Browsing: May 20

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 20th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 20, 1521, the man that would become Saint Ignatius of Loyola was seriously wounded at Pamplona in a battle between the Spanish and the French supported Navarrese during the Spanish Conquest of Navarre, the region of land on the Iberian Peninsula between France and Spain. On May 20, 1645, the forces of Prince Dodo (we do not make this stuff…

A Brief History On May 20, 1969, the Battle of Hamburger Hill came to an end.  A regiment of the US Army 101st Airmobile Division alongside South Vietnamese allies fought the North Vietnamese Army over Hill 937 for a week of bitter combat, until finally the US and South Vietnamese kicked the defenders off the hill.  Only two weeks later, the Americans decided to abandon the hill so dearly bought in blood! Digging Deeper The American commanders apparently thought the fact that North Vietnamese forces were on a hill that provided a good view of the surrounding terrain was an…

A Brief History On May 20, 1521, the man that would become Saint Ignatius of Loyola was seriously wounded at Pamplona in a battle between the Spanish and the French supported Navarrese during the Spanish Conquest of Navarre, the region of land on the Iberian Peninsula between France and Spain.  Spanish soldier Inigo Lopez de Loyola, later known as St. Ignatius of Loyola and the principal founder of the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits), had suffered a cannonball injury to his leg, but bore his injury with such courage that his Navarrese foes acknowledged his bravery by…

A Brief History On May 20, 1645, the forces of Prince Dodo (we do not make this stuff up!) of the Qing Dynasty conquered the city of Yangzhou, China, from the forces of the Southern Ming of the Hongguang Emperor. The Qing army commenced perhaps the greatest single incident atrocity/massacre in all of History by killing 800,000 people over the next 10 days. (See below for another candidate for worst massacre in History.) Digging Deeper China had long been fought over by rival warlords calling themselves “Emperor” and the carnage involved in these Chinese wars are among the deadliest in…

A Brief History On May 20, 2017, the entire planet is obligated to celebrate World Whisky Day, and if you have any questions about the legitimacy of this holiday, understand that there is a web site dedicated to this particular day! Digging Deeper Whisky, spelled without the “e,” is what we call the distilled malt alcoholic beverage from Scotland.  In the United States of America, we call similar stuff “whiskey” with the “e,” but either way, you could call it hooch, firewater, liquor, spirits, moonshine, rot gut, white lightning, acqua vitae (water of life) or mountain dew (not the soda…