Today in History for May 2004

Months in 2004: January February March April June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 17 of 17

1st - Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
2nd - Yelwa massacre of more than 630 nomad Muslims by Christians in Nigeria.
6th - The season finale of the sitcom Friends airs
9th - Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed in a land mine bomb blast under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya.
14th - The Constitutional Court of South Korea overturns the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun.
16th - The Day of Mourning at Bykivnia forest, just outside of Kiev, Ukraine. Here during 1930s and early 1940s communist bolsheviks executed over 100,000 Ukrainian civilians.
17th - Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage
21st - Sherpa Pemba Dorjie climbs Mount Everest in 8 hours 10 minutes, breaking his rival Sherpa Lakpa Gelu's record from the previous year.
21st - Stanislav Petrov is awarded the World Citizen Award for averting a potential World War III in 1983.
22nd - The U.S. town of Hallam, Nebraska, is wiped out by a powerful F4 tornado that broke a width record at an astounding 2.5 miles wide. It also kills one local resident.
23rd - Part of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport's Terminal 2E collapses, killing four people and injuring three others.
24th - Communications in North Korea: North Korea bans mobile phones.
26th - The New York Times publishes an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skeptism towards sources during the buildup to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
26th - The United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
28th - The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, to become prime minister of Iraq's interim government.
29th - The World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
29th - The Al-Khobar massacres in Saudi Arabia kill 22.

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 1 of 1

10th - The Gosselin Sextuplets

Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 5 of 5

9th - "Underworld" director Len Wiseman (31) weds actress Kate Beckinsale (30) at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, California
14th - Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark (35), eldest son of Margrethe II of Denmark and heir apprent, marries Mary Elizabeth Donaldson (32), at Copenhagen Cathedral
22nd - Felipe, Prince of Asturias, of the Spanish Royal Family weds Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano at The Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, Spain
23rd - Singer-guitarist Michelle Branch (21) weds musician Teddy Landau at Isla Pardito, Mexico
29th - "Party of Five" actor Scott Wolf (35) weds "Real World" cast member Kelley Limp at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Famous Divorces

Divorces 1 - 1 of 1

12th - Model and actress Ali Landry divorces (30) "Saved by the Bell" actor Mario Lopez (30) due to infidelity only less than 2 weeks after getting married

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 32 of 32

3rd - Anthony Ainley, British actor (b. 1932)
3rd - Ken Downing, British racing driver (b. 1917)
3rd - Darrell Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1928)
5th - Ritsuko Okazaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
6th - Philip Kapleau, American Zen teacher (b. 1912)
6th - Barney Kessel, American jazz guitarist (b. 1923)
7th - Waldemar Milewicz, Polish reporter (b. 1956)
9th - Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen president (b. 1951)
9th - Alan King, American comedian (b. 1927)
11th - John Whitehead, American singer (McFadden & Whitehead) (b. 1949)
11th - Mick Doyle, Irish rugby union footballer and coach
14th - Anna Lee, British actress (b. 1913)
17th - Jørgen Nash, Danish artist (b. 1920)
17th - Ezzedine Salim, leader of Iraqi Governing Council (b. 1943)
18th - Elvin Jones, American jazz drummer (b. 1927)
18th - Serge Turgeon, Quebec actor and union leader (b. 1946)
19th - Tony Randall, actor (Felix Unger in The Odd Couple) dies aged 84
19th - Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress (b. 1907)
22nd - Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (b. 1945)
22nd - Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
23rd - Ramon Margalef, Spanish scientist (b. 1919)
24th - Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)
24th - Milton Shulman, Canadian author and critic (b. 1913)
24th - Edward Wagenknecht, American literary critic (b. 1900)
25th - Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (b. 1917)
26th - Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh, Russian astronomer (b. 1931)
26th - Dullah Omar, South African lawyer (b. 1934)
28th - Umberto Agnelli, Swiss-born automobile executive (b. 1934)
29th - Archibald Cox, Watergate special prosecutor (b. 1912)
29th - Samuel Dash, American Congressional counsel (b. 1925)
31st - Robert Quine, American guitarist (b. 1941)
31st - Étienne Roda-Gil, French songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1941)