On This Day
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Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 3:00 AM
Subject: Friday May 29, 2009: Reference.com On This Day
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On This Day:
Friday May 29, 2009
This is the 149th day of the year, with 216 days remaining in 2009.
Fact of the Day: Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500 is recognized as the world's largest one-day
sporting event. First run in 1911, it is an annual Memorial Day weekend
tradition. The race was not run in 1917-1918 and 1942-1945. The Indianapolis
Motor Speedway was built in 1909 as a testing facility for the local automotive
industry. The track was first paved with crushed rock and tar but then repaved
with brick; hence the speedway is often called "the Brickyard." Resurfacing
with asphalt has covered all but a 36-inch strip of bricks at the start/finish
line. The 2 1/2-mile track has two 3,300-foot straightaways, two 660-foot
straightaways, and four quarter-mile turns each banked to around 9 degrees.
Holidays
Feast day of St. Cyril of Caesarea, St. Bernard of Montjoux, St.
Theodosia of Constantinople, St. Maximinus of Trier, Saints Sisinnius,
Martyrius, and Alexander, and Saints William, Stephen, Raymund.
Events
1453 - Mohammed II, founder of the Ottoman empire, captured
Constantinople; the Byzantine emperor Constantine XI was killed, and the
Byzantine Empire was ended. Constantinople became the Ottoman capital.
1790 - Rhode Island became the 13th original colony to ratify the
Constitution of the United States of America.
1848 - Wisconsin became the 30th state of the union.
1849 - A patent for lifting vessels was granted to Abraham Lincoln.
1911 - The first running of the Indianapolis 500 took place.
1914 - In one of the worst ship disasters in history, the British liner
Empress of Ireland collided with the Norwegian freighter Storstad on the St.
Lawrence River. The Storstad penetrated 15 feet into the Empress of Ireland's
side and the vessel sank within 14 minutes, drowning 1,012 of its passengers
and crew.
1932 - During the Great Depression, World War I veterans began arriving
in Washington to demand cash bonuses they weren't scheduled to receive for
another 13 years.
1953 - Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tensing Norgay of Nepal became
the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
1973 - Tom Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles.
1990 - Boris Yeltsin was elected the president of Russia.
1999 - Space shuttle Discovery completed the first-ever docking with the
International Space Station.
2001 - Four followers of Osama bin Laden were convicted of a conspiracy
to murder Americans, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in
Africa that killed 224 people.
2004 - The World War II Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
2005 - French voters rejected the European Union's proposed constitution.
Births
1630 - King Charles II, British monarch (1660-1685).
1736 - Patrick Henry, American Revolution patriot, orator.
1874 - Gilbert Keith Chesterton, British author.
1903 - Bob Hope (Leslie Townes Hope), British-born American entertainer,
actor, comedian.
1906 - T.H. White, English historian, novelist.
1917 - John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States of America
(1961-1963).
1939 - Al Unser, American race car driver.
1953 - Danny Elfman, American singer-songwriter.
1961 - Melissa Etheridge, American musician.
Deaths
1877 - John Lothrop Motley, American historian and diplomat.
1979 - Mary Pickford, Canadian-born actress and studio founder.
1998 - Barry Goldwater, U.S. Senator from Arizona and presidential
candidate.
2003 - David Jefferies, British motorcycle racer.
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