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Today in History
History's Happenings for May 1
Dewey Defeats Spanish at Manila Bay
(Stay tuned for a write-up on this event. Born in 1813, Dr. David Livingstone was a missionary and African explorer of singular repute, well-known for his explorations and discoveries around Lake Tanganyika and the Lualaba River in the modern Republic of the Congo -- then completely uncharted territory. In 1867, turbulent conditions in the area caused him to lose contact with the outside world for three years. International concern for the safety and whereabouts of the famous missionary mounted until James Gordon Bennett, publisher of the New York Herald, detailed reporter/explorer Henry M. Stanley to journey into deepest Africa in search of him. After an eight-month trek out of Zanzibar, Stanley found the not-really-missing Livingstone on November 10, 1871 whereupon, we suppose, he really said ... "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Livingstone, long ill and now stricken with dysentery, died in on this day in 1873, still exploring. His body was preserved and returned to England, where it was laid to rest in honor in Westminster Abbey. Henry Stanley continued his African explorations, for the Herald and others, discovering much of geographic import in what was to become the Congo, and writing several books about his adventures.
Columbian Exposition Opens in Chicago
(Stay tuned for a write-up on this event.
Empire State Building Dedicated
(Stay tuned for a write-up on this event. (Stay tuned for a write-up on this event. (Stay tuned for a write-up on this event. Loyalty Day originated by Presidential decree during the early days of the Cold War as an alternative to May Day, which had lost its significance as a rite of spring in America and had become largely a symbol of socialism or communism. Various states also proclaimed similar holidays for May first, Pennsylvania's Americanism Day being one. No doubt such national recognition of our Americanism faded simply because, especially in the last decade or two, we lost our interest in trying to understand the meaning of the term. Too bad.
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