May 20, 2026

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Today's name is: Karolina, Carola. Congratulations on your name day!

This is week: 21

Day of the year is: 140 of total 365 days.

Historical events this day: (from Wikipedia)

• 1604 - The original five the gunpowder conspirators (Robert Catesby, John Wright, Thomas Wintour, Thomas Percy and Guy Fawkes) lays the foundations of the conspiracy at the Duck and Drake Inn in London.
• 1867 - The Queen of Great Britain Victoria lays the foundation stone for the concert hall Royal Albert Hall in London, after she has signed the building permit in April. The hall is named after her spouse Prince Albert, who is the initiator of the construction, but never gets to experience the construction, as he has already passed away in 1861. After four years of construction, the hall was inaugurated on March 29, 1871.
• 1873 - The tailors both immigrated to the United States Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis gets a patent on jeans with copper rivets. Strauss clothing company has then existed for 20 years, but it is through the riveted work trousers that sales begin to take off.
• 1875 - Representatives of 17 different states sign the so-called in Paris meter convention, through which an institute is founded, which will work to internationally standardize units of measurement and strengthen the meter system and its distribution in the world.
• 1883 - The Indonesian volcano Krakatau northernmost cone Perbautan is starting to let off steam. However, in the coming days there will only be steam and ash emissions, before the volcano's activity stops at the end of May. On June 16, the volcano begins to become active again and a strong eruption.
• 1900 - Hans Ludvig Lundgren (b. 1845) dies, because of a meteorite impact in Quavis swamp.^[3]
• 1902 – Cuba becomes independent from the United States.^[4] The country has been in American hands since then Spanish-American War 1898 and even if it now formally becomes independent, it is on the condition that the United States shall continue to have far-reaching rights to interfere in Cuban politics or to intervene militarily on the island. This will not end until the communists under Fidel Castro takes power in the country in 1959.
• 1927 - The American aviator Charles Lindbergh begins a flight with his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis from Long Island outside New York and thus becomes the first in the world to fly alone across the Atlantic without stopovers. He lands on Paris-Le Bourget Airport in the French capital of Paris the following day, after being behind the wheel for 33.5 hours. The same day 1932 starts Amelia Earhart his plane from Harbor Grace in Newfoundland and lands in Ireland the following day. She thus becomes, on the fifth anniversary of Lindbergh's feat, the first woman to perform the masterpiece.
• 1934 - Yemen formally cedes the provinces Najran, 'Asir and Jizan to Saudi Arabia^[5] through the war between the countries, which has lasted since February of that year and which has been about these provinces, since both countries have claimed the right to them since the 1920s. The treaty regulates the border between the countries and it still applies today (2022).
• 1941 - German paratroopers begin an invasion of the Greek island of Crete, to prevent the British from using the island as a base. The operation, which goes by the name Operation Mercurius, lasts until June 1, when the Greek and British troops on the island are defeated.
• 1956 - The US conducts the second bomb test under the bikini program.
• 1987 - The Swedish football club IFK Gothenburg playing 1-1 against Scottish Dundee United F.C in the final at Tannadice Park in Dundee. Since IFK Gothenburg has defeated Dundee United FC 1–0 at Ullevi in Gothenburg a few days earlier, the final result is thus 2–1 to IFK Gothenburg, who thus win the European football competition for the second time The Uefa Cup. IFK's victories in the competition (1982 and 1987) are the only times a Swedish team has won the cup.
• 2002 - 26 years after the Indonesian invasion of the peninsula East Timor Indonesia is forced, after international pressure, to recognize East Timor's independence. In 1999, a referendum was held on the independence of the area, but to this day Indonesia has refused to recognize the results of the vote, in which 78.5 percent voted for independence. On 27 September of the same year, East Timor becomes a member of United Nations.
• 2006 - Finland wins this year's edition of Eurovision Song Contest, then heavy metal group Lordi get 292 points with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah”, with a 44-point margin over runner-up Russia. This will be Finland's first victory in the competition ever, despite the country having participated since 1961.