May 14

Events1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.1483 - Coronation of Charles VIII of France ("Charles l'Affable"). 1509 - Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Venetians.1607 - Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony. 1608 - Protestant Union founded in Auhausen.1610 - Assassination of Henri IV of France, bringing Louis XIII to the throne.1643 - Four-year-old Louis XIV becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII. 1747 - A British fleet under Admiral George Anson defeats the French at first battle of Cape Finisterre.1787 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to meet to write a new Constitution for the United States. 1796 - Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination. 1804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois and begin their historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.1811 - Paraguay gains independence from Spain. 1861 - The Canellas meteorite, an 859-gram chondrite-type meteorite strikes the earth near Barcelona, Spain.1863 - American Civil War:  Battle of Jackson (MS).1868 - Japanese Boshin War: End of the Battle of Utsunomiya Castle, former Shogunate forces withdraw northward to Aizu by way of Nikkō.1870 - The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.1889 - The children's charity the NSPCC is launched in London.1889 - Club Nacional de Futbol, a football club in Uruguay, is founded.1900 - The 1900 Summer Olympics open in Paris.1913 - New York Governor William Sulzer approves the charter for the Rockefeller Foundation, which begins operations with a $100 million donation from John D. Rockefeller. 1927 - Cap Arcona is launched at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg.1927 - University of Chicago's local collegiate organization, Phi Sigma, becomes incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois as Eta Sigma Phi, the National Honorary Classical Fraternity.1929 - Wilfred Rhodes takes his 4000th first-class wicket during a performance of 9 for 39 at Leyton.1931 - Ådalen shootings, five people are killed in Ådalen, Sweden, as soldiers open fire on an unarmed trade union demonstration.1935 - The Filipinos ratify an independence agreement.1935 - Northamptonshire County Cricket Club gains (over Somerset at Taunton by 48 runs) what proved to be their last victory for 99 matches, easily a record in the County Championship. Their next Championship win was not until 29 May, 1939.1939 - Lina Medina becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.1940 - World War II: Rotterdam is bombed by the German Luftwaffe. 1940 - World War II: The Netherlands surrender to Germany.1943 - Sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur off the coast of Queensland, by a Japanese submarine. 1948 - Israel declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established. Immediately after the declaration, Israel was attacked by the neighboring Arab states. 1955 - Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defence treaty called the Warsaw Pact. 1961 - American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama, and the civil rights protestors are beaten by an angry mob.1961 - Stirling Moss wins the 1961 Monaco grand prix.1970 - The Red Army Faction is established in Germany.1970 - Mississippi state police kill two black students at Jackson State University. 1973 - Human Space Flight: Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched. It is the last launch of the Saturn V rocket. 1977 - In Milan, Italy, during a demonstration of the far-left, a hooded extremist shoots at police, killing a policeman, Antonino Custrà. The scene is photographed and the picture [1] of the hooded man shooting in the middle of the street will appear in many magazines around the world.1978 - First round of the presidential elections in Upper Volta.1986 - Formula One Italian driver Elio De Angelis has a terrible crash with his Brabham at the Paul Ricard circuit in France during a test session. He will die the next day at the Marseille hospital.1988 - Carrollton bus disaster: A drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky, USA hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. The crash and ensuing fire kill 27.1995 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, proclaims six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the eleventh reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.2002 - Ten members of the Darwin-based Network Against Prohibition invade the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory of Australia.2004 - The Constitutional Court of South Korea overturns the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun.2004 - The marriage of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark and Mary Donaldson takes place in Copenhagen.2005 - Pope Benedict XVI observes his first beatification, elevating Blessed Marianne of Molokai on the road to canonization into sainthood.2005 - Ex-America (CV-66), a decommissioned supercarrier of the United States Navy, is deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live-fire exercises. She is the largest ship ever to be disposed of as a target in a military exercise.
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