A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 15th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 15, 1718, Englishman James Puckle patented his machine gun, the world’s first! On May 15, 1718, James Puckle of England patented the first machine gun. On May 15, 1718, Mr. Puckle patented what could be considered the first machine gun. On May 15, 1848, Serfdom was abolished in the Habsburg Austrian region of Galicia, ending the slavery of peasants in…
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A Brief History On May 15, 2001, a 47-car freight train in Walbridge, Ohio took off away from the train station sans engineer who had dismounted to set a switch. The train, which included tanker cars carrying hazardous flammable chemicals, traveled an incredible 66 miles before finally being stopped in Kenton, Ohio. Digging Deeper In the face of recent train derailments and disasters, this particular incident could have been much worse. In this case, no crash occurred, and nobody was killed, due to the quick thinking and courage of rail crews. The engineer did suffer minor injuries in his vain…
A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 14th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 14, 1796, English scientist Edward Jenner used pus scraped from a cowpox pustule to inoculate his gardener’s son, the first ever vaccine used. On May 14, 1816, romantically linked English authors Mary Godwin and Percy Shelley arrived at Geneva, Switzerland. On May 14, 1878, the town of Salem, Massachusetts, was fittingly (in a way) the scene of the last known…
A Brief History On May 14, 1943, the Australian hospital ship AHS Centaur was torpedoed and sunk by Japanese Imperial Navy submarine I-177. Sadly, 268 of the 332 crew and civilians aboard along with 63 of the 65 Australian Army personnel aboard the ship died. Digging Deeper Centaur was clearly marked in accordance with International Red Cross protocol, painted white and showing large red crosses on the hull. She was also fully illuminated when attacked. Built in Scotland in 1924, Centaur was originally a combination refrigerated cargo and passenger liner that was turned over to the Australian military in 1943…
A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 13th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 13, 1862, a black African-American slave, Robert Smalls, serving as a ship’s pilot on the CSS Planter, a Confederate armed steamship, managed to steal the ship and turn it over to US Navy forces outside Charleston, South Carolina. On May 13, 1950, the first Formula One World Championship race was held in England. On May 13, 1958, George de Mestral of Switzerland…