12th May 1812 - Edward Lear was born. 1926 – A 9-day general Strike in the United Kingdom ended. 2008 – An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurred in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people. 2015 –  An earthquake (measuring around  7.3-magnitude) hit Nepal killing over 8,000 people.

6th May 1536 – King Henry VIII ordered English language Bibles be placed in every church. 1840 – The Penny Black postage stamp was introduced for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1882 – Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish were stabbed and killed during the Phoenix Park Murders in […]

5th May 1215 – Rebel barons in England renounced their allegiance to King John — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta. 1494 – Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Jamaica and claimed it for Spain. I think I'll try that next time I'm in Spain. 1821 […]

4th May 1493 – Pope Alexander VI divided the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation. (No one told the New World.) 1494 – Christopher Columbus landed in Jamaica. 1675 – King Charles II of England ordered the construction of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. 1814 – Emperor Napoleon I of France […]

30th April 1774 – British settlers massacred family members of Chief Logan, head of the Native American Mingo tribe, at Yellow Creek, Ohio. It sparked off the conflict known as Lord Dunmore's War. 1900 – Casey Jones died in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, while trying to make up time on the Cannonball Express. […]

29th April 1429 – Joan of Arc arrived to relieve the Siege of Orleans. 1770 – James Cook arrived at and named Botany Bay, Australia. 1882 – The "Elektromote" – forerunner of the tram – was tested by Ernst Werner von Siemens in Berlin. 1885 - Women were admitted for the first time to examinations […]