On May 15, 1942, gasoline rationing began in 17 Eastern states
as an attempt to help the American war effort during World War
II. By the end of the year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had ensured
that mandatory gasoline rationing was in effect in all 48 states.
On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrated Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners,
rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine during World War II.
The airship Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built and the
pride of Nazi Germany, burst into flames upon touching its
mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 passengers
and crew-members, on May 6, 1937.
ED DANAHUE
Members of the Irish Citizen Army outside Liberty Hall..
On April 24, 1916, on Easter Monday in Dublin, the Irish
Republican Brotherhood, a secret organization of Irish
nationalists led by Patrick Pearse, launches the so-called
Easter Rebellion, an armed uprising against British rule.
Assisted by militant Irish socialists under James Connolly,
Pearse and his fellow Republicans rioted and attacked British
provincial government headquarters across Dublin and seized
the Irish capital’s General Post Office.
Following these successes, they proclaimed the independence
of Ireland, which had been under the repressive thumb of the
United Kingdom for centuries, and by the next morning were in
control of much of the city. Later that day, however, British
authorities launched a counteroffensive, and by April 29 the
uprising had been crushed.
Patrick Henry Pearse
(10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916)
