BODY ON MOUNT EVEREST
George Mallory - the famous British mountain climber - was 38 years old when he and his climbing companion, Andrew ("Sandy") Irvine, hoped to reach the top of Mt. Everest in the late spring of 1924. Noel Odell, a member of their expedition, saw both men not far from the summit. Then clouds enveloped them, and they were never seen again - until May 1, 1999. On that day, a group of climbers hoping to learn what had happened to the missing men, made an astonishing discovery.
"NEGRO NATIONAL LEAGUE"
Forced to play segregated baseball, African-Americans formed a national league (also called the NNL) in 1920. That year, they played their first official game in Indianapolis on the 2nd of May. Why were these major-league players not allowed to participate in regular major-league baseball? This chapter, which links to primary sources, highlights their story.
STONEWALL JACKSON: VICTIM of FRIENDLY-FIRE
Not far from a crossroads mansion named Chancellorsville, in a dense Virginia forest locals called "The Wilderness," Union General Joseph Hooker readied his 70,000-strong infantry. Absolutely confident that he had General Lee and the Confederates in a vice grip, Hooker told his men "that our enemy must ingloriously fly or ... give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." Hooker was both arrogant and wrong. The battle proved to be General Robert E. Lee's greatest victory, but the price was high. On May 2, 1863, Lee's best commander - "Stonewall" Jackson - was mortally wounded by friendly fire. The Confederates never recovered from his loss. Our story links to the Official Record of the Civil War, to annotated maps from the U.S. Military Academy, to video clips and to original documents from the National Archives and Virginia Military Institute.
KENT STATE - UNIVERSITY STUDENTS FATALLY SHOT
On the 4th of May, 1970, students at Ohio's Kent State University were protesting President Nixon's decision to bomb Cambodia. The Ohio National Guard, armed with gas masks and fixed bayonets, were sent to the campus. Four students were shot dead. Our story links to trial photographs depicting the scene before, during and after the shootings. It also links to Kent State archives - and its "May 4 Collection" - where hundreds of digitized photographs are available.
HINDENBURG EXPLOSION
As the great German airship Hindenburg hovered above its landing spot at Lakehurst Naval Station, thunderstorms still rumbled in the atmosphere. It had been a stormy May 6th day, in 1937. Suddenly, and completely unexpectedly, Commander Rosendahl saw a small burst of flame at the top of the Zeppelin. Within thirty-four seconds, the Hindenburg was totally destroyed in a devastating fire. Herb Morrison, a radio broadcaster, was on the scene. His report, which aired the following day, remains one of the most famous radio broadcasts of the twentieth century. It - together with a video of the disaster and the FBI's investigation into it - are linked in this story. Amazingly, two-thirds of the Hindenburg's passengers survived.
SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA
Germany and Britain were at war on the 7th of May, 1915. So were most of the other countries of Europe. The United States, wanting to remain neutral, had nevertheless received a warning from the Imperial German Embassy in Washington, D.C. It said, among other things, "that travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk."
About two thousand people were on board Cunard's Lusitania as the ship headed to its home port of Liverpool. While in the Irish Sea, just west of the Old Head of Kinsale, the ship was struck by a single U-boat torpedo. An eyewitness said the striking weapon was like "the sound of an arrow entering the canvas and straw of a target magnified a thousand times." On her 202nd Atlantic crossing, Lusitania sank in eighteen minutes. Less than half of those on board survived.
Was the ship carrying munitions? Its cargo manifest has never been made public. But Lord Mersey's official wreck-inquiry report is available and is linked in this story. So are the surprising results of Dr. Robert Ballard's underwater investigation of Lusitania's remains.
V-E DAY: VICTORY IN EUROPE
As the Soviet Army pounded Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Hitler took refuge in his underground bunker. By the 2nd of May, 1945, Hitler had committed suicide and the Soviets had liberated Berlin. On the 8th of May, Germany surrendered. Thereafter, that date is remembered as V-E Day.
In this story see photos from the Russian Archives and watch newsreels, video recreations and interviews with Hitler's secretary and bodyguard.
ENIGMA MACHINE - CAPTURED and DECODED
As ships of the Royal Navy traveled in the waters south of Iceland - on the 9th of May, 1941 - they attacked a German U-Boat. As it happened, U-110 contained a working Enigma machine (used by the German Navy to encrypt and send messages) together with its relevant code books. The discovery helped decryption experts, at Bletchley Park, to decipher the code.
Learn the story by observing historical footage of U-boats, watching a video which explains how Engima worked, reading interviews with the sailors involved, examining archival pictures of the capture and seeing videos of Bletchley Park's huge decryption machine.
TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD COMPLETED
On the date that Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa's president (in 1994) a golden spike was driven into the ground at Promontory Point, Utah (in 1869). A telegram was sent - on May 10th - to let the nation know the country was now connected by rail. It contained one word: "Done."
WARSAW and the STROOP REPORT
On the 16th of May, 1943, SS Major General Jurgen Stroop declared that his forces had destroyed Warsaw's Jewish ghetto. A report which Stroop prepared, documenting what happened, came to light during the Nuremberg trials and helped to convict the Nazi commander of war crimes. He was executed, in Warsaw, in 1951. His official report, with photographs, is linked in this story as are other resources from national archives and the University of South Florida.
FRANKLIN EXPEDITION
Sure he could find the last section of the hoped-for Northwest Passage, Sir John Franklin left Britain with two ships (the HMS Erebus and Terror) on the 19th of May, 1845. He, and all his men, were lost. At least three of his sailors were found later - in mummified form.
MEXICO RATIFIES TREATY
On May 19, 1848, Mexico's Congress ratified the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. For the direct payment of $15 million, Mexico ceded a bit more than half its territory to the United States. In addition, America assumed about $3.25 million of claims pending against the Mexican government. At the stroke of a pen, the U.S. border with Mexico became the Rio Grande and ownership of the current states of California, Nevada, and Utah were transferred from Mexico to America. So were parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. Texas had already been annexed in 1845.
Fourteen years later, Mexico had a great triumph against an invading French army. Landing at the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, well-equipped French troops marched toward Mexico City. Sympathetic to Mexico's cause, President Abraham Lincoln was unable to assist because of America's civil war. Without outside help, Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza and his small group of poorly armed militia defeated the French at Puebla - one hundred miles east of Mexico City - on the 5th of May, 1862. Cinco de Mayo is the annual festival which commemorates that victory.
JOAN OF ARC
On the 30th of May, 1431, nineteen-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France. Centuries later, we can still study her trial transcript to discover the real reason why she was executed. See pictures of her village and home, review "moving maps" which track her various journeys, examine key portions of her trial transcript, learn how her mother and brothers prevailed in their appeal of the charges which condemned her and watch Carl Theodor Dreyer's still-famous silent movie, The Passion of Joan of Arc. The actual story is even more interesting than the legend.
