Welcome to another bright day in May. There’s always something or the other happening around the world. The world, being so large, has witnessed infinite inventions, innovations, achievements, and other milestones in the past. You can do something amazing today, and maybe it is something that we write about in our Today column, in the coming years. We, at Brag Social, try to keep you updated with all the happenings of the past and present. Let’s read about the historical milestones of May 19.
1643: The French army defeats a Spanish army at Rocroi, France
The Battle of Rocroi resulted in the victory of a French Army against the Spanish Army only five days after the accession of Louis XIV to the throne of France. It took place in the late Thirty Years’ War. It was a military engagement in which a French Army of 22,000 men annihilated a Spanish Army of 26,000 men, marking the end of Spain’s military ascendancy in Europe.
1856: Senator Charles Sumner speaks out against slavery
During the Bleeding Kansas crisis, Sunmer announced the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and he continued this in his ‘Crime against Kansas’ speech on May 19 and May 20. At first, it just seemed like a longwinded speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate—a five-hour, 112-handwritten-page address delivered over the course of two days in May 1856. The long speech argued for the immediate admission of Kansas as a free state and went on to denounce the “Slave Power”—the political arm of the slave owners. Their goal, he alleged, was to spread slavery through the free states that had made it illegal.
1921: Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system
This is also the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. It was mainly in response to the large influx of
Southern and Eastern Europeans thus successfully restricting their immigration and that of other “undesirables” into the United States. This Act restricted the number of immigrants admitted from any country annually of the number of residents from that same country living in the United States.
1958: “South Pacific” soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks
The 1958’s South Pacific soundtrack was #1 in the U.K. for 115 weeks and in the U.S. for 31 weeks. This made a milestone in the history of entertainment. The composers had much said in this recording, with many of the songs performed by accomplished singers rather than the actors in the film. The album released in the month of March.
1964: U.S. diplomats find at least 40 microphones placed in the American embassy in Moscow
The New York Times headline was, “In Moscow, Walls Have Ears(40); U.S. Embassy Finds Microphones After Demolishing Room.” The 40 microphones were found buried deep in the U.S. Embassy, the Department disclosed yesterday. Another News said, “Soviet listening devices have been discovered in other allied embassies in Moscow in addition to the network of more than 40 microphones found in the U.S. Embassy recently.”
1967: U.S. planes bomb Hanoi for the first time
This event was a part of the Vietnam War when restrictions were loosened to allow strikes on military airfields. During 1967, U.S. losses totaled 248 aircraft. This was given the name of Operation Rolling Thunder, whose planning began in the month of March. The operation was till November 1967.
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