Previously on this day

Born on April 2, 1527, Abraham Ortelius was a cartographer and geographer, generally acknowledged as the creator of the first modern atlas. He began as a map engraver and entered the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1547. In 1560, when traveling with Mercator to Trier, Lorraine and Poitiers, he became interested in a career of scientific geography, in particular, he became devoted to compiling an atlas known as the Theatre of the World.

In 1564, he completed a “mappemonde,” an eight-leaved map of the world. He also published a two-sheet map. On May 20, 1570, the first modern atlas was issued, containing 53 maps. 25 editions came out before his death and it continued to be in demand until approximately 1612. Most of the maps were reproductions with a list of 87 authors given in the first edition.

In 1575, Ortelius was appointed geographer to the King of Spain and in 1578, he laid the basis of a critical treatment of ancient geography in his Synonymia geographica and in a republished, expanded edition, Thesaurus geographicus in 1596, where he considers the possibility of continental drift. He died on July 4, 1598 and was buried in St. Michael’s praemonstratensian Abbey church in Antwerp.

Share this page

This day was dubbed, “New England’s Dark Day” because of unusual darkening of the day sky over the New England states and parts of Canada. This was as a result of a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud cover. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon until midnight and did not disperse until the middle of the next night.

The darkness could be seen as far north as Portland, Maine and extended southwards to New Jersey but was not visible from Pennsylvania. The earliest report of the darkness came from Rupert, New York where the Sun was obstructed at sunrise. For several days before the Dark Day, the Sun was viewed from New England appeared to be red and the sky appeared yellow. Soot was observed to be collected in rivers and in rain water suggesting the presence of smoke.

Communications technology was very primitive at the time and so most people found the darkness to be baffling and therefore some applied religious interpretations to the event.

Share this page

Moulin Rouge! (2001) is a musical film co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann and based largely on the Giuseppe Verdi opera, “La Traviata.” It tells the story of Christian (Ewan McGregor), a young British poet/writer, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, a cabaret actress and courtesan. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won two for Art Direction and Costume Design. Set in Paris, France, it was shot at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia.

Luhrmann was influenced by Italian grand opera, some elements of Bollywood films, and the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice. Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, Renee Zellweger, and Catherine Zeta-Jones were considered for the role of Satine, while Heath Ledger, Hugh Jackman, and Russell Crowe were all in the running to play Christian. Production began in November 1999 and was completed in May 2000 with a budget just over $50 million. The film took well-known popular music and anachronized it into the story set in a turn-of-the-century Paris cabaret. It used so much music that it took Luhrmann almost two years to secure all the rights to the songs.

Moulin Rouge! opened the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and went into limited theatrical release on May 18, 2001 in the United States. It made $14.2 million on its first weekend of wide release and grossed $57 million in the U.S. and over $177 million worldwide. Its critical and financial success paved the way for future musicals like Chicago, Dreamgirls, and Hairspray among others.

Share this page

Aristides was an American thoroughbred racehorse who won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875. The Derby was raced at a mile and a half – the distance it would remain until 1896 when it was changed to its present mile and a quarter. Aristides was not given roses as this was not introduced until 1896.

Aristides was a chestnut thoroughbred with a white star and two hind socks. It was born in 1872 and bred by Hal Price McGrath. The horse was sired by the great English stud Learnington although, McGrath did not consider Aristides as being first rate. The horse was named after his breeder’s good friend and fellow horse breeder, Aristides Welch who had imported Learnington into the United States.

15 Horses were entered into the first Kentucky Derby and two of them were fillies. The track was fast, the weather was fine, and 10,000 spectators were in attendance. Aristides was ridden by Oliver Lewis, an African American jockey. The horse was supposed to go out front fast and tire out the other horses so that McGrath’s other prized horse would win. Aristides only lost the lead once but when he retook it, the horse never relinquished it, winning by a long length.

Aristides later came in second place in the Belmont Stakes and in his career raced 21 times and won 9 times.

Share this page

In 1970s, this American singer, songwriter, and guitarist founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band that inspired such diverse bands as the Sex Pistols, Violent Femmes, They Might Be Giants and Weezer, but since the mid-1970s has largely worked solo or with acoustic backing.

Born in Natick, Massachusetts, Richman began playing music and writing his own songs in the mid-1960s. Inspired by the Velvet Underground, he moved to New York City to make it as a musician but failed to do so and moved back to Boston. It was there that he formed The Modern Lovers with keyboard player Jerry Harrison (later of Talking Heads fame) and drummer David Robinson (the Cars) and in 1972 they recorded a series of demos with producer John Cale. Among these songs, were “Roadrunner” and “Pablo Picasso” which are now highly regarded among critics and musicians.

They were a successful live act but failed to secure a record deal and broke up in February 1974. In 1976, Richman founded a completely new incarnation of The Modern Lovers and switched from electric rock music to a more acoustic sound. They served as his backing band until 1988 when Richman went officially solo.

Richman has developed a cult following aided in large part to frequent appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and a memorable role in There’s Something About Mary as part of a two-man Greek Chorus.

Share this page

The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 was one of the most influential strikes in Canadian history. J.S. Woodsworth, strike leader, was briefly imprisoned and went on to found the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner to the New Democratic Party.

After World War I, Canadian soldiers that returned found few job opportunities and the ones who did suffered poor wages and working conditions with mostly non-existent labor regulations despite many companies enjoying huge profits from war contracts. Some workers saw the Bolshevik revolution in Russia as an example of a successful socialist revolution.

By 11 am on May 15, 1919, virtually the entire working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job – 30,000 to 35,000 people were on strike in a city of 175,000. Even firefighters went on strike but the police remained on duty at the request of the strike committee. By June 25, 1919, the workers were gradually giving up and the strike was halted.

Minister of Justice Arthur Meighen accused the strike leaders of being Communists and many were deported from Canada. Labor delegates from across Western Canada convened in Calgary to form a branch of the “One Big Union” with the notion of earning rights for Canadian workers through a series of strikes.

Share this page

Rita Hayworth was an American actress who became a star in the 1940s as the era’s leading sex symbol known as “The Love Goddess.” She was born as Margarita Carmen Cansino in Brooklyn, New York to a Spanish flamenco dancer and a Ziegfeld girl. She was on stage by the age of 6 as a member of The Dancing Cansinos, a famous family of Spanish flamenco dancers working in vaudeville. By 16, she was an accomplished dancer and came to the attention of film producers, signing with Fox Studios in 1935, appearing in mostly small roles.

She signed with Columbia Pictures in 1937 and was renamed Rita Hayworth. She gave a notable performance in Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings (1939) and was loaned out to Fox Studios where she made Blood and Sand (1941) which made her a star. Her “Love Goddess” image was cemented in a famous 1941 Life magazine photograph, becoming one of the most requested wartime pinups. She went on to play a memorable femme fatale in the legendary film noir Gilda (1946) and received critical acclaim for her role in Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai (1948).

Hayworth worked steadily until making her last film in 1972. She suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in 1960s but was not diagnosed until 1980 and died from it on May 14, 1987.

Share this page

The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the over-land air arm of the British Military during most of World War I. During the early part of the war, they supported the British Army via artillery cooperation and photographic reconnaissance. This led pilots into aerial battles with German pilots and later in the war, the strafing of enemy infantry and emplacements, the bombing of German airfields, and the strategic bombing of German industrial and transportation facilities.

The RFC was formed on May 13, 1912, by Royal Warrant. Its initial allowed strength was 133 officers and by the end of the year it had 12 manned balloons and 36 airplanes. It was originally under the responsibility of Brigadier-General Henderson, Director of Military Training. Major Sykes commanded the Military Wing and Commander C.R. Samson commanded the Naval Wing. The RFC’s motto was, “Through adversity to the Stars,” and this remains the motto of the Royal Air Force. Two of the first three RFC squadrons were formed from the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. By the end of World War I, the RFC had some 150 squadrons.

On April 1, 1918, the RFC was merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to form the Royal Air Force under the control of the new Air Ministry. After starting in 1914 with some 2,073 personnel, the RAF had 4,000 combat aircraft and 114,000 personnel by the start of 1919.

Share this page

The Major National University of San Marcos is a public university in Lima, Peru that was chartered on May 12, 1551 by a Royal Decree signed by Charles I of Spain making it the oldest officially established university in the Americas and also one of the oldest universities in the world. It is considered by many to be the most important and respected institution of higher education in the country and a leading center of scientific research thanks to its faculty, renowned alumni, the quality of its courses, and its competitive admission process.

San Marcos was founded in 1551 by an order of Dominican friars and classes commenced on January 2, 1553. Later, the university was moved to a location adjacent to the Augustine Convent of St. Marcellus. In 1575, it was moved again to the Plaza del Estanque where the Congress of Peru is currently located. Finally, in the 1960s, it was moved to its present location, the modern University City campus in the Industrial Area. The original faculties at San Marcos were Theology and Arts and Law. Jurisprudence and Medicine were added later in the colonial period. The Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Economics and Commerce were created in the mid-19th century.

Share this page

The Dust Bowl (or the “dirty thirties”) was a period of terrible dust storms that resulted in severe ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936 brought about by extreme drought and decades of extensive farming without crop rotation to prevent erosion.

During this drought, grasses were destroyed, soil dried, turned to dust, and blew away in large, dark clouds. The Dust Bowl consisted of 100 million acres and was centered on the panhandles of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas. Millions of acres of farmland was rendered useless and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes. Many families moved to California and other states for a better life. John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath was about these people.

On May 11, 1934, a strong two-day dust storm removed large amounts of Great Plains topsoil in one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl. The dust clouds blew all the way to Chicago where it fell like snow. Several days later, this storm reached as far as Boston, Buffalo, New York City, and Washington, D.C. By 1940, 2.5 million people had moved out of the Plains states and of those, 200,000 moved to California.

Share this page