History for May 20

History for May 20 - On-This-Day.com
Dolley Payne Madison 1768 - U.S. First Lady, wife of 4th President James Madison, John Stuart Mill 1806 - Editor, philosopher, Jimmy Stewart 1908 - Actor (Philadelphia Story [1940]; The Glenn Miller Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) 


Joe Cocker 1944 - Singer, songwriter, Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre) 1946 - Singer (Sonny & Cher), actress (Moonstruck [1987]; The Witches of Eastwick, Silkwood, Mask), Bronson Pinchot 1959 - Actor (Courage Under Fire, Beverly Hills Cop series, Risky Business) 


1506 - In Spain, Christopher Columbus died in poverty. 


1774 - Britain's Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish the American colonists for their increasingly anti-British behavior 


1830 - The fountain pen was patented by H.D. Hyde. 


1874 - Levi Strauss began marketing blue jeans with copper rivets. 


1899 - Jacob German of New York City became the first driver to be arrested for speeding. The posted speed limit was 12 miles per hour. 


1902 - Cuba gained its independence from Spain.

1916 - Norman Rockwell’s first cover on "The Saturday Evening Post" appeared. 



1927 - Charles Lindbergh took off from New York to cross the Atlantic for Paris aboard his airplane the "Spirit of St. Louis." The trip took 33 1/2 hours. 


1932 - Amelia Earhart took off to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She became the first woman to achieve the feat. 


1939 - The first regular air-passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean began with the take-off of the "Yankee Clipper" from Port Washington, New York. 


1969 - U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Apbia Mountain, which was referred to as Hamburger Hill.