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On May 19, 1588, the Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon on a mission to secure control of the English Channel and transport a Spanish invasion army to Britain from the Netherlands. The Invincible Armada consisted of 130 ships and carried 2,500 guns and 30,000 men.- On May 18, 1593, an arrest warrant is issued for Christopher Marlowe after fellow writer Thomas Kyd accuses him of heresy. Kyd had been arrested because of heretical documents found in his room, but he claimed they belonged to Marlowe, his former roommate.
- On May 16, 1849, the New York City Board of Health finally establishes a hospital to deal with a cholera epidemic that would kill more than 5,000 people. The city was ripe for an epidemic because of poor health conditions and its attraction for immigrants from around the world.
- On May 17, 1885, the Apache chief Geronimo again breaks out of an Arizona reservation, fleeing with 42 men and 92 women and children, and sparking panic among Arizona settlers. Geronimo surrendered in September 1886.
- On May 15, 1941, the turbojet-propelled Gloster-Whittle E 28/39 aircraft flies over Cranwell, England, in the first test of an Allied aircraft using jet propulsion. It reached a top speed of 370 mph at 25,000 feet.
- On May 14, 1973, Skylab, America’s first space station, is launched into orbit around the Earth. Eleven days later, U.S. astronauts rendezvoused with Skylab, repairing a jammed solar panel and conducting scientific experiments during their 28-day stay.
- On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II is shot and wounded at St. Peter’s Square in Rome by Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca. He claimed that he had planned to go to England to kill the king but couldn’t because there was only a queen and “Turks don’t shoot women.”
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