucy Gordon, British actress and model (The Four Feathers, Spiderman 3) (Age 28)
- 2011 – Randy “Macho Man” Savage, American pro wrestler and entertainer (Age 58)
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