50 years ago today (1st May 1961)
\nFidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist state and abolished multi-party elections<\/p>\n
80 years ago today (1st May 1931)
\nThe Empire State Building in New York City, USA was officially opened<\/p>\n
75 years ago today (2nd May 1936)
\nEthiopian emperor Haile Selassie left the country and went into exile in Djibouti following Ethiopia\u2019s invasion by Italy<\/p>\n
70 years ago today (5th May 1941)
\nEthiopian liberation day. Emperor Haile Selassie returned from exile<\/p>\n
125 years ago today (8th May 1886)
\nCoca-Cola first went on sale, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA<\/p>\n
25 years ago today (9th May 1986)
\nDeath of Tenzing Norgay, Tibetan\/Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer, first (along with Sir Edmund Hillary) to reach the summit of Mount Everest<\/p>\n
70 years ago today (10th May 1941)
\nWorld War II: The last major attack on London during the Blitz caused heavy damage to many important buildings, including the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St James\u2019s Palace and Lambeth Palace, several railway stations and hospitals, the British Museum and the Old Bailey. Over 1,300 people were killed<\/p>\n
30 years ago today (11th May 1981)
\nDeath of Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter and musician<\/p>\n
10 years ago today (11th May 2001)
\nDeath of Douglas Adams, British comic writer and dramatist, best known for \u2018The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy\u2019<\/p>\n
30 years ago today (13th May 1981)
\nPope John Paul II was shot and seriously injured by a Turkish gunman in an assassination attempt in St Peter\u2019s Square, Vatican City, Rome<\/p>\n
200 years ago today (14th May 1811)
\nParaguay declared its independence from Spain<\/p>\n
20 years ago today (14th May 1991)
\nNelson Mandela\u2019s wife Winnie was sentenced to 6 years in jail for her part in the kidnapping and beating of 4 youths. (Later reduced to a fine)<\/p>\n
20 years ago today (15th May 1991)
\nEdith Cresson became first woman Prime Minister of France<\/p>\n
100 years ago today (18th May 1911)
\nDeath of Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor<\/p>\n
20 years ago today (21st May 1991)
\nDeath of Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (1984-89). (Assassinated)<\/p>\n
70 years ago today (24th May 1941)
\nWorld War II: The British battleship \u2018HMS Hood\u2019 was sunk by the German battleship \u2018Bismarck\u2019 near Iceland. The British sunk the Bismarck 3 days later<\/p>\n
60 years ago today (25th May 1951)
\nBritish spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean fled to Moscow, Russia<\/p>\n
50 years ago today (25th May 1961)
\nU.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his famous \u2018man on the moon\u2019 speech, in which he urged Congress and America to commit itself, before the end of the decade, to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth<\/p>\n
50 years ago today (28th May 1961)
\nAmnesty International was founded in London<\/p>\n
100 years ago today (29th May 1911)
\nDeath of Sir W. S. Gilbert, British playwright and humorist, best known for his comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (\u2018H.M.S. Pinafore\u2019, \u2018The Pirates of Penzance\u2019, \u2018The Mikado\u2019, and others)<\/p>\n
50 years ago today (31st May 1961)
\nSouth Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth and became an independent republic<\/p>\n