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
2001 – Apple Inc. opened its first two retail stores, in McLean, Virginia, and Glendale, California.
2018 – Prince Harry married American actress Meghan Markle at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle; the ceremony, unlike any previous British royal wedding, mixed pomp and circumstance with African American culture, the latter a celebration of the bride’s biracial background.
Births & Deaths:
1536 – Having been found guilty on charges of adultery, Anne Boleyn—the second wife of King Henry VIII of England and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I—was beheaded.
1925 - Malcolm X [Little], an African American human rights activist and Muslim minister, was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
1935 – British archaeological scholar, military strategist, and author T.E. Lawrence, whose life inspired the epic film Lawrence of Arabia (1962), died in Clouds Hill, Dorset, England. Film:
1989 - “Do the Right Thing”, directed by Spike Lee, starring Danny Aiello and Ossie Davis premieres at the Cannes Film Festival Music:
1958 - “South Pacific” soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks
Sport:
1991 - Willy T. Ribbs becomes 1st African American driver to make Indianapolis 500
