Atlantic Ave Magazine May 2022

May 8, 1884
Birthday - Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972)
was the 33rd U.S. President was born in Lamar, Missouri. He became
president upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April
1945. Two weeks after becoming president he was informed of the
top-secret Atomic bomb project. By August 1945, Japan had lost
World War II. Japan and the United States both knew it. Japan was
split between surrender or fighting to the end. They chose to fight.
Truman authorized the dropping of the Atomic bomb. On August 6,
1945, the first bomb exploded over Hiroshima,
followed by a second bomb dropped on
Nagasaki on August 9th. The next
day, Japan sued for peace.
May 10, 1994
Former political prisoner
Nelson Mandela
became South Africa’s
first black president
after more than three
centuries of white rule.
Mandela’s ANC party
won 252 of the 400 seats
in the first democratic elections
in South Africa’s history.
May 13, 1981
The attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II took place in St.
Peter’s Square in Vatican City. He was shot at close range while riding
in an open automobile by an escaped terrorist, Mehmet Ali Ağca who
was already under sentence of death for the murder of a Turkish
journalist. The pope suffered severe blood loss but recovered.
May 14, 1607
The first permanent English settlement in North America was
established at Jamestown, Virginia, under the authority of the Virginia
Company of London, chartered by King James I.
May 14, 1796
Dr. Edward Jenner, an English country doctor from Gloucestershire
developed and administered the world’s first vaccination for
smallpox, a disease that had killed millions of people over the centuries.
Within 18 months, 12,000 people in England had been vaccinated
and the number of smallpox deaths dropped by two-thirds.
May 17, 1792
Two dozen merchants and brokers established the New York
Stock Exchange. In good weather they operated under a buttonwood
tree on Wall Street. In bad weather they moved
inside to a coffeehouse to conduct business.
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May 12, 1937
George VI was crowned at Westminster
Abbey in London, following the abdication of his brother, Edward
VIII. King George reigned until his death in 1952. He was succeeded
by his daughter Elizabeth, the current reigning monarch.
May 17, 1875
The first Kentucky Derby horse race took place at Churchill
Downs in Louisville.
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