Side note on the Marilyn story.....last week, Kim Kardashian became the first person to wear the dress since MM, to the Met Gala in NYC. The owners refused to alter the dress, and KK had to lose 15 pounds to fit into it. Even then, her ample proportions strained the seams, and she wore it only long enough for a photo op, then changed into a look alike made for her.
Why did they allow her to wear that dress at al???? Kardashian is nothing but a no talent wanna be who couldn’t carry Marilyn’s water much less compare as a beauty icon
On May 23, 1873, the Canadian government, recognizing the need for an armed authority in recently-acquired territories, authorizes the formation of the North-West Mounted Police. It was to be a temporary solution; the government intended for the territories to become self-policing. But the discovery of gold in the Klondike in the 1890's extended the NWMP's deployment. The unit's future was again in doubt following WWI (many of its number had deployed to Europe), but fears of a potential Bolshevik revolt led the government to combine the NWMP with the Dominion Police (the national police of the time) to form the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The "Mounties" today number more than 30,000. On May 23, 1785, American scientist and inventor Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of the "double spectacle." The 79-year old Franklin said he was tired of continuously changing between two different pairs of spectacles due to his difficulty seeing objects both up close and afar. In 1824, English inventor John Isaac Hawkins introduced spectacles that corrected for near, far and intermediate problems, which he called "trifocals." In introducing them, he referred to Franklin's spectacles as "bifocals" for the first time. Although the College of Optometrists questions whether Franklin was truly the first to invent bifocals, it concedes his use of them popularized them with the masses. On May 23, 1900, Sgt. William H. Carney is awarded the Medal of Honor for his performance with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment at Ft. Wagner during the Civil War. A Virginia slave who probably escaped to Massachusetts via the Underground Railroad, Carney joined the 54th - a volunteer regiment consisting solely of black enlisted men led by white officers - in March 1863. At the assault on Ft. Wagner during the siege of Charleston SC on July 18, 1863, Carney retrieved the regimental colors when the color guard was shot and continued the advance, despite his own serious wounds. He would make it back to the Union lines with the flag when the assault crumbled, reportedly saying, "Boys, I only did my duty; the old flag never touched the ground!" Although about 20 black soldiers had already been awarded the Medal of Honor by the time Carney received his Medal, his actions are believe to have been the first by a black soldier to warrant the Medal's award. (Carney in 1854, and in 1900 with his Medal. He died in 1908)
On May 24, 1856, followers of radical abolitionist John Brown murder five pro-slavery settlers in Pottawatomie in the Kansas Territory. The murders were in response to the sacking of Lawrence, KS by slavery advocates, an act that enraged Brown. On the night of the 24th, Brown led a hand-picked group of his followers into Pottawatomie, where, one at a time, the victims were pulled from their homes and hacked to death with swords as their families were made to watch. There is no evidence Brown himself actually took part in the killings, though he was witnessed to have shot one victim in the head after he was dead. The "Pottawatomie Massacre" is perhaps the most infamous of the "Bleeding Kansas" events that were a catalyst of the Civil War, an act many of Brown's admirers, including abolitionist Frederick Douglass, abhorred. On May 24, 1830, America's first passenger rail service begins. Passengers are transported by horse-drawn carriages on a rail line operated by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, Maryland. The B&O was America's first common carrier railroad, meaning its services were available to the public, as a opposed to a private or contract carrier. Operating strictly in Maryland at first, it would not live up to its name by laying track all the way to the Ohio River until 1857. Steam locomotives would replace horses on the line within 3 months of that first passenger delivery. The B&O serviced much of the northeast and midwestern US until merging with CSX Transportation in 1987. Perhaps its biggest claim to fame was its inclusion on the Monopoly game board (Actually, the B&O is the only one of the 4 railroads on the Atlantic City-based game that never actually serviced Atlantic City).
On May 25, 1986, Hands Across America is held. Conceived by pop music manager Ken Kragen, the event was a fundraiser to fight hunger and homelessness. The concept had participants joining hands for 15 minutes in a human chain that stretched from NYC to LA. Estimates have anywhere from 5 to 6.5 million people participating, and while there's no way to confirm that an unbroken chain was formed, its believed the estimated number of people involved could have done it if properly distributed. The event raised $34 million, though the New York Times would report that only about $15 million was distributed after paying operating costs. (participants in Toledo, OH) On May 25, 1935, Jesse Owens rewrites the record book. At the Big 10 Conference Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, MI, the Ohio State University junior broke 3 world records and tied a 4th. In a span of 45 minutes, Owens broke the records for the long jump (26 feet, 8 and a quarter inches), the 220 yard sprint (20.3 seconds) and the 220-yard low hurdles (22.6 seconds) and tied the record for the 100-yard dash (9.4 seconds). At the time, world T&F records recognized races measured in yards as well as meters, and Owens' time in the 220-yard events would also have broken both records in the corresponding 200 meter events. Owens would win 8 NCAA national championships over the next two years and four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. On May 25, 1969, Midnight Cowboy premiers in American theatres. The story of the unlikely friendship between a naive sex worker (Jon Voight) and an ailing con man (Dustin Hoffman) would earn 3 Oscars, including Best Picture. It's also the only Best Picture winner to have been rated "X" by the Motion Picture Association of America, for its "homosexual frame of reference" and a scene depicting a gang rape. (The film was re-rated to "R" for a 1971 re-release) Midnight Cowboy is ranked among the American Film Institute's "Top 100 American Films", and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. (below: the famous "I'm walkin' here!" scene was improvised by Hoffman. It took a number of takes for Hoffman and Voight to time their walk to catch the Walk/Don't Walk sign just right. But the street was not closed for filming and the cab barrelling into the scene was real. Hoffman wisely decided not to break character when the scene was interrupted.)
On May 26, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge (below) signs the Immigration Act of 1924, one of the most stringent pieces of immigration legislation in US history. In post-WWI America, there was growing sentiment for an isolationist approach to immigration, as many feared an influx of communism, as well as a saturation of the job market. The '24 Act denied entry to all Mexicans, as well as Europeans and Japanese who did not possess a college degree or "special skills." The Act however, did not limit immigration from GB, Ireland or the Scandinavian countries. For others, it set a quota of no more than 2% of all natives of a given nation currently in the country (replaced by a cap of 150,000 total annual immigration in '27). Japan in particular was offended by the Act, planting the first seeds of hostility between the two nations. On May 26, 1978, Resorts International opens in Atlantic City, NJ. It is the first legal gambling casino on the U.S. Eastern seaboard. NJ voters approved legalized gambling in '76 in hopes of revitalizing Atlantic City, a one-time tourist destination that declined following WWII. In this purpose, legalized gambling was an initial failure, and it wasn't until Donald Trump began hosting professional boxing at his Trump Taj Mahal in the '80s (site of many of Mike Tyson's biggest fights) that the nation began noticing the tourism potential of the city. Atlantic City has nine casinos today. On May 26, 1923, the first 24 Hours of Le Mans begins, ending the following day. Contested on public roads on the outskirts of Le Mans, a village in northwest France, it is the world's oldest "endurance race" (the winner determined by the car that completes the most miles over a specific amount of time, rather than first to complete a specific distance). The French driving team of Andre Lagache and Rene Leonard, driving a Chanard-Walcker Type U3, wins after completing a distance of 2,209 kilometers. Le Mans today is contested on a combination of the same public roads and part of a purpose-built racetrack, and is considered one-third of the Triple Crown of Motorsports, along with the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. Several different classes of cars compete simultaneously; the winner of last year's fastest class (a propotype called the Le Mans Hyper Car, below) completed just over 5,000 kilometers.
On May 27, 1969 near Orlando, FL (actually Lake Buena Vista), construction begins on Walt Disney World. Disney began searching for a location for a second Disneyland east of the Mississippi River as early as 1959, noting that's where 75% of the US population lived, but made up only 5% of the visitors to Disneyland in California. Locations near New Orleans and St. Louis were considered before the central Florida site was chosen, a primary factor being the huge amount of land that was available. Disney was unhappy with the business community that had sprouted around his Anaheim location and wanted more control of the adjoining property in the new project. WDW opened in the fall of '71 with a "Magic Kingdom" theme park similar to Disneyland, two resort hotels, a golf course and camping resort. Plans were also developing for a project city, which Disney called the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT). After the deaths of Walt and his brother Roy, park developers re-imagined EPCOT into a permanent World's Fair which opened in 1982. Today, Walt Disney World is home to 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, 40 hotels and numerous specialty-purposed entertainment venues. It uses only about half the 25,000 acres the corporation owns. It is the largest single-site employer in the US, with about 77,000 on the payroll. Annual visitation steadily increased to a high of nearly 59 million in 2019 before Covid broke the trend. (The Magic Kingdom, circa 1982) On May 27, 1930, the Chrysler Building opens in NYC. At 1,046 feet, it surpassed the Eiffel Tower as the world's tallest man-made structure, a title it held for only 11 months before the Empire State Building opened less than 2 miles to the south. With its distinctive crown and spire features (architect Wiliam Van Alen), the Chrysler Building's art deco look at the time was described as everything from "iconic" to "inane." Although the Chrysler Corporation was a principal tenant at opening, the building is in fact named for company founder Walter Chrysler, who personally funded its construction and was sole owner. The Chrysler family sold it in 1953, but the name endures, and the Chrysler Building is still the 11th tallest building in NYC. On May 27, 1958, the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II has its first test flight. Huge for a fighter aircraft when compared to its contemporaries, the 2-seat Phantom II proved to be as abundant in speed as it was lacking in agility. Once approved for service, it would set 15 speed records, hitting Mach 2.5 on one occasion. With a production run of 5,195 (1958-81), the Phantom II is the most produced American supersonic aircraft in history, and was the principal air superiority fighter of both the Air Force and Navy throughout the Vietnam War and much of the Cold War era. It is also the only aircraft used by both American military flight demonstration teams, the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy Blue Angels. Replaced in U.S. service in the 70's and 80's by the F-15 and F-16 (Air Force) and the F-14 and F-18 (Navy), the Phantom II still remains in service today for more than a half dozen countries in Europe and the Middle East, as well as South Korea.
On May 28, 535BCE, a solar eclipse is witnessed over Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). Some historic accounts say the Greek philosopher Thales predicted the eclipse; if so, it is the first known correct prediction of an eclipse. Famed sci-fi writer and biologist Isaac Asimov was among those who believe it to be historical fact, as he once called the Thales Eclipse "the birth of science." On May 28, 1987, Mathias Rust an 18-year old West German amateur pilot, evades Soviet air defenses and lands his Cessna 172 Skyhawk near Moscow's Red Square. Rust had only about 50 hours' stick time when he took off from Helsinki on the 28th with a flight plan for Stockholm. Instead, he turned off his radio and flew east. Over the next 7 hours, his Cessna was picked up by Soviet defense radar several times, and he was spotted by a patrol aircraft at least once before finally appearing over Moscow. Rust said later he considered attempting to land within in the Kremlin walls, and Red Square itself, before setting down near St. Basil's Cathedral nearby. Rust would claim his intention was to reduce tension and suspicion between the superpowers. He was sentenced to four years in a Russian prison, though his sentence was commuted at 14 months. Now an investment banker, Rust has had several brushes with the law in his adult life, including an assault on an ex-lover who barely survived. The rented plane (below) in which he made his flight is now in a Berlin museum. On May 28, 1934 in a farmhouse near Callandar, Ontario, Elzire Dionne gives birth to five identical girls (she suspected she was carrying twins, and may have miscarried a sixth child in the third month of her pregnancy). Born 3 months premature, and weighing 2.5 to 3.5 pounds each, they will become the first known set of quintuplets to survive infancy. As word of the miraculous birth spread, women across North America would donate breast milk to keep the babies nourished. At four months, Elzire and her husband Oliva signed custody of the girls over to the Red Cross. A year later, the Canadian government declared them wards of the state until the age of 18, and the Dionne quintuplets spent much of their childhood as tourist attractions, living in a nursery built for them that included a playroom with a one-way mirror from behind which the public could view the children without disturbing them. At 18, Emilie joined a convent; she died of a seizure at age 20. The other four married; Marie died of a blood clot in 1970 and Yvonne died in 2001. Annette and Cecile are 88 years old and live in Quebec. (The Dionne quintuplets with Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn)
