1901–present 1904 – The Horch & Cir. Motorwagenwerke AG is founded. It would eventually become the Audi company. 1908 – Mother's Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia. 1916 – Sailing in the lifeboat James Caird, Ernest Shackleton arrives at South Georgia after a journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island. 1922 – The United States annexes the Kingman Reef. 1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed first Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and remains so until his death in 1972. 1933 – Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings. 1940 – World War II: German fighters accidentally bomb the German city of Freiburg. 1940 – World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain. On the same day, Germany invades France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom occupies Iceland. 1941 – World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid. 1941 – World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany. 1942 – World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign. 1946 – First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground. 1961 – Air France Flight 406 is destroyed by a bomb over the Sahara, killing 78. 1962 – Marvel Comics publishes the first issue of The Incredible Hulk. 1967 – The Northrop M2-F2 crashes on landing, becoming the inspiration for the novel Cyborg and TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. 1969 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill. 1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder. 1993 – In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills over 200 workers. 1994 – Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president. 1996 – A blizzard strikes Mount Everest, killing eight climbers by the next day. 1997 – The 7.3 Mw Qayen earthquake strikes Iran's Khorasan Province killing 1,567 people. 2002 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Russia for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. 2005 – A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutyunian lands about from U.S. President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate. 2012 – The Damascus bombings are carried out using a pair of car bombs detonated by suicide bombers outside a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people. 2013 – One World Trade Center becomes the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. 2017 – Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the last footholds of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Al-Tabqah, bringing the Battle of Tabqa to an end. 2022 – Queen Elizabeth II misses the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years. It was the first time that a new session of Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge acting as Counsellors of State. 2024 – Start of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of Geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.
1901–present 1904 – The Horch & Cir. Motorwagenwerke AG is founded. It would eventually become the Audi company. 1908 – Mother's Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia. 1916 – Sailing in the lifeboat James Caird, Ernest Shackleton arrives at South Georgia after a journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island. 1922 – The United States annexes the Kingman Reef. 1924 – J. Edgar Hoover is appointed first Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and remains so until his death in 1972. 1933 – Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings. 1940 – World War II: German fighters accidentally bomb the German city of Freiburg. 1940 – World War II: Winston Churchill is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain. On the same day, Germany invades France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom occupies Iceland. 1941 – World War II: The House of Commons in London is damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid. 1941 – World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany. 1942 – World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invades the Shan States during the Burma Campaign. 1946 – First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground. 1961 – Air France Flight 406 is destroyed by a bomb over the Sahara, killing 78. 1962 – Marvel Comics publishes the first issue of The Incredible Hulk. 1967 – The Northrop M2-F2 crashes on landing, becoming the inspiration for the novel Cyborg and TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. 1969 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia begins with an assault on Hill 937. It will ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill. 1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder. 1993 – In Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory kills over 200 workers. 1994 – Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president. 1996 – A blizzard strikes Mount Everest, killing eight climbers by the next day. 1997 – The 73 Mw Qayen earthquake strikes Iran's Khorasan Province killing 1,567 people. 2002 – FBI agent Robert Hanssen is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Russia for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. 2005 – A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutyunian lands about from U.S. President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctions and does not detonate. 2012 – The Damascus bombings are carried out using a pair of car bombs detonated by suicide bombers outside a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people. 2013 – One Worl.d Trade Center becomes the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. 2017 – Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capture the last footholds of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Al-Tabqah, bringing the Battle of Tabqa to an end. 2022 – Queen Elizabeth II misses the State Opening of Parliament for the first time in 59 years. It was the first time that a new session of Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge acting as Counsellors of State. 2024 – Start of the May 2024 Solar Storms, the most powerful set of Geomagnetic storms since the 2003 Halloween solar storms.