Once Upon A Time – May 19 – 1885 – German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck Takes Possession Of Cameroon And Togoland

1536 Anne Boleyn, second wife of English King Henry VIII, is beheaded at the Tower of London on charges of adultery, incest and treason

1643 Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Harbor form the United Colonies of New England

1649 England is declared a Commonwealth by an act of the Rump Parliament making England a republic for the next 11 years

1885 German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck takes possession of Cameroon and Togoland

1898 US Congress passes the Private Mailing Card Act, allowing private publishers and printers to produce postcards, had to be labelled “Private Mailing Cards” until 1901, known as “souvenir cards”

1919 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Black Sea coast, beginning the Turkish War of Independence

Historical Events Today Events in 2023
Today in Film & TV
1989 “Do the Right Thing”, directed by Spike Lee, starring Danny Aiello and Ossie Davis premieres at the Cannes Film Festival

Today in Music
1958 “South Pacific” soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks

Today in Sport
1991 Willy T. Ribbs overcomes numerous mechanical problems in qualifying to become first African-American driver to make Indianapolis 500 starting grid

Other Facts…
1780 About midday, near-total darkness descends on New England, now known to be caused by forest fires in Canada

1995 World’s youngest doctor, Balamurali Ambati, 17, graduates Mount Sinai

Famous Weddings
1359 John of Gaunt (19), English prince, son of Edward III, marries Blanche of Lancaster (17) at Reading Abbey

1440 Future Duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold weds Catherine of France, Countess of Charolais

1853 Dutch prince Henry marries princess Amalia of Saxony-Weimar

Ogden Nash, the American poet famous for his short, whimsical verse, died on this day. He was noted for his wit and understanding of the human condition – May 19, 1971