Discover the fascinating historical events from 14th of May, including the establishment of Jamestown, the invention of the smallpox vaccine by Dr Edward Jenner, the patenting of Vaseline and condensed milk, and more.
Dear Students,
Did you know that the 14th of May is celebrated as “National Dance Like a Chicken Day” in America? Isn’t that hilarious? Why don’t you watch this funny video before we move on to history:
Now, let me share with you some fascinating historical events from the 14th of May.
1) Did you know that it was on the 14th of May, 1607, when English colonists established the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown? Prior to that the real Americas, the Red Indians were living in this land.
2) How many of you have heard of smallpox? To put it simply, it was another major disease, just like the coronavirus, which was eradicated way back in 1975. All thanks to Dr Edward Jenner, who invented the vaccine on this day in 1796 in Berkeley, Gloucestershire.
3) Did you know that it was on the 14th of May, 1842, when the world’s first ever illustrated weekly newspaper began publication? It was called the Illustrated London News.
4) Students, how many of you drink milk? Oh, all of you? Sorry, wrong question. How many of you drink condensed milk, that yummy sweet liquid? If you haven’t, do try it once in a while! Just to let you know, it was on the 14th of May, 1853, when Gail Borden, the inventor of condensed milk, patented it. Patented means obtaining a license that gives an inventor the sole right to manufacture their product.
5) Speaking of patents, did you know it was on this day in 1878 that Vaseline was patented (U.S. Patent 127,568) by Robert Chesebrough, the inventor of petroleum jelly?
6) The 14th of May was also the day, in 1908, when the first passenger aircraft was flown. Do you know who invented the airplane? It was the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, on the 17th of December, 1903.
7) Now, let’s move to the year 1944. On this day, British troops reoccupied Kohima. Prior to this, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the Azad Hind Fauj, with the help of the Japanese army, had captured Kohima from the British in March 1944.
8) Let’s talk about some medical history. On this day in 1945, Physician Joseph G. Hamilton injected a misdiagnosed cancer patient, Albert Stevens (CAL-1), with 131 kBq (3.55 µCi) of plutonium—without his knowledge. Stevens went on to live another 20 years and is recorded as the human with the highest known accumulated radiation dose to survive.
9) On this day in 1962, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was elected the second President of India. I have fetched this old video, dear students…
10) Students, do you wear a watch? Did you know it was on this day in 1862 that Adolphe Nicole of Switzerland patented the chronograph? A chronograph is a watch that includes a stopwatch function.
That’s all for today. Auf Wiedersehen (goodbye in German). Enjoy!
