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May | Jun |
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Note: These historical tidbits have been collected from various sources, mostly on the Internet.
As detailed in
this article, there is a lot of
wrong information that is repeated hundreds of times because most websites do not validate with
authoritative sources.
On RF Cafe, events with
hyperlinks
have been verified. All will eventually be either verified or removed.
Please
submit significant
historical events and dates for inclusion in these lists. I will be glad to include your name and
birthday. Please do not submit your death date ;-)
A couple years ago, I began commemorating the birthdays of notable people and events with special
RF Cafe logos. Where available, I like to use images from postage stamps from the country where
the person or event occurred.
March 5
1512: Flemish cartographer
Gerardus Mercator, developer of the map projection that bears his name, was born. 1616: The Copernican
sun-centric model is declared "false and erroneous" by the Catholic Church in Rome. 1827:
Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (no kidding), who invented the pile battery and after whom the unit of Volts is named, died. 1836:
Samuel Colt manufactured the first pistol (.34-caliber). 1872: George Westinghouse patented the
railroad air brake. 1893:
Emmett Culligan, founder of the "Hey Culligan Man" company, was born. 1904: Pioneer watchmaker
Edward Howard died. 1912: The Italians became the first to use dirigibles for military purposes. 1936: The beautiful, elliptical winged British
Spitfire made its first flight from Eastleigh aerodrome. 1946: Winston Churchill delivered his famous "
Iron Curtain" speech, credited as the beginning of the Cold War, at Westminster College in Fulton, MO. 1979:
Voyager 1 (
Veeger, for Star Trek fans) flew past Jupiter. 1998: NASA announced that the
Clementine orbiting craft had found enough water on the moon to support a human colony and rocket fueling station.