Born On This Day:

• Peter Carl Fabergé, 1846
• Howard Hawks, 1896
• Irving Thalberg, 1899
• Cornelia Otis Skinner, 1901
• Stepin Fetchit, 1902
• Mel Blanc, 1908
• Benny Goodman, 1909
• Christine Jorgensen (born George), 1926
• Clint Walker, 1927
• Aleksey Leonov, 1934
• Keir Dullea, 1936
• Michael J. Pollard, 1939
• Meredith MacRae, 1944
• Harry Enfield, 1951
• Wynonna Judd, 1964
• Manny Ramirez, 1972

Died On This Day:

• St. Joan of Arc burnt at stake, 1431
• Christopher Marlowe, 1593
• Peter Paul Rubens, 1640
• Alexander Pope, 1744
• Voltaire, 1778
• Wilbur Wright, 1912
• Dooley Wilson, 1953
• Boris Pasternak, 1960
• Rafael Trujillo assassinated, 1961
• Claude Rains, 1967
• Paul Desmond, 1977
• Perry Ellis, 1986
• Claude Pepper, 1989

Today's Events:

• 1431 - In Rouen, France, Joan of Arc, age 19, is burned at the stake for her 'crimes'; cleared of all charges 25 years later.
• 1498 - Christopher Columbus sets sail with six ships from Spain on 3rd voyage to discover South Americas.
• 1536 - Henry VIII marries his third wife, Jane Seymour 11 days after Anne Boleyn got the chop.
• 1539 - Fernando de Soto lands in Florida to begin Spanish dominion.
• 1783 - Benjamin Towne publishes the first daily newspaper in the U.S. - Pennsylvania Evening Post in Philly.
• 1806 - Andrew Jackson, 'Old Hickory,' wounded in duel in which he killed Charlie Dickinson in Kentucky.
• 1814 - First treaty of Paris. Russia, Prussia, Austria & Britain happy with Napoleon's exile.
• 1868 - First major Memorial Day (Decoration Day) observance held to honor Civil War dead.
• 1876 - The Truss patented by inventor Harvey A. Stephenson.
• 1894 - Robert Lowe of Boston becomes first major league baseball player to hit four homers in one game.
• 1896 - World's first automobile accident in New York. Duryea car collides with bicycle.
• 1898 - Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay and English chemist Morris Travers discover Krypton, atomic number 36.
• 1911 - First Indianapolis 500-mile race run; winner is Ray Hourroun with average speed of 74.6 mph.
• 1913 - First Balkan War ends after 8 months with signing of Treaty of London; Turkey abandons Crete.
• 1922 - Lincoln Memorial dedicated in Washington D.C.
• 1972 - Japanese Red Army massacre-25 dead 76 wounded at Lod Airport, Tel Aviv.
• 1977 - George Lucas and Steven Spielberg conceive idea for Indiana Jones trilogy on a beach in Hawaii.

Feast Day of Saint:

• Ferdinand III of Castile
• Joan of Arc

Holiday:

• Memorial Day or Decoration Day in U.S. (first observed 1868)

Non-Specific Holiday:

• VESAK (Commemoration of birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha) celebrated Southeast Asia.
• MOTHER'S DAY (U.S.), second Sunday in May
• FESTIVAL OF JOAN OF ARC in France, second Sunday in May
• MEMORIAL DAY (U.S.), Last Monday in May
• PROCESSION OF THE HOLY BLOOD in Belgium on first Monday after May 2.
• TANO FESTIVAL (Korea) on 5th day of 5th lunar month.
• TUAN WU CHIEH or Dragon Boat Festival (China) 5th day of 5th lunar month.
• ASCENSION DAY (Christian) 40th day after Easter.
• PENTACOST (Christian) or Whitsunday (Anglican) 50 days after Easter.
• TRINITY SUNDAY (Christian), Sunday after Pentecost.
• CORPUS CHRISTI (Christian), Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
• I'D AL-HAJJ, Muslim Festival
• ARANYA SHASHTI, Hindu Festival honoring god of the forest
• BUDDHA PURNIMA, Hindu Festival, celebrated early May
• GANGA DASSHERA, Hindu Festival, celebrated end of May
• ARMED FORCES DAY in US - third Saturday in May
• NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER in US - first Thursday in May
• NATIONAL DEFENSE TRANSPORTATION DAY - third Friday in May in US
• NATIONAL TEACHER'S DAY - Tuesday in the first full week in May in US
• VICTORIA DAY - first Monday before May 25, celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday in Canada
• WESAK FESTIVAL celebrated in the eastern hemisphere at the Taurus full moon, beginning of May
• GOODWILL FESTIVAL celebrated at the Gemini full moon, end of May