- National Physical Education and Sport Week, May 1 – 7, 2008

- May Day

- Martha Canary, a.k.a. Calamity Jane, was born. (1852)

- Kate Smith, singer, was born. (1907)

- Babe Ruth hit his first Yankee home run. (1920)

- The Empire State Building opened in New York City. (1931)

- Hoover Dam (also known as Boulder Dam) was completed. (1935)

- American spy plane shot down over Russia. (1960)

- Harper Lee received the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird. (1961)

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- Polish Flag Day

- Leonardo da Vinci, artist, inventor, and scientist, died. (1519)

- Benjamin Spock was born in New Haven, Connecticut. (1903)

- Jack Benny, radio (and later television) personality, broadcast his first talk show on NBC. (1932)

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- World Press Freedom Day

- Niccolo Machiavelli, writer (The Prince), was born. (1469)

- New Japanese constitution was enacted, stripping Emperor Hirohito of all power. (1947)

- First successful heart transplant in the United States was performed by Dr. Denton Cooley. (1968)

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- Be Kind to Animals Week, May 4 - 10, 2008

- National Music Week, May 4 - 11, 2008

- Horace Mann, educator, was born. (1796)

- Haymarket Square Riot (1886)

- Bird Day first observed. (1894)

- Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences was formed. (1927)

- Ernest Hemingway is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea. (1953)

- Demonstrators at Kent State University were shot by Ohio National Guard. (1970)

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- Mary Kies became the first woman to be issued a U.S. patent (for her method of weaving straw and silk). (1809)

- Cinco de Mayo celebration originated in Mexico. (1862)

- Nellie Bly, U.S. reporter who beat Phileas Fogg's fictional record of circling the globe in 80 days, was born. (1864)

- Carnegie Hall opened in New York City with Tchaikovsky as guest conductor. (1891)

- Astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space. (1961)

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- Teacher Appreciation Day, May 6, 2008

- National Wildflower Week, May 6 - 11, 2008

- France’s Eiffel Tower opened for the Universal Exhibition in Paris. (1889)

- Hindenburg zeppelin disaster. (1937)

- Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute-mile. Though it was thought to be physically impossible, 25-year-old Bannister broke the record. (1954)

- Martín de Porres canonized by Pope John XXIII. (1962)

- Chunnel opened and linked England to the European Continent under the English Channel. (1994)

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- National School Nurse Day, 2008

- Pontiac’s Rebellion began, pitting Native American warriors under Chief Pontiac against British troops. (1763)

- Ninth Symphony, by Beethoven, premiers in Vienna. (1824)

- Peter Illich Tchaikovsky, composer, was born. (1840)

- George Eastman patented the Kodak box camera. (1888)

- Lusitania was sunk by German submarine. 1198 lives were lost. (1915)

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- World Red Cross Red Crescent Day

- Joan of Arc led French troops to Orleans. (1429)

- Hernando de Soto, Spanish conquistador, became the first white man to see and cross the Mississippi River. (1541)

- A decimal system of measurement was requested by the French National Assembly, which asked that the system be “stable and simple.” (1790)

- Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States , was born. (1884)

- Coca-Cola was first sold by Dr. John S. Pemberton at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta. (1886)

- V-E Day (Victory in Europe) commemorated the end of World War II. (1945)

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- Thomas Blood attempts to steal the Crown Jewels of England. (1671)

- James Barrie, playwright and author (Peter Pan), was born in Scotland. (1860)

- Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show opened in London. (1887)

- Mother's Day proclamation was made by President Woodrow Wilson. (1914)

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- Economic Panic of 1837 began the second worst depression in U.S. history.

- First Transcontinental Railroad was completed. (1869)

- Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States. (1872)

- Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Britain. (1940)

- Nelson Mandela becomes the first black president of South Africa. (1994)

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- Mother’s Day celebrated. (2008)

- National Women's Health Week, May 11 – 17, 2008

- Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 11 – 17, 2008

- National Transportation Week, May 11 - 17, 2008

- Lt. Charles Wilkes lands at Fort Nisqually in Puget Sound. (1841)

- Minnesota became the 32^nd U.S. state. (1858)

- Irving Berlin, American composer, born. (1888)

- Salvador Dali, surrealist artist, was born in Catalonia, Spain. (1904)

- Siam changes its name to Thailand. (1949)

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- Reading is Fun Week, May 12 - 18, 2008

- Bike-to-Work Week, May 12 - 16, 2008

- National Stuttering Awareness Week, May 12 - 18, 2008

- Florence Nightingale, health activist and nurse, was born in Florence, Italy. (1820)

- Henry Cabot Lodge, statesman and noted historian, born. (1850)

- Goofy, a.k.a. Dippy Dawg, first appeared in “Mickey’s Revue” created by Walt Disney. (1932)

- Douglas MacArthur delivers his famous "Duty, Honor, Country" valedictory speech at West Point. (1962)

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- Sir Arthur Sullivan, English composer, best known for his collaboration with W.S .Gilbert in light operas, was born. (1842)

- Arlington National Cemetery, once Arlington House, buried its first soldier, a Confederate prisoner of war (1864)

- “Conservation as a National Duty” was President Theodore Roosevelt’s opening address at the outset of a three-day meeting billed as the Governors' Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources. (1908)

- Tiananmen Square became the center of demonstrations and hunger strikes for thousands of Chinese students. (1989)

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- California Classified School Employee Week, May 14 – 24, 2008

- Jamestown, Virginia, was founded by 104 English settlers. (1607)

- Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis for the Pacific Coast. (1804)

- First female pages were appointed to U.S. Senate. (1971)

- Skylab, America ’s first space station, launched. (1973)

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- National Employee Health and Fitness Day, 2008

- International Day of Families

- Johannes Kepler, scientist, discovered harmonics law, which explains principles of planetary motion. (1618)

- The Seven Years War, a conflict known in America as the French and Indian War, began. (1756)

- Lyman Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was born in Chittenango, New York. (1856)

- Committee of Vigilance was organized by residents of San Francisco to combat crime in the rapidly growing town. (1856)

- Nylon stockings went on sale for the first time in the United States in Wilmington, Delaware. (1940)

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- Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States , was born in Massachusetts. (1804)

- The nickel was authorized to replace the silver half-dime. (1866)

- President Andrew Johnson escaped impeachment by one vote. (1868)

- Mount Everest scaled by first woman. (1975)

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- Armed Forces Day 2008

- National Safe Boating Week, May 17 - 23, 2008

- Kentucky Derby was first run. (1875)

- Brown vs. Board of Education ruling was released, stating that racial segregation in public educational facilities was unconstitutional. (1954)

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- International Museum Day

- Abraham Lincoln was nominated by the Republican National Convention for President. (1860)

- Plessy v. Ferguson ruling was handed down, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the doctrine of “separate but equal.” (1896)

- Dracula, a novel by author Bram Stoker is published. (1897)

- Grauman’s Chinese Theatre opened in Hollywood, with 100,000 fans attending Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings. (1927)

- Weather as a weapon of war was banned, when more than 30 nations signed a United Nations pact, pledging they would never attack each other by starting man-made storms, earthquakes, or tidal waves. (1977)

- Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, killing 57 people and devastating hundreds of square miles of wilderness. (1980)

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- National Buckle Up America Week, May 19 - 26, 2008

- Anne Boleyn, second wife of England ’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded. (1536)

- Ho Chi Minh, one of many names used by this founder and first president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was born. (1890)

- Malcolm X, African-American activist, was born. (1925)

- T.E. Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, died. (1935)

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- Explorer John Cabot sailed to North America. (1497)

- Christopher Columbus, considered one of the greatest Italian explorers, died in Spain. (1506)

- Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act Law, a program designed to grant public land to small farmers at low cost. (1862)

- Hubble Space Telescope sent its first image from space. (1990)

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- National Etiquette Week, May 12 - 16, 2008

- World Day for Cultural Development

- American Red Cross was founded. (1881)

- Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St. Louis, completed the world’s first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. (1927)

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- International Day for Biological Diversity

- Martha Washington, wife to George Washington and the first of First Ladies, died. (1802)

- Richard Wagner, German composer, was born. (1813)

- Oregon Trail started “the great migration,” when thousands made the massive move west from Elm Grove, Missouri. (1843)

- Mystery writer and the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was born. (1859)

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- World Turtle Day

- Pirate Captain Kidd was hanged for his crimes of piracy and murder. (1701)

- Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and founder of modern taxonomy, was born. (1707)

- William Harvey Carney, Civil War hero, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was the first African American to receive the nation’s highest military honor. (1900)

- The New York Public Library was dedicated by President William Howard Taft. (1911)

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- John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day. (1738)

- Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer, died. (1543)

- Samuel F. B. Morse dispatched the first telegraphic message over an experimental line from Washington D.C. to Baltimore. (1844)

- The Brooklyn Bridge opened after 14 years of construction. (1883)

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- Africa Day

- The Constitutional Convention began in Philadelphia. (1787)

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist, poet, and philosopher, was born. (1803)

- Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, vaudeville dancer, was born. (1878)

- John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. (1925)

- Jessie Owens, world-renowned athlete, set long jump record at 26' 8". (1935)

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- Memorial Day Celebrated 2008

- Montana became the 41^st state, five years after the territory was created. (1864)

- Czar Nicolas II was crowned ruler of Russia. (1896)

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- St. Petersburg, Russia, was founded by Peter the Great. (1703)

- "Wild Bill" Hickok, Kansas gunfighter, was born (1837)

- The Golden Gate Bridge opened. (1937)

- The Bismarck, a German battleship, was sunk by the Royal British Navy near France. (1941)

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- Ohio Women’s Rights Convention met in Akron, Ohio. (1851)

- Jim Thorpe, world-class athlete, was born. (1888)

- Sierra Club was founded. (1892)

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- Patrick Henry, great American orator, known for saying, “Give me liberty or give me death,” was born. (1736)

- Wisconsin became the 30^th U.S. state. (1848)

- John Fitzgerald Kennedy, U.S. president from 1961 until his assassination on November 22, 1963, was born. (1917)

- Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest. (1953)

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- Peter the Great of Russia was born. (1672)

- Andrew Jackson, future President of the United States , participated in a pistol duel and won.  (1806)

- The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ratified on this day by Mexico , gave the U.S. New Mexico and California, as well as parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado, in return for $15 million. (1848)

- Jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman was born. (1909)

- Wilbur Wright, pioneering aviator, who together with his brother Orville made the first powered flight in 1903, died. (1912)

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- World No-Tobacco Day

- Walt Whitman, poet and essayist, was born. (1819)

- "Flaked cereal" patent was applied for by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. (1884)

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