This Day in History – May 7, 2011

1429 English siege of Orléans broken by Joan of Arc 1660 Isaack B Fubine of Savoy, in The Hague, patents macaroni 1700 William Penn began monthly meetings for Blacks advocating emancipation 1789 1st inaugural ball (for George Washington in New York NY) 1792 Captain Robert Gray discovers Grays Harbor (Washington) 1800 Indiana Territory organized 1824 Beethoven’s 9th (Chorale) Symphony, premieres in Vienna 1840 Tornado strikes Natchez MS, kills 317 1847 American Medical Association organizes (Philadelphia) 1877 Cincinnati Enquirer, 1st uses the term “Bullpen” to indicate foul territory 1888 George Eastman patents “Kodak box camera” 1904 Flexible Flyer trademark registered 1907 Charles Collier wins 1st Isle of Man TT Race (38.22 mph) 1912 Columbia University approves plans for awarding the Pulitzer Prize in several categories The award is established by Joseph Pulitzer 1913 British House of Commons rejects woman’s right to vote 1914 US Congress establishes mother’s day 1914 Woodrow Wilson’s daughter Eleanor marries in the White House 1915 Lusitania sunk by German submarine; 1198 lives lost 1925 Phillies have their 8th game postponed in a row 1928 England lowers age of women voters from 30 to 21 1934 World’s largest pearl (6.4 kg) found at Palawan, Philippines 1941 British House of Commons votes for Churchill (477-3) 1941 Cornerstone of Bank of America building at 300 Montgomery laid 1942 Nazi decree orders all Jewish pregnant women of Kovno Ghetto executed 1943 Liberty Ship George Washington Carver, named after scientist, launched 1945 Branch Rickey announces formation of the US Negro Baseball League 1959 Largest baseball crowd (93,103 in Los Angeles Coliseum) sees Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax beat Yankees 6-2 in exhibition 1970 “Long & Winding Road” becomes Beatles’ last American release 1975 President Ford declares an end to “Vietnam Era” 1982 Federal jury rules NFL violates antitrust laws in preventing Oakland Raiders from moving to Los Angeles 1982 IBM releases PC-DOS version 1.1 1984 $180 million out-of-court settlement reached in Agent Orange suit 1987 Diane Chambers’ (Shelley Long) final episode on Cheers 1989 Mark Merrony (Wales) cycles for 30 minutes in Nepal at 21,030 feet 1992 5 NYC cops arrested in Hauppauge Long Island for selling cocaine 1992 Constitutional amendment barring mid-term congressional raises passes 1994 Edvard Munchs painting “The Scream” recovered 3 months after stolen 1996 Comedian Martin Lawrence suffers a nervous breakdown 1998 Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler Corp. for close to $40 billion. It was the largest industrial merger on record. 1998 Residents of London voted to elect their own mayor for the first time in history. The vote would take place in May 2000. 1999 A jury ruled that “The Jenny Jones Show” and Warner Bros. were liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure. He was killed by another guest on the show. The jury’s award was $25 million. 1999 In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, three Chinese citizens were killed and 20 were wounded when a NATO plane mistakenly bombed the Chinese embassy. 2003 In Washington, DC, General Motors Corp. delivered six fuel cell vehicles to Capitol Hill for lawmakers and others to test drive during the next two years. 2003 Roger Moore collapsed during a matinee performance of the Broadway comedy “The Play What I Wrote.” He finished the show after a 10-minute break. He was fitted with a pacemaker the following day.]]]]> ]]>