This Week in History

MAY 4

Steven Greenberg was born. Tracey Benison Mullen was born.

1932 - Public Enemy Number One, Al Capone, was jailed for tax evasion.

1970 - Four Kent State University students were shot down by National Guard members during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration.

MAY 5

Seibert Ward was born.

1891 - Carnegie Hall (then known as Music Hall) opened in New York City. Peter Tchaikovsky was the guest conductor.

1961 - Alan Shepard became the first American in space.

MAY 6

Kitty Kelly was born. Coleen Mimnagh was born. Marissa Shannon was born.

1941 - Dictator Joseph Stalin became the premier of Russia.

1954 - British athlete Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes (3:59:4).

1994 - “The Chunnel” between England and France officially opened.

MAY 7

Megan Prendergast-Millard was born. Rosemary Munro was born.

1915 - The British ocean liner Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine in World War I off the coast of Ireland.

2000 - Vladimir Putin was inaugurated as Russia’s president.

MAY 8

Marina Callaghan was born. Donna Serrone Fajen was born. Bob Killian was born. Colleen Vielandi was born. Eileen O’Callaghan was born.

1945 - V-E Day marks the European victory of the Allies in World War II.

MAY 9

Kathy Lehane Cawthorne was born. Tim McElhinney was born.

1914 - Mother's Day became a public holiday.

1994 - The South African parliament chose Nelson Mandela as president.

MAY 10

John L. Muldoon was born. Laura Flower Bruns was born. Karen Potter was born. Meghan Donohue Anderson was born.

1924 - J. Edgar Hoover became director of the FBI.

1940 - Winston Churchill succeeded Neville Chamberlain as British prime minister.