🌸 May in the Time Tunnel

Every day of May: one big moment from history, famous birthdays and special days. Click a date for the full story and a quiz.

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📆 Holidays that move each year

💐 Mother’s Day — second Sunday
🇺🇸 Memorial Day — last Monday

May 11753: Carl Linnaeus published a book giving plants orderly two-part names — the start of modern plant naming🎂 Wes Anderson
May 21952: The de Havilland Comet made the first jet airliner flight with paying passengers🎂 David Beckham
May 31715: A total solar eclipse crossed England, and astronomer Edmond Halley predicted it almost exactly🎂 James Brown
May 4⭐ "May the Fourth" Star Wars Day1904: The United States began building the Panama Canal, linking two oceans🎂 Audrey Hepburn
May 5🇲🇽 Cinco de Mayo1494: Christopher Columbus first sighted the island of Jamaica on his second voyage🎂 Adele
May 61840: The Penny Black, one of the world’s first postage stamps, came into use in Britain🎂 Willie Mays
May 71824: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was performed for the first time in Vienna🎂 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
May 81877: The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held in New York City🎂 Harry S. Truman
May 91502: Christopher Columbus set off from Spain on his fourth and final voyage🎂 J. M. Barrie
May 101869: The first transcontinental railroad across the US was completed with a "Golden Spike" in Utah🎂 Bono
May 11868: A copy of the "Diamond Sutra" was printed in China — the oldest printed book with a known date🎂 Salvador Dalí
May 121364: Jagiellonian University, the oldest in Poland, was founded in Kraków🎂 Florence Nightingale
May 131607: English settlers arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, the first lasting English colony in America🎂 Stevie Wonder
May 141796: Edward Jenner gave the first vaccination against smallpox🎂 George Lucas
May 15👨‍👩‍👧 International Day of Families1836: Astronomer Francis Baily observed "Baily’s beads," dots of light during a solar eclipse🎂 L. Frank Baum
May 161866: Congress created the five-cent "nickel" coin🎂 Janet Jackson
May 171673: Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette began exploring the Mississippi River🎂 Tony Parker
May 181953: Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound🎂 Margot Fonteyn
May 191535: Explorer Jacques Cartier set off on his second voyage to North America🎂 James Gosling
May 20🐝 World Bee Day1498: Vasco da Gama reached India, finding the sea route from Europe to India🎂 Emile Berliner
May 211881: Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross🎂 Tom Daley
May 22🦋 International Day for Biological Diversity1762: The Trevi Fountain in Rome was officially completed🎂 Arthur Conan Doyle
May 231829: The accordion received a patent in Vienna🎂 Otto Lilienthal
May 241683: The Ashmolean Museum opened in Oxford — the world’s first university museum🎂 Bob Dylan
May 251933: Disney’s cartoon "Three Little Pigs" premiered🎂 Ralph Waldo Emerson
May 261923: The first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the oldest endurance car race, was held🎂 Sally Ride
May 271703: Peter the Great founded the city of St. Petersburg🎂 Jamie Oliver
May 281892: John Muir founded the Sierra Club to protect nature🎂 Ian Fleming
May 291913: Stravinsky’s ballet "The Rite of Spring" premiered in Paris — and the audience went wild🎂 John F. Kennedy
May 301631: The "Gazette de France," France’s first newspaper, was published🎂 Alexei Leonov
May 311578: King Henry III laid the first stone of the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris🎂 Walt Whitman