During World War II, German war planes destroyed most of the English town of Coventry when about 500 Luftwaffe bombers attacked on this day in 1940.
A German Luftwaffe high-performance medium bomber.
Novel published on this day in 1851.
American writer and Nobel Prize laureate William Faulkner once stated he wished he had written it himself, and D. H. Lawrence called it "one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world", and "the greatest book of the sea ever written".
On this day in 1889, New York World reporter Elizabeth Cochrane (pen name Nellie Bly) began an attempt to surpass the fictitious journey of Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg by traveling around the world in less than 80 days. Bly succeeded by finishing the trek the following January in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes.
On this day in 1943, Leonard Bernstein made his debut with the New York Philharmonic when he filled in for the ailing Bruno Walter prior to a nationally broadcast concert. Bernstein was 25 years old and was an assistant conductor at the time.
Leonard Bernstein(August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990)
Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990)
Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other music. He was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Composers."
Alan Shepard became the first American in space when he made a short suborbital flight on this day in 1961.
On the day in 1821, Napoleon Bonaparte on his deathbed.
The cause of his death has been debated. Napoleon’s physician, François Carlo Antommarchi, led the autopsy, which found the cause of death to be stomach cancer. He was 51.
Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "Fifth of May") is a celebration held on May 5. The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army‘s victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.
