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The events happened on 21st May are : 1927 : First transatlantic flight made by Charles Lindbergh : On this day American aviator Charles A. Lindbergh completed the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to Paris. He had obtained financial backing from a group of St. Louis, Missouri, businessmen to compete for the $25,000 prize offered for the feat. In the monoplane Spirit of St. Louis, he made the flight in 331/2 hours, and overnight, literally, Lindbergh became a folk hero on both sides of the Atlantic. 1972 : Michelangelo's Pietà, depicting the Virgin Mary supporting the body of the dead Christ, was attacked and badly damaged in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. 1932 : American aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to pilot an airplane solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 1871 : The Commune of Paris revolted against the French national government under Adolphe Thiers, beginning a period of violence known as “Bloody Week.” 1856 : During the small civil war known as Bleeding Kansas—a dispute over control of the new territory of Kansas under the doctrine of popular sovereignty—the town of Lawrence was sacked by a proslavery mob intent on destroying the “hotbed of abolitionism.” 1542 : Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto, the first European to discover the Mississippi River, died and is buried in the river in Louisiana. Today in History IndexFrom 21st May to HOME PAGE |
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