A closer look at key historic events that took place on May 19:
In 1962, Marilyn Monroe sings Happy Birthday
Her sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday” was sung to President John F. Kennedy at a celebration for his 45th birthday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The two were believed to have been having an affair.
In 1959, the North Vietnamese Army begins organizing the Ho Chi Minh trail
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a crucial supply route running through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam. This clandestine network of trails and roads provided logistical support to the Viet Cong insurgency during the Vietnam War, enabling the transport of troops, weapons, and supplies from North Vietnam to the battlefields in the south.
Unknown – Stewart, Richd W. “Deepening Involvement, 1945-1965,” Center of Military HIstory, United States Army
Wikimedia Commons
In 1743, Jean-Pierre Christin invents the Celsius thermometer
Named after its creator, Anders Celsius, this thermometer uses a scale where the freezing point of water is set at 0 degrees and the boiling point at 100 degrees under standard atmospheric pressure. The centigrade temperature scale, is used by most countries around the world, exceptions being the United State, Belize, and Palau.
Mercury-in-glass thermometer, made by Pierre Casati, in folding wooden case 12 1/2 x 1 3/ 8″ x 5/8″ (paper scale graduated from -35 deg to +100 deg according to the scale introduced by Christin in 1743). Wikimedia Commons
The Spanish navigator and explorer played a significant role in the Spanish colonization of the Philippines.
(16 April 1887). “Miguel López de Legaspi”. La Hormiga de Oro (16): 252. ISSN 2171-7591. Wikimedia Commons
Anne Boleyn, 1507-36. Unknown artist, late 16th century. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
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