May 1, 1880 – The first issue of the newspaper, Tombstone Epitaph, is published. The owner stated: Every tombstone should have its epitaph. Read more.
May 2, 1964 – In Vintage World Wrestling history, Mad Dog Vachon beat Verne Gagne in Omaha, Nebraska to become NWA champion.
May 3, 1937 – Pop singer Frankie Valli was born. (Frank Castelluccio)
May 4, 1870 – The Kansas Pacific Railroad began laying track westward from the town of Kit Carson in the Colorado Territory. Incidentally, Kit Carson is about one hundred miles north of where I live.
May 5, 1865 – Decoration Day was first observed in the United States. It became a tradition of decorating Civil War soldiers’ graves with flowers. As time passed, this day became Memorial Day.
May 6, 1859 – John Gregory found lode gold at Gregory’s Gulch on the North Branch of Clear Creek near new city of Denver, Colorado.
May 7, 1901 – Actor Gary Cooper was born in Helena, Montana.
May 8, 1973 – The 71-day siege at Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation ended with the American Indian Movement surrendering to federal authorities.
May 9, 1265 – Dante Alighieri, Italian poet (Divina Commedia aka Divine Comedy)
May 10, 1869 – The last spike was driven in Pacific Railroad at Promontory Point, Utah. This railroad would become known as the Transcontinental Railroad.
May 11, 1934 – During the era of the infamous Dust Bowl, a hard wind sends tons of topsoil from the U.S. Great Plains on east to New York, Boston, and Atlanta. The dust storm lasted two days, which finally caught the attention of lawmakers in the east that there was a problem out on the plains. This Public Domain image was taken in the county in which I live now.
May 12, 1792 – A toilet that flushed itself at regular intervals was patented.
May 13, 1897 – Guglielmo Marconi sent the world’s first wireless communication over open sea.
May 14, 1856 – The first boatload of camels intended to be used by soldiers in southern Texas arrives in Texas from Turkey.
Until next time,
Kaye
Writing the West one romance upon a time
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