1704: Elias Neau founded a school for slaves in New York
On this day in 1862, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which provided 160 acres of public land virtually free of charge to those who had lived on and cultivated the land for at least five years.
You will also like...
1873: On May 20, 1873, San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and Reno, Nevada, tailor Jacob Davis are given a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets, marking the birth of one of the world’s most famous garments: blue jeans.
1927: Charles Lindbergh takes off on the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight. He departed from Long Island in the United States and arrived in Paris, France at 22:22 on the next day.
1932: Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland:
When she left, she took a copy of the Telegraph-Journal as proof of the date of the flight. After a flight lasting 14 hours and 56 minutes, she landed in Northern Ireland. This made her the first woman to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic.
1940: The first prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp. Auschwitz was the biggest extermination camp during World War II. From 1940 to 1945, the Nazi regime murdered at least 1.1 million people here.
1975: The death of Dame Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and, along with Henry Moore and others, she helped to develop modern art, sculpture in particular, in Britain.
1981: UN and OAU take a stand against apartheid policy.
1983: In South Africa, a car bomb planted by anti-Apartheid activists kills 19
The Church Street Bombing was carried out by the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC). It was one of the bloodiest chapters in the ANC’s long and difficult struggle against racial segregation and oppression in South Africa.
2005: Convicted sex offender Mary Kay Letourneau marries former victim.
2006: The Three Gorges Dam is officially opened. The hydroelectric dam is the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity. Despite its benefits, the project remains controversial because it flooded archeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people.
2012: Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb died aged 62 after a lengthy battle with cancer. The group was among the biggest-selling of all time with hits spanning six decades. His twin brother and band partner Maurice died in 2003 aged 53 following complications from a twisted intestine.
2013: The Church of Scotland voted in favour of allowing openly gay men and women to be ministers.
BIRTHS ON THIS DAY: May 20
Femi Falana, 66 years
Femi Falana, SAN a Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist was born on May 20, 1958. He is well known for opposing oppression, from successive military authorities. As a human rights lawyer, he shows empathy for oppressed people. He is the father of a Nigerian rapper Folarin Falana popularly known as Falz.
Busta Rhymes, 52 years
Trevor George Smith Jr., known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver George “Buster” Rhymes.
Kindly like, comment, follow, and share.
