May 7, 2025
What Happened in May
By Eloise Graham
May 1825 Brisbane, Australia was founded. The American Unitarian Association and the British and Foreign Unitarian Association were established. The coronation of French King Charles X took place. It was the last crowning of a French monarch.
May 1850 saw the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Both of these dealt with the issue of slavery and the expansion of the territories. John Geary becomes the first mayor of San Francisco. Work starts on the first brick building in San Francisco. As for life on the prairie, most people lived on farms much like their ancestors. They grew their own food, sewed their own clothing, and built traditional homes.
May 1875 the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was passed. This act was aimed to protect the rights of all citizens. The first Kentucky Derby was held with Aristides the winner. The Deccan Riots, a peasant uprising in India, began in Supa located in Pune. The riots were in response to heavy tax demands under the Ryotwari system.
May 1900 saw the nomination of Sanford B. Dole as the first governor of the Territory of Hawaii. The second Olympic Games in Paris opened in May 1900. There was a total solar eclipse visible across the southeaster United States.
May 1925 John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching evolution. Peter DePaolo won the Indianapolis 500. Kezar Stadium in San Francisco opened. The Pittsburg Pirates set a baseball record. Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway was published.
May 1950 saw the start of Joe McCarthy’s Red Scare. The first store of Sam Walton’s Wal-Mart opened in Rodgers, Arkansas. Tollund Man, a well-preserved body dating back to the Iron Age, was discovered in a Danish bog.
May 1975 the rescue of the American merchant ship Mayaguez occurred. The ship was seized by Cambodian forces after the fall of Saigon. The Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship. President Ford announced the end of the “Vietnam Era.”
May 2000 her Royal Highness Princess Margaret of the Netherlands unveiled the Man with Two Hats, a national Canadian war memorial. The reality TV show, Survivor, debuted. The rapper, Eminem, released his third LP “The Marshall Mathers.” The first Million Mom March took place in Washington DC. This march was to mourn the loss of children due to gun violence and to support gun control.
