May 15 - Rocking

Rocking

This Day In History

1602

Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to see Cape Cod.

1618

Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).

1776

The Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.

1817

Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1836

Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse.

1858

Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.

1928

Mickey Mouse premiered in his first cartoon, Plane Crazy

1940

McDonald's opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California.

1963

Launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut L. Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space.

2010

Jessica Watson becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo.

Famous Birthdays

1567

Claudio Monteverdi (baptized), Italian composer (d. 1643)

1763

Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer and conductor (d. 1826)

1856

L. Frank Baum, American author (d. 1919)
Matthias Zurbriggen, Swiss mountaineer and guide (d. 1917)

1857

Williamina Fleming, British-born astronomer (d. 1911)

1859

Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906)

1909

James Mason, British actor (d. 1984)

1930

Jasper Johns, American painter and sculptor

1940

K. T. Oslin, American musician

1948

Brian Eno, British musician and record producer

1952

Chazz Palminteri, American actor, writer and director

1955

Lee Horsley, American actor

1969

Emmitt Smith, American football player

1978

David Krumholtz, American actor

1987

Andy Murray, Scottish tennis player