May 14
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Featured Event
© CHARLES PHELPS CUSHING—ClassicStock/Alamy; Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
On this day in 1932, nearly 100,000 people paraded down Fifth Avenue in New York City chanting “We want beer!” The demonstration, led by the city’s mayor, was intended to show lawmakers just how strongly public sentiment had turned against Prohibition, which had made the manufacture, sale, import, or transport of alcohol illegal in the United States. Within a year, Americans could, legally, buy beer again. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Archivo Iconografico, S.A./Corbis
Born this day in 1553, Margaret of Valois, whose 1572 marriage to the king of Navarre failed to end fighting between Catholics and Protestants, earned fame for her licentiousness and her Mémoires, an exposé of life in France.
Famous Birthdays
More on May 14
© Gilbert Keuten/Dreamstime.com
2018
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association that the federal government could not prevent states from authorizing sports gambling. The decision became the basis for the legal sports betting industry in the United States.
© Jeff Daly—FilmMagic/Getty Images
2015
American guitarist and singer B.B. King, who was a principal figure in the development of blues, died at age 89. [Test your knowledge of music.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-GLB13-0779)
1998
American singer and actor Frank Sinatra—who, through a long career and a very public personal life, became one of the most sought-after performers in the entertainment industry—died at age 82. [Take our Frank Sinatra quiz.]
© Castle Rock Entertainment; all rights reserved
1998
The last episode of the television sitcom Seinfeld aired. Ostensibly a show about nothing, it remains a landmark of American popular culture. [How well do you know Seinfeld?]
Justin Sullivan—Getty Images News
1984
Mark Zuckerberg, who cofounded the social media platform Facebook, was born in White Plains, New York.
NASA
1973
Skylab, the first U.S. space station, was launched. [Sort fact from fiction in our space objects quiz.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1948
Israel declared its independence, which was soon recognized by the United States, the Soviet Union, and other governments. A day later, the first Arab-Israeli war began. [Explore the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.]
Architect of the Capitol
1804
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark embarked from St. Louis, Missouri, on an expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest. They were accompanied by about four dozen men, including York, an enslaved man who was the only African American on the journey. [Take our quiz about exploration and discovery.]
Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London
1796
Edward Jenner administered the first vaccination against smallpox. [Take our quiz about human health.]
Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London
1771
Robert Owen, a manufacturer turned reformer who was one of the most influential utopian socialists of the early 19th century, was born in Newtown, Wales. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about history makers.]
Reproduced by permission of the trustees of the Wallace Collection, London; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
1643
Four-year-old Louis XIV ascended the throne of France. [How much do you know about French history?]
© Sean Pavone—iStock Editorial/Getty Images
1607
The first permanent British settlement in North America was founded at Jamestown, Virginia. [Test your knowledge of early American history.]