Today Importance Day - 31st May

Today Importance Day - 31st May

1223 Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol forces led by Zebei and Subedei defeat a Russian coalition, forcing them to retreat, resulting in 20,000 Russians killed.

1417 Jacoba of Bavaria becomes Countess of Holland/Zeeland/Hanegehoven

1531 Dutch Catholic activist Engel Korsendokter leads a march of 300 women of the Guild of the Holy Sacrament protesting plans to replace a valuable chapel in Amsterdam with a wool warehouse; they are charged with rebellion, fined, and exiled for 4 years - most are pardoned after appealing to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

1621 Francis Bacon, former Lord Chancellor of England, is imprisoned in the Tower of London for 1 or 2 nights on charges of corruption, until released by King James I.

1634 The Massachusetts Bay Colony occupies the Maine Colony

1654 Swedish forces capture the Dutch-held fort of Fort Casimir on the Delaware River when the fort runs out of ammunition[1]

1659 The Netherlands, England, and France sign the Treaty of Hague

1665 Rabbi Szabtai of Jerusalem declares himself the Messiah.

1669 English civil servant Samuel Pepys makes the final entry in his famous diary, citing poor eyesight.

1696 John Salomonz is elected Prior of Saint-Eustathius

1727 France, Britain and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Paris

1744 French troops conquer Kortrijk

1759 The Province of Pennsylvania bans all theatrical performances

1790 The US Copyright Act comes into force

1821 The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the first American Catholic cathedral, is dedicated in Baltimore, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe

1837 The Astor Hotel opens in NYC, later becoming the Waldorf-Astoria

1847 Rotterdam-The Hague railway opened

1849 Final edition of the Orange Sheet "Journal de la Haye".

1853 Elisha Kane's Arctic expedition sails from New York on the Advance ship

1859 Philadelphia A's play "town ball", which 20 years later became baseball.

1861 General Beauregard is given command of the Confederate Alexandria Line

1861 Mint closed in New Orleans

1868 First Memorial Day parade held in Ironton, Ohio

1868 Dr. James Moore (UK) wins the first recorded bicycle race, a (2k) velocipede race at the Parc des Saint Cloud in Paris.

1870 Congress passes the first Enforcement Act (black rights)

1870 E.J. DeSemdt patents asphalt pavement

1875 Reciprocity treaty between the United States and Hawaii ratified

1878 German battleship SMS Grosser Kurfürst sinks, killing 284

1878 U.S. Congress recognizes decline of dollar circulation

1879 First electric railway opens at Berlin Trades Exposition

1879 Madison Square Garden opens in New York, named for fourth president James Madison.

1880 League of American Wheelmen (first American bicycle association), Newport, Rhode Island, formed

1883 French fleet led by Pierre begins blockade of Tamatave, Madagascar

1885 Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek, Michigan, controversially out-competes his younger brother Will Keith Kellogg, applying for a patent for a "process for making flaked cereals and beans."

1889 Johnstown flood; 2,209 people died in Johnston, Pennsylvania when the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River failed.

1890 Ulm Minster, in Ulm, Germany, the world's tallest church with a 161.5 meter steeple is finally completed (begun in 1377)

1891 Trans-Siberian Railway begins work

1893 Jefferson Davis' remains are moved from New Orleans at his widow's request and reinterred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

1893 Whitcomb Judson of Chicago patents the hookless fastening (zipper).

1899 - 5 June] Conference at Bloemfontein fails

1899 The Bronx acquires Kelch Memorial Park

1900 British troops led by Lord Roberts occupy Johannesburg

1900 Piet de Law is captured by Lt. Col. B. E. Spragge, 13th Battalion Irish Imperial Yeomanry

1900 Tom Hayward scores the 1000th cricket run of the season (record 1074 set)

1900 American troops arrive in Beijing, helping suppress the Boxer Rebellion

1901 At the opening of the Greek National Assembly, Prince George, High Commissioner of Crete, asks it to approve the union of Crete with Greece; this proposal is later rejected

1902 Australia Cricket1901 vs England, all out for 36 at Edgbaston, their lowest score

1902 End of the Boer War; Treaty of Unity signed, Britain takes over Transvaal

1902 Labor problems and riots by Spanish king Alfonso XII lead to promulgation of Samaritan laws

1906 Attempted assassination of King Alfonso XIII and Victoria of Battenberg in Madrid, 30 people are killed by a Catalan anarchist during a procession following their wedding in Madrid.

1907 First taxis begin operating in NYC

1908 First flight of Miss Potelsberg de la Pottery (Belgium)

1909 National Conference on the Negro holds its first meeting at the United Charities Building (former NAACP) in New York.

1910 The Union of South Africa declares its independence from the United Kingdom

1911 During the Mexican Revolution, former Mexican president Porfirio Díaz flees the country for Spain.

1912 US Marines land in Cuba

1913 Alexis Ahlgren completes a world record marathon race (2:36:06.6).

1913 The US 17th Amendment (direct election of senators) is declared ratified

1914 Chicago White Sox' Joe Benz beats the Cleveland Indians 6-1

1915 LZ-38 zeppelin attacks London

1916 Battle of Jutland: The largest naval battle of World War I between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet, resulting in an inconclusive battle with 8,645 casualties but a strategic British victory. The German fleet never again went to sea in World War II.

1916 HMS Invincible explodes after catching fire during the Battle of Jutland, killing 1026 officers including Rear-Admiral Hood - only 6 crew members survive

1919 NC-4 airplane piloted by A.C. Reed completes the first crossing of the Atlantic

1921 A massive race riot breaks out in Tulsa, Oklahoma, later described as the worst case of racial violence in American history; Approximately 150–300 African Americans killed [1] [2]

1921 Boston Red Sox first baseman John "Stuffy" McInnis begins an impeccable streak of 1,700 innings.

1923 China and the USSR exchange diplomats

1923 The South African Indian Congress (SAIC) is formed in Durban, South Africa, with Umar Haji Amodt Zaveri as president.

1924 China recognizes the USSR

1926 Portuguese President Bernardino Machedo resigns following a coup.

1926 The Sesquicentennial Exhibition opens in Philadelphia

1927 Tigers first baseman Johnny Neun hits a helpless triple play

1928 The first aerial crossing of the Pacific Ocean begins from Oakland

1928 Charlie Hallows scores his 1,000th run in the cricket season

1929 The Atlantic City Convention Center opens

1930 British Amateur Championship, men's golf, St. Andrews Links: Bobby Jones wins by a score of 7 and 6 against Englishman Roger Weathered in the first leg of his Grand Slam.

1930 Construction begins on the Albert Canal in Belgium

1930 Comet 73P/1930 (Schwassmann-Wachmann 3) passes 0.0617 AU from Earth

1930 Max Bishop of the Philadelphia Athletics draws 8 walks in a doubleheader to set an MLB record.

1934 The Barmen Declaration was published by a group of German church leaders, including Karl Barth, to help Christians cope with the challenge of the Nazi Party.

1935 A magnitude 7.7 earthquake devastates Quetta in Balochistan, British India (now Pakistan), killing an estimated 40,000 people.

1937 First quartet in the Graduate College (Baylor University)

1937 German warships bomb Almeria, Spain

1937 Second-largest crowd in Polo Grounds history (61,756) The Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the NY Giants 10-3, ending Carl Hubbell's record 24-game winning streak.

1938 Bill Edrich completes his 1,000th cricket season at Lord's

1940 British Major General Bernard Montgomery leaves Dunkirk

1940 Winston Churchill goes to Paris to meet with French Marshal Philippe Pétain, who announces that he is ready to make a separate peace with Germany.

1941 - June 1) 32.0 cm of rain falls in Burlington Kansas (state record)

1941 The first issue of "Parade" is sold

1941 Luftwaffe air raids on Dublin, neutral Ireland, kill 38

1941 German occupiers bar Jews from beaches and swimming pools

1941 Nazi occupiers deny Jews access to beaches and swimming pools in the Netherlands

1942 Chicago broadcast of avant-garde radio play "The City Wears a Slouch Hat", music by John Cage and Kenneth Patchen

1942 The German Luftwaffe bombed Canterbury, England

1943 "Archie" comic strip first broadcast on radio.

1943 42 U-boats are sunk by the Allies this month

1943 Cards Mort Cooper pitches first of back-to-back one-hitters

1947 Communists seize power in Hungary

1947 Eastern DC-4 crashes between Fort Deposit and Perryville, Maryland, 53 killed

1947 Gaspari's Italian government is formed

1948 Canadian-American League Schenectady Blue Jays pitcher Tommy Lasorda strikes out 25 Amsterdam Ragmakers (in 15 innings), and scores the winning run

1949 Charlie Lupica takes up residence on a 4 foot square platform atop the 60' pole and vows to stay there until the Indians win the pennant. (They don't and stay 117 days) 1951 Netherlands and South Africa sign a cultural pact 1953 Lebanese President Camille Chamon dissolves government 1953 WSUN TV channel 38 in St. Petersburg-Tampa, FL (IND) first broadcast 1955 Construction begins on Soviet cosmodrome launch facilities Either 1955 Great Britain declares state of emergency due to rail strike 1955 US Supreme Court orders "totally voluntary" school integration 1957 Great Britain opens Christmas Island (atmospheric) 1958 Dick Dale invents "surf music" with "trippin'" 1958 US conducts nuclear tests on Bikini Island (atmospheric testing) 1961 Arthur Michael Ramsey appointed 100th Archbishop of Canterbury 1961 Chuck Berry opens Berryland amusement park in St. Louis, Missouri 1961 Judge Irving Kaufman consolidates Board of Education

1961 South Africa secedes from the Commonwealth of Nations and becomes a republic.

1961 US President John F. Kennedy meets Charles de Gaulle in Paris

1962 "Tell It to Groucho" final broadcast on CBS-TV

1962 The West Indies Federation, comprising the former British Caribbean territories, is dissolved

1964 Charles Schmidt kills the Pied Piper's first victim

1964 SF Giants beat NY Mets 8-6 in 23 innings (2nd game) (7 hours 32 minutes)

1969 Ray Stevens' "Guitarjohn" peaked at #8

1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Give Peace a Chance" at a Montreal hotel during their second 'bed-in' for peace; Other cast members include Tommy Smothers, Petula Clark, Timothy Leary and Dick Gregory.

1969 Stevie Wonder releases the single "My Cherry Amore" which becomes a soul classic.

1970 A 7.75 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Peru kills 66-70,000 people and causes the world's deadliest avalanche.

1970 The Cathedral of Brasilia, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, is dedicated to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.

1970 KDUB TV channel 40 Dubuque, IA (ABC) begins broadcasting.

1973 Glenn Turner scores his 1,000th run in the English cricket season

1974 Israel and Syria sign an agreement regarding the Golan Heights

1974 The USSR conducts a nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk test site in northeastern Kazakhstan

1975 The Isley Brothers release "Fight the Power" single (Billboard Songs, 1975)

1976 The Valley, Charlton, London, sets the record for the loudest concert ever, 120 decibels at 50 meters.

1977 Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani ascends to the throne of Qatar

1977 The Trans-Alaska oil pipeline is completed, one of the world's largest pipeline systems

1979 Radio City Music Hall (NYC) reopens

1980 J. Geils Band's "Love Stinks" reaches #38

1980 Police and young rebels battle in Zurich

1984 57th National Spelling Bee: Daniel Greenblatt wins the spelling bee

1984 United States conducts nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1984 Viv Richards scores 189* (170 balls) against England, ODI cricket record

1985 Guatemala adopts constitution

1985 New Orleans Saints sell for $70,204,000

The 1985 tornado outbreak hits the United States and Canada, with 41 tornadoes striking Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, killing 90 people.

1987 Saul Ballesteros drives 3 golf balls into Mount McKinley, Alaska

1987 Stanley Cup Finals, Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, AL: Edmonton Oilers defeat Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 to win title 4 games to 3: Oilers' 3rd SC

1989 "Gambling With the Flyers" 20,000th radio program on WOR-AM (NYC)

1989 First International Rock Awards in the United States

1989 Speaker of the US House of Representatives Jim Wright resigns

1990 63rd National Spelling Bee: Amy Marie Dimack wins spelling Fibran

1990 Dana Miller-McKay wins BPAA US Women's Bowling Open

1990 NYC's Zodiac killer shoots third victim, Joseph Ponce

1991 Angolan parties sign agreement ending 16-year civil war

1992 "The 1992 "Boat Show" - the 193rd and final episode of the American comedy series "Night Court" - airs on NBC-TV, completing 9 seasons.

1992 46th Tony Awards: "Dancing at Lughnasa" (play) and "Crazy for You" (musical) win

1992 5th Children's Miracle Network Telethon raises $1,060,000

1993 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Dobrica Cioci runs

1994 Padres score 2nd vs. Pirates 13

1997 Super Rugby Final, Eden Park, Auckland: Blues win second consecutive title with a 23-7 win over ACT Brumbies; Fullback Adrian Cashmore kicks 3 penalties and 2 conversions for the winners

1997 Confederation Bridge opens, linking Prince Edward Island to mainland New Brunswick